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INSTRUMENTAL
It is worth noting that vocal music is held to be the ideal that instruments
attempt to approach. So, don't ignore vocal music! The words are relatively and sometimes completely unimportant, it is the melodic framework that is
most significant. The main performer on each of these instruments is typically
accompanied by a percussionist on the tabla (a pair of drums) and a drone
(to sound the tonic).
Sarangi, Flute and Santoor
Relatively recent to solo performances are the sarangi, flute and the
santoor. The Sarangi is a bowed instrument that is considered to be closest
to the human voice, and traditionally accompanied vocalists, providing an
imitative melodic line. Ram Narayan is most responsible for its elevation
to solo status. The flute and the santoor were traditionally used in folk
music. The latter is akin to the dulcimer. Their use as classical solo instruments
is fairly recent; indeed the santoor owes its current role to Shiv Kumar
Sharma. The mellow sound of the flute is easily appreciated even by a novice
listener.
I have chosen to include performances of the same raga, Lalat, on all
three instruments to allow a novice to understand the idea that a raga is
simply a melodic framework within which improvisation occurs, independent
of the instrument. See also Ulhas Kashalkar's CD below for a vocal rendition.
Ram Narayan (Sarangi)
Suresh Talwalkar (Tabla)
Lalat
Nimbus NI5183
Hariprasad Chaurasia (Flute)
Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla)
Lalat
Nimbus NI5152
Shivkumar Sharma (Santoor)
Shafaat Ahmed Khan (Tabla)
Lalat
EMI PSLP 5459
Alternates
Since Lalat is a somewhat complex raga, I recommend the following alternatives, all excellent, but of different ragas:
Ram Narayan and Anindo Chatterjee
Shankara & Jogia
Nimbus NI 5245
Hariprasad Chaurasia & Zakir Hussein: Venu'
Ahir Bhairav
Ryko RCD 20128
Shivkumar Sharma & Zakir Hussein:
Madhuvanti & Mishra Tilang
Nimbus NI5110
Veena (Bin)
Although not as common nowadays as the other instruments, it is
ancestral to the other plucked string instruments.
Z.M. Dagar
belongs to the famous Dhrupad family. The style may seem somewhat
'slow' to novices, but careful listening pays off.
The raga Yaman is often the first
raga taught to beginners. This must not be misunderstood to mean that
only beginners play Yaman! Indian music is such that even a lifetime
is not sufficient to master a raga. Indeed experts are often judged by
their competence in the more common ragas: there are legends of musicians
playing Yaman for several days without repeating musical ideas. The
style of playing can be compared to the vocal Dhrupad CD below while
the raga is rendered vocally in the CD by Rashid Khan. A similar
instrument, also called the Veena, is played in Carnatic music.
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (Veena)
Yaman
Nimbus NI 5276
Sarod
A fretless instrument with a steel fingerboard and 25 strings:
4 carrying the main melody, 4 tuned to the main notes of the
raga, 2 to the tonic, and 15 sympathetic strings. A very mellow
resonant sound. Ali Akbar Khan has reputedly been hailed by
Ravi Shankar as the greatest instrumentalist alive. This
selection is interesting for several reasons. Two of the ragas
here, Chandranandan and Gauri Manjari , were created by AAK,
and thus illustrate one aspect of creativity in Indian music. The
third, Jogiya Kalingada, is an example of a raga got by
combining two ragas. This is also a great performance by a
great performer, and further the recording is of audiophile
quality.
Ali Akbar Khan (Sarod)
Mahapurush Mishra (Tabla)
Chandranandan, Gauri Manjari, and Jogiya Kalingara
Alam Madina Music Productions
AMMP CD 9001
I am told by reliable sources that Ali Akbar Khan himself
considers
Artistic Sound of Sarod: Basant Mukhari & Jogia'
accompanied by Swapan Chaudari, Chhanda Dhara SNCD 3386
to be a great CD for beginners to start with
Sitar and Surbahar
The sitar is probably the best known (in the west) of Indian instruments
since Monterey Pop. The Surbahar is effectively a bass sitar. There are
probably more CDs featuring Ravi Shankar than anyone else, even ignoring
his more adventurous attempts. I chose this one because it is a
'jugalbandhi' (a kind of duet) featuring Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan
on the sitar and sarod. Both were students of Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar
Khan's father, and it is interesting to see its effect in a performance.
Piloo is a 'sweet' easily appreciated raga, and the CD
is a beautiful example of musical ideas being proposed, emulated and
improvised upon. Also interesting is that the tabaliyas are Alla Rakha
and Zakir Hussain, father and son. Their coincident drumming is pleasant.
Nikhil Banerjee was also a student of Allauddin Khan.Like many others, he felt his live concerts to bring out the best in<
his music; so I have included a 2 CD live performance of his here.
Another major style is the 'gayaki ang' that seeks to emulate the human
voiceclosely. The important figures associated with this style are the<
brothers Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan. The former is considered by many<
to be the best sitarist, while the latter has pioneered the use of
Surbahar.
The raga Darbari (meaning 'of the royal court') is a majestic
raga whose creation is ascribed to the legendary Mia Tansen, a musician
in the 16th century court of emperor Akbar. It is particularly well suited
for the slow treatment on the Surbahar. Chandra Kanhra was created<
by Imrat Khan retaining elements of Darbari. Compare with the vocal
rendition of Darbari in Ulhas Kashalkar's CD. Budhaditya
Mukherjee is one of the best young sitarists, and is heavily influenced
stylistically by Vilayat Khan. The two CDs below feature them playing
the same raga and should illustrate musical 'influences' in the Indian
context. This raga is also ascribed to Tansen. Compare also with the
Dhrupad rendition of Mia Ki todi in the vocal section.
The raga Sindhu Bhairavi is played in a lyrical 'thumri' style.Thumris are 'light classical'romantic vocal pieces usually with significant
textual content. An example
is the rendition of Bhairavi by Ajoy Chakrabarty. Another thumri is
the one in the raga Kirvani by Rashid Khan (see the Vocal section).
Ravi Shankar (Sitar) & Ali Akbar Khan (Sarod)
Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain (Tabla)
Mishra Piloo<
EMI CD DS 37920
Nikhil Banerjee (Sitar)
Swapan Chaudhuri (Tabla)
The One Hundred Minute Raga: Purabi Kalyan, live in Berkeley 1982
RAGA-2CD207
Imrat Khan (Surbahar and Sitar)
Shafaatullah Khan (Tabla)
Darbari & Chandra Kanhra
Nimbus NI5118
Vilayat Khan (Sitar)
Zakir Hussain (Tabla)
Captivating Melodies of the Sitar- Mian Ki Todi
Oriental AAMSCD-120
Budhaditya Mukherjee (Sitar)
Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla)
Inner Voice: Mian ki Todi, Puriya Kalyan, Sindhu Bhairavi
Audiorec ACCD 1014
Nikhil Banerjee's rendition of Malkauns is considered
one of the best ever, and is available on
Nikhil Banerjee
Malkauns, Megh, Sohini, Mishra Gara
EMI CDPSLP 5072
There is a Surbahar version of Mia Ki Todi together with an excellent rendition of a related raga Bilaskhani Todi
Imrat Khan & Shafaatullah Khan
Mia ki Todi, Bilaskhani Todi
Nimbus NI 5153
Another excellent Budhaditya CD is
Budhaditya Mukherjee & Anindo Chatterjee:
Bageshri & Desh
Nimbus NI 5268
Megh, Bilaskhani Todi, Mia Ki Todi and Bageshri all appear
in the vocal section for comparison purposes.
VOCAL
The selection available of vocal CDs is somewhat narrower than of
instrumental CDs. I couldn't find a good one representing the Agra
gharana, for example.
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a meditative austere style dating from at least the fifteenth
century. It has now largely been replaced in popularity by Khayal, a
more
ornamental improvisational style. Dhrupad is however still considered
the
fount of authentic musical knowledge. Many of the ideas in instrumental
music arise from here. The Dagar family has now more or less become
synonymous with Dhrupad. I have chosen their Todi here to enable comparison
of
this rendition with the instrumental ones above. Dhrupad is usually
accompanied by the Pakhavaj, a two headed precursor to the tabla drums.
Dagar Duo (vocal)
Mohan Shyam Sharma (Pakhavaj)
Mia Ki Todi
Jecklin Disco JD 628-2
Alternates
There are about ten CDs of the Dagars.
A Bihag JD642-2 on the same label can be compared with the Khayal
rendition of Bihag by Gangubai Hangal below, while their Bageshri
on the Auvidis label A6159 can be compared with the Bageshri by
Gangubai Hangal and the sitar version by Budhaditya above
Khayal
Khayal is a highly ornamented vocal form that is said to have arisen
from
Dhrupad and Qawali (Muslim devotional songs), rising to prominence in
the
eighteenth century. Traditionally taught within families, sociologically
it developed into various musical 'gharanas' (literally 'household',
but
now more appropriately 'musical styles') in this century. The different
gharanas stress different aspects of performance, though individual
within a gharana differ considerably too.
Some of the artists here are young and upcoming
performers; indeed, Rashid Khan is on the trustworthy side of thirty.
Rashid (of the 'Rampur Sahaswan' style) sings Yaman here, the same raga
on the Veena CD. The performance exemplifies the Khayal format.
The other raga on the disc, Kirvani, is
a relatively recent migrant to the Hindustani system, being originally
a Karnatic raga. It would be interesting to compare this with a Karnatic
rendition. It is sung in the thumri style here. Ajoy Chakrabarty,
representing the Patiala school, illustrates the vocal felicity Khayal
singers often have. Malkauns is a pentatonic raga that is supposed to
'invoke the djinns of the dark'. The other thumri piece is in Mishra
Bhairavi, the term Mishra ('mixture') indicating that it is a rendition
of Bhairavi with shades of other ragas mingled, yet another aspect of
creativity.
Mallikarjun Mansur was 72 and Gangubai Hangal 78 when the pieces
here were recorded. Although past their best, the latter two more than
hint at their greatness in their prime. Gangubai Hangal is a
doyen of the Kirana gharana, exemplifying the purity of notes. She sings
Bihag (also in the Alt Dagar CD above), and Bageshri (Alt Buddhaditya
sitar).
The late Mallikarjun Mansur was of the Jaipur Alladiya style, characterized by
intricate taan (fast melodic passagework) patterns and a wide repertoire
of
aprachalit (uncommon with complex melodic movements) ragas. This CD is
also interesting because it is a live performance, and one gets the flavor
of a particularly raucous audience of connoisseurs (in Indian performances,
audiences show their appreciation by gesture and vocally). The ragas
here,
characteristically, are unusual ones. Savani is allied to Bihag (on GH's CD).
I wasn't able to find satisfactory representatives of two other major
gharanas, Agra and Gwalior. The CDI have listed here of Ulhas Kashalkar is excellent but might not be easily available.
Rashid Khan (vocal)
Samar Saha (tabla)
Yaman and Kirwani
India Archive Music IAM CD 1003
Ajoy Chakrabarty (vocal)
Samar Saha (tabla)
Malkauns, Mishra Bhairavi
India Archive Music IAM CD 1004
Mallikarjun Mansur (vocal)
Nizamuddin Khan (tabla)
Savani, Shivmat Bhairav
Original Music Impressions OMI D4HV0589
Ulhas Kashalkar (vocal)
Lalat (Shudh Dha), Darbari
Venus MCD 135 (Melody International)
Gangubai Hangal (vocal)
S.K. Hangal (tabla)
Bihag, Bageshri
Music Today, Maestro's Choice series, CDA-91005
Another great Rampur Sahaswan rendition is on
Sulochana Brhaspati & Sultan Khan
Bilaskhani Todi & Tappa in Mishra Bhairavi
Nimbus NI 5305
A tappa is a characteristic format, Mishra Bhairavi is also on
the Ajoy Chakrabarty CD above. Compare Bilaskhani Todi with the
instrumental Imrat Khan. Another great Kirana performance is
Bhimsen Joshi
Ramkali & Shudh Kalyan
Music Today CDA-91004
Bimsen Joshi and Shudh Kalyan are almost synonymous!
Although not quite of the Patiala school, the brothers Salamat &
Nazakat have been heavily influenced by it. A great CD of theirs:
Salamat & Nazakat Ali
Megh & Bairagi-Bhairav
Hannibal HNCD 1332
IMPORTANT CAVEAT
As characteristic of any 'classical music',
the legendary performers are dead. A fraction of these were
recorded during and preceding the LP era; there was significant
reluctance among many to be recorded. ( Some of those recorded are
still available, but only on cassettes of pathetic quality. When
you can appreciate the music enough to overlook this, the 'Great
Performances' list should offer further suggestions). Further,
the nature of the music requires the presence of an appreciative
audience, as well as a longer medium than LPs. Thus, it is
fair to say that the best performances are among those privately
recorded 'live' performances held by lucky individuals. Thus,
this list is by no means of the best ever performances; instead
is meant to introduce you to the music, some of its great
performers, and some of the ragas.
HOW TO LISTEN
A complete beginner is likely to find the music strange
at first. The best suggestion I have is to try to hum along. Soon the
melodic features, similarity between different renditions, the nature
of the cyclic time framework etc. will become noticeable. In particular,
do not disregard vocal music: the words are relatively and sometimes
completely unimportant. Indeed, some of the intricate melodic passages
that occur in vocal music are impossible to emulate on instruments.
It is the melodic movement which is the key, and
until you can appreciate the vocal pieces, you are missing the most
significant aspect of Indian music.
SOURCES
All the CDs listed here should be available from any of the mail order
sources in the 'Sources for Music' list, such as Shrimati's (510) 548-6220.
I also list here most of the publishers:
RAGA
P.O. Box 635
Village Station
New York NY 10014 (2CD-207 is $28 ppd)
NIMBUS
P.O. Box 7427
Charlottesville
Virginia 22906
INDIA ARCHIVE MUSIC
2170 Broadway, Suite 343
N.Y. New York 10024
OMI MUSIC INC,
Unit A4-71, Rosedale Avenue
Brampton Ontario-L6X 1K4
Canada
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