THIS IS A RARE AND USED ITEM. IT IS NOT MANUFACTURED
ANYMORE. NO RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

THE INSTRUMENT

 The flute with its pastoral associations seems to have
been one of the most ancient Indian instruments. There are indications that the
Aryans used it as a drone before they took over the tambura from the people of
the Indus valley civilization. The flute figured prominently in the religious
music of the Buddhists and it appears in the sculptural representations of both
Sanchi and Gandhara.

 The evolution of the instrument must have been a slow
process. Its very structural simplicity left only long trial and error as the
guiding principle and it must have taken centuries before the placement of the
embouchure and the holes for the fingers was finalized with precision to yield
the scale notes.

 The South Indian flute gained concert status at least
a generation earlier than the North Indian. In the latter tradition, winning
this status for the instrument was almost wholly the achievement of Pannalal
Ghosh (1911-60).

THE ARTIST

Ghosh, who hailed from the Barisal District of the former
East Bengal, now East Pakistan, worked for many years as a composer of film
music. But the changing trends in film music did not suit his temperament which
was basically classical. At the time of his death, he was conductor of the
National Orchestra of All India Radio at New Delhi in which capacity he
distinguished himself with imaginative and delightful compositions based on
classical Ragas. These biographical details are significant. They give a clue
to the basic trait of his art. It was soundly, but not rigidly classic. It
recognized that art should primarily, and above all, delight and that this
delight should not be something which would flake easily but endure and depen
with repeated experience.

 By itself the traditional flute was not quite capable
of building a vast tonal architecture or revealing the larger panoramas of
musical design and had to be supported by other instruments. Ghosh changed all
this and raised it to the status of a major concert instrument. In one sense
this was an even greater achievement than Bismillah’s with respect to another
wind instrument, the Shehnai. For the Shehnai had an established status in
temple festivals and marriage rituals and the conquest of the concert hall was
not very difficult. But the bamboo flute had been for many centuries only a
humble folk instrument.

 Ghosh’s talent for innovation helped him here. For he
was able to devise a tenor flute whereas the traditional bansuri of the North
was a soprano instrument like the Western piccolo or flute. His flute was about
thirty-two inches long and the holes are so-widely placed that his disciples
have not found it too easy to handle, especially in the fast tempo. Its
distinctive excellence emerges in the exploration of the low register, where
the tone develops a sibilant warmth and a grave sweetness. Ghosh fully exploits
these qualities, especially in the slow, meditative sequences.

THE MUSIC

 SIDE ONE

 1.     RAGA MARWA: Marwa, usually sung
during the closing hours of the day, is the most important Raag of the Marwa
That and is a very popular musical mould in the the Northern tradition. It is a
six-note Raga, since it omits Pa in both ascent and descent. The notes used are
Komal Ri, Tivra Ga, Tivra Ni.

 2.     BHAIRAVI THUMRI: In contrast to
Suddha Bhairavi which comes for sustained elaboration on the second side,
Bhairavi uses all notes, flats and sharps. The Thumri is a light-classical
form, probably connected with the dance in its origin, lilting in its melody,
amorous in its mood.

SIDE TWO

 1.     RAGA SARANG: Sarang is a five-note
Raag, which omits Ga and Dha and uses the Komal Ni in the descent.

2.     RAGA SHUDDHA BHAIRAVI: Suddha Bhairavi is a
Sampoorna or seven-note Raga which uses only the Komal (flat) variants of Ri,
Ga, Dha and Ni. It corresponds to the Todi of the South Indian system.

3.     BHATIALI DHUN: Bhatiali is a folk-tune of
Bengal which Ghosh has elegantly classicized here into a Dhun, a light
classical form which allows relaxation of the rules regarding specificity of
notes and regulated traversing of ascent and descent.

Artists:

Pannalal Ghosh (Flute)

Tracks:

SIDE ONE

Raag Marwa

Bhairavi Thumri

SIDE TWO

 Raag Sarang

Raag Suddha Bhairavi

Bhatiali Dhun