K. Sridhar playing the sarod in Stroud

Camilla and I work together in many guises these days.  She is the chair of Stroud Preservation Trust of which I am a trustee, and I have been making a photographic record of the trust's work for about five years.  Recently Camilla raised funds for a book called 'Stroud - a town changed by community activism' based on interviews with the key people involved in the activism during the last thirty years.  I was commissioned to take portraits of thirty of the interviewees which were included in the biographical section of the book.

For the last year Camilla has been working with the town council as a fund raiser for Lansdown Hall and Gallery, which is the 'village hall' for the town.  I chair the working group responsible for all the work involved in the regeneration of the Hall so we work together very closely on this.  She has done an absolutely brilliant job and has raised £105,000 in a year from external funding sources!  I hope that she will be bringing her community skills, which are extensive and proven, to help our next project for the council which I am also involved in formulating.  I have to report on progress at Monday night's town council meeting and so won't be able to attend the Preservation Trustees meeting being held at the same time.

Last week Camilla asked me if I would take photos of her husband, Sridhar, who was performing at Lansdown Hall for the firat time in many years.  He plays the sarod and was accompanied by Sanjay Jhalla, who was playing the tabla, and had come from London for the concert where more than 120 people sat enthralled in the afternoon.  

I have gradually got to know Sridhar in recent years but this was the first time I had heard him in concert. He is internationally renowned and has recently played several concerts in the USA.  We were so lucky to have such a magnificently talented musician playing here in Stroud, and in our village hall. It made me feel rather proud that we have helped to expand the resources of the town's cultural activities.

I felt even more proud when Camilla mentioned from the stage when she introduced the event to please excuse me wandering about the room as Sridhar wanted me to take some pictures. The lighting was very limited as he wanted an intimate feeling and I don't use flash, so although it was slightly tricky, I did manage to take a range of pictures for him. This image is from his first piece, an afternoon raga of North Indian music, which was unaccompanied. It was followed by several other pieces and a tabla solo.  Magical music.

From the programme notes:
The Sanskrit work ‘Nada’ means tone or pitch. Ancient Indian texts have many references to the metaphysic of science and sound as well as the artistic and therapeutic applications of music. Sridhar’s training brings these elements to his concert platform to make a special performance of Indian classical music.

The Sarod:  
One of the world's most complex instruments, the Sarod, originated from an Arabic instrument known as the rebab.  Around 1300 AD it was named the Sah-roda; a bowed, gut instrument introduced to the Moghul courts of Northern India.  Modifications and changes to the Sarod continued until the end of the 19th Century since when it has remained constant; wire strings plucked with a coconut or ivory plectrum.

The body of the Sarod is carved from one piece of solid wood such as teak, mahogany or red cedar.  It can vary slightly in length when custom made for a specific performer.  It is tuned according to its length.  The sound box is covered by a parchment thin, stretched goatskin which is glued in place.  One of two bridges rests on this skin, which is extremely sensitive to vibration and temperature change. The brass bowl attached to the neck of the instrument helps to stabilise it. The fretless fingerboard is metal, often chrome plated.  Not having frets allows for both precise individual notes and a variety of intonations through glissando.

Of the 25 strings, 4 are used for melody, 2 for rhthym, and 4 are tuned to the dominant note of the raga.  The remaining 15 are sympathetic vibrating strings tuned to the micro notes of the raga.  The full resonance of a note is produced by pressing a string onto the fingerboard using a fingernail of the left hand while simultaneously plucking the string with the plectrum held in the right hand.  The range and sonority of the Sarod makes it one of the most beautiful of North Indian instruments; its complexity allowing for an extraordinary diversity of sound and mood.