Thumri in Mishra Sindhu Bhairavi, Murad Ali Khan

In this video from 2010, Murad Ali Khan plays a thumri – a romantic semi classical piece in Mishra Sindhu Bhairavi. He brings this enticing number from his repertoire – a treasure trove filled with rare ragas and compositions of his ancestors that has lent the extra charm to the soul-piercing sound and dense tonal quality of his music.

Khan’s diligent training under his reclusive grandfather Ustad Siddiqui Ahmad Khan (born 1914) in the gayaki-ang – a lyrical method patterned after the human voice - resulted in a deeply expressive, leisurely form that demonstrates long, breathy flow of tonal sentences, rotund oscillating notes activated by a unique brand of energy and soul.

Kousic Sen gives a spirited accompaniment to the recital, precipitating the energetic parts with lively solos and underpinning the subdued moments with poised companionship.

Khan’s lusty portrayal of this romantic piece is characterised by patient, unhurried expansion of the melodic components that soar and swoop in resonant leaps and bounds. He draws upon Sindhu Bhairavi and other ragas to form tonal sentences brimming with notes in fast and slower movements. Adding surprising modulations, he transforms the fast-paced, lissome and tightly packed phrases into stocky, oscillating movements of individual notes, bringing an uncanny resemblance of the sound with the human voice.

The lyrics of the thumri that say, “Maike Me Jiya Ghabraaye,” describe the unrestful state of the nayika’s (heroine’s) soul when she is away from her husband visiting her parents and misses him dearly. It is the heartfelt plea of a woman who misses the loving company of her husband when she is far away from him, visiting her folks. Age-old compositions as these carry deeper strains of lovelorn narratives as they are set in a time when communication was a difficult, almost impossible currency and led to prolonged separation of lovers, hindering all means of communication between them.

Musicians

Murad Ali Khan (sarangi)

Kousic Sen (tabla)

Priya Parkash (tanpura)

Thumri in Mishra Sindhu Bhairavi