A musical evening on the Science of Music (7th October 2017)
The Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), under the guidance of Didi Shrimati Kalyani Puranik, recently arranged its second session under the Kaleidoscope series. The Kaleidoscope Series is an attempt at demystifying Indian classical music and bringing it to a wider audience as it connects classical music across the east and the west. Previously, the Session I, in May 2017, made an introduction to the concepts of shruti, swar, samvad and moorchana, also known as microtones, notes, consonant rules and ragas. This was taken from extensive research done by Didi’s father late Shri Balkrishnabuwa Kapileshwariji. This was a formalization and extension of the principles rediscovered by Shri Kapileshwariji’s guru, and founder of the Kirana Gharana, Khan Saheb Abdul Karim Khan, during his training.
This was followed by the morning Ragas starting with Raga Bhairavi, the first of the ragas that emanates from the Veena. Several other ragas that originate from Bhairavi including forms of Todi were also showcased at the first session, followed by afternoon Ragas such as Multani, Madhuvanti and Simhendra Madhyamam. These were showcased through a series of different musical pieces i.e. traditional ‘bandish’, folk songs, ghazals and bhajans.
The second session on the 7th of October, took this journey onwards to the second main raga in the series, Raga Yaman, also called as Raga Kalyani in Carnatic music. This corresponds to the Lydian scale in western classical music and is typically sung in the evening.
The program started with Raga Yaman sung by some of the young students of the Hindustani classical music section at TFA. This was complemented by an alap in the Carnatic style by another student, followed by two traditional pieces also sung by these young students who took time out from exams, grade 12 preparations and other activities to give music their best! A ghazal and a Rajasthani folk song rounded up this Raga.
This was followed by Raga Yaman Kalyan demonstrated first with a bhajan by Meerabai; then a duet “abhi na jaao chodkar” from the movie Hum Dono and finally the famous ghazal, ‘Aaj jaane ki zid na karo’ made immortal by Farida Khanum, sung beautifully by one of the more senior students at TFA.
Raga Shyamkalyan then followed along with Raga Kedar in multiple traditional pieces and finally Raga Hameer showcased through an old favorite movie song “Madhuban mein radhika naache re”, originally sung by Mohamad rafi from the movie Kohinoor.
Raga Bihag was up next, presented in the Agra Kirana styles, with a nom tom alap in the dhrupad style that is unique to the Agra gharana followed by a bandish in the Kirana gharana style. This was followed by a bandish in Raga Maru Bihag.
Raga Shudh Kalyan was presented first in the Carnatic style followed by the Hindustani version with an alap and two traditional pieces. Some other Ragas showcased included Purva Kalyan, Purvi and Sohoni that brought the program to a close.
Overall, it was a fun filled evening with an array of singers and musicians, some who do this for a living and several others as a hobby even while balancing homes, children, senior careers and international travel – all bound by their love for music and quest for bringing it to the larger world and audience.
By Anupama Puranik
