Recorded at Darbar Festival 2021, on 23rd October, at the Barbican Centre, London.

Musicians:
- Waseem Ahmed Khan (khayal vocal)
- Gurdain Rayatt (tabla)
- Milind Kulkarni (harmonium)
- Harmeet Virdee (Tanpura)
- Mithila Sarma (Tanpura)

Raag Poorvi; Thaat: Poorvi; Samay: Late Afternoon

Enter the world of khayal through the velvety, expressive voice of Ustad Waseem Ahmed Khan and his penetrating sense of drama from the Agra gharana school of music.

Poorvi is a sunset raga, which to many listeners evokes a serious, mystical mood. It originated in Eastern India, evolving from Raag Purvagauda by around the 16th century. It is the fundamental raag of Poorvi thaat [base scale], but is is somewhat rare today, with the structurally similar Raag Puriya Dhanashree often being preferred.

Poorvi differs from Puriya Dhanashree principally in that it can take both a shuddha and a tivra [natural and raised] Ma. It takes the swaras SrGmPdNS, forming an angular shape which mixes wide and narrow tonal intervals. Ga and Ni are respectively the vadi and samvadi [king and queen notes], and Sa and Pa are often avoided in ascending lines, giving the scale a characteristic vacancy.

Subscribe to the Darbar Player to access the full, uncut performance.