Raga, the melodic evolvement
and tala, the rhythmic time cycle, are
the fundamental factors of classical Indian music.
Every raga embodies a characteristic sentiment. There is
a widely spread belief of an interplay between the tunes
of a raga and cosmic forces, therefore certain ragas are
played in certain sections of the day or the year (morning
raga, evening raga, monsoon raga, ...).
In Classical North Indian Music
there is no comparable method of notation to scores in the
west. The artists attempt is to develop the sentiment of
a raga by means of explicitly defined directives, thus every
performance is highly improvised and subject to
constant progress.
Audio example:
Raga Manj Khamaj (mp3, 900kB)
