S-R-g-m-P-d-N-S

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Congruent with the Western Harmonic Minor, Kirwani has origins in the Carnatic Keeravani (chiefly popularised via Ravi Shankar‘s extensive Southern borrowings): thus lending it a natural popularity for North-South jugalbandi duets, offering artists from both cultures a rich shared expanse. Like many Southern imports, Kirwani is comparatively ‘open’, allowing for near-free use of all seven swaras in ascent and descent – although the wide dha–Ni sangati attracts natural prominence, with Ni also standing out as the only ‘detached‘ swara (i.e. not part of any samvad relationships). Aarshin Karande considers the Mewati interpretation to contain prominent shades of Kafi, Chandrakauns, Bageshri, and Bhairavi, with many other scales also lying in proximity (see melodic summary). While the raga appears to have no extant Northern prakritis, some contend that the same swara set may once have been occupied by an archaic form of Pilu. Also see ragas ‘enclosed’ by Kirwani’s SRgmPdNS scale form, including Chandrakauns (no Re/Pa), Rangeshwari (no Dha), Shobhawari (no Ga/Ni), and Devranjani (no Re/Ga) – as well as Shankar’s other Carnatic experiments, notably including Charukeshi, Vachaspati, Malay Marutam, & Simhendra Madhyamam.

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SRgmPdNS

Avroh: SNdPmGRS

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Pakad: variable, e.g. mPNSNd; NdPgR

Chalan: (open-form)

• As a Carnatic import, interpretations vary, with few established ‘rules’ and no clear pakad or chalan – although the distinctive ‘ga-dha-Ni‘ trio tends to define the raga image, and shuddha Re is a popular resting tone

• Shuddha Ni stands out as the only swara ‘detached’ from all samvad relationships, although treatment of it varies, emphasised by some (e.g. RgPdN; SN\d) and downplayed by others (e.g. gRSRg dPm; dP gRSR) – while a few artists include touches of komal ni and other outside swaras

• The scale form contains natural hints of Pilu (mPNS; gRS) and Chandrakauns (SgmdNS) – also allowing for chayas of Kafi (RmP; mP(m)gR), Asavari (SRmPdS), Bhairavi (SgmdP), Bhairav (SN\dP; mdPm), Darbari (dPm; mgmRS), and Simhendra Madhyamam (PdNSRg)

• For fresh inspiration, artists may turn to the original Carnatic Keeravani, as well as to the congruent Western Harmonic Minor (e.g. the ‘diminished 7th arpeggio’ of RmdN, which loops through the saptak in ‘jumps of 3’) – and the nearby Persian Bayat-‌e-Esfahan

• Compositions •

—Nikhil Banerjee (Maihar sitar):

• [tintal] dP (m)g RS R, R, R(g) Rgmg RS

—Shiv-Hari (santoor & Maihar bansuri):

• [tintal] SNS, RSR, gRg PRgmPd P

—Nikhil Banerjee (1986)—

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[theme, e.g. 2:27] dPgRS, RRR(g), gPmgR, dPgRS, R; mgRNdP, dPgRS, R…

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• Carnatic Origins •

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—Ragam Keeravani (mela #21)—

(Jyotsna Srikanth)

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–All ragas of Carnatic origin–

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• Experiments •

Novel interpretations of the raga’s essence…

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—Kirwani: Cha Cha Cha To NY Mozambique (Anjuman)—

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From Anjuman’s intriguing 2008 album Rumba Meets Raga: “Anjuman is a Seattle-based fusion group that combines the rhythmic vitality of salsa drumming with the melodic poignancy of Indian ragas. Anjuman is Brandon McIntosh (sarod), Seth Littlefield (percussion), and Phil Georgas (bass)…Brandon McIntosh is a celebrated sarodist and disciple of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, [who] has performed with sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar, tabla virtuoso Yogesh Samsi, and award winning kathak dancer Sujata Banerjee…and is a visiting student at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata…”

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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: Thaat #23, Shyamkauns, Shivkauns (some versions)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–m–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmPDnS (=Ahir Bhairav)

• Complement: SrGMDnS

• Imperfect: 3 (Re, ga, Ni)

• Detached: 1 (Ni)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Kirwani set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Keeravani (mela #21)

S-R₂-G₂-M₁-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Harmonic Minor

1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-5-7-8-11-0

(2–1–2–2–1–3–1)

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o • o o • o • o o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ga)

• Names: Kirwani, Kirvani, Keerwani

• Transliterations: Hindi (कीरवाणी)

—Shiv-Hari (1999)—