Dinuk Wijeratne
Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems – A Letter from the After-life

Jasdeep Singh Degun
Arya: concerto for sitar and orchestra

INTERVAL: 15 minutes

Raag Bageshri

Philip Glass
Satyagraha – Act 3, Part 3, ‘Evening Song’

Jasdeep Singh Degun
Orpheus – Act 3 (excerpt)
Abbhā
Orpheus – Lament

Clark Rundellconductor
Jasdeep Singh Deguncomposer/sitar
Kaviraj Singhsantoor/voice
Yarlinie Thanabalasingamvoice
Gurdain Rayatttabla
James Waytenor
BBC National Chorus of Wales

BBC Hoddinott Hall is certified by EcoAudio and we’re proud to be supporting the BBC in becoming a more sustainable organisation. For more information on the BBC’s net-zero transition plan and sustainability strategy please visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/documents/bbc-net-zero-transition-plan-2024.pdf

The concert is being recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3, being livestreamed and filmed for future release on BBC iPlayer and the BBC NOW website.

‘A Letter from the After-life’ is the first of a two-part work titled Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems, heard here in my transcription for string orchestra which was originally my String Quartet No. 1, winner of the 2016 Canadian JUNO Award for Classical Composition. The music – commissioned by the Afiara Quartet – was a response to the concept of pop-influenced music for a classical string quartet: perhaps some sort of tussle between tradition and innovation. I sought to create my own kind of collision of old and new, in which the beauty and meaning of vintage poems might inspire the kind of loops, grooves and catchy tunes heard in pop. The melodies are, in fact, settings of poem texts with the words stripped away.

At the time, I was working with DJ Skratch Bastid, experimenting with samples on a turntable. On a whim, I asked him to scratch the opening of Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet, and the result was arresting. Two quotations from that work surface here. Ironically, they struck me as pop-like, so I allowed them to emerge as though improvised, then to be improvised upon. The rhythmic ostinato heard at the opening and throughout, meanwhile, is drawn from tabla kaida (a theme-and-variation form).

The inspiration for ‘A Letter from the After-life’ was part of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám:

I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And by and by my Soul return’d to me,
And answer’d ‘I Myself am Heav’n and Hell’.

from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1048–1131), trans. Edward FitzGerald (1809–83)

^{Programme note © Dinuk Wijeratne}

1 Raag Jogkauns
2 Raag Gujri Todi
3 Raag Charukeshi

Jasdeep Singh Degunsitar

The sitar, representing the Arya – which means ‘noble’ or ‘gem-like’ in Sanskrit – is the central voice of the work. The title also plays on the Italian word ‘aria’, meaning a melody sung by a single voice, reflecting the gayaki ang or ‘singing style’ of sitar playing in which I have been trained. Each movement has been composed in a different Indian classical taal, or ‘time-cycle’: Jhaptal, a 10-beat cycle; Teental, a 16-beat cycle; and Deepchandi, a 14-beat cycle.

It would be easy to describe Arya as a meeting of East and West. But that distinction has always felt somewhat outdated to me. The piece was never conceived as an attempt to bring two separate musical worlds together, but simply as a reflection of the music and musical language that comes naturally to me. That does not mean that bringing these two traditions together is straightforward. It takes time and careful consideration to find ways in which their different musical systems can work together without compromising either. One of the techniques I developed while writing Arya was to superimpose the rules and grammar of Indian classical raag over Western counterpoint, allowing for a richer harmonic language while remaining within character of the raag. This approach has since become an important part of my own musical language. Arya was my first attempt at exploring it on this scale, and I hope to have done it justice.

^{Programme note © Jasdeep Singh Degun}

INTERVAL: 15 minutes

Kaviraj Singhsantoor/voice
Yarlinie Thanabalasingamvoice
Gurdain Rayatttabla

Indian classical music is rooted in the exploration of raag and taal, melodic and rhythmic frameworks within which musicians compose and improvise. In this performance, vocalists Kaviraj and Yarlinie are joined by tabla, developing the raag through a combination of composed material and improvisation.

Rather than following a fully predetermined score, much of the music takes shape in the moment. The two vocalists respond to one another, exchanging and developing melodic ideas within the framework of the raag, while the tabla articulates and improvises around the underlying taal. The balance between established musical structures and spontaneous invention is central to Indian classical music, meaning that no two performances are ever quite the same.

^{Programme note © Jasdeep Singh Degun}

James Way tenor
BBC National Chorus of Wales

Philip Glass’s Satyagraha tells the story of Gandhi’s 21 years in South Africa between 1893 and 1914, a period in which he developed the principle and practice of satyagraha – ‘truth force’, or non-violent protest – with which he would eventually liberate India from British colonial rule. ‘Evening Song’, Gandhi’s aria that closes the opera, marks the eve of the Newcastle March, his first great popular mobilisation, which hastened the end of South Africa’s discriminatory Asiatic Registration Act and drew his own time in the country to a close. Like the rest of the opera, it sets words from the Bhagavad-Gita (in the original Sanskrit) – here, an acknowledgement of God’s presence on earth in the principles of righteousness and virtue, from which Gandhi himself drew the strength for his life’s work.

Glass’s second opera, Satyagraha is composed in his instantly recognisable minimalist style, but with a more lyrical, less austere focus than its predecessor, Einstein on the Beach (1976). ‘Evening Song’ is constructed around a melody that emerges almost incidentally from the previous scene. Barely more than an upward scale, rising like a prayer, it is axiomatically simple and yet irresistibly powerful: an apt symbol of satyagraha itself.

^{Programme note © Tim Rutherford-Johnson}

James Way tenor
BBC National Chorus of Wales

I was commissioned by Opera North and SAA-uk to compose new music for Orpheus, a reimagining of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo bringing Indian classical and Western Baroque music into dialogue. In this excerpt from Act 3, Orpheus encounters Charon, the boatman who refuses him passage into the Underworld. The scene moves between Monteverdi’s original music and my newly composed material, culminating in an improvised exchange between the two singers in Raag Sindhi Bhairavi, as they respond to one another freely in the moment.

^{Programme note © Jasdeep Singh Degun}

Jasdeep Singh Degunsitar
Kaviraj Singhsantoor
Gurdain Rayatt tabla

Abbhā is a tribute to the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, whose artistry and innovation continue to inspire generations of musicians worldwide. He was the teacher of my own teacher, Ustad Dharambir Singh, and his legacy is profoundly important to my own musical journey. The title, Abbhā, is the affectionate name by which we refer to Ustad Vilayat Khan, meaning ‘father’ or ‘grandfather’.

This work is rooted in Raga Gawati, incorporating one of Ustad Vilayat Khan’s teental bandishes (a piece bound by the 16-beat teental cycle) before moving to a more traditional style of sitar playing, set in the Tala Ektal. Throughout, the work seeks to bridge the traditional and the contemporary, reflecting a heartfelt attempt to honour Ustad Vilayat Khan’s timeless art while exploring new creative pathways.

Interestingly, Ustad Vilayat Khan often regarded such cross-genre explorations as frivolous and superficial, famously summing them up with the phrase ‘fusion is confusion’. While this work may challenge convention, it strives to remain deeply connected to the essence of the art form. I hope it reflects both my respect for his legacy and the joy of weaving together musical traditions.

^{Programme note © Jasdeep Singh Degun}

Kaviraj Singhsantoor
Yarlinie Thanabalasingamvoice

Lament is an arrangement of one of the pieces from my opera Orpheus. In Orpheus, the piece was originally sung by Indian classical voices and Indian classical and Baroque ensemble – lamenting the death of the main character Eurydice. It appeared at the end of Act 2, just before the interval break.

Lament is based on an Indian classical raga called Sindhi Bhairavi, and set to the 8-beat rhythmic taal, or time-cycle, known as Keherva. The raga Sindhi Bhairavi is well-suited to open displays of heightened emotion, which is why it is such a popular one when sung/played in semi-classical styles such as ghazal or thumri.

The libretto was translated from the original Italian into Hindi by Ustad Dharambir Singh and Shahbaz Hussain.

^{Programme note © Jasdeep Singh Degun}

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Biographies

Jasdeep Singh Deguncomposer/sitar

Jasdeep Singh Degun is a multi-award-winning sitarist, composer, arranger and improviser, renowned for his skill and creativity. As well as being a consummate soloist and collaborative artist, the Leeds-born virtuoso is reshaping the musical landscape with his ability to blend Indian classical music with contemporary influences. 

He is Artist-in-Residence at the Barbican Centre for this season, which includes a recital at the Darbar Festival, the world premiere of his new sitar concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Karabits and a concert performance of his acclaimed opera Orpheus with Opera North. The latter is also part of a UK-wide tour of the production. Other season highlights include a chamber project with musicians from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and recitals at Wigmore Hall, Djangoly Hall Nottingham, Cambridge Music Festival and St John’s College, Oxford.  

Recent engagements include debuts with Tampere Philharmonic and Chineke! Orchestra, as well as performances with Geneva Camerata, Fantasia Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, all featuring his own compositions for sitar and orchestra. Other highlights include two BBC commissions: a work for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and a new composition for the BBC Concert Orchestra. In recital he has performed at leading venues such as Kings Place, Southbank Centre, Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s, Westminster Abbey, WOMAD Festival and Nottingham’s Royal Hall.  

Jasdeep Singh Degun composed and conducted the world premiere performances of Orpheus, as Artist-in-Residence at Opera North in 2022, earning him critical acclaim and multiple accolades, including the Critics’ Circle Outstanding Achievement in Opera Award and Best Stage Production at the Asian Media Awards. In 2023 he was recognised with the Asian Achievers’ Art and Culture Award and Best Newcomer at the Songlines Awards. In 2024 he became the first sitar player and British Asian musician to win the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award. 

Under the guidance of Ustad Dharambir Singh, Degun honed his skills in gayaki ang, a lyrical style of sitar playing that emulates the human voice. His debut album Anomaly, recorded with Nitin Sawhney and released in 2022, showcases his ability to place the sitar in modern contexts while honouring its classical roots. Last year he released his second album, Jogkauns, his first purely Indian classical album, recorded with tabla player Harkiret Bahra. 

Whether performing on the operatic stage, in the studio, or on concert platforms worldwide, Jasdeep Singh Degun’s work continues to push the boundaries of musical form, showcasing a continued commitment to ground-breaking work across a range of musical landscapes.

Clark Rundellconductor

With a repertoire spanning centuries, continents and styles, Clark Rundell has established himself as a champion of music ranging from the 18th century to the current day, from jazz to kora and from tango to European modernism.

Recent and forthcoming debuts include concerts with the Brussels, Royal Liège and Tokyo Philharmonic orchestras, Belgian National Orchestra, Barcelona, Boston and Oregon Symphony orchestras, Klangforum Wien, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon, SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and NDR Orchestra Hannover. He works regularly with all of the BBC orchestras, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Ensemble 10/10 and Asko | Schönberg.

Opera world premieres have included Sir James MacMillan’s Clemency at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orlando Gough’s Voices & Votes at the Bergen Festival, Oscar Bettison’s The Light of Lesser Days in the Netherlands and Iphigenia by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding in Boston and at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

Additionally, in the concert hall he has given world premieres of works by composers such as Louis Andriessen, Steve Reich, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Django Bates, Richard Rodney Bennett, Gary Carpenter, Trish Clowes, Tansy Davies, Tim Garland, Adam Gorb, David Horne, Julian Joseph, Steve Mackey, Steve Martland, Grace Evangeline Mason, Brad Mehldau, Martijn Padding, Gwilym Simcock, Joey Roukens and Julia Wolfe.

As an arranger, he collaborated with Andriessen on a suite from his opera Rosa, entitled Rosa’s Horses, which was premiered at the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. The pair also collaborated on Vermeer Pictures, a suite from Andriessen’s opera Writing to Vermeer. Clark Rundell is currently working on further suites of Andriessen’s more recent operas.

He has conducted extensive orchestral projects with artists such as Elvis Costello, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Esperanza Spalding, Toumani Diabate, Brad Mehldau, Tim Garland, Trish Clowes, Julian Joseph, Abel Selaocoe, Gwilym Simcock and Pablo Ziegler. A highly versatile musician, he has also performed with artists such as John Dankworth, Bob Brookmeyer, Victor Mendoza, Guy Barker, Julian Argüelles, Ed Thigpen, Cleo Laine, Andy Sheppard, Lew Tabakin and Michael Gibbs.

He is passionate about working with young people and is Professor of Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, as well as having a close relationship with the Netherlands Orchestral Academy.

BBC National Chorus of Wales

Made up of over 120 singers, BBC National Chorus of Wales is one of the leading mixed symphony choruses in the UK and, while preserving its amateur status, works to the highest professional standards under Artistic Director, Adrian Partington.

The chorus comprises of a mix of amateur singers alongside students from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Cardiff University. It is based at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay and works regularly alongside BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as giving concerts independently.

Recent highlights include Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms under the baton of Ryan Bancroft, Brahms’s A German Requiem in the stunning setting of St Davids Cathedral, and Poulenc’s Gloria with Sophie Bevan, conducted by Michał Nesterowicz.

Committed to promoting Welsh and contemporary music, BBC National Chorus of Wales gave the second-ever performance of Grace Williams’s Missa Cambrensis, 45 years after its premiere, which it also recorded for a CD which was released in spring 2025. In addition, it has premiered works by many composers, including a special performance of Kate Whitley’s Speak Out, set to the words of Malala Yousafzai’s 2013 UN Speech.

The chorus can be heard on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, and recently featured in Paul Mealor’s soundtrack for BBC Wales’s Wonders of the Celtic Deep.

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

For over 90 years, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the only professional symphony orchestra in Wales, has played an integral part in the cultural landscape of the country, occupying a distinctive role as both a broadcast and national orchestra, and serving as an ambassador of Welsh culture, regularly performing music created in Wales and championing Welsh composers and artists.

Part of BBC Cymru Wales and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, BBC NOW performs a busy schedule of concerts and broadcasts, working with acclaimed conductors and soloists from across the world.

The orchestra is committed to working in partnership with community groups and charities, taking music out of the concert hall and into settings such as schools and hospitals to enable others to experience and be empowered by music. It undertakes workshops, concerts and side-by-side performances to inspire and encourage the next generation of performers, composers and arts leaders, and welcomes thousands of young people and community members annually through its outreach and education projects.

BBC NOW performs annually at the BBC Proms and biennially at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and its concerts can be heard regularly across the BBC – on Radio 3, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru. On screen, music performed by BBC NOW can be heard widely across the BBC and other global channels, including the soundtrack and theme tune for Doctor Who, Planet Earth III, Prehistoric Planet, The Pact and Children in Need.

Based at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay, BBC NOW utilises a state-of-the-art recording studio with a camera system for livestreams and TV broadcasts to bring BBC NOW’s music to a broader audience across Wales and the world. For more information about BBC NOW please visit bbc.co.uk/now

Patron
HM King Charles III ^{KG KT PC GCB}
PrincipalGuest Conductor
Jaime Martín
Composer-in-Association
Paul Mealor

Soprano
Ella Edwards Beavington
Amelia Beecroft
Kate Bidwell
Eleanor Cantrill
Eve Carey
Logan Clark
Katie Cross
Penelope George
Olivia Ghanem
Sarah Jane Griffiths
Claire Hardy
Rhiannon Humphreys
Victoria Illsley
Frankie Ingall
Delyth Jewell
Vanessa John-Hall
Lucie Jones
Margaret Lake
Bethan Nicholas-Thomas
Joanna Osborn
Hannah Robertson
Melanie Taylor
Helen Thomas
Lydia Wilson

Alto
Yasmin Browne
Alex Butler
Alison Davies
Catherine Duffy
Elouise Frost
Annette Hecht
Naomi Hitchings
Eleri Hurley
Max Keith
Avery Rabbitt
Sian Schutz
Abigail Shepherd
Zozi Sookanadenchetty
Yirui Wang
Vicki Westwell
Julie Wilcox

Tenor
Jacob Bussell
Keith Davies
Roland George
Andrew Lunn
Rory McIver
Richard Shearman
Ethan  Stockham
Nick Willmott

Bass
Noah Boneham-Hill
David John Davies
Ethan Davies
Lyndon Davies
James Downs
David Hutchings
Jack Irwin
Mike Osborn
Joseph Pitkethly
Neil Schofield
Will Walshe-Grey

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

First Violins
Róisín Verity guest leader
Martin Gwilym-Jones sub-leader
Gwenllian Hâf MacDonald
Terry Porteus
Suzanne Casey
Ruth Heney **
Carmel Barber
Anna Cleworth
Zhivko Georgiev
Laura Senior
Eduarda Prata
Elena Abad

Second Violins
Kirsty Lovie #
Sheila Smith
Roussanka Karatchivieva
Vickie Ringguth
Michael Topping
Katherine Miller
Joseph Williams
Beverley Wescott
Laurence Kempton
Anna Szabo

Violas
Rebecca Jones *
Peter Taylor
Mungo Everett-Jordan
Robert Gibbons
Catherine Palmer
Laura Sinnerton
Anna Growns
Mark Coates-Smith

Cellos
Sébastien van Kuijk ‡ 
Raphael Lang
Sandy Bartai
Carolyn Hewitt
Alistair Howes
Keith Hewitt

Double Basses
Alexander Jones #
Marianne Schofield
Emma Prince
Annabel Beniston

Flutes
Matthew Featherstone *
John Hall †
Lindsey Ellis

Piccolo
Lindsey Ellis †

Oboes
Polly Bartlett ‡ 
Sam Baxter
Amy McKean

Cor anglais
Amy McKean †

Clarinets
Nicholas Carpenter *
William White †
Lenny Sayers
Eleanor Kershaw

Bass Clarinet
Lenny Sayers † ** +

Bassoons
Jarosław Augustyniak *
Patrick Bolton
David Buckland

Contrabassoon
David Buckland †

Horns
Daniel Curzon ‡ 
Meilyr Hughes

Trumpets
Phillipe Schartz *
Robert Samuel

Trombone
Donal Bannister *

Timpani
Daniel Gonzalez-Esteves

Percussion
Andrea Porter

Harp
Elen Hydref Wright

Piano/Celesta/Organ
Gregory Drott

* Section Principal
† Principal
‡ Guest Principal
# Assistant String Principal

The list of players was correct at the time of publication

Director Lisa Tregale
Head of Artistic Planning and ProductionGeorge Lee
Orchestra Manager Liz Williams
Assistant Orchestra Manager Nick Olsen **
Orchestra and Operations Coordinator Eleanor Hall +
Orchestra Personnel ManagerKevin Myers
Orchestra Librarian Jenny Dobinson (maternity cover)
Stage and Technical Manager Josh Mead +
Assistant Stage and Technical Manager Richie Basham
Artists and Projects Manager Victoria Massocchi **
Producer Rebecca Bean (maternity cover)
Broadcast Assistant Emily Preston
SeniorAudio Supervisors Simon Smith, Andrew Smillie
Education Producer/Chorus Manager Rhonwen Jones
Education Producer April Heade (maternity cover)
Head of Marketing and Audiences Sassy Hicks
Marketing Coordinator Amy Campbell-Nichols +
Growth Marketing Coordinator Angharad Muir-Davies
Digital Producer Angus Race
Marketing Apprentice Mya Clayden
Production Business Manager Lisa Blofeld
Business Coordinator Georgia Dandy **

+ Green Team member
** Diversity & Inclusion For