Demonstrating a striking balance between melody and rhythm, Pandit Prem Kumar Mallick and his son Prashant Mallick present raga Shudh Sarang from the dhrupad tradition of the Darbhanga gharana. The gharana is based on the Gauhar vani syllable, representing pure melody and spontaneous laykari.

More about the music:

Shyam Kalyan (‘Evening Kalyan‘) is a prachalit Kalyan variant. Ga is used sparingly in ascent, and typically skipped in phrases which run through the scale sequentially, and shuddha ma is taken in descent only – while Re is emphasised throughout, and Pa is available as a resting note. As per Tanarang‘s summary, the raga is “a very melodious mixture of Kalyan and Kamod…one should render RMPNS rather than GMPNS, and Ni can sometimes be skipped in avroh“. It bears some resemblance to Shuddha Sarang, while being distinguished by the use of Ga in characteristic vakra phrases such as MPGmR and GmPGmR.

Pandit Premkumar Mallick is a leading exponent of the Darbhanga Dhrupad court music tradition, named for a former state near the Nepalese border. It is said that his ancestor once ended a drought in the area through singing the rain-bringing Raag Megh, and the family still live on land gifted to them by the Maharajah as a result. He often performs with family members including Samit and Ramkumar. Their style of Dhrupad is marked by intricate rhythmic elaboration and a lively approach to composed forms, as well as strong poetic influence.

Musicians:
- Pandit Prem Kumar Mallick (dhrupad)
- Prashant Mallick (dhrupad)
- Ravi Shankar Upadhyay (pakhawaj)
- Debipriya Das & Gunwant Kaur (Tanpuras)

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