We are happy to share this beautiful presentation of Raga Hamsadhwani by Dr Kadri Gopalnath at the Darbar Festival in London. He is accompanied by Jyotsna Srikanth (violin), Bangalore Praveen (mridangam) and RN Prakash (ghatam).

More about the Music:
Hamsadhwani is an upanga janya of the 29th melakarta Dhirasankarabharaṇa. It is an audava (pentatonic) raga. The notes used are ṣaḍja, chatusruti, riṣabha, antara gandhara, pachama and kakali niṣada. The ascending and descending notes are:

S R2 G3 P N3 Ṡ - Ṡ N3 P G3 R2 S

In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is 

C D E G B C - C B G E D C 

Hamsadhwani was created by Ramaswami Dikṣhitar, who was the father of one among the trinity of Carnatic music, Muthuswami Dikṣhitar. It has also been inducted into the Hindustani system. Hamsadhwani is a rakti raga – one that pleases instantaneously. It offers ample scope for improvisation and is considered an auspicious melody, well-suited for a minor presentation in a concert. Ga and Ni (3rd and 7th) are the dominant and sub-dominant notes respectively.  

It portrays feelings of wonderment and valour very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhava too.  

Musicians:
- Dr. Kadri Gopalnath (saxophone)
- Jyotsna Srikanth (violin)
- Bangalore Praveen (mridangam)
- RN Prakash (ghatam)
- Kaviraj Singh (tanpura)

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