Raagmala

one of my favourites: Raag Maarwa

http://www.sawf.org/audio/marwa/snr_maligoura.ram

one of my favourites: Raag Maarwa

http://www.sawf.org/audio/marwa/snr_maligoura.ram

One of my favourites: Raag Marwa

http://www.sawf.org/audio/marwa/snr_maligoura.ram

For lovers of Bhairavi `jo keh eik sada suhagan raag hai` I am presenting two audio clips:

The first one about which Parrikar writes, ``Our odyssey concludes with that supreme Bhairavi rendition of our age, among the finest pieces of recorded music in human history. K.L. Saigal`s performance has earned the imprimatur and unvarnished admiration of the greatest classical masters, and it has for decades seized the imagination of every lay Indian. This recording from STREET SINGER (1938) is one of the reasons why, in Bertrand Russell`s words, ``the human race is worth preserving.`` Upon Saigal-sahab`s bAbul morA no human voice can improve - ``

http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhairavi/saigal_babulmora.ram

The second one is a commentary of Pandit Ramrang on Raag Bhairavi. Pandit Ramashreya Jha ``Ramrang`` is arguably the greatest scholar and composer of Indian Classical Music of the present age -

http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhairavi/jha_bhairavispeak.ram

Good stuff. Really would like to see more examples of each of these ragas in perhaps some of the more known songs (thanks sunligh).

Raag Desi is different from Raag Des. The classical number from the movie Baiju Bawra - ``Aaj gaavat man mero`` is in Desi. It is the competition scene between Tansen and Baiju Bawra and the background singers are Ustad Amir Khan and Pt. D.V. Paluskar.

Bhairavi:
Kaa karu sajani, aaye na baalam: Swami

I think its some kind of mishra bhairavi..neverthless a beautifully shot song.
I saw it as a kid, and was totally sold on the richness of the concept of a small mahifil, with paan eating etc. in a bengali home setting. Even shabana managed to look good ;-)

else hindi movies always show slightly vulgar kotha scenes with drunks fondling a bag of money while listening/watching a nauch girl. (i like that too, but this was very different).

Thanks alot both to sunlight, #11 and taimurkhan, #10.

I look forward to following interactions on this post.

taimurkhan
This is really nice.

One good way to understand the various ragas is through film songs based on them. http://www.asavari.org/songs.html is a web site with lots of songs (including ghazals) and the ragas they are based on. I am giving some of my favorites below:

Aiman (called Kalyan in the above site):
Chandansa badan chanchal chitavan - Saraswati Chandra

Miyan Ki Malhar:
Bole re papihara - Guddi

Hamir:
Madhuban men radhika nache re - Kohinoor

Jaunpuri:
Jaye to jayen kahan samjhe ga kaun yahan - Taxi Driver

There are some other ragas not mentioned above which have some beautiful film songs:

Shivranjani:
O mere sanam - Sangam

Bhairavi:
Kaa karu sajani, aaye na baalam: Swami
This is a delightful song because one can hear it sung in two completely different ways by two masters. This is a composition of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, his own recording is easily available and showcases his inimitable, fast, emotional and romantic style. The same song has been sung by the South Indian Maestro Yesudas in the film Swami in a very restrained and comparitively serious style which still sounds very sad and appealing.

Thank you for your comments and questions. Desi is different from Des. What I have tried to do here is to give a personal interpretation of the thoughts and sentiments I associate with certain Raags - just as various people associate different things with springtime, love, grief, and so on. These verses are my own and have not been set to music - they should rather be read simply as a poem in free verse with iambs intermingling with cadenced verse.

Examples:

1. ``Earthy passion in the cradle of perfect joy –`` (cadenced verse)

2. ``With trees ensnared in dusky wisps – `` (iambs - an iambic tetrameter in this case).

Please do listen to these raags - and others, of course - on the net if possible. Here are two very relevant sites:

http://www.sawf.org/bin/tips.dll/getcontributions?user=Sawf&contributor=Rajan+P.+Parrikar&class=EZine&subclass=EZine&pn=Contributors

www.musicindiaonline.com

Best wishes,
Taimur.

The following are beautiful real audio clips from Rajan Parriakar`s pages on SAWF. The clips are mostly very brief and capture the essence of each raag - far better than a mere poem in english by a mere mortal could.

Miyan Malhar: http://www.sawf.org/audio/malhar/amirkhan_miyanm.ram

Jaunpuri: http://www.sawf.org/audio/asavari/bismillah_jaunpuri.ram

Sarang: http://www.sawf.org/audio/sarang/bhimsen_sarang.ram

Shankara: http://www.sawf.org/audio/shankara/gundechas.ram

Jaijaivanti: http://www.sawf.org/audio/des/bgak_jaijaivanti.ram

Gunkali: http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhairav/jha_gunkali_druta.ram

Ramkali: http://www.sawf.org/audio/bhairav/paluskar_ramkali.ram

Multani: http://www.sawf.org/audio/multani/bismillah_multani.ram

Hamir: http://www.sawf.org/audio/hameer/salamat.ram

Shree: http://www.sawf.org/audio/shree/dvpaluskar.ram

Aiman: http://www.sawf.org/audio/kalyan/kishori.ram

Desi: http://www.sawf.org/audio/desi/dvpaluskar.ram

#2:
Good couplet.

Tainur Khan:
Could this be:

A verse composition of 12 different Raags. [or better still:about?]

If not , then could you please write these verses with accents , inflections, and melodies of
known compositions?

A good idea, though, to begin a discussion on this subject.

I did not write this. I have no idea why it has been attributed to me. The only article i wrote was the Kashmir one.

-Taimur

Can you try and post the complete audio of the composition !! What is the original language of the literal composition? What is the taal? Is it a ``Ramrang`` composition??