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The bhajan was a befitting finale to his recital

mellifluous Sitanath Biswas

Sitanath Biswas’ vocal recital at the India Habitat Centre the other day was impressive, with his mellifluous voice and pleasing mannerisms.

Sitanath, who received his early music training from Dr. Tej Singh Teja in Lucknow and later came under the tutelage of the late Pandit Vinay Chandra Maudgalya the founder-director of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, has a long association with the Maudgalya family.

Pandit Maudgalya, affectionately known as Bhaiji, took interest in shaping Sitanath into a proficient vocalist of the Gwalior gharana and later appointed him as a senior teacher at the Mahavidyalaya.

After Bhaiji’s demise, Sitanath came under the tutelage of his son, the renowned vocalist Madhup Mudgal, the present director of the Mahavidyalaya. Sitanath also received guidance from Bhaiji’s younger brother Vinod Kumar, an exponent of the Patiala gharana.

A master’s degree holder in music, Sitanath would have done well to commence his recital with an early evening raga instead of the late evening melody of raga Tilak Kamod and following it up with raga Rageshwari.

The opening alap in Tilak Kamod, which belongs to the Khamaj thaat, and the khayal composition “Aaja balama” would have appealed better had the note Dhaivat in the avaroh or descent been inserted a little less prominently to display the raga’s basic character in an authentic manner. The same could be said about the elaborations in the badhat, behelava, etc.

These shortcomings could probably be attributed to rendering the raga at an inappropriate hour of the evening and for not adhering to its ‘vakra’ or characteristic zig-zag manner of rendering notes. Overt stress on the upper scale did not go in favour of Tilak Kamod, a raga better relished when confined to the lower and middle octaves.

The slow khayal “Aaja balama” composed by Sitanath was a pleasing piece of music, and so also were the drut Teen tala composition “Balma mora re” and the Ek tala piece “Alabela re’ that were embellished with well-knit taans.

He concluded this part of his recital with a well-rendered tarana. Sitanath’s khayals in raga Rageshwari, also of Khamaj thaat, impressed better, for the raga’s character was well maintained. The Madhya Teen tala piece “Begun gun” pleased as it was rendered tunefully and with aesthetic approach. He continued his recital with a colourful thumri (“Dekhe bina nahin chain”). The devotionally sung bhajan (“Mrignayani”) in raga Maand was a befitting finale to his recital, which featured excellent accompaniment on the harmonium by Samarjit Roy and the tabla by Sudhir Pandey.

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