Thumri

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Thumri is a common genre of semiclassical Indian music from the North. The text is romantic and devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The language is a dialect of Hindi called Braj bhasha. This style is characterized by a greater flexibility with the rag. Most commonly used rags are Pilu, Kafi, Khamaj, Tilak Kamod, Bhairavi etc. The compositions are usually set to kaherava of 8 beats, addha tal of 16 beats, dipchandi of 14 beats or jat of 16 beats. It arose in popularity during the 19th century in the Lucknow court of navab Wajid Ali Shah . At that time it used to be a song sung by courtesans accompaigned by dance. That was the bandish ki thumri or bol bant ki thumri. When this style of thumri went out of vogue, a new style became more popular, which is known as bol banao, sung in Varanasi. Famous artists of the poorab ang thumri of the Benares gharana are Rasoolan Bai, Siddheshwari Devi and Girija Devi. Other famous singers of thumri are Gauhar Jan, Begum Akhtar, Shobha Gurtu, and even Indo-Pak melody queen Noor Jehan. The bol banao style has a slow tempo and is comcluded by a laggi, a faster phase where the tabla player has some freedom of improvisation.

Some khyal singers took interest in thumri and sang it their own way, as in the case of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Abdul Karim Khan. Today, thumri is mainly sang at the end of khyal concerts as a concluding item. With tabla and the tanpura, other typical instruments in thumri are sarangi and harmonium.

[edit] Lyrics

Many classical singers pay considerable attention to the lyrics, though they may be difficult to follow in the ornamented enunciation. This is especially where the focus is on love, and many lyrics deal with separation or viraha. Krishna's rAs leelA or love play with Radha and other gopi's of Vrindavan appear frequently. Here are the lyrics of a thumri composed by the medieval poet Lalan, celebrating Krishna's flute - how its tunes are driving Radha mad. Braj or Vrindavan is where Krishna is indulging in this love play; Radha is the "girl of Braj".

ab na bAjAo shyAm bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm (eri) vyAkul bhAyi brajabAla bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm nita meri galin me aayo nA Ayo to chup ke rahiyo bansi ki teri sunAiyo nA bansi jo sunaiyo to suniye fir shyAm hame ApnAiyo nA ApnAiyo to suniye lalan fir chhoro hAme kahin jAiyo nA bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm

enough! now stop playing on your flute, dark lover this braja girl's heart is aflutter, i ask you, please stop playing don't come to my lane all the time and if you have to come, just don't play your flute I am warning you now: if you have to play that flute then you'll have to be mine you won't be able to go elsewhere so will you please stop playing now?

This piece is often sung by Pandit Chhanulal Mishra.

[edit] External links

• IndoClassical.com - Classical Indian music
• [1]

[edit] Bibliography

• Thumri in Historical and Stylistic Perspectives by Peter Manuel

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