Shivaranjani & Lagan Gandhar
imppio
In ~1964 Sawaai Gandharv, Pune; Kumar Gandharva presented an excellent
rendition of new raaga; Lagan Gaandhaara. This was more or less
Shivaranjani with addition of Shuddha Gandhaara, taking both gaandhaaras
together in sliding manner. (Similar to two nishads in Malhar). The mood
created by this melody was haunting, sombre and with deep pathos.
I have not heard this raaga after that any time. Can Arnab, Rajan, Warren,
Nani or any other could shed some light on this. If somebody could contact
Vilas Inamdar in Pune, he may be able to provide information.
cheers,
imppio
Rajan P. Parrikar
Raga LaganGandhar (lagan gandhAra) was conceived by Kumar Gandharva;
the rAga was very dear to him. Its svaroopa is very different from
Shivaranjani. The notes employed are: S g G P D n. In Arohi sanchAris
the shuddha rishab and komal nishAd are dropped. The exploration of
the shrutis around the komal gandhAr and the komal nishAd defines
the rAga's animus. It is not simply a chromatic slide across the
two gandhArs. There is a deliberate method to the behaviour within
the g-G space. To wit, the komal gandhAr is first intoned, then
augmented a shade and then again lowered: g-> g+ -> g. It is likewise
with the komal nishAd. The shuddha gandhAr intonation is relatively
bold and unambiguous. The haunting feeling originates from the
uncertainty imparted to the komal gandhAr/nishAd. The rAga is a
connoisseur's delight and the kind of shruti play indulged in takes
some doing. The vilambit kHayAl, "sudha nA rahi mohe," presented
in the clip below was composed by Kumar-ji (not to be confused with
the healer currently shagging America's happiness). The first clear
instance of the aforementioned shruti play occurs ~ 0:52 on the komal
gandhAr and ~ 1:31 on the komal nishAd.
http://www.sawf.prohosting.com/rajan/kg_lagangandhar.ram
Warm regards,
r
naniwadekar
imppio <imp...@yahoo.com> wrote -
>
> In ~1964 Sawaai Gandharv, Pune; Kumar Gandharva presented an excellent
> rendition of new raaga; Lagan Gaandhaara.
>
>
A few more comments from my side.
In early 1980s some Kumar fan was claiming that for hundreds of
years, only 12 notes were known to music. But that 'Kumar the
revolutionary' had added a new swara, 'lagan gandhaar', falling
between komal and shuddh gandhaar, and used it in the raag named
after this new swara. Bhimsen was asked to comment on this
claim in one interview of his. I don't remember what he said
in reply. Do Rajan, Warren or others want to comment on this?
Was this claim touted with any persistence? And had it provoked
lot of debate?
KG used to sing it quite often in his concerts.
He has released an LP with 'lagan gandhaar' on one side and
Patmanjiri (or Panch-manjiri) on the other. Whereas Vasantrao
had once sung Patmanjiri (a combo of 5 raagas) built around
Maru Bihag, KG's 5 raag-combo is built around Bhatiyar. This
LP (released in early 1970s, IIRC) should be available at Shri
Ketkar's music shop near Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune.
- dn
naniwadekar
Rajan :
In view of your comments about Kumar Gandharva's shruti play
in 'lagan gandhaar', I would like to ask whether this type of
handling various shades of a swara has been attempted by others.
Mansur's name comes to mind immediately. During one of his
Todi recitals, he looked at a connoisseur and said : 'watch how I
bring in gandhar with different shades'.
Another obvious candidate would be Lata whose mastery
over microtones is apparent even to listeners without
swar-cognition, and is probably without equal even among
classical vocalists.
- dn
Praful Kelkar
do a whole write up (or two or three) on Kumarji's new creations? His
genius is unmatched in recent times.
A beautifl play on shrutis by Z M Dagar in todi - his work on kR.
Another is Kumarji's Shree (baithak series) the kRe right at the start
there are beautiful two shrutis of kR.
Speaking of Kumarji's accumen and genius - he was often asked to tune
the taanpura for other giants. Once Bhimsenji's taanpura was being
tuned by Kumarji and BJ thought tuning was perfect at one point and
Kumarji replied "komal gandharchi shruti barobar nahi aahe" and
continued tuning for a few more seconds .... the raag was Multani at
Dadar Matunga circle in bombay.
Praful
"naniwadekar" <nan...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<9qcib3$mii6j$1...@ID-75735.news.dfncis.de>...