Recorded at Darbar Festival on 21 Sep 2013, at London’s Southbank Centre

Musicians
- Sudha Ragunathan (vocal)
- Jyotsna Srikanth (violin)
- Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam)
- RN Prakash (ghatam)
- Kiruthika Nardaraja (tanpura)

Raga Abheri

“My mentor always told me ‘don’t reproduce from A to Z everything that I do, try bringing your own innovations...your little creative touches.” (Sudha Ragunathan)

Sudha Ragunathan is a leading light of Carnatic song. She learned bhajans from her mother V. Choodamani in childhood, and went on to be the star disciple of ML Vasanthakumari. Her guru set demanding standards (“you had to do much of the research or learning yourself – listening to her old tapes and looking at her notations in her notebooks. It was very challenging because hers was a very difficult style”).

She kept her studies up alongside her music, enjoying zoology, botany, and chemistry and sometimes dreaming of being a gynaecologist. But music’s allure proved too strong in the end. She has gone on to release over 200 albums, as well as writing for Tamil cinema and working on fusion projects. Outside of music she set up the Samudhaaya Foundation, that provides healthcare to those who cannot afford it.

“I can create different colours, different emotions, I can treat the raga differently, approach the composition in my own style...but I must keep in mind that I should not trespass the tapestry of the definition of the raga.” (Sudha Ragunathan)

Abheri is a janya [derived] raga, based on notes from the parent scale of Kharaharapriya (22nd Melakarta raga) - akin to Kafi thaat or the Western Dorian mode. In aroha it is SG₂M₁PN₂S, and in avroh it follows SN₂D₂PM₁G₂R₂S, closely mirroring the structure of Hindustani Raag Bhimpalasi.
Thyagaraja wrote kritis in it, and it is still popular in full form as well as for tukda [‘little pieces’]. L. Shankar’s doubleneck electric violin recording of Abheri earned him a Grammy nomination.

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