Mysore A Chandan is the first Carnatic artist to be presented by Darbar. This concert took place in 2007, when Begum Parveen Sultana too was part of the line-up and was present in the audience. In this video, Chandan performs a thillana in Raag Vasanthi upon the request of Begum Sultana. Composed by one of her favourite musicians Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930-2013), Begum Sultana had put forth this request long before Chandan went on stage that evening.

Accompanying him on the violin is Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth, on the mridangam is Neyveli Venkatesh and on the ghatam is RN Prakash. Chandan plays a short introduction and then introduces the thillana with a beautiful melodic interplay with Dr. Srikanth. He holds the dense, sustained notes with proficiency and performs the faster, fluttering techniques with precision, virtuosity and soulfulness. Chandan etches out the syllables of the thillana with a bold execution of ‘gayaki ang’ or vocal nuances on his bamboo flute.

Adding textures to this beautiful composition is the exciting interplay of the mridangam and ghatam. Both Venkatesh and Prakash give a refreshing and inspiring accompaniment to this energetic finale by Chandan.

Raag Vasanthi is a janyam of the 27th melakarta Sarasangi. It is a shadav-shadav raga, that is, it uses six notes symmetrically in its ascent and descent. Nisadha is omitted from the ascending and descending movements. This raga is also known as Bhoopkali or Bhoopeshri. There are no traditional compositions available in this raga. It was only recently used by some contemporary composers including Late Lalgudi Jayaraman. It is a morning raga which is believed to cure migraine, depression and indigestion. The arohana and avarohana of this raga are as follows:

S R2 G3 P D1 S

S D1 P G3 R2 S

Musicians
Mysore A Chandan (flute)
Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth (violin)
Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam)
RN Prakash (ghatam)
Raag Vasanthi, Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930-2013)