Get A Bit of Hindustani Classical 101

The National Centre for the Performing Arts believes that you don’t need to “understand” classical music to like it. However, a bit of context always helps you appreciate what you hear. It’s with this idea in mind that the organisation has begun hosting a series of lecture-demonstrations they call “Chalk Talks”. In September last year, resident conductor Zane Dalal gave a chalk talk on opera a few days before the NCPA staged a production of Puccini’s Tosca. On Thursday, June 30, at the Crossword bookstore in Kemps Corner, musicologist Suvarnalata Rao, who programs the Indian music concerts at the NCPA, will present a lecture on the concept of “bandish”, a week before the venue holds a Hindustani classical music festival entitled “Bandish”.

The word “bandish” loosely translates into “composition” or “song” but neither is an exact definition, says Rao. “We use many English terms maybe because we don’t have better ones,” she says. “In a bandish, one person writes the lyrics, [and] comes up with the melody, everything is done by the same person.” A bandish, goes “beyond just a song, it has scope for growth and improvisation”.

To illustrate the difference between a song and a bandish, which she will also do at her talk, Rao gave us the example of “Albela Sajan”. “You can hear it sung by Rashid Khan in pure classical form and in the [Hindi] film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,” she says. “The manifestations are so different.”  There are by extension, “a 100 different ways you can manifest the same composition”. During her talk, Rao will thus show listeners how the bandish is “the core of Indian music” taking them through not only the concept but also some of the most notable composers and compositions in the Hindustani classical genre.

Crossword

LocationMohammed Bhai Mansion
Kemps Corner

Phone2384 2001

Relevant DatesThursday, June 30

Hours7.30pm

Ticketing & Price InfoFree

Websitewwww.ncpamumbai.com