Indian concert notes do not usually print the names of the
items which the musicians will perform. The performers often
choose the ragas according to their mood, or the inspiration
of the moment, season or time of day. This spontaneity is
asked: "what is a raga?" we are left with a host
of different answers. The first, of course is "the improvised
pieces that Indian musicians play". Another, strictly
technical, defines a raga as a cross between a music composition
and a scale. A more poetic definition is "the melody
which haunts you." Each raga has a set of rules, a pattern
for ascending, descending, beginning, ending and resting,
a king note, a minister note, a sub minister note, a heart,
a mood, and an enemy note. Imaginative musicians create melodic
and rhythmic combinations that seem to pour forth effortlessly
as they color the mind with the bright tones of the raga.
Performances usually begin with an alap, a
meditative extended improvisation without a fixed rhythm.
This may be followed by jor and jhala, in which a pulse is
introduced and the tempo increases in speed. In the next section
the vilambit gat (traditional composition) starts, and the
tabla player begins. At this point the two musicians take
turns with their improvisations, with the tabla player mimicking
or amplifying the ideas of the instrumentalist. The next two
sections, known as fast gat and jhala, move with an increasingly
fast tempo, ending with a final climax of a tihai, the traditional
form of a catchy phrase repeated three times and ending on
the first beat of the rhythmic cycle.
Ragas in the later part of the performance are
called "light classical" or thumari. They are more
romantic, less rule-bound, changeable, emotional and delicate.
Light ragas should be full of intricate ornament, poignant
feeling and charm. Musicians who are especially good in thumari
are much admired.
- Daisy Paradis