Let My Country Awake
Music by Kamala Sankaram
Poem by Rabindranath Tagore
Dur. 4 minutes
In 1912, the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore published his own English translation of Gitanjali, a collection of his poems exploring the themes of spirituality and love. This poem is number 35 of that collection. One can' t help but read this poem, with its aching yearning for freedom, in the context of India's colonial occupation and Tagore's desire for India's independence (which he would not live to see). And one can' t help but notice the contemporary resonance and relevance of Tagore's words as we also strive for a world that has not been broken up into fragments, that follows the clear stream of reason, and that proceeds without fear, head held high.
The music for this piece draws inspiration from the Hindustani raga Yaman. Yaman is meant to be played in the early evening and is associated with feelings of devotion and peace.
Instrumentation
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
Texts
Poem by Rabindranath Tagore
Translated by the poet from the original Bengali
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, let my country awake.
