NAVYA C
Raagas of the
The beauty of
living in the planet
Earth is the presence of
different climates on different
times of the year. Every
season has a beauty, texture and
individuality of its own and brings
a lovely shade to every time of the
year. With the ongoing season of spring-
we witness the sounds of songbirds,
bloom of trees, leaves and flowers on
every street-especially in India. Perhaps
this is the reason why many local calendars
of India start off with new year during this
season. Spring means new, sprouting and
coming back to the life with sunny days,
after a long spree of winter , cold and despair.
Spring also is a favorite time for animals which
come out of their cozy hibernation during the
winter and relish us with their presence.
Indian Classical Music has the credit of not just
raagas for specific times of the day, but also
for each season of the year. There are raagas
for monsoon, raagas for summer, raagas for
autumn and of course raagas for spring. The
scales of spring ragas are placed in such a
way that one can feel the novelty, bloom
and freshness in their combination. For
example, Carnatic Raaga Madhyamavati
is one of such beautiful spring raagas
and its close Hindustani counterpart
Brundavana Saaranga is another
such example. The Hindustani
raagas such as Bahar also
are amazingly performed
during the spring
times
which have utter
positivity, and magical
fervor to it. One can
actually visualize blue skies,
bright pathways with flowers,
greenery and lush magic while we
listen to an aalap in this raaga.
SPRING
The sublime raag Alhaiya Bilawal is
another amazing spring raaga which
brings out freshness in deeper meanings.
However, to get a multiple shade of the
freshness of spring, Raaga Hindol has
peculiar combination of notes which unleashes
the tinge in a different manner. For all those
who love melancholy very deeply, Raag Sohini
(Hamsanandi in Carnatic Music) is another
wonderful option to explore. These raagas
are perfect to listen during the breezy spring
nights where the skies are empty, with less
clouds and look like a star studded painting.
The nights of spring are usually quite full of
longing, the wait for rains and all these poetic
feelings are greatly expressed by such raags.
With everyone of us locked down this year’s
spring because of ongoing COVID-19 crisis,
we all are blessed with lot of personal space
and time which gives us the ample time
to explore such deep features of music.
The raagas of spring would surely
bring a bright smile on our faces
and a yearning of hope for better
and healthier tomorrow!
The
Score Magazine
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