Gitabina Presents a special musical narrative in London to mark the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s European tour

To commemorate the centenary of the European tour of the world-renowned poet Rabindranath Tagore, a special cultural programme was presented at the Pinter Studio of Queen Mary University of London on 31 October. The event was jointly organised by Gitabina, the Swadhinata Trust and Queen Mary University of London.

The programme opened with a welcome address by Mr Batirul Haque Shorder, Chief Adviser to Gitabina, on behalf of the organisers. Greetings were then offered by Professor Alastair Owens, General Secretary of the Swadhinata Trust and Professor at Queen Mary University of London. Sunita Chowdhury and Rumy Haque introduced Gitabina’s special musical presentation, “Gaane Gaane Tabo Bandhan Jaak Tute” (May Your Bonds Be Broken Through Song), in Bengali and English respectively. At the beginning of the main cultural programme, Valentine Harding, Vice-Chair of the Swadhinata Trust, read an excerpt from Tagore’s writings.

At the outset of Gitabina’s special presentation, Dr Shyamal Chowdhury expressed profound sorrow at the sudden and untimely passing of Mr Arijit Chowdhury, former Additional Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh and a devoted well-wisher of Gitabina. He prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and fondly recalled, with deep respect, his valuable contributions to Gitabina.

The musical narrative unfolded through commentary by Pitam Sengupta, a Tagore scholar and media personality, alongside English translations read by Rumy Haque, a member of Gitabina. Complementing the narration, several songs composed by Tagore during his European travels were performed. The captivating vocal performances, both ensemble and duet, featured Rumy Haque, Mitali Bonowary and Sunita Chowdhury. Selected raga-based musical passages drawn from Tagore’s songs were performed by Budhaditya Bhattacharya, a member of the Swadhinata Trust. Sandeep Chakraborty accompanied all the songs on the tabla. Jules of Queen Mary University was responsible for sound management and lighting.

The concept, research and narration for the musical presentation were undertaken by Pitam Sengupta, a distinguished Tagore scholar, author and essayist from India. In his remarks, he noted that Tagore composed an exceptional number of songs during his European tour in 1926, more than during any of his other overseas journeys.

Having reached the age of 65, Tagore embarked on his ninth overseas journey with his family from Santiniketan on 12 May 1926. Over a period of more than seven months, he travelled extensively across Europe, visiting Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, among other countries.

This extensive journey was significant not merely in terms of its geographical scope but also for its special place in Tagore’s creative life. One of the principal objectives of the musical narrative was to explore and present the emotions, experiences and creative impulses of that period through the songs he composed during his travels.

Following the conclusion of the musical presentation, Dr Ansar Ahmed Ullah, Director of the Swadhinata Trust, extended his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the organisers, performers, technical team, journalists and audience members. He expressed particular appreciation for everyone’s enthusiastic cooperation, which contributed significantly to the successful organisation of the event.