| West Meets East, Volume 2 | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar |
| Cover: | West Meets East Volume 2 album cover.jpg |
| Released: | 15 July 1968 |
| Recorded: | 1967–68 Angel Records, New York City |
| Genre: | Indian classical |
| Length: | 1:03:34 |
| Label: | HMV, Angel |
| Prev Title: | West Meets East |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | West Meets East, Volume 3 |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
West Meets East, Volume 2 is an album by American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, released in 1968. It is the second album in a trilogy of collaborations between the two artists, after the Grammy Award-winning West Meets East (1967).[1]
The release followed Menuhin and Shankar's duet on 10 December 1967 at the United Nations in New York, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[2] As part of his utopian ideal,[3] international human rights was a cause long supported by Menuhin in his work,[4] while for Indian classical music, this Human Rights Day recital marked the first time that a performance had received a worldwide television broadcast.[5]
Reflecting the celebrity status afforded the sitarist during this period, particularly as a result of his association with George Harrison of the Beatles,[6] [7] Shankar's activities were filmed for a documentary on his life, released as Raga in 1971,[8] and his autobiography My Music, My Life (1968) became a bestseller.[9] Although West Meets East, Volume 2 was another popular success for Menuhin and Shankar,[10] their work together drew further criticism from purists in India,[11] who considered that Shankar was westernising and thus diluting Indian classical music.[12]
The follow-up to West Meets East was announced in February 1968, when Billboard magazine reported that Menuhin and Shankar had been recording new material together at Angel Records' New York studios.[13] While their first album continued to top that magazine's Best Selling Classical LP's listings,[14] Shankar had also achieved mainstream success with the recently released , which peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Top LP's chart – the highest US chart placing he would achieve throughout his career.[15] Angel released the new Menuhin–Shankar set on 15 July that year.[16] The album peaked at number 3 on the Classical LP's listings.[17]
West Meets East, Volume 2 contains a version of the piece played at the United Nations, an interpretation of Raga Piloo.[18] According to Shankar's comments in a March 1968 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, they recorded this selection "just a few days ago".[19] As at the recital,[20] Menuhin and Shankar were accompanied by Alla Rakha on tabla and Kamala Chakravarty, Shankar's female companion,[21] on tambura.[22] The second piece is "Raga Ananda Bhairava", performed by Shankar with his regular accompanist and instrument-maker, Nodu Mullick,[23] on tambura, and Rakha again on tabla.
Side two in the original LP format consists of Menuhin and his sister Hephzibah performing Bartók's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano.
All selections by Ravi Shankar except where noted.
Side one
Side two