S-gG-m-d-n-S

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A fascinating yet sparsely-recorded creation of Kirana vocalist Prabha Atre, matching the swaras of ‘Malkauns double-Ga’ (or ‘Nandkauns no Pa’). The addition of shuddha Ga maintains the original Ga–ni symmetry axis of Malkauns, while also giving more gravity to shuddha ma via upward resolutions of G/m – a feature which forms the basis of most renditions (e.g. Gm, ndm, GGm), sometimes even tempting the feel of a ‘ma-murchana’ (=Hemshri). Komal ga is mostly used in Sa-bound concluding phrases, in which shades of Jogkauns may appear (mGmgS). Intriguingly, I came across an old Atre recording entitled ‘Surya Kauns’, which I’m 99% certain is a ‘proto-Madhurkauns’: the bandish and melodic character are near-identical to a ‘shuddha Ga only’ version of her spellbinding Madhurkauns performance at Darbar 2014, around half a century later (…she may have renamed her rework due to the existence of other, unrelated species of ‘Suryakauns’). Prakriti with Mohankauns – and, intriguingly, also a match for the swara set of ‘Madhkauns‘, cited by some as a creation of Salamat Ali Khan (indeed, the Madhurkauns-Madhkauns overlap is still unclear to me: further information welcome!). Not to be confused with Madhukauns, another audav vocal raga created around the same time by Amir Khan.

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राग मधुरकौंस

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—Prabha Atre (2014)—

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[refrains, e.g. 1:22] G m m/n(dnd)m, GGmm; m\gS, Sgmd (m)d…

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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: Mohankauns

Also compare to other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Ga-Ma-Dha-Ni‘: including Malkauns (S-g-m-d-n-S); Chandrakauns (S-g-m-d-N-S); Sundarkauns (S-g-m-D-n-S); Rajeshwari (S-g-m-D-N-S); Tivrakauns (S-g-M-d-n-S); Harikauns (S-g-M-D-n-S); Bhinna Shadja, Kaushik Dhwani (S-G-m-D-N-S); Hindol (S-G-M-D-N-S); Tulsikauns (S-g-m-d-nN-S); Madhuradhwani (S-G-m-D-nN-S); Amrut Ranjani (S-gG-m-dD-n-S); Jogeshwari (S-gG-m-D-n-S); & Ek Prakar ki Kauns (S-gG-m-d-nN-S).

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–gG–m–d–n–S

• Reverse: SRGPdDS

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

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Ga)

• Detached: 1 (Ga)

• Symmetries: mirror (G—n)

• Murchanas: Hemshri set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Ragavardhini

S-G₂-G₃-M₁-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Epogimic

1-b3-3-4-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-4-5-8-10-0

(3–1–1–3–2–2)

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o • • o o o • • o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma

• Names: Madhurkauns, Madhurkans, ~Surya Kauns (not Madhukauns)

• Transliterations: Hindi (मधुरकौंस)

—Rageshree Vairagkar (2022)—