Monday, Oct 29 2001
On Raga Charukeshi
Rajan P. ParrikarRajan 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He has written a series of articles on Classical Indian Music which have been archived on Sawf. Click here to read Rajan's earlier articles.
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Rajan P. Parrikar in Lisboa, Portugal (1991)
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Namashkar.
Some weeks ago there was a request on the Usenet newsgroup,
rec.music.indian.classical, for details on Raga Charukeshi, a relatively
recent import into Hindustani music from the Carnatic paramparA. This
abstract is filed in response to that query. The discussion will be short
and fast and our treatment wholly confined to the manner in which
the scale is treated in the Hindustani system. Since the rAga is a fairly
recent entrant it is still in a state of gestation in the Hindustani mind.
Which means there is no one dominant interpretation. Four different
viewpoints will be considered to initiate the exercise of drawing out
points of convergence and divergence in the respective melodic
behaviours. I intend to remark only on a few highlights; the remainder
of the work is left to the excited, agile reader to figure out.
A serious comparative study of the treatment of common congruent
scales in the Hindustani and Carnatic systems is highly desirable and
remains to be done. The very few attempts hitherto, when they have not
been undertaken by the thoroughly incompetent, have been at the mercy
of the utterly unremarkable.
Raga Charukeshi is a janya of the 26th melakartA of the same name with
the following set (M=shuddha madhyam): S R G M P d n.
Faced with a 'new' scale set, there are several ways to go about
constructing a rAga. The Hindustani instinct is to view the
constituent poorvAnga and uttarAnga portions of the scale in
terms of familiar entities. Thus, for instance, the poorvAnga cluster,
S R G M, suggests itself as a staging ground for Nat-like behaviour.
That would entail positing a powerful madhyam with concomitant
dilution of the value of gandhAr (eg. Jha). An alternative is to advance
the gandhAr to evolve a different svaroopa (eg. Ravi Shankar,
Vijay Raghav Rao et al). Similarly, the uttarAnga opportunities
immediately sought by the Hindustani mind are Asavari (and through
it, Darbari-like behaviour) and Bhairavi. The strength and importance
of the dhaivat (nyAsa swara) seems to have been appreciated by all. The
vault in avarohi sangatis - S, (n')d' - brings in a fleeting AvirbhAva of Darbari but since the full Darbari machinery is not employed the
promise remains unfulfilled. Bridging the poorvAnga-uttarAnga interface
is yet another familiar phrase fruitfully exploited: the definitive Bhairav
cluster - G M d, d, P. These are some of the favoured lakshaNAs to look for in the Hindustani accounts of Charukeshi.
We have here an especially fortunate set of clips that provide us a
snapshot of the rAga's evolution as the scale passes through the
creative filters of two great vAggeyakArAs and Amir Khan. A
clip of Vijay Raghav Rao ropes in Ravi Shankar's interpretation
of the rAga. But first, we warm up to the scale through a sequence
of 'light' compositions in this quick run-up.
Lata Mangeshkar's verses from the Bhagvad Geeta (adhyAya 9-12) are
tuned by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Lata is swara personified -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/lata_bhagvadgita.ram
The composer duo, Kalyanji-Anandji, were fond of the Charukeshi
scale and has put it to good use in a few songs. Here, we present a
couple of them. From HIMALAYA KI GOD MEIN (1965), Lata Mangeshkar:
ek tu jo milA -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/lata_ektujo.ram
Mukesh and Lata in MERE HUMSAFAR (1970): kisi rAha meiN -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/latamukesh_merehumsafar.ram
The very popular Shankar-Jaikishen number from ARZOO (1965)
by Lata: bedardi bAlamA -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/lata_bedardi.ram
Charukeshi-like elements are also found in the ethnic music of Western
Europe, as witness this ditty by Shri Franz Schubert from his
Impromptu (First piece "Allegro Molto Moderato" from his Op 90) -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/schubert.ram
Final confirmation that the West owes its musical ideas to India
comes from the Russian Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov: "Procession of the
Sardaar," from his "Caucasian Sketches for Orchestra." This is an
NPR recording from Dec 1966, by the Philadelphia Symphony,
Eugene Ormandy conducting -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/mii.ram
< -- Amir Khan
From the elementary-level efforts of Western ethnic musicians we
once again soar to the Himalayan heights of Indian music as we enter the
classical theatre. Amir Khan's manner of dhaivatic approach and attack
stands out. There is the R G M R S type of movement, also heard in
Nat Bhairav; and the Bhairav-esque G M d, P. Take note of the
n'SRSd' and d'n'R S Darbari chhAyAs not to mention the bright, mukta madhyam.
The composition is Amir Khan's own. The ustAd was closely associated
with the Vallabhacharya sAmpradAya (pushTi mArg) and dedicated
this bandish to Vallabhacharya's son 'GusaiN.' For more, see the
Hindi biography, "Ustad Amir Khan," by Ibrahim Ali (2000), Classical Publishing Company, New Delhi: lAja rakho tuma mori GussaiyyAN -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/amirkhan_charukeshi.ram
K.G. Ginde -- >
S.N. Ratanjankar's conception is strong on the pancham. The advance is
through S (G)R G, M P. Another standout is the SRGMPMGR cluster.
The Darbaric n'SRSd' is also heard. Special sanchAris - GMPdn, d, P and
G M n d, P - reach out to the komal nishAd and retreat. Ratanjankar was
intimately familiar with the conceptual foundations as well as the practice
of Carnatic music and one wonders if his treatment retains any of the
original Carnatic flavour. K.G. Ginde delivers the bandish, set in Tilwada
tAla: naiyyA paRi majhdhAr -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/ginde_charukeshi.ram
Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang" has composed a whole suite in Charukeshi
and the two compositions adduced here are masterpieces. Jha-sahab
places a premium on the madhyam. There are Nat-like phrases such as
SR RG GM, in the poorvAngA as also the Bhairav effect via G M d, P.
The pancham is skipped occasionally in avarohi sangatis (d M). The dhaivat, pancham and madhyam are evidently dominant.
< -- Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang"
The lyrics for his suite are drawn from the famous prasanga of Shri
Rama's encounter with the boatman in The Ramayana. The vilambit
places its sam on the mandra dhaivat (like Amir Khan does). The
composition is exquisite; the mAtrA of the tAla and the swara are
closely coupled as they should in a well-conceived bandish: Raghuvara
rAjA naiyyA nA chaDhA'ooN -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/jha_charukeshi_vil.ram
The mukhDA of the druta cheez has a quirk that is commented on by
Jha-sahab in the clip. He demonstrates the intuitive way of doing it
and then the way it actually is (off by a beat). These are magnificent compositions and they ought to be adopted in wider performance
practice by vocalists: hamari tumari Rajan -
Vijay Raghav Rao -- >
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/jha_charukeshi_drutaektala.ram
We round off this excursion with a beautiful exposition on the flute by
Vijay Raghav Rao. The premium in the poorvAnga is on the gandhAr
here -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/charukeshi/vrr_charukeshi.ram
Acknowledgements
I thank Sir Vish Krishnan for his assistance in compiling the 'light' pieces.
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