Navy bands voyage by martial music and patriotic medleys

Recreating foot-tapping martial melodies and ensemble-driven up to date patriotic songs, the Eastern Naval Command Band of the Indian Navy served up a musical extravaganza to pay tribute to the valour, prowess and values of the Navy, and your entire Defence Forces, to set the stage for the 79th anniversary celebrations of Independence Day.

The Navy’s symphonic band live performance led by director Commander Satish Okay. Champion, hosted by INS Pallava — a naval unit close to Mamallapuram underneath the auspices of the headquarters of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Naval Area — featured an enthralling mixture of rousing navy tunes, patriotic compositions from the repertoire of the maestro A. R. Rahman, anthemic Hollywood theme music and a Bollywood ode to the indomitable spirit of girls (through the music ‘Bharat ki Beti’ from Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl).

The live performance on the Urban Entertainment Centre, Old Port, commenced with a rendition of ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ (Golden Jubilee), an orchestral tribute commemorating 50 years of the liberation of Bangladesh from December 16, 1971. The projection of battle footage on a mounted display screen added to the electrical ambiance stirred up by the 18-member ensemble.

The Eastern Naval Command Band, arrange in 1945 with only a handful of naval musicians, has grown not simply in measurement however in stature over the many years having carried out to acclaim throughout the nation and prestigious venues overseas, particularly through the abroad deployment of Indian Naval warships.

With versatility being its hallmark, the band has excelled whether or not organized as a navy marching band or as a symphonic wind ensemble and its wide-ranging repertoire spans navy music, symphonies, overtures, concertos, Indian classical music and an array of up to date genres.

While curating its concert events in consonance with the tastes of regional audiences, the band seems to make an effort to include completely different varieties and textures of music to supply a wealthy tapestry that, simply as importantly, embody India’s ‘unity in range’ identification. In truth, the cheers from the gang have been the loudest each time the band picked a success from the Rahman ouevre — ‘Jai Ho’ (Slumdog Millionaire), ‘Singapenne’ (Bigil), ‘Chozha Chozha’ (Ponniyin Selvan I) and ‘Tamizha Tamizha’ (Roja).

The band additionally carried out ‘Renaissance’, a fusion model of ‘Vande Mataram,’ Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ode to the motherland — first offered through the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Delhi’s Vijay Chowk in 2012. ‘The Indian Fleet’ musically summed up all the pieces the Navy stands for. There was even a tabla offering accompaniment to the symphonic mixture of trumpets, sax, flute and drums.

A duet titled ‘To Imps’ and dubbed, ‘The Ticklish Treat’, that unfolded like a mirthful cat-and-mouse chase with a zig-zag sequence of notes on the xylophone was adopted by a medley of items by American composer John Williams (music from Star Wars/The Phantom Menace/Duel of the Fates and theme music from Indiana Jones and the Superman franchise).

After a patriotic medley that includes well-liked songs from Hindi movies, and Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’, a rendition of ‘Sare Jahan Se Achha’ of Urdu poet Muhammed Iqbal, essayed with a mix of signature marching songs of the Indian Navy, Air Force and Army, served a becoming finale to the night.

Among the dignitaries in attendance have been Lieutenant Governor Okay. Kailashnathan, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, Speaker R. Selvam and Tourism Minister Okay. Lakshminarayanan. Senior officers from the Indian Navy and the U.T. administration, NCC volunteers and kids from metropolis colleges additionally attended the occasion.