S-g-M-P-n-S

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An angular pentatonic form conjured up by vocalist Amir Khan only a short time before his untimely death in a 1974 car accident – indeed, it is unclear if he ever formally named his new creation (I’ve seen it referred to as ‘Bhushwati’ and ‘Amarpriya’, and at least two releases just list it as ‘Untitled Raga’). A detailed RMIC thread discusses several plausible origin theories, generally linking the raga’s genesis to a ma-murchana of Chandrakauns, as part of a rotational process that also created the prakriti Madhukauns. While it remains unclear how Khan may have differentiated between them, to my ears Chandramadhu sounds more like a ‘direct murchana’ of Chandrakauns (i.e. ‘singing Chandrakauns as normal, but with the tanpura’s Sa set to ma’), with Madhukauns lying closer to a ‘Madhuvanti + Kauns-ang‘ jod  – as per Ibrahim Ali’s excellent Amirkhani Khayal site, “shuddha Ni, salient in Chandrakauns, becomes [Chandramadhu’s] tivra Ma”. However, given the general sparsity of information, it is unclear which recordings count as ‘true’ renditions (and even which have the correct titles). Bewitching in its geometric oddities (‘Dhani tivra Ma‘ / ‘Minor Pentatonic #4‘) – also compare to his nearby Amirkhani Kauns (the same scale with shuddha Ga), as well as Amiri Todi (composed in his honour by Amjad Ali Khan).

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राग चन्द्रमधु

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—Amir Khan (~1970s)—

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[khayal, e.g. 1:01] PS(nSP)nP (n)S, g(gSnS)gMP, PgMPn P, PMP(nPSnSnPMP…), (P)n SgS…

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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

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

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Madhukauns, Sultani

Also see other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Ga-Ma-Pa-Ni‘

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–g–M–P–n–S

• Reverse: SRmMDS

• Complement: SrRGmdDNS

• Imperfect: 3 (Ma, Pa, ni)

• Detached: 1 (Ma)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Chandrakauns (on Pa)

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• Quirks: ‘tivra Ma, komal ni‘ (rarest pairing)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Samudrapriya

S-G₂-M₂-P-N₂-S

• Jazz: Minor Pentatonic (#4)

1-b3-#4-5-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-6-7-10-0

(3–3–1–3–2)

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o • • o • • o o • • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Chandramadhu, Bhushwati, Amarpriya, (~Madhukauns)

• Transliterations: Hindi (चन्द्रमधु)

—Sultan Khan (1988)—