A musical journey spanning time and seasons

The stage was crowded, as close to 100 singers sat clothed in white. A humungous LED screen appealed to the curiosity of the audience that kept filling up the seats of Anand Mohan Mathur Sabhagraha, on Tuesday. Shortly after seven, Hindustani

classical music

exponent

Gautam Kale

took his place, and began on a melodious note of

Raga

Bhairav. The celebrated artistes and his shishyas performed the dawn-to-dusk ragas - from Raga

Bhairav

, which begins at the crack of dawn, to Raga Bageshri, that beckons the inky black midnight sky – in about two and a half hour program!

As the singers took the audience through the journey of these ragas and their bandishein, the LED screen showed ambient visuals to indicate the time of the day or night, and the mood behind each. For instance, when the hundred melodiously synced voices sang the

Raga Malhar

, the screen lit up with visuals of rain, thunder and

lightning

. Similarly, during the midday raga, Raga Multani, the screen reflected an unending desert to signify the direct heat experienced during noon.
“We attempted to take everyone on a musical journey of one day through the means of ragas, bandishein and some accompanying visuals. Besides that, we also depicted various seasons on Earth and some legendary ragas that have interesting tales associated with them,” shared Gautam, who conceptualised the whole program. One of his shishyas, Mahak Agrawal, who was a part of the hundred singers who took part in the program, said, “It took a lot of practice and more than a 100 man hours to piece this together. But it was all rewarded when the audience stayed glued to our performance until the very end."

Apart from the classical ragas and their significance, the audience was also treated to some legendary tales and anecdote associated with some ragas. “It was a revelation for me, when I learned the story behind Raga Bisalkhani Todi. When

Tansen

’s son Bisalkhan was singing on his father's deathbed, the sur he voiced came to be the raga,” shared entrepreneur Naveen Agrawal, who attended the program. The crowd also cheered along when some filmy songs based on these ragas were presented by the group.