E3: Reflections: re Kalyan

We reflect on our discussions over the course of the first season. In this pilot season, we covered many nuanced topics largely in the space of South Asian traditional music touching on concepts in theory, presentation, and art in general. In this reflections episode, we put those various, seemingly disparate ideas in perspective and try and tie it all together.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Arun Dravid. We continue our discussion with Dr. Arun Dravid, a venerated musician of the Jaipur-Atrauli style of Khayal and discuss concepts and the philosophy of performance of Khayal, the role of the Guru, and the responsibilities of the Disciple, extending our discussion to his recent work in the film of the same name: The Disciple.Dr. Arun Dravid is a senior exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He began his early training under the tutelage of Abdul Majid Khan ji, a disciple of Alladiya Khan and later, became the first formal disciple of Kishori Amonkar ji. Arunji’s music is a balance of the bhaava-dominant nature of his guru’s music with the structural beauty that is characteristic of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He is also engaged in imparting his wisdom of the gharana’s gayaki to the next generation. Recently, Dr. Dravid has also acted and sung in a supporting role for the film, The Disciple, now streaming on Netflix.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Arun Dravid. We look at the fluid concepts of raga and composition in Hindustani Classical Khayal. Keeping in perspective the goals or the higher pursuits, we discuss how the framework of Khayal is not etched in stone but rather subject to personal and social biases. We discuss these topics with Dr. Arun Dravid, a venerated musician of the Jaipur-Atrauli style of Khayal.Dr. Arun Dravid is a senior exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He began his early training under the tutelage of Abdul Majid Khan ji, a disciple of Alladiya Khan and later, became the first formal disciple of Kishori Amonkar ji. Arunji’s music is a balance of the bhaava-dominant nature of his guru’s music with the structural beauty that is characteristic of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He is also engaged in imparting his wisdom of the gharana’s gayaki to the next generation. Recently, Dr. Dravid has also acted and sung in a supporting role for the film, The Disciple, now streaming on Netflix.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

We reflect on our discussions of pace in episodes 7 and 8 with Smt. Shubhangi Sakhalkar, a Hindustani Classical musician and Guru. "Pace" being a difficult concept to get our heads around, we motivate our discussion with a setup introduced in most Physics 101 courses: a car traveling down a road with some ideas of velocity, acceleration, friction, and other classical mechanics concepts thrown in there. We look at the hypothetical car's movement as a template to discuss pace in khayal with some extensions to some other mediums of art.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Shubhangi Sakhalkar. Continuing our conversation with Smt. Shubhangi Sakhalkar Ji, a Hindustani musician and Guru, we discuss internalization of material and presentation of khayal. Specifically, we look at how practice (riyaz) and presentation differ. Furthermore, we discuss how to properly listen to music in the Hindustani khayal genre.Shubhangi Ji is a Hindustani musician and guru in the Bay Area. She is a disciple of Dr. Prabha Atre and Smt. Padma Talwalkar. She is also the founder of the Intonation foundation, an organization founded in 2018 dedicated to promoting Hindustani Classical Music (https://intonationfoundation.org/). Furthermore, she organizes the Amir Khan Music Festival annually. In the past few years, she has organized and taught a masterclass series for advanced vocal studies that can be found on her YouTube page. Lastly, she has recently released an album, Serenity, that can be found on Apple Music and Spotify. More information can be found on her artist profile page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sakhalkar.shubhangi/).Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Shubhangi Sakhalkar. We look at the concept of pace in Hindustani Khayal. We discuss how pace is separate from speed and rather tied to the state of mind and discuss how khayal can be an exercise in storytelling. We interview Smt. Shubhangi Sakhalkar, a Hindustani Classical musician and guru.Shubhangi Ji is a Hindustani musician and guru in the Bay Area. She is a disciple of Dr. Prabha Atre and Smt. Padma Talwalkar. She is also the founder of the Intonation foundation, an organization founded in 2018 dedicated to promoting Hindustani Classical Music (https://intonationfoundation.org/). Furthermore, she organizes the Amir Khan Music Festival annually. In the past few years, she has organized and taught a masterclass series for advanced vocal studies that can be found on her YouTube page. Lastly, she has recently released an album, Serenity, that can be found on Apple Music and Spotify. More information can be found on her artist profile page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sakhalkar.shubhangi/).Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

We reflect on our discussions on creativity in Indian Classical Music in episodes 4 and 5 with Sri. Ragavan Manian, a Carnatic Classical musician and Guru. We look at improvising in the raga with aalap. How does aalap serve the composition to be presented? And can our music be presented with aalap as the focus without the specter of composition? We discuss this and other topics relevant to creativity via the medium of aalap.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Ragavan Manian.We continue our discussion of creativity in Indian Classical Music with Sri. Ragavan Manian, a Carnatic Classical musician and Guru. We discuss the purpose of aalap and lyrics in this form of art and how one uses of aalap in presentation of raga. We conclude our series on Elemental creativity by putting a pause on our discussions with Ragavan Ji, Naturally, there shall be further explorations of aalap and creativity in general in this form of classical music in the near future vis-a-vis interview or stand-alone solo video/podcast content. Please stay tuned!Ragavan Ji is a Carnatic musician and Guru residing in Chennai, India. He is a disciple of "Padma Vibhushan" Dr. Balamurali Krishna. His other Gurus are "Pallavi" T. Narasimhachari and his aunt Tenkasi P. Rajammal. Additionally, he plays over ten different musical instruments, writes, composes and is a hi-tech pro. An artist profile can be found at: www.facebook.com/RagavanMusic/Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

With guest: Ragavan Manian.We introduce the elements upon which one can create in Carnatic Classical Music, and generally speaking, Indian Classical Music at large. We interview Sri. Ragavan Manian, a Carnatic Classical musician and guru to explore a bit of some elemental forces in our music that drive creativity.Ragavan Ji is a Carnatic musician and guru residing in Chennai, India. He is a disciple of "Padma Vibhushan" Dr. Balamurali Krishna. His other Gurus are "Pallavi" T. Narasimhachari and his aunt Tenkasi P. Rajammal. Additionally, he plays over ten different musical instruments, writes, composes and is a hi-tech pro. An artist profile can be found at: www.facebook.com/RagavanMusic/Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.

We reflect on our discussions of Kalyan in episodes 1 and 2 with Sri. Nachiketa Yakkundi, a Hindustani Classical musician and Guru. Looking at phrases common in some core ragas best representing Kalyan, we piece together a walk-through of the spirit of Kalyan.Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.