Rabindra Sangeet the Song of Tagore Lessons by GAALC

The water that is stored in the cloud in the form of vapor in the sky manifests itself in the very shower of rains. The juice that is secretly accumulated in a tree is expressed in mingled forms through leaves and flowers. In case of music also, there are manifestation of these forms. One is the form of pure music and the other through a mixed form with poetry. There are differences in nature in man. The twofold form of expression of music takes place in accordance with these differences. Undeniably, music in Bengal is a companion to poetry, if not a follower. But in the western Hindustan, it is established by itself. Its words “follow like a shadow”.

In Bengal the natural manifestation of the emotions of the heart is in literature. The public will drink joyfully out of it for time immemorial this is evident from the honey comb of literature. Rabindranath Tagore once said: in childhood, I didn't naturally learn how to sing as usual, fortunately my mind was flooded with the inherent permanent effect of music. At that time, there was no end to pursuit of songs in our house. Vishnu Chakraborty was the Acharya of music. He was an expert in Hindustani music. In boyhood as a consequence the songs I was habituated to hear all the time were not ones of the amateur group. That was why the pose of the Kaloati songs instinctively accumulated with me. Those who are very fastidious about the purity of Raga-Ragini are hardly to compared with me. That is to say: in spite of having some ideal on the finer intricacies of tuning, my mind didn't encounter impediments in practice, but an orientation in general on the nature and “rasa” of kaloati songs was firmly established in my inner mind. The tune that treasured up in my mind appeared in unison with words at he time of its expression. When my intense love for songs wanted to manifest itself, it did not create the unmixed form of music. It was rather difficult to apprehend which one was greater. Where music excels in its own uniqueness, the purity of its rules and regulations revealed cannot be sustained as a song in association with words but if one is capable of acquiring the reciprocal musical patterns, one gets the appropriate right to make an exception to the rule. Where uniqueness stands to allow freedom of one's power of creativity, one necessitates education and the ability to control more.

These all are the basic concept of Rabindra Sangeet or Tagore songs. Rabindra Sangeet is Tagore's taste, his culture, his environment, training and education, aesthetic sense and literary sensibility—that is, the whole of his being is reflected in this music”.

Learn Rabindra Sangeet (Tagore’s sons) with online class lessons conducted on “Skype” by GAALC.

Other Musical Influences in Rabindra Sangeet:

The influence of Hindustani and Carnatic music and other Indian classical music is quite huge on Rabindra Sangeet. However, Rabindra Sangeet in its turn at the same time influenced the traditional form of whilst adding a rather contemporary tinge to the traditionalism of Indian classical music. One of the significant facets of Rabindra Sangeet is therefore that subtle presence of the classical element, which further aids in evoking that right mood for the song. This is one of the main reasons why the celestial tonal color of the ragas so very well complements with the emotion of the songs. Many of the Rabindra Sangeet therefore has a reference with the partial accord to the ragas like Megh, Bhairavi etc. On certain instance again the harmonious accord of ragas with the melodious presence of the rhythm, tune, melody and of course the very pulse of the Bengali lyrics adds that little extra to this typical genre of Indian music while making it the song to dance, sing, recite and above all to feel. Originated as an emblematic form of music even today Rabindra Sangeet is still contemporary laced with its entire innovativeness. Apart from the "thumri style" and "Bhakti style" the lighter variety of Rabindra Sangeet, which is derived from the Indian folks like Bhatiyali, Kirtan, echoes the tune of the soil. Rabindra Sangeet therefore with its sheer majesty, utmost beauty and ultimate passion combines the classical characteristics with the elements of the songs of soil to make the music truly stand apart as an insignia of Indian classical music.