Recorded at Darbar Festival on 27 Oct 2018, at London’s Barbican Centre

Musicians:
- Lalgudi GJR Krishnan (violin)
- Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi (violin)
- Trichy Sankaran (mridangam)
- Giridhar Udupa (ghatam)

The Lalgudi siblings attack a fierce thillana composition by their father Lalgudi G Jayaraman - a Carnatic song form based on strong rhythm and dance-like musical interplay.

The Lalgudi siblings are the torchbearers of their eponymous gharana, named for their late father Lalgudi G Jayaraman - one of Carnatic music’s ‘violin trinity’. The family claim a direct lineage back to Thyagaraja, an 18th century saint-musician revered by Carnatic aficionados, with a style marked by superb lyrical expression and divine melodic ornamentations.

After a childhood of training under their father and grandfather Lalgudi Gopala Iyer, they embarked on intertwining but distinct careers (Krishnan thankfully abandoning a career in cost accounting to focus on music full-time). Today they are known as violinists, vocalists, and composers, commanding respect for duets and individual performances alike.

A thillana is a form of rhythmic Carnatic song, often used to end performances. It is strongly influenced by Indian classical dance forms, and is intended to bring a satisfying conclusion to long kutcheri [Carnatic concerts]. Some believe that the form is in part derived from the North Indian tarana, a fast-paced style influenced by Persian and Arabic music.

This famous thillana composition uses the framework of Sindhu Bhairavi, a versatile Carnatic raga. It is popular for bhajans and lighter song forms - performers enjoy the rare freedom of being able to use all 12 notes (known as Bhashanga), allowing for a wide range of ornamentations. The core scale ascends as SR₂G₂M₁PD₁N₂S and descends as SN₂D₁PM₁G₂R₁S, with the characteristic use of two different Ri swaras. It may have origins in the Middle East, and has strong links to North Indian music, although should not be confused with the related but distinct Hindustani Raag Bhairavi.

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