When Zakir Hussain was a newborn, his father took him in his arms to recite a prayer over his son as was the tradition among Muslims in India. But instead of a blessing, his father whispered rhythms into his ear. Hussain grew up to become a tabla virtuoso like his father, mastering the North Indian classical tradition while also building bridges across musical genres. One of his last projects, before his death at 73 in December, was “Murmurs in Time,” a composition for tabla and percussion quartet commissioned by Third Coast Percussion, which he recorded with that ensemble.

“Murmurs in Time” received its New York premiere on Feb. 27 at Zankel Hall, in a brilliant and moving performance that paid tribute to Hussain and the humanistic values at the heart of his art. The eloquent tabla player Salar Nader, a student of Hussain’s, joined the Third Coast players. The work is in two movements, culminating in an intricate firework of cross-rhythms and iridescent sound colors. But it was the first movement, “Recitation,” that stayed with me, a tender and incantatory web of spoken rhythms that grounded the group’s technical virtuosity in elementary human communication. CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

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