Hello Everyone!
Sorry, had some troubles last few weeks, but I am back! Last episode, (the stream was a mess) I did go a bit into Hindustani music. Mainly all I did was play a little bit of Pandit Jasraj’s performances. One big takeaway from Hindustani music is that it is not as focused on the lyrics as Carnatic music. But it is HIGHLY technical. I do not know much about Hindustani, which makes it difficult to talk about with confidence, but I have a little bit of exposure. For this episode (the recording unfortunately did not work this time) I played two large compositions of the Dhrupad styles’ Rudra Veena, performed by two brothers that have preserved classical Rudra Veena for the past 14 generations. These are the brothers Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariuddin Dagar. The large song I played was one where the song has three phases; Alap, Jor, and Jhala. Slowly as the song builds, the pulse of the song intensifies through the three phases. Hindustani music by its nature is very meditative, though you certainly can find more energetic and lively songs too. This one song took up most of the show’s runtime however. But yes, next week I hope to highlight some more lively Hindustani music, with Kabir Das’s compositions, which are my favorite. Until next time!
(P.S The attached image is Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, one of the brothers I played. And of course what he is holding is the Rudra Veena.)
