Hori Re Rasiya

Let's start off with a madhyalaya khayāl composed by Pandit Kumar Gandharva and sung by him too, ranga na daro shyam ji in Raag Sohini, set to teentaal.

Kumar ji's composition has been interpreted and presented by many musicians such as Vid. Malini Rajurkar ji, Vid. Veena Sahasrabuddhe ji and Kumar ji's daughter Vid Kalapini Komakali. Recordings can be found on YouTube. Some of these are added to the end of the YouTube playlist.

Moving from an intense Sohini to a sweet Bihāg, Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj of the Mewāti tradition presents a teentāl bandish Phaaguna Maasa Suhayo. The sthāyi mukhadā is laid out almost exactly as the famous Bihag khyāl lata ulajhi sulajha ja baalama.

Lyrics:

फागुन मास सुहायो रसिया, होरी खेलन आयो रसिया

अबीर गुलाल भरे फैंटन में, दौरी बदन लपटायो रसिया

गारिन गावै भाव बतावै, बात नही भरमायों

थिरकत चंदन बंद न रो री, प्रभु को नाना भांति नचायो

Raag Basant (which means Spring) is quite appropriate for celebrating the spring-time festival of Holi. Ustad Rashid Khan of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana presents a bandish in Basant, piya sanga khelun hori, set to madhyalaya teentaal.

Lyrics:

पिया संग खेलूं होरी

एरी माई बरन बसंत की

बसत पीहर फुलबन के हरवा

गूंद गूंद डारूंगी गर हरवा

Pandit Venkatesh Kumar starts Raag Kafi with a masterful (and playful) alap and moves smoothly to the madhyalaya teentaal bandish aaja khelo shyama sanga hori.

Lyrics:

आज खेलो श्याम संग होरी

पिचकारी रंग भरी केसर की

कुंवर कन्हैया संग सखी राधा

रंग भरी जोरी सोहत री

The second performance by Pt. Venkatesh Kumar is a drut teentaal bandish in Raag Bhimpalas, biraj me dhoom machayo shyam, which is a personal favourite of mine. There's something about Kafi thaat ragas and the festival of colours - it is very easy to find compositions in ragas like Kafi, Bageshree and Bhimpalas that centre around Holi.

Lyrics:

बिरज में धूम मचायो श्याम

कैसे मैं सखी जाऊं अपने धाम

सब सखियन संग होरी खेलत है

अखियन डारत गुलाल

Dhamar compositions (which get their name from the eponymous taal Dhamar) almost always talk about Holi celebrations.

I present here a video that has snippets of alap-jor-jhala and a dhamar in Raag Yaman rendered by Pandit Uday Bhawalkar. The words are kesara ghola ke ranga bano hai. The interestd reader/listener can find the complete version on YouTube.

Lyrics:

केसर घोल के रंग बनो है

अब तुम लाल कहाँ जइयो भाग

अबीर गुलाल की धूम मची है

होरी खेलत ब्रजराज

We take a detour to the world of semi-classical music before concluding with some Bhairavi. There are innumerable types of compositions in the light-calssical spectrum such as thumri, hori, chaiti, rasiya, kajri, jhoola, sawani, mahiya etc. Vid. Shobha Gurtu ji is known as the thumri queen for the abhinaya-ang in her voice, but through her musical career demonstrated skill and innovation in almost all forms of light classical music. A compilation of Shobha Gurtu songs on Holi alone would have lasted a good couple of hours.

Since I have a self-imposed constraint of this playlist to be concert-length, I will present one of Gurtu ji's popular thumris, aaj biraj me hori re rasiya.

The variations on "shyaam muraari" transitioning to Raag Gavati and back are breathtaking. Every time one listens to this performance, one discovers new aspects to appreciate.

Vid. Girija Devi is another name synonymous with thumri, and this set of recordings would be incomplete without a hori sung by her. Linked on the right is a beautiful hori in Pilu, aisi holi na khelo kanhaiyi re

A hindustani concert traditionally concludes with Raag Bhairavi, and so does this concert-length playlist. Two Bhairavi compositions on Holi are presented here:

Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar sings a madhyalaya rupak (7-beat cycle) composition - aayo phaguna maas.

Lyrics:

आयो फागुन मास

मन उपजे खेलन लागे री होली

बरन बरन की सब रंग भूली

कोई सांवरो कोई गोरी

Pandit Vasantrao Deshpande sings a Patiala-special madhyalaya teentaal bandish, accompanied by Ustad Zakir Hussain on the tabla and Ustad Sabir Khan on the Sarangi. The words are na maaro bhar pichkari