Perpetually Romantic - Raag Bihag

We take a peek into the romantic world of Bihäg...

The raag-system in Hindustani music uses predominantly flat (shuddha) notes in matrices assigned to the night zone. We entered the enchanting realm of night-raags with Yaman. We also had an encounter with Raag Maru-Bihäg. We will now take a closer look at Raag Bihäg today.

Bihäg is a night melody, generally sung in the first quadrant of night and belongs to the Biläwal Thät. It uses the complete octave of shuddha notes with a touch of teevra madhyam (sharp fourth note) in descent, typically in the ‘pa-ma-ga-Ma-ga-Sä’ phrase. This separates Bihäg from other raag-matrices using the same set of notes. These notes evoke a romantic mood and offer tremendous potential for creative expression and expansive treatment to a performer and; hence, Bihäg has been an immensely popular raags.

Recordings from the 78-rpm era give us a taste of the talent and finesse achieved by the revered seniors and one finds numerous gramophone discs presenting Bihäg. ‘Gän-Hirä’ Hiräbäi Barodekar, Ustäd Abdul Karim Khän, Mushtäq Hussein Khän, Bade Ghuläm Ali Khän and other greats have given Bihäg an expansive treatment and composed a number of enchanting bandishes in this raag. Pt Vasanträo Deshpände, Pt Kumär Gandharva, Pt Jasräj and younger artists like Smt Ashwini Bhide-Deshpände, Räm Deshpände, in recent years, have also given due justice to Bihäg in their performances and recordings. Late Vasanträo’s trademark rendition ‘Nä chhedo nä’ in Bihäg (composed by Pt. Kumär Gandharv but sung exclusively by Vasanträo) merits a special mention in the context of its layakäri potential.

Vidushi Smt. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande has also recorded a fabulous Bihäg in contemporary artists. Her rendition of jod 'Lat ulazi sulazä jä balmä' makes for a very special listening experience with tän-patterns and äläpi fitting the mood of this traditional composition.

Pt. Ravi Shankar’s early recording with tabla-accompaniment by late Ustäd Ahmedjän Thirakwa is a masterpiece in Bihäg. Ustäd Bismilläh Khän’s Bihäg is equally popular and widely available.

The list of compositions based on this matrix in popular music is vast. Latä Mangeshkar’s ‘Tere sur aur mere geet’ (Film: Goonj Uthi Shehnai) stands out as the top recall. However, late KL Saigal’s ‘Ae dil-e-beqarär zoom’ (Film: Shähjehän) is equally sweet and still hugely popular. Relatively lesser-known composers like Kanu Roy (‘Boliye surilee boliyän’, Film: Grih-Pravesh) or the unsung maestro late Jaidev (‘Koi gätä mein so jätä’, Film: Aäläp) also made perfect use of Bihäg’s magic in their work. A song like ‘Yeh kyä jageh hai doston’ (Film: Umräo Jän) exhibits composer Khayyäm’s mastery over Bihäg.

Nätya-sangeet once again leads the inventory in Maräthi compositions based on Bihäg. Bäl Gandharva’s ‘Mama ätmä gamalä’ (Play: Swayamwar) was sung once again by Pt Kumär Gandharva as a tribute to the old master and still remains much admired nätyageet. But the honour for the most imaginative composition in Raag Pat-Bihäg (a sister-melody of Bihäg) in recent years goes to Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki. ‘Yä bhawanätil geet puräne’ from ‘Katyär Kälajät Ghusali’ had the added advantage of Vasanträo’s electrifying gäyaki and is considered to be a landmark composition. But the true signature of Bihäg, so to say; came from Late Anand Modak, a revered name in Marathi music. His composition of renowned poet N. D. Mahanor's verse for 'Preet-Rang', a stage show of compilation of love-poems in Marathi, takes the top spot for my favorite compositions in Bihäg. Sung by Madhuri Purandare, here's the track that celebrates the true mood of Bihäg...

A Veritable Treasure Trove - Raag Yaman On the Lighter Side...

Raag Yaman has given us innumerable songs that have stood the test of time and changing public tastes.  We look at some of the truly 'timeless' numbers from the Hindi Film-world in this post!

Having said that Rāg Yaman is one of the most versatile matrices capable of expressing a range of emotions, we can find numerous songs in the Hindi film and non-film domain. Practically every singer / composer has given us a few gems in Yaman and Yaman-Kalyān, but the melody-queen Latā Mangeshkar still reigns supreme in the domain.

We begin our day with Latā-didi’s ‘Shree Rāmchandra Krupālu’ in the early hours and drift off to sleep late in the night with ‘Beeti nā bitāyi rainä’ (Film: 'Parichay' with Bhupendra). The range of songs in-between is simply amazing! Consider just a few – ‘Sansārse bhāge phirate ho’ (Film: Chitralekha), ‘Lau lagāti’ (Film: Bhābhi ki Chudiyān), ‘Jeevan dor tumhi sang’ and ‘Tum gagan ke chandramā’ (both from Film: Sati Sāvitri), ‘Kinu sang khelu holi’ (Meerabāi’s devotional song), ‘Jāre badarā bairi jā’ (Film: Bahānā), ‘Jiyā le gayo ji’ (Film: Anpadh), ‘Mausam hai äshikānä’ (Film: Pākizāh), ‘Chhupālo yun dil mein pyār’ (Film: Mamtā with Hemant Kumar), ‘Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi’ (Film: Barsāt Ki Rāt) and a host of others truly memorable ones!

Other artists from film-world are not far behind. Talat Mehmood, with his velvety voice, has given us ‘Aānsoo samazke kyoon mujhe’ (Film: Chhāyā) and ‘Seene mein sulagate hai aramān’ (Film: Tarānā with Latā) while Mukesh has left behind ‘Tum bin jeevan’ (Film: Anitā), ‘Sārangā teri yād mein’ (Film: Sārangā), ‘Chandan sā badan’ (Film: Saraswatichandra) and ‘Bhooli hui yādon’ (Film: Sanjog) for posterity. Mohammed Rafi, the voice with an incredible range, sang ‘Man re tu kāhe na’ (Film: Chitralekhā), ‘Lagtā nahin hein dil merā’ (Film: Lāl Quilā), ‘Ehsān terā hogā mujhpar’ (Film: Junglee) and ‘Abhi na jāo chhodkar’ (Film: Hum Dono) in Rāg Yaman.

Late KL Saigal, the immortal singer, is also best remembered for ‘Mein kyā jānoo kyā jādoo hai’ (Film: Zindagi), ‘Diyā jalāo’ (Film: Sangeet Samrāt Tānsen) and ‘Do nainā matwāle’ (Film: Meri Bahen / aka My Sister) sung in Yaman-matrix.

Even Kishor Kumar, not particularly known for his classical leanings, has given us ‘Woh shām kuchh ajeeb thi’ (Film: Khāmoshi) and ‘Aāp ke anurodhpe’ (Film: Anurodh) based on this matrix. Yesudās, the southern superstar, is still best remembered for ‘Jab deep jale ānā’ (Film: Chitchor) from his forays in the Hindi film world. And who can forget veteran Mannā-dā  with Ashā Bhosale when they belt out effortless tāns in ‘Re man sur mein gā’ (Film: Lāl Patthar)...!

The younger generation also feels gravitated to the irresistible magic of Yaman’s scale and the evidence can be found in compositions like ‘Aāye ho meri jindagimein’ (Film: Rājā Hindustāni), ‘Ghar se nikalate hi’ (Film: Pāpā Kehte Hai) and ‘Sochenge tumhe pyär’ (Film: Deewānā). Shankar Mahādevan’s ‘Breathless’ composed in Rāg Yaman stayed atop the best-seller charts for a considerable time.

But the icing on the cake, also my personal favourite, in Yaman is ‘Ranjish hi sahi’ sung by Mehdi Hasan, the ghazal-maestro. Oh gosh, what a wealth of compositions and we have not even scratched the surface...!

To round off this lovely riot of songs, here's a 'fun-medley' of some evergreen Yaman songs for your pleasure – a true treasure trove indeed!!!  We will round-off this Yaman-trek with the next post especially devoted to Marathi compositions in this pleasure-domain...