An orchestral demonstration of the rich treasure of traditional music of our country enticed hundreds of audience at the National Art Plaza of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Wednesday.
The presentation was part of the ongoing six-day South Asian handicrafts exhibition titled SAARC Handicraft Village.
Not many audience noticed as the performers entered the stage, but within a minute the orchestra with its utter powerful tunes attracted hundreds of audience into the hall.
Directed by Swapan Kumar Nag, the folk orchestra began with an introduction by a seven-member team who played their rhythm, wind and string instruments.
The composer of the presentation himself played several rhythm instruments such as dhak, hari, khanjori and nupur; Shafiqur Rahman was on dhol; Syed Meher Hossain was on tabla; Md Moniruzzaman was on flute; Nirmal Kumar Das was on dotara; Rofiq Hossain Khan was on kasha, mondira and premjuri; and AFM Ekram Hossain was on ektara and khamak.
After the short introduction, the seasoned flutist Moniruzzaman led the orchestra with a folk zest which instantaneously created a serene atmosphere inside the hall.
The flute was gradually joined by the string instruments dotara and khamak which was soon joined by rhythm instruments dhol, dhak and hari. In less than two minutes the seven-member team got the attention of the fully occupied hall as well as the audience just entering the hall.
The orchestra often switched its tempo and tune. One minute it sounded like the music of puja, the next minute it gave the impression of bhatiyali tune and so on.
One round of absolute captivation ended in ten minutes, which was momentarily retrieved by a presentation much like a classical alap between dhak, hari, tabla and dhol. One stroke on dhak was answered by similar strokes on hari, dhol and tabla and so on.
It was flutist Moniruzzaman who again took the control and led the team to another round of musical journey. A superb combination of rhythm on percussion-based instruments and prominent notes on string instruments were escorted by the wind of the flute that left the audience numb with amazement.
‘I have assimilated many folk tunes in this composition to entertain the audience,’ said Swapan Kumar Nag.
‘It was really amazing. The composition sounded like a combination of tranquility and turmoil,’ said Ranasinghe Narampali, a Sri Lankan, who enjoyed the orchestra demonstration.
-With New Age input
