Ravi Shankar, known in his own country as one of the greatest practitioners of its own distinct form of classical music, began his avocation of bringing that music to the West at an early age, as a teenaged member of his brother Uday Shankar's traveling dance company. He began making recordings for Western audiences in the 1950s, but he rocketed to fame when Beatle George Harrison took an interest in Shankar's instrument, the sitar. The interest this created led Shankar to write this concerto for sitar and symphony orchestra, with the important part for the Indian tabla drum being simulated by a pair of bongo drums.
