No music I have ever listened to have I found so utterly compelling as that of the recently deceased master sitar player, Ravi Shankar. Part of the reason for this, I think, is how the chastening of the emotions underlying the music makes the expression of them profound. Then, too, every note played seems essential. There is nothing showy or self-indulgent in it. Yet while the emotions are chastened. they are not eliminated, so there is no aridity nor mere asbtractness. His music is proof that music can go far beyond ornamentation or sentimentality.
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