Guided Listening: Reena Esmail’s Vishwas

Explore well-known works and discover new treasures of the musical repertory in our Guided Listening sessions with JoAnna Cochenet.

In our final Guided Listening of the year, we explore Reena Esmail’s Vishwas. From the composer’s website, we understand the principal story of this piece: “The word vishwas expresses the concept of fervent belief, or faith, in Hindi. Meera Bai, a celebrated saint-poet from 15th century India, is the quintessential embodiment of vishwas. Though she is forced into a traditional marriage to unite two kingdoms, she believes she is married to the Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity, and the events of her life are shaped around her fervent devotion to this intangible but omnipresent figure.”

This piece follows a common thread found in many cases across all cultures—that of timeless storytelling and the retelling of events through various art forms. This symphonic composition also includes the Indian instrument tabla, commonly used drums of Hindustani music of northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Several cultural threads are woven into the work by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, and we will unravel and inspect them to explore this incredible work of art.

Watching and Listen

Testament from Vishwas

Reena’s TEDx Talk