S-gG-m-P-d-N-S

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Created by Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ in the 1940s (also the progenitor of Swanandi and Jaun Bhairav), Jogkauns is usually summarised as ‘Jog plus Chandrakauns’. However, the Agra vocal master’s original inception drew more from the melodies of a ‘raised Ni‘ Malkauns offshoot than from Chandrakauns itself, which was then still in its infancy. As per Parrikar, “Gunidas originally referred to his inspiration as simply ‘Kaunshi’, but a subsequent discussion with B.R. Deodhar lead him to re-baptize it ‘Jogkauns’ given its harmonious blend of Jog with the Kauns-ang” (see melodic summary). Gharana-blending singer Kumar Gandharva soon picked up on the new form, garnering acclaim across North India from the early 1950s for his spellbinding renditions – with many others following in his wake to cement the raga’s status as one of the most popular modern creations. Most artists feature touches of komal ni in looping avroh phrases such as PdndPm. Compare with other Jog derivatives including Nandkauns (with komal ni only) and Jogeshwari Pancham (which ‘flips’ both uttarang swaras: dNS to DnS) – as well my article What does ‘Kauns’ mean? A brief survey of all known Kaunsi ragas.

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Aroha: e.g. SGmdNS

Avroh: e.g SNdPm, GmgS

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Pakad: e.g. GmdPm; PdNdPm; GmgS

Chalan: e.g. SGmPm; m(S)gS; GGm; Gm(N)d; dN; NS; SNS; (N)d; PdNd; mPmGm; m(S)gS (Parrikar)

• Usually conceptualised as a low-high ‘Jog + Chandrakauns’ split (SgGmP; mdNS) – with the ma-Sa axis used to ‘pivot’ between them

• Pa is often weaker in aroha to emphasise the Chandrakauns elements (e.g. GmdNS), but may be used in looping uttarang motions such as PdNdPm – and descents tend to conclude with Jog’s signature Gm(S)gS

• Many artists feature touches of komal ni, often in the phrase PdndPm, but sometimes in the manner of Jog (GmgS, nSgS) – and a few include ornamental flourishes of shuddha Re (e.g. SG(RG)m)

• Inherits a lunar connection from Chandrakauns, blended with Jog’s evening sentiments

–Omkar Dadarkar (2018)–

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“Jogkauns is a masterpiece of musical thought: all the pieces conforming to one another and to an organic whole…one of the greatest melodies of the 20th century…Gunidas’ key insight was to base his melody in Malkauns…modern rasikas will say that it is based in Chandrakauns – but in those days, what we now refer to as Chandrakauns was a novelty…” (Rajan Parrikar)

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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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—Parichay demo (2021)—

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“The core of Jogkauns may be encapsulated in the following prayogas: SGmPm, m(S)gS, GGm, Gm(N)d, dN, NS; SNS(N)d, PdndmPmGm, m(S)gS; Notice the powerful role of shuddha ma – and komal ni can come along occasionally, bringing a frisson of delight, in phrases of the type: Pdnd(P)m. Shuddha Re is alpa, and may appear as a kanswar, as in SG(R)Gm…” (Rajan Parrikar)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Veena Sahasrabuddhe (2016)–

• Gwalior khayal (20m): a well-filmed excerpt of the late vocal queen rendering an alap and vilambit bandish, interspersed with interview clips as part of a feature for Hariprasad Chaurasia’s Vrindaban Gurukul project – with the harmonium‘s sustained tones accentuating the raga’s scalar dissonances:

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[bandish, e.g. 9:42] Gm, S/m(gmgS) S(N) N\d N, (g)SGm, (SmG)m/S S N\d d, d(Pdm) P(dm) mG(mG), m(Gm) g(mS), S(Nd) N g\S(NS); Gm, S/m(gmgS) S(N) N\d N, N, (g)SGm…

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–Manju Mehta (2011)–

• Maihar sitar (12m): an alap–jor–jhalla and gat in vilambit rupak with Ravindra Yavagal on tabla, lit by thousands of diya mud-lamps at Karkala’s Sri Venkataramana Temple (“she began with the soul-stirring night melody Jogkauns…[her] delineation of this majestic raga imparted an idiosyncratic flavour to its melodies, albeit within the traditional context of peerless vintage compositions like Sughar Bar Payo and Pir Parayi…”):

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[lehra, e.g. 6:53] m(GmG) P m, m, (m)Gm (m)g S, d(SNS) S(NS), d N S, S, g(S), G, Gmd, m(GmG) P m, m, (m)Gm (m)g S…

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–Further Recordings–

• Veena Sahasrabuddhe (10m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (Gunidas: “I will not let you go, as the pain of separation is unbearable…”)
• Irshad Khan (20m): filmed on surbahar, showcasing the instruments extraordinary pitch-bending capabilities close-up
• Rashid Khan (29m): singing a famous pair of bandish over luscious sarangi and swarmandal (Sughar Bar Payo & Pir Parayi)
• Shahid Parvez (35m): his divine meend and ornaments bring out the raga’s Kaunsi flavours in an extended alap–jor–jhalla
• Vasantrao Deshpande (43m): R. Patwardhan: “I have been yearning to listen to this masterpiece for over two decades…”
• Ajay Pohankar (44m): the Gwalior-Patiala fusioneer presents a pair of compositions in vilambit ektal and drut tintal
• Girija Devi (51m): “Appreciate the effort and focus on each word and each note; not just singing, but worshipping the song…”
• Rajan & Sajan Mishra (58m): a 2018 Budapest concert, with Nihar Mehta on tabla and Sumit Mishra on harmonium
• Kala Ramnath (65m): compositions in vilambit ektal and madhya chautal, with the late Subhankar Banerjee on tabla
• Nikhil Banerjee (89m): a 1975 concert with Jnan Prakash Ghosh’s tabla (featuring hints of a Pilu-like murchana in alap)

• 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: (none found)

See all shadav ragas which omit Re

–Proximate Forms–

Vardhini = ‘Jogkauns komal ni‘

Devata Bhairav = ‘Jogkauns add re‘

Jogiya = ‘Jogkauns re-for-Ga‘

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

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–gG–m–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmPdDS

• Complement: SrRMDnS

• Imperfect: 3 (ga, Pa, Ni)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: (none found)

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Gangeyabhushani

S-G₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Dromos

1-b3-3-4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-4-5-7-8-11-0

(3–1–1–2–1–3–1)

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o • • o o o • o o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+dha)

• Names: Jogkauns, Jog Kauns

• Transliterations: Hindi (जोगकौंस)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Jogkauns: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Khayal elaboration by Rampur-Sahaswan vocalist Rashid Khan (2005)
• Header image: Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ (right) with his student C.R. Vyas (Hindustan Times)

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