West Meets East, Volume 2

West Meets East, Volume 2 is an album by American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, released in 1968. It is the second album in a trilogy of collaborations between the two artists,[2] after the Grammy Award-winning West Meets East (1967).[3]

West Meets East, Volume 2
Studio album by
Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar
Released15 July 1968
Recorded1967–68
Angel Records, New York City
GenreIndian classical
Length1:03:34
LabelHMV, Angel
Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar chronology
West Meets East
(1967)		 West Meets East, Volume 2
(1968)		 West Meets East, Volume 3
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

The release followed Menuhin and Shankar's duet on 10 December 1967 at the United Nations in New York, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[4] As part of his utopian ideal,[5] international human rights was a cause long supported by Menuhin in his work,[6] while for Indian classical music, this Human Rights Day recital marked the first time that a performance had received a worldwide television broadcast.[7]

Reflecting the celebrity status afforded the sitarist during this period, particularly as a result of his association with George Harrison of the Beatles,[8][9] Shankar's activities were filmed for a documentary on his life, released as Raga in 1971,[10] and his autobiography My Music, My Life (1968) became a bestseller.[11] Although West Meets East, Volume 2 was another popular success for Menuhin and Shankar,[12] their work together drew further criticism from purists in India,[13] who considered that Shankar was westernising and thus diluting Indian classical music.[14]

Recording and musical content

The follow-up to West Meets East was announced in February 1968, when Billboard magazine reported that Menuhin and Shankar had been recording new material together at Angel Records' New York studios.[15] While their first album continued to top that magazine's Best Selling Classical LP's listings,[16] Shankar had also achieved mainstream success with the recently released Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival, which peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Top LP's chart – the highest US chart placing he would achieve throughout his career.[17] Angel released the new Menuhin–Shankar set on 15 July that year.[18] The album peaked at number 3 on the Classical LP's listings.[19]

West Meets East, Volume 2 contains a version of the piece played at the United Nations, an interpretation of Raga Piloo.[2] According to Shankar's comments in a March 1968 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, they recorded this selection "just a few days ago".[20] As at the recital,[21] Menuhin and Shankar were accompanied by Alla Rakha on tabla and Kamala Chakravarty, Shankar's female companion,[22] on tambura.[23] The second piece is "Raga Ananda Bhairava", performed by Shankar with his regular accompanist and instrument-maker, Nodu Mullick,[24] on tambura, and Rakha again on tabla.[23]

Side two in the original LP format consists of Menuhin and his sister Hephzibah performing Bartók's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano.[23]

Track listing

All selections by Ravi Shankar except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Raga Piloo" – 14:44
  2. "Raga Ananda Bhairava" – 15:37

Side two

  1. "Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 1" (Béla Bartók) – 33:13

Personnel

See also

References
  1. "Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar West Meets East, Vol. 2", AllMusic (retrieved 3 December 2013).
  2. Lavazzoli, p. 63.
  3. Reginald Massey, "Ravi Shankar obituary", The Guardian, 12 December 2012 (retrieved 3 December 2013).
  4. Shankar, Raga Mala, p. 184.
  5. Allan Kozinn, "Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Violinist, Conductor and Supporter of Charities, Is Dead at 82", New York Times, 13 March 1999 (retrieved 4 December 2013).
  6. "12 March 1999: Violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies", BBC News Online (retrieved 4 December 2013).
  7. Lavezzoli, pp. 7–8, 63.
  8. World Music: The Rough Guide, pp. 109–10.
  9. Shankar, My Music, My Life, pp. 101–03.
  10. Lavezzoli, pp. 184, 187.
  11. Massey, p. 142.
  12. World Music: The Rough Guide, p. 109.
  13. Lavezzoli, p. 146.
  14. Shankar, Raga Mala, pp. 208–09.
  15. "Classical Music". Billboard. 3 February 1968. p. 43. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  16. Kirby, Fred (13 January 1968). "Mahler Takes Listings Crown From Beethoven". Billboard. p. 34. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  17. Gallo, Phil (12 December 2012). "Ravi Shankar's Impact on Pop Music: An Appreciation". billboard.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  18. Staff writer (13 July 1968). "Angel's Follow LP on 'West'". Billboard. p. 30. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  19. "Billboard Best Selling Classical LP's". Billboard. 28 September 1968. p. 29. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  20. Sue C. Clark, "Ravi Shankar: The Rolling Stone Interview", Rolling Stone, 9 March 1968 (retrieved 3 December 2013).
  21. Shankar, My Music, My Life, p. 96.
  22. Shankar, Raga Mala, pp. 157, 196.
  23. Sleeve credits, West Meets East, Volume 2 LP (HMV Records, 1968).
  24. Shankar, Raga Mala, p. 159.

Sources
  • Peter Lavezzoli, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 0-8264-2819-3).
  • Reginald Massey, The Music of India, Abhinav Publications (New Delhi, NCT, 1996; ISBN 81-7017-332-9).
  • Ravi Shankar, My Music, My Life, Mandala Publishing (San Rafael, CA, 2007; ISBN 978-1-60109-005-8).
  • Ravi Shankar, Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar, Welcome Rain (New York, NY, 1999; ISBN 1-56649-104-5).
  • World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific), Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2000; ISBN 1-85828-636-0).
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