Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt gives a soulful rendition of a this evening raag, Gawati, in this excerpt from the Darbar festival 2007. Pandit Yogesh Samsi gives a majestic accompaniment on the tabla in this recital.

Pandit Bhatt begins with an expansive alap and jod, exploring every part of the raga and portraying it through the versatile spectrum of his mohan veena. The variations of the phrases are exquisite and he displays excellent technical virtuosity with the right balance between his left and right hands.

The madhyalay composition is set to Teental and the faster tempo composition is also played in Teental, accelerating the pace to ati drut and ending with a dextrous jhalla.

Pandit Yogesh Samsi’s solos in between strike with the luminosity of lightning; He accentuates the music with immaculate ornamentations and improvisations sticking to tradition as well as drawing the audience’s thundering applause each time.

Gawati is a lesser-known raga, very close to Raag Bheem. It is difficult to handle due to its peculiar gait that lends to its sweetness. However, some musicians belonging to Patiala and Imdadkhani gharanas perform it lustily. It belongs to the Khamaj Thaat and is an afternoon raga. Its Jati is audav-shadav, that is, it uses five notes in its ascent and 6 notes in its descent. The dominant note is Pa (5th) and sub-dominant note is Sa (1st). It omits re (2nd) and Dha (6th) and deploys komal Ni (flat 7th) in its ascent and drops Ni (7th) altogether in its descent.

Its arohana and avarohana are as follows:

S G M P n S’ (Western Notes: C E F G A# C)

S’ D P M, P G M R n.S (Western Notes: C A G F, G E F D A# C)

According to some this belongs to the time zone of afternoon while many others place it in the late evening or pre-midnight zone. The plain notes lend it a simple but strangely stooping gait (with oft-used G M P n S’D and G M R n.S) that expresses benevolent and happy mood.

Musicians
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (mohan veena)
Pandit Yogesh Samsi (tabla)

Raag Gawati, Thaat: Khamaj, Samay: Late evening