Param Vir: The Composers’ Fund
Delhi-born composer Param Vir is a leading figure in contemporary music. Based in London, his output encompasses works in several genres that include chamber music, symphonic works and opera. His works have been performed by major ensembles, orchestras and opera houses, and presented at several international festivals. He composes prolifically, and recent seasons have seen the premieres of several major works, including a much-acclaimed BBC Proms commission Cave of Luminous Mind and the hugely successful Raga Fields for three international contemporary ensembles. Most recently Drum of the Deathless for percussion ensemble are clocking up performances. He is currently at work on a new large-scale opera for Theater Bonn, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven.
This CD is a first album of Param Vir’s music, in a Composer Portrait of four works chosen from a 25 year career. These works helped establish Param’s reputation as a composer, and were enthusiastically received at their premieres.
1. Raga Fields (26′ 35″, large ensemble of 17 players including sarod soloist, 2014)
2. Hayagriva (13’, mixed ensemble of 15 players, Schoenberg Ensemble, 2005)
3. Before Krishna (8’45”, string orchestra 8.6.4.4.2, winner of the Benjamin Britten Composition Prize 1987))
4. Wheeling Past the Stars (22’, song cycle for soprano and cello, to be studio-recorded, composed 2007)