S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S

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From my 2018 Darbar interview with bansuri maestro Rupak Kulkarni: “I lately composed Raag Annapurna: dedicated to Maa Annapurna Devi, my grand-guru [teacher of my teacher]. It is a combination of morning and evening ragas, so can be played at either of these times”. In 2022 I asked Kulkarni for more info: he described it as “a mixture of Todi and Shree, blending multiple elements from both ragas” – also sending me a mellifluous alap (below: as far as I can tell, the only recording out there!), full of haunting ornaments and odd dissonances, with Sa rendered durbal, and komal dha often skipped in wide up-jumps from Pa (PS(N)S, PrN, P(M)P…).

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• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग अन्नपूर्णा

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—Rupak Kulkarni (2019)—

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[alap phrases, e.g. 0:42] P/S S(NSNS), (S)NSr, PS(N)Sr\N N(Sr), PrNd P, P(M) P(M)PN(d), PS(NSd)P, PS S(NS), SNSgr(gr)Sr(S), Sr Srgr(S)N Nrg(rN), PrN PrNd P…

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• More •

Histories, melodies, mythologies, etc…

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—Imagery: Annapurna Devi (1927-2018)—

“Last week, an extraordinary musician died: by many accounts, an artist who may have been the best Indian classical artist of the 20th century. But this superlative talent chose to erase herself from public life more than 60 years ago. As a surbahar player, Annapurna Devi was hailed in the 1940s as a virtuoso, in possession of a singular musical sensitivity. How and why she withdrew from the public eye is a complicated and tragic tale…” (NPR)

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Todi thaat, Todi, Multani

–Proximate Forms–

Gujiri Todi = ‘Annapurna no Pa‘

Bhupali Todi = ‘Annapurna no Ma/Ni‘

Shree = ‘Annapurna shuddha Ga‘

Simhendra Madhya. = ‘Annapurna shuddha Re‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–r–g–M–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmMDNS (=Lalita Sohini)

• Negative: 4-2-1-4-1 (e.g. Kaushik Dhwani)

• Imperfect: 2 (ga, Pa)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Todi set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Shubhapantuvarali (mela #45)

S-R₁-G₂-M₂-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydian b2 b3 b6

1-b2-b3-#4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-3-6-7-8-11-0

(1–2–3–1–1–3–1)

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o o • o • • o o o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Annapurna

• Transliterations: Hindi (अन्नपूर्णा)

—Allauddin Khan teaches Annapurna Devi (~1940s)—

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“Except for some old pictures, I have no living vision to remember [Devi] by. But the one image that lingers in my mind as if I had seen it with my own eyes is Annapurna Devi feeding her pigeons on her sun-washed balcony. Perhaps because the pigeons enjoy the freedom she herself chooses not to have. Perhaps because her father too did the same, and in some secret way she pays a tribute to her father every time she feeds them, chides them and sends them off. And perhaps also because of something her father had said in his last days: ‘When a pigeon flies, his wings beat in taal… You can count the matras if you don’t believe me. And such a sweet voice… God has invested such a treasure of music in each of his creations that man can take armfuls away but never exhaust it. Goddess Saraswati has given me a little too. But not as much as I would have liked. Just when I began to draw something from the ocean of music, my time was up. This is the trouble, when the fruit of a man’s lifelong labour ripens… Who can understand God’s ways? But one thing I have understood a little. There is a fruit, the custard apple. I like it very much. I eat it and throw the seeds outside the window. And one day I look and there’s another tree of the same fruit. With new fruits on its branches. I eat it and others enjoy it too. This music also is like that. It is not the property of one, it belongs to so many…” (from a Sep 2000 profile in Man’s World India: and for more raga-pigeon lore, read my article on the Red Fort Kayda)

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