Aruna Sunderlal

An die Musik

My affair with the Max Mueller Bhavan (MMB) in India began midst great excitement in 1969. Beethoven’s magnificent 9th Symphony was being planned in Mumbai one year later. Prof. H.J. Koellreutter, Director of MMBDelhi and Margarita Schack, the well-known singer, were joining forces with the Chamber Orchestra and Paranjoti Choir. Auditions for the contralto, tenor and bass soloists were to be held from among the singers in Mumbai and three of us were invited and chosen. My very first major concert – soloist and on stage with nearly a hundred of India’s best singers and instrumentalists, before a thousand of Mumbai’s musical cognoscenti! Dreamlike and never to be forgotten – the music and applause.

That event and my friendship with the Koellreutters was a turning point in my life when they made me aware of my ‘voice’ and singing potential. Margarita gave me ‘voice’ lessons whenever visits to Mumbai permitted and helped develop my singing repertoire - Lieder composed by the greats - Schumann, Brahms, Hugo Wolf… Opera Arias and Art Songs. I was especially attracted to the beauty of the Lieder, where the poetry of Goethe, Schiller and others make a perfect union with the music. The realisation that learning the German language was essential for singing Lieder, took me to the MMBof Mumbai, my neighbour on Malabar Hill, to join as a student, Herr Sewitz was our excellent tutor.

Soon after, we were delighted to find Herbert von Brauer, German Baritone, on a visit courtesy the Max Mueller Bhavan. Apart from giving us hours of beautiful song recitals, some of us were recipients of his expertise as a ‘voice’ teacher.

It was a sad parting in 1974 when my husband, who worked with the corporate company ITC, gave news of our transfer from Mumbai to Bangalore, which lasted less than a year. During this time we fell in love with the city. This marked another turning point in my musical life. We bought an old Bangalore bungalow in Fraser Town that year, for our old age and retirement where years later, ‘the sound of music’ took root in the form of The Bangalore School of Music. While in Bangalore for this short period, I was invited by Dr. Stache, Director of the Max Mueller Bhavan, to give a Recital in their premises, a charming bungalow on Museum Road. No parking problems then! Or sound pollution.

From Bangalore it was back to Calcutta and again we found ourselves neighbours with the MMBon Ballygunj Circular Road. Cultural ties continued with the Institution and the Calcutta School of Music, AIR and Doordarshan. Lecture-Demonstrations then began to form an important part of my effort to promote the love of singing, entitled ‘The Joy of Singing’ both live and broadcast on AIR.

My Concert tour of the North – East from Kalimpong to Darjeeling, Shillong and small towns along the route with pianist Conrad Mathews created much excitement. Where no Piano was available, a harmonium sufficed. The papers reported that ‘The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music ? I record my thanks for the concert tour to Consulate General of Germany and the MMBof Calcutta.

With change of Director of the MMBto a Musician – Conductor Herr Nagel, more music followed. Mr. Nagel trained the Cathedral Choir and Chamber Orchestra of Oxford Mission to perform Oratorios and Cantatas of Bach and Handel, I had the pleasure of singing the Contralto Solos accompanied by these excellent chamber musicians.

During this period, I devised, and planned my personal tribute to Handel and Bach for their centenary year with an All – India tour of six cities. These were presented by the Max Mueller Bhavan’s of Calcutta, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, with Mumbai Pianist Zenobia Vakil.

It was in 1987 that I founded the Bangalore School of Music, having come to settle permanently in the city from Calcutta. Learning from my close association with the Calcutta and Delhi Schools of Music, I was keen to ensure that while specialising in Western Music education and promotion, we also promote our rich cultural heritage of Indian Music and musicians. So was borne the idea of an East West Music and Dance Encounter, a multi cultural Festival in 1990. This was not ‘The first’ in India. The Koellreutters had initiated the same in Pune in earlier years, but no record of these was available. The Encounter of 1990 was very special for us and organized with the help of the Koellreutters on the West side and eminent personalities as Dr. Raja Ramanna, Vainika Dr. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Musicologist B.V.K Shastry and others on the east. Months of planning and finally the full week of events. The fledgling Music School had done the city proud on a miniscule budget. An impossible task made possible by the Koellreutters and overseas Artists, bearing their own travel costs with full participation in Recitals and the Seminars. The ICCR, Ministry of Culture Delhi and the Department of Kannada and Culture were added cultural sponsors.

Bangalore has witnessed twelve such Encounters since 1990 but the first remains the most special, a jewel in our crown.

Collaborations with the MMBBangalore have continued through four decades through its Directors - Dr. Dencker, Heiko Sievers and Dr. Rudolf Bartsch, to name a few, and presently with Dr. Evelin Hust, in presenting Concerts, and Artistes and cultural collaborations. Special mention must be made of Dr. Bartsch who specially brought in the famous German organist Matthias Eisenberg in 2000 to play for the Dalai Lama’s World Festival of Sacred Music, where I had the privilege of being on the Organizing Committee for Bangalore.

The Music School has continued its commitment of bringing the best of world music to Bangalore, thanks to the MMBand its Directors. The major India Tour of the thirty member Leipzig Orchestra in 2007 was advised and co-ordinated by the BSM. The idea of an east-west encounter of the Orchestra with Dr. L Subramanian was also initiated by us with support of Dr. Hust. Needless to say, the Chowdiah Concert was a sellout !

More recently, The Bangalore School of Music organized and hosted a two-week cultural exchange tour to India of the Saxony Youth Orchestra, conducted by Rolf V. Nordenskjold. Dr. Hust and The MMBplayed a major role in this exchange. The public Concert at the Chowdiah received a rousing ovation. The exchange will grow.

And as I write, Project Humanism, initiated by the MMBin India, is here with us and aims to aid and improve western music education in India working via seven Music Schools. Visits to us by Prof. Bernd Claussen and a visit to Germany of Managers of the seven Institutions, have set the Project moving forward – the close ties continue.

Physically, some important parts of the MMBof Bangalore continue to remain with us – the Steinweg Grand Piano which has served countless music students, teachers and professionals, precious Orchestral Scores and numerous CDs and some DVDs for our Library. Vielen Dank!

I have only one wish and speak on behalf of countless music lovers: That the country which gave birth to such great musicians as Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner and the other icons, bring to us more music of these classical masters that we love, rather than contemporary jazz, for which we would look to the USA.

Music has united us all – from east to west and the Music School has enjoyed interactions with 30 countries worldwide through artistes and scholars and their special music and art. Our long association with the Max Mueller Bhavan, its Directors, the Indo-German Cultural Society and its dynamic President Mr. S. Haldar, artistes, the German community – have all enriched our lives, especially mine. The affair continues!

Aruna Sunderlal is Founder and Managing Trustee of The Bangalore School of Music.