India is "mera sapnon ka jaan," the land of my dreams, so I want to share one of the most amazing, yet surprisingly rare, instruments from there called SARANGI.
Sarangi, in Hindi, means 100 Colors or 100 Voices, and it does reverberate with 32 sympathetic strings. It is the "violin" of North India, with 3 main strings that are bowed. The musician pushes against the string with the fingers, usually at the cuticle (ouch), rather than pushing down on the string with the pad of the finger. Interestingly enough, the translation of Sarangi into Korean is "Love Power."
The first time I heard sarangi played was a very rare concert with one of the world's greatest sarangi players, Ustad Hafizullah Khan (see photo above). The concert was played in a lord's palace in Jaipur, there were peacocks at the fountain in the garden outside, and inside were crystal chandeliers and ornately painted floral archways that stretched high above us seated on white cushions on the floor. As Khan Sahib played, time stopped, and everyone was mesmerized. As he played, it felt to me that he was pouring out the sadness of the whole entire world, and transforming it into peace. There was a flash storm, a pound of thunder, and the huge palace doors flew open in the wind. Khan Sahib's music soared on without a second's pause, and we held our breaths along with his notes. After about 40 minutes, the bow took it's last impassioned glide and the last mystical echo diminished into the breathless audience. There was a moment of total stillness, a moment later a collective sigh, and eventually after a few minutes the entranced audiences began to clap. I knew I had to have this instrument. I acquired one, and within the year started learning from the, now late, Ustad Hafizullah Khan.
listen to SARANGI
Hafizullah Khan's biography
This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. You can even receive a sarangi music lesson for a pledge of $50.
Sarangi, in Hindi, means 100 Colors or 100 Voices, and it does reverberate with 32 sympathetic strings. It is the "violin" of North India, with 3 main strings that are bowed. The musician pushes against the string with the fingers, usually at the cuticle (ouch), rather than pushing down on the string with the pad of the finger. Interestingly enough, the translation of Sarangi into Korean is "Love Power."
The first time I heard sarangi played was a very rare concert with one of the world's greatest sarangi players, Ustad Hafizullah Khan (see photo above). The concert was played in a lord's palace in Jaipur, there were peacocks at the fountain in the garden outside, and inside were crystal chandeliers and ornately painted floral archways that stretched high above us seated on white cushions on the floor. As Khan Sahib played, time stopped, and everyone was mesmerized. As he played, it felt to me that he was pouring out the sadness of the whole entire world, and transforming it into peace. There was a flash storm, a pound of thunder, and the huge palace doors flew open in the wind. Khan Sahib's music soared on without a second's pause, and we held our breaths along with his notes. After about 40 minutes, the bow took it's last impassioned glide and the last mystical echo diminished into the breathless audience. There was a moment of total stillness, a moment later a collective sigh, and eventually after a few minutes the entranced audiences began to clap. I knew I had to have this instrument. I acquired one, and within the year started learning from the, now late, Ustad Hafizullah Khan.
listen to SARANGI
Hafizullah Khan's biography
This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. You can even receive a sarangi music lesson for a pledge of $50.
No comments:
Post a Comment