The British-based Naresh Sohal, born in Punjab in 1939, was the first person of Indian origin to make his mark as a composer of western...

The British-based Naresh Sohal, born in Punjab in 1939, was the first person of Indian origin to make his mark as a composer of western classical music, writing works that displayed an usual kind of fusion - but not stylistic: his compositions often use the language of western modernism to explore the ideas of Hindu philosophy. The handful of piano pieces that he wrote between 1974 and his death in 2018 use musical analogies to address issues of perception, even existence itself, in a language that employs Xenakis-like extremes of dynamics and virtuosity, of clarity and density and of energy and calm.