Sitar player Kartik Seshadri’s music has a tone that is difficult to put into words — a tone he said takes listeners away from all the sadness in the world.
The internationally acknowledged artist will perform North Indian classical music with tabla player Sanju Sahai tonight at 8 p.m. in Beall Concert Hall.
The sitar is a 13th-century Vedic instrument that produces what Seshadri called “tonal ideas.”
“It is the deepest spiritual language,” he said. “And people usually come away from the music feeling different.”
Seshadri began performing full-length recitals at age 6 and later became a formal disciple of a highly esteemed guru, with whom he has traveled for performances at concert halls in India, Europe, the Near East, Japan and the United States. Seshadri was compelled to pick up the sitar at such a young age while listening to his father play, he said.
“I just remember feeling loved by it,” he said.
In 1965, Seshadri became a disciple of guru Pandit Ravi Shankar, who has helped him find “taleem,” or knowledge, of the pure roots of his music. Music in India is not taught by reading music or memorizing notes, Seshadri said; it’s taught by going to a master and “letting the music fill you.”
Mark Levy, the University’s World Music Series coordinator, said the music is unique because when classical European music began branching off in the direction of symphonic harmony, Indian music remained focused on only melody and rhythm.
“It’s just one melody at a time,” Levy said.
Traditional Indian music is governed by “raga,” or melodic concepts, improvised with emotional and rhythmic frameworks, Levy explained. And the sounds of tabla are what produce that rhythm.
Sahai, a descendant of the founder of the Benares style of tabla, has pursued his family’s talents as a legendary drummer. In addition to performing with Seshadri in traditional styles, Sahai also brushes with Egyptian, Spanish, African, Irish and jazz influences.
Curious students sat cross-legged in front of Seshadri and Sahai in music classes earlier this week, letting their ears fill with sitar sounds and discussing classical Indian composition. Jeremy Wegner, a research assistant in the Institute of Neuroscience, popped his head into one of the classes for “a short rag session.”
“They were just tearing it up,” he said. “They just seemed so young to be masters.”
Wegner said he plays Indian music locally in a band called Bindaas.
Seshadri and Sahai’s four-day pre-concert visit was part of a new grant that will also sponsor a free lecture by the musicians today at 3 p.m. in the Knight Library. The World Music Series sponsors one non-Western event per term.
“You can get high through music,” Seshadri said.
He said in the 1960s there seemed to be an explosion of interest in Indian music, but more of a superficial one. But now, he said, even listeners coming for their first performance seem to have a more serious regard for the music.
Tickets are $8 for students and will be available at the door. After his concert in Eugene, Seshadri will travel to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, where he will represent India as a featured performer.