''Rāg Lalit'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Indian classical musician

Ram Narayan Ram Narayan (; born 25 December 1927), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument ''sarangi'' as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first international ...

, released in 1989. Recorded December 3, 1987, in

Wyastone Leys Wyastone Leys is a country house estate and Grade II listed building situated near Ganarew, in the southwestern corner of The Doward, in Herefordshire, England. The house and estate has also been known as The Leys or Lays House. It is located f ...

near

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the album features a performance of the serene dawn

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

Lalit Lalit may refer to: * Lalit party, a left political party in Mauritius * Lalit (raga), a raga in Indian classical music * Lalit Suri, an Indian politician * Lalit Surajmal Kanodia, an Indian business entrepreneur See also * Jatin–Lalit, a Boll ...

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It ...

. Narayan performs a long non-metrical introduction to unfold the raga, during which he adds a pulse, until he is joined by

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

to perform a composition.

Origin

The album consists of a single track performance of the

. Lalit is commonly described as calm and devotional and is performed at dawn. Neil Sorrel portrayed Lalit as conveying a feeling of instability and connects this to the performance time, when night changes into day.

Recording and artwork

''Rāg Lalit'' was recorded in a single take in Wyastone Leys near

, on December 3, 1987, and includes the tuning of the sarangi's

sympathetic string Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (exc ...

s through plucking. In the performance, Narayan plays a long

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

(non-metrical introduction) and a jor (performance with pulse) that increases in speed and range and makes use of

gamak Gamaka (also spelled gamakam) refer to ornamentation that is used in the performance of North and South Indian classical music. Gamaka can be understood as embellishment done on a note or between two notes. Present-day Carnatic music uses at le ...

s (note oscillations).

Suresh Talwalkar Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar (born 1948) is an Indian musician who plays the percussion instrument ''tabla''. Performing career Talwalkar was born in 1948 into a Marathi family in Chembur, Mumbai. He belongs to the Keertankar family of Shr ...

, a frequent accompanist of Narayan, joins in playing a gat (composition with rhythmic pattern provided by the

) in the rhythmic 16-beat cycle

tintal Teentaal (alternatively spelled tintal, teental, or tintaal, and also called trital; Hindi: तीन ताल) is the most common '' taal'' of Hindustani Classical Music, and is used for ''drut'' (fast tempo). It is symmetrical and presents a ...

, which is separated into four groups of four beats. When Talwalkar plays a solo, the sarangi repeats the melody. The performance was mastered in England, but not edited. In the same session that produced ''Rāg Lalit'', the 1987 album ''Rāg Bhūpāl Toṛī, Rāg Paṭdīp'' was recorded. The album cover features a 19th-century painting of the goddess

Tripura Sundari Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi ...

, also called Lalita. A picture of Narayan playing the sarangi is on the back of the album, along with a quote of

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

praising Narayan.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

critic Ken Hunt gave the album a maximum five star rating and called it "a magical performance", and R. S. Murthi of the ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

'' argued that Narayan utilized his musical knowledge on the album to "stunning effect".

Track listing

# "Rāg Lalit" – 73:43

Personnel

–

* Neil Sorrell – tambura * Elizabeth Haddon – tambura

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1989 albums Ram Narayan albums