More on Zeelaf.
Ramesh Gangolli
Coda on Zeelaf.
After my recent posting on this raga, I reread the section in
Bhatkhande's vol.4 of the Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati concerning Zeelaf.
Here are some pieces of information I found to be interesting.
Possible antecedents to Zeelaf :
1. Somnath Pandit refers (in his work Ragavibodha) to a raga by the name of
"zuluf" which he describes as a mixture of the melas Karnaatgouda and
Bhairav. His Karnaatgouda is substantially the same as what we would today
refer to as the Kaanadaa anga. Thus it would appear that the zuluf he refers
to is close to the aasaavari thaat zeelaf of today.
2. A raaga by the name of Juzaahuli (also referred to as Bhujaskaavali), is
mentined in the southern work Raagalakshana. It is mentioned there that the
mela is Gaayakpriya. If one proceeds in accordance with the Katapayaadi
convention, the swaras of this mela, when interpreted in consistency with
today's terminology would be : S r G M P d D S^ (note that both dhaivatas
occur). Bhatkhande remarks that upto the komal dhaivata, these are the
swaras of Bhairav, and one of the then (circa 1915-20) prevalent versions
of Zeelaf takes the Bhairav notes in the poorvaanga, with weak or omitted
rishabha r.
After some discussion of these possible historical antecedents,
Bhatkhande turns to the Zeelaf that he has observed in the musical practice of
his time. Here is a summary of his conclusions :
a) Some singers render Zeelaf in a predominantly Bhairav anga. They treat
the rishabha r weakly, using it only in avaroha, or even go so far as to
omit it altogether. These singers will use the nishaada in the Bhairav
manner, i.e. the shuddha nishaada N. In this vein, Bhatkhande gives the
sargam of a composition in Jhaptaal, which he got from one of his teachers,
Mohammed Ali Khan of the Rampur court. (He was the Ustaad of the Nawab of
Rampur, Raja Nawab Ali Khan (sic)). This sargam with the complete
wording is given in his Kramik Pustak Maalikaa, Vol.4 where Zeelaf of
Bhairav thaat is dealt with. This is the composition I referred to in my
original posting as being beautiful, and about which I promised some further
talk. (I have learned it now, and will try it out in one of our practice
sessions one of these days). Rishabha is completely absent in this song,
and nishaada is quite weak, taken mainly as a grace note to dhaivata.
The waadee is madhyama. Samwaadee would be shadja.
b) He points out that thie above composition is really close to the raga
described as Juzaahuli, but omitting the shuddha dhaivata. He refers to the
tendency in the Hindustani tradition to avoid the juxtaposition of the
Komal and shuddha versions of the same swara, and suggests that this may
have led to the replacement of the shuddha dhaivata of Juzaahuli by the
nishhada instead, thus making its notes the same as what is referred to as
Zeelaf of Bhairav thaat now. He does not however insist that this
hypothesis is a sustainable by any evidence, and leaves it as a
speculation. A sargam of a composition in Jhaptaal is given, without the
words. The nishaada N as well as the rishabha r are both used unabashedly
in this composition.
c) He then gives the sargam of yet another composition in Jhaptaal, which
he heard from Muzaffar Khan of Delhi and from Kale Khan of the Agra
gharana, when they had visited Baroda. This uses the shuddha rishabha R,
the komal gaandhaara g, both dhaivatas, (the shuddha one is only used at
one place) and both nishaadas. The swaras used are thus : S R
g M P d D n N S^. Of course, the pairs d and D, n and N are not used
successively. The composition given, which he says is a taraanaa that he had
heard before once, very definitely has the Aasaavari
phraseology in its make-up. One could infer that this type of Zeelaf has the
following structure :
Aroha : ~n S g M P d N S^
Avaroha : S^ n d n P M g R S.
Waadee : ?
Samwaadee : ?
Bhatkhande remarks that when he quizzed those singers about the rules of
this raga, they simply said that they did not concern themselves with such
questions, and they learned it aurally without any discussion of the rules
of Zeelaf.
d) He goes on to give the sargam of a dhamaar. He says "Now I will tell you
about a type (prakaar) that has both the Bhairav and Aasaavari angas it. A
well-known singer by the name of Imdaad Khaan used to live in
our city nearly forty years ago. His brother Vilaayat Hussain Khaan taught
me this prakaar". (Clearly, this is not the Agra gharana ustaad Vilaayat
Hussain Khaan). The sargam of the dhamaar which is cited uses : S r G M P d
n N S^. It seems quite an intriguing composition, sort of like
Basant-Mukhaari with the addition of shuddha nishaada. It would be fun to
try it out.
e) Bhatkhande ends with a composition in the raga Devaranjanee, which is
pentatonic with the notes : S M P d N S^. He points out that in this raga,
the descent from M to S is often done with a meend, and so a shade of G
creeps in, making it close to Zeelaf of Bhairav thaat. Indeed, he says
"when I sang a song in this raga, some muslim singers who heard it said
that this was Zeelaf of Bhairav anga; I remember this incident clearly".
Phew! I did not realize what I was getting into when I started. Much longer
than I had expected! It is late at night, so this will have to await a final
edit before it is off on the newsnet.
P.S. (added later). Here it comes. Netters, please let me know if I got
carried away. As I read this over in order to edit it, I felt that it might
be a bit too technical. I cast it to the netwaves anyway; after all, as
they say, a committed performer is a fellow who will sing for an audience of
one! But please react so I can be guided for the future.
--
Ramesh Gangolli (gang...@math.washington.edu)
Dept. of Mathematics GN-50
University of Washington
Seattle WA 98195.
Rajan Parrikar
>
<a superb discourse on raga Zeelaf deleted>
That was quite edifying, Ramesh-ji.
A few random thoughts not directly related to the preceding
discussion:
- I distinctly recall, in a book long ago (sorry, don't remember
the details of the book - it was in Marathi and had to be read and
translated to me by my mother...by Sane-Guruji perhaps?) a note on
Darbaari Kanada. It was then that I first heard it being referred to
as Raga Karnaat (which Ramesh mentions).
- My request for some "non-classical" references in Raga Gorakh Kalyan
has gone un-attended.
- Ramesh, could we have an impromptu compilation of Ragas employing
just four notes? At this late hour, I can think of three right away:
Hindol, Malashree, Dhavalashree.
Rajan Parrikar
==============
email: parr...@mimicad.colorado.edu
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