London Reams

Watson,63,who is a bassist with the London orchestra,had heard Pyarelal’s music and knew his penchant for writing a western classical symphony all by himself. He finally convinced Pyarelal,one half of the famous Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo who created classics like Dard-e-dil and Chahoonga main tujhe,to write a symphony for the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Pyarelal,70,is now ready with Om Shivam,a symphony he has been writing for a year now and which he has improvised and fine-tuned for the BBC Concert Orchestra. “I have collaborated with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra before. But this is extremely special as I am writing music after a long time. I am going to send my symphony to them,which will then be checked over a period of four months by the orchestra after which we will work on the music together,” says Pyarelal.

Indian collaborations are not new to Watson. He earlier worked with Kavita Krishnamurthy and they fused Bollywood tunes with some western classical music. “I am a musical sponge and can take in whatever sounds I listen to,thanks to an exposure to all sorts of music. Pyarelal has a huge amount of experience and our collaboration will have a Bollywood touch to it with western classical music as the base,” says Watson,“The BBC Concert Orchestra is honoured to be working with him.”

The symphony will echo in London before it is heard in Mumbai and Delhi.