Chandrakauns

[Ramesh Gangolli]

Dear fellow netters,

Some time ago there was short discussion of Chandrakauns in this
network. Shortly thereafter, I had to think of Raga Chandrakauns
in another context. I was also urged to post an article about it on the
net. I succumbed, and here it is.

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Explanation of notation :
Capitals refer to Shuddha swaras.
Lower case letters refer to flat (Komal) swaras
A tilde ~ preceding a letter signifies the next lower octave (mandra).
A carat ^ following a letter signifies the next higher octave (taar).

RAGA CHANDRAKAUNS

There are three types of Chandrakauns.

1. "OLD" CHANDRAKAUNS (OF BAGESHREE ANGA).

The older works on music (e.g.) speak of Chandrakauns of
Bageshree Anga. (This seems to have been accepted as _the_
Chandrakauns until the appearance of the Gwalior style
Chandrakauns (See below)). This raga is of the Kafi thaat.
Here is its structure

Vadi : M
Samvadi : S
Aroha : S M, g M D n S^
Avaroha : S^ n D M, g M g S

The structure is an admixture of Malkauns in the lower
tetrachord and Bageshree in the upper tetrachord. In performance,
it resembles Bageshree quite a lot, but a skillful artist would
emphasize the Malkauns anga, mindful of the fact that the Raga
being sung is not in fact Bageshree. The close resemblance to
Bageshree has promted some musicians to give this Raga the name
Auduva Bageshree.

Some phraseology :

S M g S, ~n S ~D ~n S, ~M ~D ~n S, S ~n ~D, ~n S;

~n S M g S, M g M g S, S g M, g M D n S^;

S^ n S^ n D M g, M, g M D n S^; n S^ M^ g^ S^;

n S^ n, D M g M g S;

Bhatkhande's book has a few compositions in this raga, but I
have not heard them used in performance by anybody. A composition of
S.N. Ratanjankar's, "Rahasa rasa batiyaan piyaaki" is well known,
and I have heard it sung by several musicians e.g. P. Karekar, Dinkar
Kaikini, K. G. Ginde, C.R. Vyas et al.

2. "MODERN" CHANDRAKAUNS

This is the type of Chandrakauns which is commonly sung
now. It differs from the Bageshree anga Chandrakauns in
using d (Komal Dhaivat) instead of D (Shuddha Dhaivat), and
N (Shuddha Nishad) instead of n (Komal Nishad). Thus this
type of Chandrakauns can also be thought of as being
obtained by simply sharpening the n to N in Raga Malkauns.
So far as I can tell, it came into usage in the early
part of this century. Bhatkhande's writings do not refer to
it at all. It seems to have been introduced by singers of The
Gwalior gharana as a mutation of Malkauns. Patwardhan's book
describes it as "a _modern_ version (aadhunik prakaar) of Malkauns"

According to some Gwalior singers, the Rishabh R is used
very sparingly in this raga, as indicated below. More than a very sparing
use of R would change this Raga into Kaishiki Ranjani, (a Raga
ascribed to Chidanand Nagarkar).

Vadi : M
Samvadi : S
Aroha : S g M d N S^, d N S^ R^ S^
Avaroha : S^ Nd M g S, ~N S ~d ~N S

(The notation Nd means that the d is sung with the grace
note, i.e. Kana Swara, of N)

Some phrases :

S ~Nd ~N S, S Mg S, ~d ~N S Mg Mg S ~N S;

S g M d Mg Mg,S g M N dN S^, S^ R^N S^;

S^ N d N d M, M N d N d M, g M g S;

There are many pretty compostions in this Raga, sung by
many singers today. " Mitawaa kita jaaya dahe", "Jobanaa re" etc
are some of the common ones. A particularly well crafted composition
is "Eri Maayi Piharawaa" by Chidaanand Nagarkar.

3. AGRA STYLE CHANDRAKAUNS.

The Agra gharana singers use yet another variety of
Chandrakauns, in which pronounced use is made of phrses from
Raga Malkauns, but in which both Pancham and Rishabh are
used. As sung by them, this Raga is very close to the
Raga Kounshi Kanada, or the Raga Sampurna Malkauns sung by
the Jaipur-Atrauli singers.

Vadi : d
Samvadi : S
Aroha : S g M d n S^
Avaroha : S^ n d P M g r S

Phrases :
Similar to Malkauns, but with prominence given to P in
descent, and to d everywhere.

S g S, S g M, g M d, M g M P MP, d P M, g M g S;

~n S, ~n S ~d ~n ~d ~P, ~M ~d ~n S;

S M, g M d, d P M, g M d n S^;

S^, n S^ n d P; P M g; M g r S.

Note the similarity to Kounshi Kanada. This phraseology,
augmented with a moderate use of the phrase : d n P would
make this Raga essentially Kounshi Kanada.

A beautiful composition in this Raga, which I acquired
from the Late Yunus Hussain Khan, is one by Daras Piya
(Mehboob Khan, the father-in-law of Faiyaz Khan), which
starts with the words " Begi aawan kara pyaar hamaar".

It is interesting to note that some singers of the same
gharana, e.g. those trained by Khadim Hussain Khan, sing the
very same Raga with R (Shuddha Rishabh) instead of r (Komal
Rishabh). Indeed the very same composition that I mentioned above is sung
by this branch of the Agra gharana with R (Shuddha Rishabh), while
the main stem of the Agra singers, (a stem now almost extinct) sing it
with r (komal rishabh)
--
Ramesh Gangolli (gang...@math.washington.edu)
Dept. of Mathematics GN-50
University of Washington
Seattle WA 98195.

[D Jayasimha]

Thanks, Ramesh for the detailed exposition on Chandrakauns. I have
a live recording of Hariprasad Chaurasia performing the "modern"
version of Chandrakauns (i.e, like malkauns but with the Ni sharp)- it
is exquisite and full of pathos.

I wonder why Chandrakauns has not been developed as a major raga in the
Carnatic tradition- I do not think it's because of the structural similarity
to Malkauns (Hindola)- Chandrakauns has a completely different character
compared to Hindola. Apart from a piece by Gopala Vittala which I have
heard the Swamiji of Subramanya Mutt sing and a composition of Balamurali,
I have not heard any other Carnatic compositions or detailed exposition of
Chandrakauns- any comments?

jayasimha (jay...@cis.ohio-state.edu)

[R. Jayakrishnan]

I remember the same topic being discussed on SCI about 3-4 years ago.

I have heard a small 4-line piece in this raga in an obscure
ragamalika movie song by Yesudas, which starts as `Mayamalavagoularagam
Mrudumaya Bhirava Ragam..'. Curiously, this was called `SooryaKauns'
in this song... (Has any of my Malayali friends heard that song ?..)

R. Jayakrishnan, Civil Engg, UC-Irvine.

PS: The song had 15 ragas including Neelambari, Latangi, Ravichandrika,
Jyotiswaroopini, Vibhaavari etc...

[yogen....@gmail.com]

Ramesh - Thanks for the explanation on the variations of Chandrakauns. I had heard a rendition of the Bageshree Anga Chandrakauns years ago on the radio, by Pandit Maniram. I would love to listen to it again. It goes like this:

Sthayi Drut: Piya bina cachhu nahi bhayen, haye more, Piya bina cachhu nahi bhayen ..

Swars: Mg M g S, S ~n g .. S S, ~D n S S, Mg M g S, S n g .. S S

Sthayi Antara swars: Mg M D n ^S ^S, n ^S n D, n ^S n ^S D M, ~n ~n S Mg M D n D .. m, Mg M g S.

If anyone finds a recording of this bandish by Pt. Maniram, could you please post here? It is beautiful!

[subh...@yahoo.com]

There is a recording of Malini Rajurkar in "bageshri ang" chandrakauns. It is on vinyl, but now must be available in other formats.

I really enjoy it.

Subhash

[ChristianAMR]

Another thread about Chandrakauns ( Carnatic- Kalyana Vasantham ... )
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.indian.classical/c/DkAuL-bQfww/m/zys0XwofCA8J

Origin
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.indian.classical/c/FJ-ieI6YHnY/m/XxSUKCdhu4EJ

[ChristianAMR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1dgE9wraQ - Sanjeev Abhyankar - tarana ( 3 against 4)

[Harshvardhan Singh]

On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 2:38:04 PM UTC+5:30, ChristianAMR wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1dgE9wraQ - Sanjeev Abhyankar - tarana ( 3 against 4)

I have heard the Agra Gharana Chandrakauns by Arun Kashalkar. I liked his haunting voice and the wordings.
Inspite of his age he has a good command of taans and taals.
Harshvardhan Singh
Kota( Raj ) India