Selected Performance

Kirtankar accompanied by tabla, mañjira, and harmonium, recorded in a classroom of a music school in Miraj, Maharashtra, July 1974. (Personal recording.) [This extract is in two parts.]

Kirtankars often put historical figures in contemporary settings in order to make them more understandable and familiar to their audience. This kirtankar explains a section of the Ramayana in which the kirtankar depicts the god-king Rama (a prince who would have had private instruction) is a student in a modern-style classroom.

Kirtankars also tailor their presentations to the individuals present and the context of their performance. In the first example, the kirtankar — performing in a music school with instructors of classical music present — inserts sargam tans and dance syllables associated with kathak (the classical dance of northern India) into his presentation [first extract]. In the second example, he recognizes the English-speaking students in the audience and makes a word play in English in which he also emphasizes the special status of Rama. The teacher says to the pupils "Who can give the correct answer?" to which Rama replies, "No one can answer, but I can sir." He intends the passage as a metaphoric interpretation in which Rama is the answer to the unanswerable [second extract].

The musical organization of his kirtan is in the classic stha'i-antara format of the Hindustani sangit paddhati. That is, the melody is organized into two sections in contrasting registers and distinguished by a focus on either the purvang or uttarang.

Sources of Indian Music | Kirtan