Philippe Pierlot - Dhruba Ghosh

A viola da gamba player and curator of part of our program of old music has the honour to close the season's concerts with an ambitious evening. The focus is on the English soldier and composer Captaine Tobias Hume (1569-1645) and traditional Indian music - but also on two instruments: the viola da gamba and her traditional Indian counterpart, the sarangi. These instruments have a lot in common: their shape, use and technique. Two open-minded artists decided to have them play together: Philippe Pierlot and Dhruba Ghosh are enthusiastic about the meeting of their two worlds. Philippe Pierlot envisioned an imaginary journey of Captaine Hume to India. Hume was an officer in the Swedish and the Russian armies and remained active both as a player of the viola da gamba and as a composer. His music is downright fascinating. One can imagine that Hume was under the impression of the rich timbre of the sarangi and the elaborate melodies of the ragas. It is a true privilege to hear such masters of their related instruments playing along side of each other.