Described by World Music magazine Songlines as “surely Britain’s best festival of south Asian music,” Darbar Festival of Indian classical music brings together the best UK musicians alongside maestros from around the world. Veteran arts journalist, Jameela Siddiqui, said it’s a “place where everyone expects and gets the highest quality performances of Indian classical music.”

Like Western classical music, Indian classical music - arguably one of the oldest, most complex and complete musical systems developed - divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa, replacing Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do.

Unlike western music, Indian classical music lacks harmony, being based around a single melody line played over a fixed drone. Performances are based around a raga, which put very simply is a series of five or more musical notes. Ragas are then set within a tala or rhythmical pattern that determines the structure of a composition.

The Darbar Festival series presents six outstanding musicians from both the UK and abroad featuring a range of instruments and traditions from across the sub-continent.

Tarun Jasani (Sarod)

Transport yourself on a journey to Persia and South Asia with the sounds of the ancient sarod played by Tarun Jasani, an outstanding UK talent. The sarod’s deep, weighty, introspective sound resembles the lower notes of a classical guitar. Like other Indian instruments, the lack of frets allows the musician to slide between notes, a characteristic feature of the music.

Shashwati Mandal Paul (Classical Tappa vocal)

Tappa is a light form of high energy, brisk, rhythmical classical music that has its origins in the folk songs of the camel drivers of Punjab and Sind provinces of South Asia. Shashwati Mandal Paul, a renowned exponent of Tappa, gives a virtuoso performance few others could carry off.

Kaviraj Singh (Santoor)

The Indian santoor is a hammered dulcimer instrument. It originates from Persia and related to similar instruments in the middle east, Armenia, Turkey, and other parts of Asia. Kaviraj Singh is a rising young UK talent who plays the instrument with a delicacy that conjures up visions of Kashmir and foothills of the Himalayas.

Bhupinder Chaggar (Tabla solo)

Tabla is one of the most popular percussion instruments in not only classical Indian music but also for a growing number of groups playing world music. Bhupinder Chaggar plays this simple pair of hand drums with speed, dexterity and consummate artistry to produce a vast range of sounds and complex rhythms.

Sanjay Subrahmanyan (South Indian classical vocal)

Sanjay Subrahmanyan leads a group of south Indian musicians in a performance of powerful and energetic classical singing. Alongside him S. Varadharajan plays the violin with grace, fluidity and pace. Dynamic and complex rhythms are provided by Neyveli Venkatesh on Mridangam (south Indian drum) and R.N. Prakash on a clay pot.

Irshad Khan (Surbahar)

“To watch Irshad play is like watching a man go through a mystical experience,” was one reviewer's comment after being spellbound by the sonorous sounds of the Surbahar. Irshad’s music is spontaneous, vibrant & sensual and you scarcely need to be an expert in Indian Music to appreciate the brilliant flights of fingers moving across what is often described as the bass sitar.

 

Images courtesy of Arnhel De Serra