Many years ago, I composed a kind of raga, which was then arranged by Marien van Staalen for string orchestra and performed several times in different combinations, featuring his daughter Lenneke with Heiko Dijker on tabla. Then followed by Raga No.2 ‘Serendipity’ for Indian violin, tabla and string quartet was composed in 2015 for Lenneke van Staalen, Heiko Dijker and the Matangi Quartet. It was performed many times and broadcasted by Dutch Radio 4. The premiere took place 26-12- 2015 at Maartenskerk, Doorn NL. The New Oxford Dictionary of English defines serendipity as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a satisfactory or beneficial way, understanding the chance as any event that takes place in the absence of any obvious project (randomly or accidentally), which is not relevant to any present need, or in which the cause is unknown. Innovations presented as examples of serendipity have an important characteristic: they were made by individuals able to “see bridges where others saw holes” and connect events creatively, based on the perception of a significant link. The chance is an event, serendipity a capacity.
Serendipity means a “fortunate happenstance” or “pleasant surprise”. It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to a friend Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes, he told his correspondent, were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”. The name stems from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka (Ceylon), from Tamil Ceralamdivu, Sanskrit Simhaladvipa and Arabic Sarandīp. Parts of Sri Lanka were under the rule of Tamil kings for extended periods of time in history. Kings of Kerala, India (Cheranadu), were called Ceran Kings and divu, tivu or dheep, which means island. The island belonging to the Chera King was called Cherandeep, hence Sarandib by Arab traders. Serendipity is not just a matter of a random event, nor can it be taken simply as a synonym for “a happy accident” (Ferguson, 1999; Khan, 1999), “finding out things without being searching for them” (Austin, 2003), or “a pleasant surprise” (Tolson, 2004).
I call Serendipity a raga, but it not a raga in the Indian sense of the word. I tried to make string quartet patterns on which both the Indian violin & tabla could thrive. By request of flutist Laura Lentz, for whom I had composed Pale Moon in a very Blue Sky and Loudly & Clearly, I arranged early 2024 Serendipity2 for the combination of alto flute, tabla and string quartet for her and Beo String Quartet. Now, the Indian violin had been replaced by the alto flute, and instead of improvisation, the solo part has now entirely been composed by me. The tabla part however is largely still an improv part. Its notation is just an orientation guide, except for the typical raga unison conclusion, which is in unison. The entire score was revised and shortened to around 17:00. It’s a work in progress that hopefully will come to fruition in the very near future! Special thanks to Laura, who inspired me to compose and arrange my music. — JacobTV
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