Inside the Taj Mahal by Paul Horn.

I have acquired a few new CDs and books recently, so as it is another cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, I thought I would start telling you about them. The CD I want to talk about today is called Inside The Taj Mahal by Paul Horn. I first heard this album about 50 years ago in my old college days. I knew this couple called Dave & Sylvie and one night they played this album which I thought was amazing. It perfectly suited the state of temporary artificial heightened awareness that we were in that evening, if you know what I mean. I don’t think I heard the album again until I was reminded of it recently when I was looking for music suitable for mindfulness and meditation. When I looked on eBay I couldn’t find a copy for sale in Britain, so I ordered it from Germany where a CD was available coupled with a follow-up album Inside 11.

Paul Horn & George Harrison.

Paul Horn (1930- 2014) was an American flautist, saxophonist, composer and producer. He was also a pioneer of New Age and World music. During the 1950s & early 60s he was a jazz musician working with the likes of Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. His music began to change in the mid-1960s when he began practicing Transcendental Meditation. In 1968 he travelled to India with The Beatles to the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was after this trip that he came to play the flute in the dome of the Taj Mahal. While he was a visit to the dome he saw a guard on duty who would emit a ‘Call’ every few minutes to demonstrate the remarkable echo inside the marble dome. The echo would last for 28 seconds. He asked for permission to play his flute and was told to return at 8.30 that evening when there wouldn't be many tourists around. 

He returned that evening with his guide Sankar, a sound recordist John Archer and a photographer Earl Barton. Paul Horn played one note on his alto flute and thought it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. When he played more chords, it sounded like a chorus of angels. The guard on duty was impressed and joined in by singing his call. When the guard cleared out the last few tourists and closed the dome, he allowed them to stay until 11.00. The guard even brought a friend to join in who he said was a good singer. Although the friend didn’t speak English, he and Paul Horn produced a perfect improvised duet. Neither the guard or his friend are identified in the album notes. I hope Paul Horn paid them well for their contribution. If you listen carefully to the recording, you can hear the buzzing of a solitary mosquito on one track. The recording was never meant to be an album, but when Paul Horn played it to friends it was picked up by Epic Records. By 2001 it had sold 1,000,000 copies.

The other recording Inside 11 is also enjoyable. It was released in 1972. The first track has the sounds of nature, such as Niagara Falls, rain; river, streams, and waves accompanied by a simple flute, there is a track called Haida which is the name of a killer whale who lived at Sea World in Victoria, Canada. Paul Horn recorded this intelligent creature and its mate Chimo and improvised his flute along with their sounds. There is also a track of four Bach Chorales, some soundtrack music for a film called Centaur and a 15^th century work by a composer called Palestrina. In total there is 73 minutes of wonderful peaceful music that I have enjoyed hearing again on this rainy February Sunday afternoon.