#darbarfestival | The Ustad brought his rudra veena’s low tones to London for a rare unaccompanied concert in 2019, superbly presenting undiluted Dagarvani Dhrupad.

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Learn more about the music:

“The evening concluded with a half-hour version of Raag Kaunsi Kanada. Khayal-infused renditions tend to imbue the raga with a sharp passion and longing, but Dhrupad always retains its restraint. Even the Ustad’s faster passages felt unclustered - his technique, though formidable, never seems to cloud his aesthetic sensibilities. He has been known to approvingly quote the words of a fellow beenkar: “We cannot compromise with the instrument’s rituals even if we die of hunger”. The word Dhrupad, after all, translates from Sanskrit as 'permanent verse' or 'immovable pillar'.

Read the rest of this extended interview with Bahauddin here, covering this concert:
https://www.darbar.org/article/ustad-bahauddin-dagar-interview/22

Bahauddin is a torchbearer of the Dagarvani Dhrupad, known for its measured approach to some of India’s most refined musical forms. Some trace the Dagar family lineage back to court musicians of the 16th century, and Bahauddin first studied under his esteemed father Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.

He describes the relationship: “My father was as gentle a teacher as he was a father. He never pushed me towards learning or practice...His method of teaching was subtle and mysterious...he would give a student a few key phrases that captured its soul. Then he would ask him to work on them until the spirit of the raga revealed itself. And, we did find that once we had mastered the key to a raga, the whole raga opened itself up effortlessly when we sat down to play.”

Bahauddin’s veena style is marked by an unobtrusive eloquence, honed through years of detailed study. His technique, though formidable, never clouds his aesthetic sensibility, which draws the listener into dhrupad’s contemplative world of microbending and measured melodic elaboration.

Kaunsi Kanada’s modern form is often said to blend of two ragas - Malkauns on the way up, and Darbari Kanada on the way down. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, with the two sides interacting to create a complex, introspective mood. Sarodi Rahul Bhattacharya describes his reaction to learning it: “This raga is like meeting a sophisticated personality, who is gracious, emotionally open and balanced...you can have a conversation with this raga going over your past experiences as well as what lies ahead...Kaunsi Kanada’s colours span an infinite kaleidoscope”.

The aroha [ascent] and avroh [descent] approximate to nSgmdnS and SndPmgRS respectively. Melodies are often heavily ornamented with meend [glides], gamak [vibrato], and khatka [rapid note flourishes], and tend to resolve with the characteristic phrase gmRS. An older version of the form also incorporates ideas from Raag Bageshri.

Recorded for Darbar in March 2019, at London’s Purcell Room:
-Ustad Bahauddin Dagar (rudra veena)
-Freny Pelvy (tanpura)

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