Acknowledging “Rabindra Sangeet” on the Tagore’s 155th Birthday

 

Musicquote

Musicquote

It’s worth cherishing to ponder what an amazing Indian culture, people and heritage we have achieved as born in India. For example, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. I pay him a grand tribute on his 155th birthday and salute his various contributions towards music, dance, literature, drama and so on.

Rabindra Sangeet is one of his precious gift. Distinctive songs authored by Tagore in Bengali language is Rabindra Sangeet. It is absolute a unique genre of semi-classical music which involves a significant amount meend, murki etc. Rabindra Sangeet is usually a blend of classical variations and folk music. Hence it’s very popular in the nation especially in the areas near Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam etc. Some of the songs are like: Sei Bhalo sei bhalo, Aaji Godhuli lagone ei, Swapne Amar mone holo, Aaj Sobar ronge rong etc..

Rabindra Sangeet primarily depicts the shringar rasa or rati bhava in its composition. Sringara rasa incorporates the expression of romanticism and beloved’s affair. In some of the songs, moppet’s playfulness and mischief is also demonstrated. Apart from these the base themes of Rabindra Sangeet are worship, (bhakti Rasa), and the description of six seasons etc.

He composed songs in Yaman raga, Poorvi, Kedar, Todi, Asavari, Desi, Hameer and in various mishra-ragas. He somehow disliked the stylization of Khayal gayaki as the lyrics are pretty much dissected in that genre.

Sitar, Esraj, jag jhampa, nakkara instruments are much common in Bengal and are said to be accompanied in the rabindra Sangeet. According to the great musicologists Shri K.D Banerjee and Sir Surendra Nath Tagore, Bengal is said to be the land of instruments and Rabindra sangeet is bestowed with most of them while the recitals.

Many of the bollywood songs has been influenced by rabindra sangeet. For instance, the movie Parineeta songs especially phool phool bhawra dole man me gooje teri yaad. The soothing, gentle, natural notes-oriented intonations fulfills the aura of romanticism and defines rabindra sangeet. In the same movie, a popular track rabindra-influenced pihu bole piya bole also reverberates the soul  and represents a unique era of music.

Photo Credit: By Unknown – State Archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47866012

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