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The Marwa Matrix (Page 1 of 2) By Rajan P. Parrikar Rajan P. Parrikar is a recognized expert on Indian Classical music and shares his knowledge freely with those interested in the subject. He has written a series of articles on Classical Indian Music some of which have been archived on Sawf. Click here to read Rajan's earlier articles.

Rajan P. Parrikar.

Namashkar.

The mention of Marwa insists on stirring halcyon memories of many youthful evenings spent walking on the Miramar beach in Panjim, lugging Amir Khan's stupendous opus in the corridors of my mind. The shimmering expanse of the Arabian Sea in all its vespertine glory made for an inspiring visual and, lost in this intoxicating ambience, I occasionally allowed myself the fantasy of imagining what it might be like to feel and see Raga from the Himalayan heights of an Amir Khan. I wondered if that great man, too, had likened himself to "a boy playing on the sea-shore, diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of Raga lay all undiscovered before me." Upon conclusion of this reverie, I would walk home, eat a hearty meal and hit the sack. Those were the days when we took pride & joy in leisure. How times have changed. Today, people are at pains to tell us how "busy" their lives are. It is as if they have been charged with re-designing God's floor plan for the universe.

In this installment devoted to the Marwa group, we will examine its familiar members and unveil some of the lesser known affiliates. A companion feature to follow soon will address the denizens of the "Poorvi Province."

Throughout this discussion, M = shuddha and m = teevra madhyam.

The Marwa-Pooriya-Sohani axis

Marwa is among the ten thATs enumerated by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and is characterized by the swara set, S r G m P D N, corresponding to the Carnatic melakartA Gamanasrama. The flagship rAga of this thAT bears commandeers it name but omits the pancham altogether. The same holds true for two other principals of this group - Pooriya and Sohani. The three rAgas maintain a collegial but contrasting melodic dynamic. It is therefore instructive to view them together under the same lens. Here is a marvelous example of the magic of Raga music - the evolution of differences originating from the same scale set through the agency of chalan bheda (melodic contours), ucchAraNa bheda (intonation of swara) and vAdi bheda (relative emphasis of swara). Facility in this sport demands cultivation of appropriate habits of mind and ceaseless reflection. But the game is well worth the candle for the Ananda it brings to the sAdhaka.

The main idea in Raga Marwa is the overwhelming dominance of r and D. This is an apavAda since no consonance exists between r and D; it must have been a genius who sensed the germ of an idea here and brought it to melodic fruition. The definitive tonal sentences are:

D' N' r G r, N' D', m' D' S N' r, S
The points of note in this poorvAnga phrase are the nyAsa on rishab and dhaivat, the langhan (skipping) of the S in both Arohi and avarohi directions, and the alpatva (smallness/weakness) of N.

D, m G r G m D, D m G r
The madhya saptak movement. Marwa typically employs 'khaDA' swaras - a direct and unwavering lagAv, shorn of delicacies and meeNDs (the situation is different in the scale-congruent Raaga Pooriya).

D N r" N D, m D N D S"
The uttarAnga marker where the nishAd is often skipped en route to the shaDaj (Pooriya too shares this lakshaNA, but not Sohani).

That was Marwa in a nutshell. The symbiotic relationship between r and D is affective. Both the swaras are full-blown nyAsa locations, yet bound to one another by an invisible cord: the pull of one is strongly felt when you visit the other.

We now prise open Raga Pooriya, an old rAga with a swara locus identical to Marwa. Most popular accounts distinguish the two based on their vAdi-samvAdi pair: r-D in Marwa and G-N in Pooriya. This is only part of the story. Pooriya employs delicate gestures and special sangatis through which the G-N dominance is realized. It is not simply a matter of switching the vAdi-samvAdi pair. The lakshaNAs of Pooriya are:

N' r G, G r N' D' N', N' m' D' S
The gandhAr is advanced, both r and D recede.

G m D N, N (N)m, G; m D-G m G
This tonal phrase represents Pooriya's prANa and packs several key lakshaNAs: the dominance of G, the N-m coupling, and the D-G sangata. There is a measure of subtlety to the intonation soon to be superbly illustrated by Pandit Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang."

G m D N D S", N r" N (N)m, G, m D-G m G, r S
Although the N is very strong in Pooriya, it is, like Marwa, often skipped en route to the S. The swoop from N to m is delicious; sometimes it works in the reverse direction as well (N'-m).

< -- Pandit Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang"

Next in line, Raga Sohani. The first-order difference here is that instead of the N'-r-G chalan employed in Marwa and Pooriya, the rishab is skipped and we have a N'-S-G type of chalan. And unlike the other two, Sohani's strength is vested in D and G. Then there are the special gestures. Sohani is an uttarAnga-pradhAna rAga, its essence apprehended in the following sentence:

G m D N S", S"r" S"r" N S" N D, N D-G m G
The nishAd is a required conduit to the tAr S". As in Pooriya, the D-G sangati is also observed but the attack is markedly different. In Sohani the D-G prayoga is initiated from N whereas in Pooriya it is typically lauched from m. Keen attention to these minutiae is vital and cuts to the core of Raga music. Great musicians instinctively recognize such bheda-bhAva even though they may not have the requisite expository skills or the vocabulary to verbalize them.

Everything I have written above is superfluous, for Jha-sahab has magnificently distilled the essence of these three rAgas and packaged it into 6 masterful minutes. We are privileged that someone of his background and calibre is still among the living, and fortunate that the technology now exists for bringing him to a worldwide audience.

Pandit Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang" on the Marwa-Pooriya-Sohani axis -

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

With that propaedeutic to build upon, it is time get our feet wet.

Raga Marwa

Lata Mangeshkar -- >

Lata Mangeshkar's beauty from SAAZ AUR AAWAAZ (1966)www.sawf.org/audio composed by Naushad belongs to the ranks of the finest 'light' numbers based in this rAga: pAyaliyA bANwari bAje -

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

This quasi-Marwa has been beautifully composed by K. Mahavir. Mahavir Kathak comes from a long line of accomplished classical musicians. His father, Mahadev Prasad Kathak, was associated with Swami Hari Vallabh (after whom the famous annual sammelan in Jullunder takes its name). Lata Mangeshkar: sAnjha bhayi ghara AjA -

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

In Jha-sahab's exquisite suite, the vilambit bandish set in Roopaka at once reveals the cut of Marwa's jib: joga le Aye tuma Udho-

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

At the beginning of the next clip Jha-sahab explains the textual import, then sketches his elegantly designed cheez:

gyAna ki tori bAta sunata lAge neeka nA
mere to mana ramey Madhava meN
japa-tapa-sAdhana-guna arpana Shyam charana
'Ramrang' dhyAna dharana ki chalana nA hamana meN

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

< -- Vasantrao Deshpande

When Vasantrao Deshpande passed away, Bhimsen declared that Marwa had died in Maharashtra. Vasantrao's winsome phirat and spontaneous delivery make for a memorable Marwa -

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

In this mehfil recording, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan wields an old Khayal (documented by Bhatkhande) which places the sam on the mandra teevra madhyam: nanadiyA chavAva -

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

Aftab-e-Mousiqui Faiyyaz Khan's certitude in intonation expresses well the khaDA swaras of Marwa as witness this unpublished excerpt -

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

Anant Manohar Joshi (Antubuwa), a disciple of Balkrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar (the man responsible for bringing Khayal gAyaki to Maharashtra), trained several musicians of eminence among them his son, Gajananrao Joshi. This recording of archival value has an Avartana or two of Antubuwa's Khayalnuma in Jhoomra tAla followed by a traditional cheez attributed to 'Rangile', bolana bina kabahuN (Vasantrao sings this in druta Ektala, so documented by Bhatkhande) -

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

The popular bandish piyA more anata des gai'lavA is put through the Atrauli-Jaipur drill by Mallikarjun Mansur -

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

Bhimsen Joshi blends a soupçon of Raga Shree (mP->r) into Marwa to create a haunting effect. There's a cameo for the komal dhaivat (1:56 into the clip) -

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

Jitendra Abhisheki -- >

Jagannathbuwa Purohit "Gunidas" conceived this explosive cheez, delivered here by his disciple Jitendra Abhisheki: ho guniyana mela -

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

Abdul Karim Khan's blazing Tarana -

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

< -- Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze

Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze's dégagé manner is always a great pleasure -

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

Amir Khan -- >

The fleet lined up thus far has been of a very high quality. Now please wipe your slate clean and jettison those Marwas. Of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson remarked, "He was not of an age, but for all time." The same is true of Amir Khan's Marwa. It is not merely a performance. It is the ne plus ultra in meditation. What Einstein's General Theory is to scientific thought Amir Khan's Marwa is to musical thought. We must make do with but a snatch here. The traditional piyA more anata des gai'lava in vilambit Jhoomra, followed by guru bina gyAna nA pAve -

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

Raga Pooriya

Also known as Raat-ki-Pooriya, Pooriya's lakshANAs emerge resplendent in Bhimsen Joshi (the reader is encouraged to recall Jha-sahab's discourse on the subject). Right away in the opening movement we have the elongated N and the N-m sangati, eventually culminating in the sam via N'-r-N'-m'. Both the compositions are traditional: Sadarang's vilambit pyAre de gara lAgi and the druta cheez, ghaDiyAN ginata jAta -

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

Behold the D-G sangati embedded in GmD-Gm G within the first 30 seconds of this Amir Khan classic. Bhatkhande has documented this Khayal: yAre maulA yalA yalalA le -

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

We have come to expect coups de theatre from Omkarnath Thakur and he doesn't disappoint. A traditional composition favoured by the Gwalior musicians, sughara banA -

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

D.V. Paluskar plies the selfsame sughara banA -

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

Incidently, Bhatkhande's documented notation for sughara banA shows the sam to be on the rishab but the subsequent movement converges on the mandra nishAd. Recall that Amir Khan's druta cheez in Marwa places its sam on the mandra nishAd but the thrust points to the dhaivat. Now, if ethnopimp A saw Bhatkhande (remember that no ethnopimp has the ability and knowledge to understand much less critique Bhatkhande) he would conclude that the Chaturpandit didn't know his Pooriya from Marwa and publish this 'finding' in an ethnoporn rag. Then, ethnopimp B will refer to A's ejaculate and in a display of tautological genius declare it to be "seminal." Both A and B will then be awarded tenure at their respective schools.

For the uninitiated, the ethnopimp calls himself "ethnomusicologist" and is found loitering in the music departments of universities in Western Europe, America and Canada. The racist term "ethnomusicology" (when did you last hear the music of Beethoven studied under "ethnomusicology"?) refers to the field infested by these worthless parasites masquerading as academics. There are PhD theses, careers and tenure to be had for the asking, for the benevolent Lord expressly created the "third-world" cultures to be a font of rich pastureland for the vultures inhabiting the humanities departments in the West.

Apropos of Indian music, the ethnopimp had once fancied himself as the intermediary between the Ustads and the lay Indian masses, arrogating for himself the onerous task (the proverbial "white man's burden") of explaining to the Indians their own music. Never mind that the titmouse wouldn't recognize swara even if it bit off his (or her) buttcheeks. Alas, things haven't gone quite the way the ethnopimp had hoped. The newer generation of Indians decided it wasn't going to play possum while the ethnopimp peddled his balderdash. Today, the ethnopimp lies in ruins, his family jewels shattered and his head combed at will by even the kindergarten-going Indian child. En passant, as a pleasurable pastime, I propose that Indians fund a 'research' grant to study the ethnopimps and the twaddle they have excreted all these years. A few ethnopimps could be rounded up to be our lab rats. At the end of this study (which ought not to take long - the combined 'knowledge' of all ethnopimps put together can be had for a penny and you'll get some change back) the poseurs can be officially certified for the sewer rats that they are.

Reverting to the topic at hand, Bhatkhande's discourse on Pooriya contains a rare and telling display of emotion. Recall that his magnum opus Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati is in the form of a Socratic dialogue between pupil and master. At one point, Panditji digresses (my translation cannot quite convey the same effect as that in Marathi): ...Many years ago I heard this rAga from a very famous Musalman gAyak. Believe it or not, for a few moments I was lost to the world. You will not be able to imagine the magnitude of the effect that his music wrought on my person. Because you have not had that kind of anubhava yet and because you have yet to acquire the requisite depth in this field...

Bhatkhande must be made compulsory reading for anyone setting out to write anything on Hindustani music. His work is, to put it mildly, "a feast of reason and flow of soul." Finally, he was not a "musicologist" as is commonly cited by the uneducated. Bhatkhande's work encompassed Music. He was a musician, a vAggeyakAra, a shAstrakAra and a vidwAn all rolled into one. He was also a visionary (that much molested word of the dotcom era) with a deep social conscience. "Musicologist" is suggestive of a relatively low-level activity. There is no need at all to seek recourse to inadequate foreign terminology, to describe a phenomenon the Western world is unfamiliar with, when several Indian terms serve the purpose admirably.

Vilayat Hussain Khan, accompanied by his son Younus Hussain Khan: pyAra de gara lAge -

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

A vigorous nom-tom inaugurates this rendition of 'Aftab-e-Mausiqui' Faiyyaz Khan. His colophon "Prempiya" is heard in the antarA of the bandish: maiN kara Ayi piyA sanga -

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

An unpublished selection of Mallikarjun Mansur completes the Pooriya tableau -

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

Raga Sohani

The sprightly Sohani is an instant pleaser much like that buxom leotard-wrapped babe at your local gym that you lust after while pretending to work out (by way of comparison, think of Marwa as your mother-in-law: solid, ponderous and seriously unfunny). The Carnatic equivalent of Sohani is Hamsananda.

The number from SUVARNA SUNDARI (1957) set to music by Adi Narayana Rao is a perennial favourite. Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi: kuhu kuhu bole koyaliyA -

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

Another old classic, from SANGEET SAMRAT TANSEN (1962), tuned by S.N. Tripathi for Mukesh: jhoomti chali havA -

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

From GRIHASTHI (1963), music by Ravi, Asha Bhonsle's voice: jeevana jyota jale -

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

That much of Sohani's activity is uttarAnga-based should be evident by now. Next, Jha-sahab sketches a traditional cheez: bAri bAri jA'oon Murari -

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

The movie MUGHAL-E-AAZAM (1960) carried a rendition by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, patterned after the well-known thumri, prema ki mAri qatAra. BGAK's immensively popular classic: prema jogana bana -

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

On the heels of prema ki mAri qatAra, an unpublished Punjabi bandish -

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

< -- Bade Ghulam Ali Khan blesses Lata Mangeshkar

Kumar Gandharva's thoroughly fetching composition is delivered with his customary verve: ranga nA DAro Shyamji -

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

Bismillah Khan, the swarasmith par excellence, spins his magic -

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

We come to the final entry in the Sohani catalogue, the sankeerNa Raga Sohani-Pancham. As the name suggests, the rAga blends elements of Raga Pancham (see On Raga Bhatiyar) with those of Sohani. The motivated reader should be able to figure out the dynamic. Vilayat Hussain Khan "Pranpiya": sakhi mori -

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

Raga Bibhas (Marwa thAT)

Bibhas has cast in its lot not with one but with three thATs - Bhairav, Poorvi and Marwa, respectively. Even within each thAT it has spun off subsidiary versions. The auDav-jAti Bibhas of the Marwa-thAT - S r G P D - is the most popular. D and r dominate the proceedings; the pancham is another important nyAsa location. Oftentimes, the r is rendered durbal or even langhan alpatva (skipped) in ArohAtmaka prayogas. An AvirbhAva of Deshkar obtains in this formulation. The following sentence conveys the essence:

G P D, D, P G r, S (P)G P, D, P (S")D S" r" S, D, P

Occasionally the kaNs of m and N imparted cause no injury to the rAga bhAva.

'Chaturpandit' Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande -- >

Jitendra Abhisheki sings the very popular composition, He Narahara Narayana. It is seldom mentioned that this is a composition of Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande. Panditji's original Dhrupad composition has been adapted by Khayaliyas. Abhisheki stays textually true (almost!) to Bhatkhande whose colophon 'chatura' is cleverly wedged in the antarA -

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

The lakshaNAs are clearly enunciated in this segment of Shruti Sadolikar. Attention is drawn to the strong dhaivat and the langhan of rishab in Arohi sanchAris -

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

Kishori Amonkar's Bibhas is exemplary for its sensitivity and subtlety in intonation. In this clip, Kishori singles out the dhaivat for her shruti-play, toying with it, not explicitly advancing the komal dhaivat but creating a deliberate AbhAs through delicate meeNDs. Watch out for the first instance at 0.05 into the clip. Narahari Narayana, this time in roopak tAla -

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

A splendid, albeit maverick, Bibhas by Kesarbai Kerkar concludes this section. Catch the distinct teevra madhyam in the mandra saptak in S (D')m' D' S at 0:17. Then comes a startling shuddha rishab in the tAr saptak, viz., G"R"S" at around 0:53. There are more deliberate occurrences of this shuddha rishab in the tAns following. This bandish, morA re, is also heard in renditions of the Poorvi-thAT Bibhas -

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

< -- Kesarbai Kerkar with Dhondutai Kulkarni

Raga Jait

Jait has a degree of overlap with Bibhas but there are compelling differences. Consider the following chalan:

S G P G P, P DG P, P D P S", S" r" S", S"->P, P D G P, P G r S

P has now advanced whereas D is in the back seat. The beauty of Raga! The clusters P DG P and P D P S", and the S"-P swoop are Jait's signposts.

Jha-sahab gives the chalan and then sketches a composition -

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

Vasantrao Deshpande: kalasha jyoti lAgi -

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

The Atrauli-Jaipur version is bi-rishab (a variant documented by (who else?) Bhatkhande). Observe the first instance of the shuddha rishab at around 0:18 in Mallikarjun Mansur's hitherto unpublished excerpt -

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

The Rampur-Sahaswan vocalist Hafeez Ahmed Khan makes his maiden appearance on SAWF -

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

Ravi Shankar -

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

These five preceding rAgas form the core from which several other Marwa-thAT melodies derive their genetic material. A study of these fundamentals is sufficient to understand the rest of the menagerie which is, in the main, a consequence of an appropriate combination of the foregoing melodic behaviors.

SankeerNa and joD rAgas have a limited compass. Their lakshaNAs are usually embedded in a heritage composition from which the development is extrapolated. The asthAi and antarA hold the key to these rAgas (hence the term "asthAi-antare ke rAga"). A quick sampler of prachalit and aprachalita rAgas of the Marwa-thAT is presented on the next page. It is assumed that the reader has by now developed a fair degree of familiarity with the driving lakshaNAs. The pace will be brisk and the commentary minimal. Ragas with their Marwa thAT affiliation explicity cited in the header have a counterpart in the Poorvi-thAT (sometimes merely a shared name with no structural commonality) and are addressed in the respective article. In instances where the rAga carries both the dhaivats, one has to draw on ad hoc considerations before assigning the thAT. Bhatkhande often appealed to the rAga's internal structure to decide on the thAT in these instances.

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