S-R-G-mM-P-D-N-S

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Created via the artful grafting of tivra Ma onto a Bilawal-oriented base, Bihag contains a wealth of melodic possibilities. Long linked to late evening festivities, its meend-laden tendencies are explored with symmetrical articulations and fluid resolution phrases, guided by nuanced swara hierarchies which may display significant gharana-to-gharana variance. The tivra Ma, while tending to be much weaker than the shuddha, turns up in characteristic motions such as PMGmG – set amidst a strong Ni and prominent Ga–Dha sangati. Prakriti with multiple ragas (e.g. Chayanat, Hameer, Nand, Gaud Sarang, and Khem Kalyan) – and also compare to various derived forms from the Bihag raganga such as Bihagda, Bihagara, Nat Bihag, Pat Bihag, Maru Bihag, and Chandni Bihag. Although the raga’s long-term history remains uncertain, some scholars link it to the lineages of Kedar and Gauri (the name is thought to derive from ‘Vihang‘, Sanskrit for ‘bird’, although I haven’t yet found anything which definitively proves this connection).

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Aroha: PN, SGmPNS

Avroh: SNDP, PMGmG, RS

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Chalan: e.g. SN; NSGm; G(R)S; NSGmGP; P(M)GmG; PmG; RS; (P)GmG; GmPDGmG; PmG; RS (Parrikar)

–Bharat Bhushan Goswami (2014)–

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“A combination of both romance and yearning…Every note has its ‘area’, you can stay there, as if you’re going on a big ship – first, you have a halt, like you embarked from somewhere…then you had a halt in Mauritius, and then in Arabia, and then you reached here. There are two madhyams which make for a ‘floating’ way of coming down.” (Wasifuddin Dagar)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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[COMING SOON: click here to hasten the project’s expansion, so all 365+ raga pages can eventually look more like these]

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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[coming soon]

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—Sanskriti demo (2017)—

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“In terms of its melodic structure, Bihag is non-controversial. It recognises two versions – the ‘traditional-austere’ and the ‘modern-liberal’ – the only difference being the permissibility of tivra Ma in descent…the tivra Ma enters as a subliminal presence in ornate mid-octave phrases (…its presence has become more pronounced over the years). The vadi–samvadi are Ga and Ni, placing the centre of melodic gravity in the poorvang. In contemporary music, however, Ni is frequently accorded the primary dominance, shifting the centre of gravity into the uttarang. This also tends to bias the raga towards descending phrases…” (Deepak Raja)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Shivkumar Sharma (~2010s)–

• Shivkumari santoor (27m): the late master elaborates compositions in madhya rupak and drut tintal to an audience of rasikas (“Without Shivkumar Sharma, santoor music as we know it would not exist. He was an absolute genius, a composer, a thinker, a sage, and a wise and gentle man. He talked about the creative power that is inside, and how through him a melody is formed when he focuses. He did not admit that it was he who created it – but that it is a force, vibration, and inner sound that created the whole world…”):

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[lehra, e.g. 18:03] N SS G, P(m)G (GRS)SS; N SS G, …

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–Ravi Shankar (1973)–

• Maihar sitar (35m): filmed at BBC Studios in London with Alla Rakha on tabla, the global raga icon performs a rhythmically-driven rendition on his double-tumba sitar, coloured by low kharaj-string meend and playful sawal-jawab interactions:

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[gat, e.g. 16:14] GmP N(SNRNS) N, D(PMP) P, P(MPM) N(DND), Gm G, G, G, S(NS)N P(MP), P(SN) NS, G(mGDMP) G(mGPG), G(RS) S(NS); GmP N(SNRNS) N, D(PMP) P, P(MPM) N(DND), Gm G…

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–Further Recordings–

• Ram Deshpande (7m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (“I cannot rest without seeing my beloved. Let me unite with my beloved…”)
• Purbayan Chatterjee & Rakesh Chaurasia (12m): with a tabla-mridangam combo of Satyajit Talkwalkar & Patri Satish Kumar
• Amjad Ali Khan (19m): a 1978 studio cut with Chandra Mohan on tabla (“a mastikhani gat, madhyalaya gat, & razakhani gat…”)
• Amir Khan (34m): from his last ever concert in 1974 (“I was terribly fortunate to be present; it took place at Mahajati Sadan”)
• Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (35m): from a 1996 album (bandish: Bajeri Mori Payal Jhanana / Lat Ulajhe Suljha Ja Balam)
• Kishori Amonkar (46m): from an unspecified live show, singing the Baje Ri Mori Payal bandish followed by a sublime tarana
• Pandit Jasraj (48m): a perfect balancing of the two Ma swaras, performed with an unknown female vocalist in support
• Hariprasad Chaurasia (52m): a longform alap–jor–jhalla, with students Rakesh Chaurasia and Rupak Kulkarni in support
• Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (57m): from the All India Radio archives, featuring a pair of thumri (the second with mishra touches)

• 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

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Nand, Hameer, Kamod, Yaman Kalyan, Maru Bihag, Pat Bihag, Chayanat, Gaud Sarang, Shyam Kalyan, Khem Kalyan, Lakshmi Kalyan, Sanjh Saravali

Also compare to other members of the Bihag raganga

–Proximate Forms–

Bilawal = ‘Bihag only ma‘

Yaman = ‘Bihag only Ma‘

Bhankari = ‘Bihag komal re‘

Shankara = ‘Bihag no Ma‘

Chandni Kedar = ‘Bihag double Ni‘

(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–mM–P–D–N–S

• Reverse: SrgmMPdnS

• Negative: 3-2-5-2

• Imperfect: 1 (Ma)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (mM—NS)

• Murchanas: Bihag set

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• Quirks: ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Behag

S-R₂-G₃-M₁-M₂-P-D₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydionian

1-2-3-4-#4-5-6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-5-6-7-9-11-0

(2–2–1–1–1–2–2–1)

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o • o • o o o o • o • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Ni)

• Names: Bihag, Bihaag, Behag

• Transliterations: Hindi (बिहाग); Bengali (বেহাগ); Punjabi (ਬਿਹਾਗ); Urdu (بہاگ); Kannada (ಬಿಹಾಗ್)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Bihag: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Elaboration by Benares sarangiya Bharat Bhushan Goswami (2014)
• Header image: ‘Krishna and the Gopi Milkmaids’, Bengali ragamala painting (c.1660)

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