Brooklyn Raga Massive Presents Hindustani Solo Cello at Jalopy Theatre and School of Music
I had a blast performing a set of solo hindustani music with my friend and tabla virtuoso Mir Naqibul Islam as the featured artist on one of Brooklyn Raga Massive's weekly events . I included raga Durga, a thumri in raag Mishra Kafi, two compositions from Natya Sangeet and concluded with Raag Bhairavi.
PROGRAM
- 'Raga Durga' A Bandesh in Japtaal and a faster one in Teentall- This raga is associated with the Hindu goddess Durga. Traditionally, the time for this raga is late evening to midnight. It has the qualities of brightness, innocence and purity. It always reminds me of the hills. It is pentatonic scale.
- 'Piya To Manat Nahi' A Thumri in Raag Mishra Kafi Taal Deepchandi
- 'Ghei Chand Makrand' - Marathi Natya Sangeet A 19th century marathi opera, this form of drama combines prose as well as poetry in form of songs to convey a story.
घेई छंद, मकरंद, प्रिय हा मिलिंद
मधुसेवनानंद स्वच्छंद, हा धुंद
मिटता कमलदल होई बंदी भृंग;
परि सोडिना, ध्यास, गुंजनात दंग
The first two lines describe a honey-bee trying the extract honey from a lotus flower. It gets so engrossed with the pleasure that it gets from consuming the nectar that in this process, forgets that it needs to get out of the lotus flower before sunset.
- Raag Bhairavi - This raag is very powerful and filled with devotion and compassion. Bhairavi is actually performed early in the morning in a peaceful, serious and occasionally sad mood. Traditionally Bhairavi is used as the last item of a program, for its exceptional detail of sentiments and also for its broad tonal arrangement.
