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When Richard Watson of the BBC Concert Orchestra and his wife Andrea packed their bags for a three-week holiday to India,he had no intention of turning it into any kind of business trip. But,like one of those serendipitous meetings that Bollywood revels in,Watson happened to meet veteran composer Pyarelal in Mumbai and the next thing you heard was the sound of a symphony.
Watson,63,who is a bassist with the London orchestra,had heard Pyarelals 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.
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.
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