khayal ang Vs dhrupad ang
Samir Dhume
Hi.
I have two questions:
1. I've been reading about how some instrumental musicians
have 'khayal ang gayaki' and some others have 'dhrupad ang gayaki'.
Could someone point to some pieces (preferably on the net, or
easily available) that could illustrate the difference.
2. I've also read/heard of Bhimsen Joshi's recording of
'Babul Mora'. I presume this is the same as the famous film
song sung by Saigal. Could someone please direct me to the
recording?
Thanks,
samir
Chith Eshwaran
musicians -
Hari Prasad Chaurasia is a good example of dhrupad ang. He would start with
a long, slow, free flowing alaap; it is not a composition, and has no tabla
accompaniment. It would sometimes be followed by a "jode" - a rhythmic
presentation, still no tabla accompaniment or composition. These two forms
uniquely distinguish the dhrupad style. Then would follow a medium laya
composition in a taal like Roopak, Jhap, Matt etc; followed by a faster drut
composition, both with tabla accompaniment.
Another flautist, Ronu Majumdar, or violinist N. Rajam would be good
examples of khayal ang instrumental musicians. The performance starts
immediately (after the first minute or so) with a vilambit (slow and
extended) composition, which is set to a taal, and therefore has tabla
accompaniment. Though the term alaap is also used to describe this part of
the performance, it is bound by the constraints of taal and by the structure
of the composition, unlike the dhrupad style alaap. A faster drut
composition is then followed; this drut part of khayal style is not much
different to the drut in the dhrupad style.
Recordings of these musicians are widely available. They are also on the mp3
site. Note that not all of Chaurasia's performances are dhrupad ang, he has
recorded a few excellent khayal ang performances as well.
- Chith Eshwaran
"Samir Dhume" <sdh...@sheepskin.cs.indiana.edu> wrote in message
news:96pcms$jml$1...@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu...
...
> 1. I've been reading about how some instrumental musicians
> have 'khayal ang gayaki' and some others have 'dhrupad ang gayaki'.
> Could someone point to some pieces (preferably on the net, or
> easily available) that could illustrate the difference.
[Rest deleted]
buh...@ecn.ab.ca
being used by the instrumentalist. chith outlines the major differences in
presentation well. a couple of details:
gamaka: the types of gamak and meend used in dhrupad tend to be slower
than the khayal gamak. khayal gamaks can get quite ornate.
compositions: traditional khayal and dhrupad vocal genres have their own
compositions. dhrupad compositions are typically set in pakhawaj taals
(like chautaal and sultaal), and traditionally had four parts (sthayi,
antara, abhog, sanchari). khayal compositions are accompanied by tabla,
with the slow composition often being in ektaal. khayals generally only
have two parts( sthayi, antara). often (though certainly not always) a
dhrupad composition will be faster than a vilambit khayal, but slower than
a drut khayal.
my impression is that the two gharanas best known for adopting dhrupad and
khayal ang to instrumental music (maihari and imdadkhani respectively)
have mostly used new compositions rather than using traditional dhrupads
and khayals, or for that matter using traditional masitkhani and rezakhani
instrumental comopsitions. but i could be way off on that - corrections
appreciated.
hope this helps
ajb
Chith Eshwaran (chith_e...@hp.com) wrote:
: On the subject of dhrupad ang gayaki and khayal ang gayaki by instrumental
: musicians -
: - Chith Eshwaran
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Buhr buh...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
Savour the Irony! bu...@infinity.gmcc.ab.ca
http://freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~buhrger
Sajjad Khaliq
: my impression is that the two gharanas best known for adopting dhrupad and
: khayal ang to instrumental music (maihari and imdadkhani respectively)
You are saying Imdad-Khani (Vilayat Khan) gharana do not play dhrupad ang?
What about Vilayat Khan's full and free-flowing alaps of which there are
several CD examples,or Imrat Khan's alap/jor's on Surbahar?
doogar rajib
> You are saying Imdad-Khani (Vilayat Khan) gharana do not play dhrupad ang?
> What about Vilayat Khan's full and free-flowing alaps of which there are
> several CD examples,or Imrat Khan's alap/jor's on Surbahar?
My 2c ... recalling as always that these opinions are worth what you paid for them:
[Now follows an incantation of pedigree in effort to obtain legitimacy
to offer opinions that is become obligatory in rmic, especially in any
discussion pertaining to the old trinity (AAK,RS,VK):]
Having listened to a lot of VK over many years and most recently about
a dozen VK releases old and new in the last three weeks, and making a
sweeping generalization acorss numerous performances and acknowledging
that I have heard but an insignificant fraction of the music of the
great man and an even smaller fraction of the combined output of his
illustrious ancestors who go back to the beginning of time and the
creation of the solar system, I humbly beg to submit that:
It is alap, wihout percussion (unlike some khyal-ang alap which starts
off with tal). True. It is dhrupad-ang alap. Not true.
Why?
Raga development (badhat) pattersn are crucially different in the two
styles of alap: the relationship between the notes is not established
in as much detail in a khyal-ang alap as it would be in a true
dhrupad-ang alap. In the khyal-ang alap, the basic tonal material is
laid out, a melodic line of attack is established and then various
kinds of ornamentation are demonstrated (usually to splendid effect
one should note).
The difference may be analogous to that between presenting a
theoretical model and an empirical analysis: in the former,
foundations are stressed to a considerable extent and then the main
result is presented as a logical consequence of turning the
threoretical structure loose on some problem (of greater or lesser
relevance). This is dhrupad. In the empirical analysis, foundations
are taken for granted and one says look what I can do with this theory
... this is khayal.
[Now some defensive back-foot work on a drying wicket ...]
Neither is intrinsically superior and people can have tastes for one
over the other without denying the legitimacy of either.
VK is a master musician (as are RSAAKMGYGYFWMFW -- RS, AAK, your guru,
my guru, your favorite of the week, my favorite of the week) but his
presentations do not have the temperament of a dhrupadangin.
To say all of this is not to make any suggestion of disparagement.
In sum, in my opinion to deny that VK is a dhrupadangin is accurate
but lacks any intent to and in fact does him no disrespect.
{and now that that is done how about a lofted cover drive to give the
other side a sporting chance at my wicket ... i.e some flame bait]
For some strange reason, some folks (usually uninformed in my
experience) believe dhrupad is somehow superior to khyal. In the last
two centuries dhrupad forms were looked to as having presented the
correct raga-rupa because dhrupadiyas had less licence to innovate
(you could also call it "liberate the beauty that an individual artist
might perceive in rearranging the melodic material"). Perhaps due to
early and mid-20th-century Indic and British taboos about
miscegenation, the idea was formed somehow that because dhrupad
material was more disciplined about preserving the original concept of
the raga rupa, it was more "pure" ergo more desirable. To some extent
this is true, for instance with the majorly beloved ragas, one does
not want some second-rate jackass screwing around with Shree, Darbari,
Bilashkhani or Miyan-ki-Malhar. But there's room for plenty of fun
and games and wit by doing other things and taking licence with
raga-rupa as delineated by tradition need not be a heinous crime. And
anyone who has heard BGAK and has any doubts about the sublime
possibilities inherent in even the most showy and flashy khayal
singing should go boil their approximation of a head. Khyal style has
its own beauty and elegance and dhrupad has its own. Comparisons of
superiority are simply inadequate and inappropriate -- its like
comparing the Buland Darwaza to a Kangra Valley painting.
again, my 2c for which you paid nothing ...
best,
rajib
--
Rajib Doogar www.cba.uiuc.edu/doogar