Vakulabharanam

Rāga related discussions
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Enna_Solven
Posts: 827
Joined: 18 Jan 2008, 02:45

Post by Enna_Solven »

I searched forum posts but could not get any hits on this ragam.

I love Sikkil Gurucharan's rendering of this ragam in his Ramayanam CD: E Ramuni Nammithino, especially the swara singing portion. It is so well done.

This is the only song I have in this ragam. Please give me your suggestions for other 'must listen' songs/singers.

thanks.

wordpecker007
Posts: 46
Joined: 16 Mar 2008, 18:33

Post by wordpecker007 »

Dear Enna Solvenji,

Here is a sublime rendition of Vakulabharanam... shall we say it is a jewel in the crown of this concert. Composed by Maharaj Swati Thirunal, the song Saadhu Thada was tuned by his descendant Prince Rama Varma. It was sung by him during his concert in the Kuthiramalika festival that is held every year from January 6 to 12 in Thiruvananthapuram on the premises of the very palace where the great Maharaja used to stay. This song is one of my favourites and accompanying him are V.V. Subramaniam on the violin and B. Harikumar on the mridangam. This is one of my top favourite songs. I hope you enjoy it too. There is so much of sowkhyam and melody. Gives me peace and serenity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPOqB3rp ... annel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuP4IK8 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUdKku2 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3ZLmgaA ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px7CQzOA ... re=related

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by vasanthakokilam »

I put this together for some colleagues at work and for a WhatsApp group of friends and family. Thought you may enjoy as well as critique it. ( I may have shared parts of it before ). Please point out any mistakes in my attempt to bring all these songs under this framework

Perfectly understandable if you don't have time, patience or inclination to listen to all of them in full, but if you are interested in such things you can just sample them at the beginning and at random points :)
--
Many facets of the Raga/Scale Vakulabharanam. We start with the West, then to Middle East and finally to India. The melodic motif is itself familiar to a lot of people and is typically associated with the aesthetics of the Middle East music. A cousin to this in western classical genre (but not the same) is the Melodic Minor scale. They are related somewhat by aesthetics and not by musical scale. We will touch on that as well
==========================
Dick Dale, surf music, rocking to Misirilou
https://youtu.be/ZIU0RMV_II8
-------------------------------------
This is the traditional form of Misirilou from 1927
https://youtu.be/LW6qGy3RtwY
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Old Arabic version of Misirilou
https://youtu.be/n3tJ_XyBwyE
-------------------------------------
A Turkish song in this melodic template, listen to the instrumental part in the back half, reminiscent of how Carnatic music violinists improvise a raga
https://youtu.be/8ucCNoLtjno
-------------------------------------
A South Indian classical Composition, keeps that Middle East vibe in tact. Don't miss the improvisation by the violinist towards the end
https://youtu.be/6UySjRRk31g?t=259
-------------------------------------
A South Indian classical Composition, same Raga, different feel
https://youtu.be/PDSoNIoM3wo
-------------------------------------
This raga is used in Indian film songs a lot. Here is a hit song by Ilayaraja from a few decades back. You can hear the resemblance quite well
https://youtu.be/bj6pDgFe0xY
-------------------------------------
And finally Vakulabharanam's cousin, the Harmonic Minor scale. As stated above, these two are related somewhat by aesthetics and not by musical scale. Such closeness is also subjective especially when crossing genres.

A haunting song by Norah Jones
https://youtu.be/el9cknEVlc0

( A non musical connecting trivia is the singer Norah Jones is the daughter of Sitarist Lt. Pundit Ravi Shankar but otherwise no musical connection )

While you can hear the closeness of the aesthetics of Harmonic Minor with the above set of songs, the equivalent of Harmonic Minor in Indian raga ( Keeravani ) eschews the exotic aspects of Harmonic Minor to give it a more poignant aesthetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1h-sK2r2M&t=634
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LqfFy7zPSE&t=607
https://youtu.be/Dls2W5poFp4?t=543 ( In thanam, the relationship to the Harmonic Minor aesthetic is a bit more apparent )

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by Sachi_R »

VKM, great collection. Hats off. I shall savour it one bit at a time.
I have always felt Vakulabharanam is the name given in Sanskrit as the raga seems to be an import from the land of belly dancers, the Middle East. After all, Vakula=belly button, Abharan = jewel. Like this:
Image
In 1970's, I was chatting once with Dr. Emani SS, and he told me with a chuckle how he had used this "middle eastern" raga in an orchestral piece.

uday_shankar
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:37

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by uday_shankar »

vk
All three Misirilou pieces in the beginning are in Mayamalavagowla/Bhairav scale. There may be a occasional "kaishiki nishada" thrown in, but essentially they are all mayamalavagowla.

Also, Keeravani/harmonic minor and Vakulabharanam are actually related in an very intimate musical way...they are moorchanas of each other (if you start with keeravani's pa and go up it's scale, you'll get vakulabharanam...conversely if you start with vakulabharanam's ma and go up the scale you'll get keeravani). So in non-Indian situations, where the tonic is not so strong, and raga swaroopa is not there but just scales, the two scales can flow in and out of each other.

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by arasi »

Kokilam,
Thanks for starting this thread :)

Uday,
The kIravANi connection too.

Sachi,
Who can 'illustrate' a matter better than you do! The other connection that folks like me who do not know sanskrit is to a flower of course, and I had the image of Vishnu in mind whenever I heard the rAgA (vakuL=magizham pU, pagaDe hUvu, and the one who wore it in a garland=vishNu)...

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Uday: Thanks very much for the corrections and info. Understood.

Sachi_R
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Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by Sachi_R »

Arasi,
I know for many years ( a few decades, my god!) the connection of Vakulabharanam to middle east, and the meaning of vakula also as the navel. However, I don't find it in my Sanskrit dictionaries.
But hokkaḷu and pokkaḷu both mean the navel in Kannada.

The vakula flower itself? Here you are:
Image

Does it look like the navel?

shankarank
Posts: 4041
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by shankarank »

vasanthakokilam wrote: 15 May 2017, 05:43 A South Indian classical Composition, keeps that Middle East vibe in tact. Don't miss the improvisation by the violinist towards the end
https://youtu.be/6UySjRRk31g?t=259
<<Fixed quote>>

I would say this is more poignant than the kIravANi of south Indian classical music. The latter is more a devotional feel in the context of CM.
Last edited by shankarank on 16 May 2017, 08:38, edited 1 time in total.

Sachi_R
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Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by Sachi_R »

Shankaran sir,
It wasn't me.

Yes, I agree, somehow Vakulabharanam leaves a lot to be desired, unlike
Bhairav/MMG
Kirvani
Natabhairavi
Pantuvarali..

Just shows a raga is not merely a scale, but a whole personality.

shankarank
Posts: 4041
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by shankarank »

Sachi_R wrote: 16 May 2017, 07:57 Shankaran sir, It wasn't me.
My bad. I could not have forced that - too much to do by hand - :mrgreen: - some forum oddity as I select quoted in another session and copy pasted.

varsha
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Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by varsha »

, I agree, somehow Vakulabharanam leaves a lot to be desired
https://archive.org/details/SbVakulAbharanam

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by Sachi_R »

An open letter to Vakulabharanam

Respected Sri Vakulabharanam,
You showed obvious dissent when I pronounced you to be below par. You brandished your mighty testimonials from Prince Ramavarma, Sri S. Balachander, and from the one and only Varsha. You also displayed proudly the citation from Sri Vasanthakokilam, saying how internationally connected you're.

Let me remind you that I have every reason to have been negatively influenced by the chuckle of Vid Emani when he referred long back to you as "that middle eastern melody" when he was indulging me, chatting with a young fan, many years ago.

I cannot do more than explain to you why I think you're below par. At the same time, a more mature and evolved musical mind (like Varsha's) than my piffling self would perhaps take a more magnanimous or even a grand view of you. But me? I am holding this tin medal out for you, for the following reasons:

1. You share a common compound wall with Mayamalavagowla, or Bhairav. Need I say more than this: it is perhaps one of the three or four most profound ragas stirring souls across the universe. It shines with a gravitas that recalls visions of Shiva stopping Ganga in his matted locks. It evokes the mood of a Himalayan master in deep meditation. Whether a simple alankara or a grand Sri Natho or a Merusamana or a Mayatita Swarupini, it carries the day. And you? With your lower Ni, a kind of skunky crawling away image, you stand nowhere.
2. You tell me that Charukeshi is ruling the roost with the same upper half as you. But remember that Charukeshi itself is no great shakes for me. And it is resurrected by the colourful lower half, like a solid trunk of a tree that attracts by its substance if not its shade.
3. Your international connections elicit from me a "poof". If you feature in a Sufi remix of Rahman's, so what!? If a ukulele or banjo strums you up in the background as a Belly dancer swirls and shakes, do you think I am impressed? Remember the curtains in a sheik's tent are always dull, and merely a backdrop to the noise and revelry full of hookahs and wines.
4. Lastly, this hour-long what-do-you-call-it of S Balachander. It is for me mere torture.

I shall recommend a review by Varsha. If he wants to add his encomiums, you can take it along with my tin medal.

Best of luck.

Sachi R

kvchellappa
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Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by kvchellappa »

Hope the Chairman emeritus of ICICI Bank does not mistake it as addressed to him!
Suppose Vakulabharanam became popular before MMG, would MMG get the slight? (good, not good type of rasika's response).

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by varsha »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkWFtG5nFyI
A journey across musical genres
a visual image to go with the muse
rocky path , here as well :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvHd-sGQJuE

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by Sachi_R »

Varsha,
A famous song of yesteryear, Mukesh doing a great job. I feel the flavour is more Bhairav there, although there is no dominant upper Ni prayoga.

Basant Mukhari? Covered well here:http://srutimag.blogspot.in/2013/09/rag ... khari.html?

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by varsha »

yes .that is a fine article
here is the titan of our times.capturing the raga , sweeping it , of its feet
https://archive.org/details/tns_vakulabharanam



shankarank
Posts: 4041
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by shankarank »

So from SB's lecture the caturdaNDi's vATi vasanta bhairavi on the descent removes P in the first approach does a vakram around M1 , going thru that twice which has a samvAdi with N2 ( which P lacks here) and then include P - may be that would remove the melancholy and make it more expressive! But we got vasanta bhairavi as janya instead.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by rajeshnat »

Vakulabharanam is such a lovely raga , Bombay jayashri and suryaprakash have also sung a RTP on this raga vakulabharanam. I remember that lovely line that Suryaprakash sang - yAdhava kula abharanamE kannA thAlelO

rajeshnat
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Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by rajeshnat »

vasanthakokilam wrote: 15 May 2017, 05:43 This raga is used in Indian film songs a lot. Here is a hit song by Ilayaraja from a few decades back. You can hear the resemblance quite well
https://youtu.be/bj6pDgFe0xY
-------------------------------------
VK
My first encounter is with another film song of Illayraja - Some folks tell me it is a beautiful demo of vakulabharanam

can you merge your thread to the vakulabharanam - raga thread please
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic ... labharanam

melam72
Posts: 494
Joined: 02 Nov 2016, 16:12

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by melam72 »

kvchellappa wrote: 16 May 2017, 14:37 Hope the Chairman emeritus of ICICI Bank does not mistake it as addressed to him!
We hope that Vaghul also doesn't take offence that people in 'The Office' call him a Belly Button!

melam72
Posts: 494
Joined: 02 Nov 2016, 16:12

Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by melam72 »

Sachi_R wrote: 15 May 2017, 07:44 In 1970's, I was chatting once with Dr. Emani SS, and he told me with a chuckle how he had used this "middle eastern" raga in an orchestral piece.
This is not the only raga of Middle Eastern extraction.

Ragams like Huseni (or Useni), and Hamviru (Hamir Kalyani) are of Middle Eastern extraction too.

Were these 'Middle Eastern' ragas were banned from travelling to America or stereotyped of killing cows? :lol: :lol:

arasi
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Re: Vakulabharanam - A journey across musical genres

Post by arasi »

hogaLa beEkAgiruva AbharaNavO, bogaLa bEkAgiruvudO...
(whether praiseworthy or to be barked at)...I love the rAgA, in small doses...

shankarank
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Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Vakulabharanam

Post by shankarank »

From dappAnguttu (nEttu rAthiri) to devotional bhajans - the raga has traveled some musical distance!

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Vakulabharanam

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Amrita Murali sang E Ramuni quite elaborately with Alapana and Kalpanaswaras at a recent concert. Thanks to this discussion I could figure out it is Vakulabharanam in the alapana. She did very well.

I do not have an integrated concept of this raga. In the song, I get flashes of Mokashamu Galada (Saramati) in ascending phrases towards high Sa ( for good reasons since they share the uttaranga ), during Alapana I was reminded of Charukesi (again for good reasons they share the uttaranga ) and also the general vibe of MMG. I know theoretically why these things sounded the way they do but for many other ragas with shared 'angas' I have a raga specific conception. During Kalpanaswara in fast prayogas, any identify of this ragas was totally lost. It was very generic (it is not in any way due to the Artist's lack of vidwath, it is more my perception of it )

The one place where there seems to be a specific prayoga that is specific to this raga is in 'R1 S N2' which is there in the pallavi line of E Ramuni itself. Amrita used that sequence right up front so I could pin it down as VB right away. In the Ramanathan version posted earlier, he definitely makes an effort to get to N2 as frequently as possible to separate itself from MMG.

But film music examples of this raga seems to pretty much treat it as MMG with a N2 difference. That is pretty much a scalar approach. So what we perceive as the Middle Eastern Musical aesthetic can be either MMG or VB but CM treats them quite differently.

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