SUDESHNA BHATTACHARYA / TANMOY BOSE - Sangeet
Losen: LOS218-2
Sudeshna Bhattacharya: sarod, mohan vina; Tanmoy Bose: tabla
Recorded September / October 2019 by Per Christian Berg at Audioskop Studio, Sofiemyr, Norway
In Sanskrit, the word ‘sangeet’ simply means music – although, in the context of this recording, it refers to the tradition of Classical Indian music and the ways in which different ragas touch upon different parts of the body and the mind. On this recording, we are treated to three pieces that come from the Hindustani (North Indian) tradition. The pieces are played on sarod, a fretless stringed instrument with 19 strings which allow the player to create melody, rhythm and layered accompaniment.
In the opening track, she brings the complex sounds and rhythms of the Rageshree (a pentatonic raga traditional performed at night) to life. On the second track, she is joined by Bose on Tabla (who I saw a couple times with Ravi Shankar) on a rageshree. On this, and the third track, Bose’s tabla sing as much as emphasise the music’s rhythm. On this third track, a teentaal (in which a recurring, 16 beat rhythm provides the basis for the playing to improvise). Here, rather than the sarod, Sudeshna plays the smaller, higher pitched mohan vina, created by Radhinka Mohan Maitra (Sudeshna ‘s father’s guru) in the 1940s.
Traditionally, sarod playing is passed from father to son, meaning that there are few female players. Sudeshna, who studied from the age of 8 under Amjad Ali Khan, is an elegant player who is clearly in absolute control of this complicated instrument.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Losen: LOS218-2
Sudeshna Bhattacharya: sarod, mohan vina; Tanmoy Bose: tabla
Recorded September / October 2019 by Per Christian Berg at Audioskop Studio, Sofiemyr, Norway
In Sanskrit, the word ‘sangeet’ simply means music – although, in the context of this recording, it refers to the tradition of Classical Indian music and the ways in which different ragas touch upon different parts of the body and the mind. On this recording, we are treated to three pieces that come from the Hindustani (North Indian) tradition. The pieces are played on sarod, a fretless stringed instrument with 19 strings which allow the player to create melody, rhythm and layered accompaniment.
In the opening track, she brings the complex sounds and rhythms of the Rageshree (a pentatonic raga traditional performed at night) to life. On the second track, she is joined by Bose on Tabla (who I saw a couple times with Ravi Shankar) on a rageshree. On this, and the third track, Bose’s tabla sing as much as emphasise the music’s rhythm. On this third track, a teentaal (in which a recurring, 16 beat rhythm provides the basis for the playing to improvise). Here, rather than the sarod, Sudeshna plays the smaller, higher pitched mohan vina, created by Radhinka Mohan Maitra (Sudeshna ‘s father’s guru) in the 1940s.
Traditionally, sarod playing is passed from father to son, meaning that there are few female players. Sudeshna, who studied from the age of 8 under Amjad Ali Khan, is an elegant player who is clearly in absolute control of this complicated instrument.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
