Rahul Sharma's "Maqam-E-Navaa (Sufyana Musiqi)": Detailed Listening Analysis and Partial Transcription

Introduction

I just ordered a set of tablas from the Ali Akbar College of Music in California. Tomorrow, I will have my first lesson with a tabla instructor and ethnomusicologist here in New Orleans. Partially to celebrate my official entrance into the world of Indian musicanship - and partially

because I want to work on reestablishing any knack for transcription I had when studying Ethnomusicology at Macalester - I have partially transcribed one of the most beautiful pieces in my music library.

Background

The Kashmiri (more precisely, the the North Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir) santoor (pictured below with Rahul Sharma) is a trapezoidal hammer dulcimer with at least 70 strings (although according to the Wikipedia entry, it "can have more strings than the original Persian counterpart," the 72-stringed santur). In Kashmir, the santoor, per Wikipedia, "Sufi mystics used it as an accompaniment to their hymns."

That being said, I tend to associate religious music - and particularly that of Sufism - with a kind of sacred intensity. Ethnomusicologist Theodore Levin explains it much better in The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia, a wonderful ethnography of musical journeys through Central Asia. In one passage, Levin recalls talking to a music student at the Tashkent Conservatory in Uzbekistan: "I asked Munajat how she had learned about Sufism and how she understood the place of music in Sufism...'What we know...is an interpretation. It comes from our own understanding of Sufism. The basic idea, though, is clear: to love God. The performer should perform a song as if relating to God from inside'" (Levin 78).

Until recent generations, the santoor was considered solely as a Kashmiri folk instrument used for religious purposes - not as an elite Indian classical instrument. Enter Rahul Sharma's father, Shivkumar Sharma, the man "responsible for validating the santoor" (Lavezzoli 33). Thanks to his help in establishing the instrument in secular Indian music, the santoor is now a highly-respected part of North Indian (Hindustani) and especially Kashmiri classical repertoire. Its timbre - thanks to the curved shaped mezrab hammers and steel strings - sounds like stardust falling onto a puffy cloud. "In the hands of a master," Pete Lavezzoli writes, "the santoor mimics the drizzle of raindrops, or a gently moving stream, where the water produces a rippling sound. This is especially noticeable when the player bounces the mallets on the strings, creating a provocative purring effect" (32-33). 

Considering his father's revolutionary santoor playing, Rahul Sharma must have been born with the instrument in his genes. More importantly, he was born into a North India that respected santoor-playing as a more highbrow cultural practice. 

Listening Analysis and Partial Transcription

"Maqam-E-Navaa (Sufyana Musiqi)" is the first track on his RealWorld release Music of the Himalayas. Per the RealWorld online catalog, the piece - a live recording - was performed by Sharma accompanied by two percussionists: Pandit Bhawani Shankar on pakhawaj (a two-headed, hour-glass-like drum played tilted on its side, pictured here)

and Ustad Shafat Ahmed Khan on tablas (both drums pictured below, the higher pitched tabla and lower baya). The catalog also mentions that the piece was recorded towards the end of a long stream of concerts - Sharma's Hindustani music was part of a large 'Music of the Himalayas' tour also featuring many groups from Nepal. This recording is from Turin, Italy, September 13, 2000.

Interestingly, the piece is actually based on a traditional Sufi piece for santoor (hence the subtitle of the song) - rather than traditional Indian ragas or more modern classical repertoire.

In any case, here Sharma plays his santoor (which per the RealWorld catalog is one with extra strings, an astounding 89!) in a mode identical to the ecclesiastical Dorian mode (Fig. 1) in D. 

The following is a second-by-second look at the entire piece, using Western notation transcription methods and terminology:

0:00-1:00

With the percussionists tacet, Sharma hovers on the scale between a high C and F, providing tremolos and mallet rolls reminiscent of Lavezzoli's "purring" description. He establishes the root note as D by returning to it frequently and rolling on it longer than the others in the interval. This opening minute is played entirely in a free meter, which enables Sharma to roll as quickly as he likes!

1:00-1:30

Still part of the opening, Sharma continues the tremolos but hints at the main theme of the piece (Fig. 3) in a higher upper octave, playing the first few notes in succession.

1:30-1:45

Sharma continues rolling on the strings surrounding a high D, similar to the first minute of the piece.

1:45-2:00

Still tremolo, Sharma establishes the entire mode, descending down the scale toward the low D - from which the main theme will soon begin. 

2:00-2:13

After holding his tremolo on the lower D, Sharma finally slows his rolling. Still in a free meter, he briefly plays a few notes up and down the scale.

2:13-2:52 

Sharma establishes the rhythmic cycle of the piece (Fig. 2) on the lower D, which I have interpreted in 14 beats with accents on beats 1, 4, 8, and 11. After one cycle on his own, the percussionists finally join. Together, the three musicians play through the rhythmic cycle 10 times. Gradually, the percussionists add more notes between the accented beats. Sharma remains mostly grounded at his low D, although he does throw in some Ds in other octaves. At 2:41 (the 8th time through the rhythmic cycle with the percussionists), he plays the opening notes of the main theme (in rhythm, for the first time), but returns to the low D.

2:52-3:33 

At last, Sharma plays through the main theme of the piece (which lasts 4 rhythmic cycles or measures), shown here in Figure 3. Throughout the piece, he will play it approximately 25 times. Sometimes, he plays slight variations on it. For example, take a look at the eighth note and quarter note on beats 8 and 9 of the second measure. These are more or less interchangeable, as Sharma often switches their order.

Another common variation is the final measure (see Fig. 3.1 for alternate version). Also, take a look at the parentheses surrounding the final quarter note in each measure. These notes are sometimes heard, sometimes not - they often sound like 'ghost' notes, or notes that have been struck very lightly. Remember, though, these 'ghost' notes are different than non-accented notes within the rhythmic cycle.

In this 41-second span, Sharma plays through the main theme twice (beginning at 2:52 and 3:15), playing 2 rhythmic cycles on Ds after each. Also worth noting are the percussion accents: typically, the bass tabla (baya) supports the accents on beats 1 and 4 of each cycle, a trend which continues throughout the rest of the piece. Occasionally, both percussionists add another accent to the cycle - on beat 13.

In general, however, the percussionists are relatively predictable throughout the piece, which is not to diminish the quality of their performances - not to mention their primary role as accompaniment to Sharma. Their accents are spot-on, and their fills - which usually come at the end of a theme and never in the middle of the rhythmic cycle - are extraordinary in both speed and articulation. 

3:33-4:14

With the percussionists maintaining the rhythmic cycle, Sharma introduces the second theme of the piece (Fig. 4). It is a bit lengthier than the first theme. Incidentally, he only plays through the first ending once - during this introduction of the second theme.

4:14-5:00

Sharma returns to the main theme, playing it three times consecutively. During the second time, the tempo of the piece accelerates slightly and Sharma plays sixteenth notes on the first three beats of each measure/cycle - note that this helps accent beat 4 of the cycle. After the third time (still faster, but without the sixteenth notes), he returns to Ds in two octaves for two rhythmic cycles, including a descending modal glissando during the first cycle.

5:00-5:39

Sharma goes back to the second theme, this time playing twice through the rhythmic cycle on a high D instead of going to the first ending. Here, he again plays sixteenth notes on the first three beats of each cycle. After the two cycles, he does return to the top of the second theme, followed by the second ending.

5:39-5:52

Sharma plays through the main theme once.

5:52-6:30

All three musicians begin to accelerate the tempo during this period (recall that they also accelerated slightly around 4:27). Here, Sharma plays four rhythmic cycles alternating Ds in different octaves - he also includes some more descending modal glissandos. At 6:06, he plays through the main theme twice, continuing to accelerate along with the percussionists.

6:30-6:51

At breakneck speed, Sharma plays twice through another variation on the main theme - continuous sixteenth notes! With absolute precision, he maintains the gradual acceleration while managing to keep the melodic contour of the main theme.

6:51-7:08

Pushing the tempo even more, Sharma plays a sixteenth note variation of the second theme  (just like the variation as we heard in the main theme), again omitting the first ending.

7:08-7:40

Still continuing to accelerate, Sharma returns to the sixteenth note variation of the main time, now going through three times consecutively.

7:40-7:54

Seemingly reaching a maximum speed, the tempo levels out, as Sharma continues to play an extremely fast version of the second theme (second ending only).

7:54-7:55

It is difficult to tell what is happening in this subtle split second. For a moment, Khan seems to lose the rhythmic cycle (there is a kind-of hiccup evident in the tabla). Regardless, he manages to get back on the cycle.

7:55-8:28

Just when it seemed like the tempo had plateaued, the music begins to accelerate even more. The build now includes a crescendo. Approaching a ridiculous tempo, Sharma plays through the sixteenth note variation of the main theme - three times through. On the third and final repetition, Sharma repeats the last measure/cycle of the main theme three times, adding to the continued buildup. 

8:28-9:04

With near perfection, the musicians break down the buildup entirely, smoothly transition back into a slower tempo, roughly half as fast as the accelerated tempo (although slightly faster than a return to the original tempo). Sharma plays through the main theme (no sixteenth notes) three times, quieting significantly for the second and third. The percussionists are consistent in matching his dynamic changes - a trend throughout the entire piece.

9:04-9:18

Sharma goes back to the second theme (no first ending), keeping the slower, quieter feel.

9:18-9:38

Building in volume but not speed, Sharma returns to the main theme and plays through twice. Again, he varies it slightly during the second time by adding sixteenth notes to the first three beats. Here, the percussionists join him in the variation, adding rolls whenever Sharma is playing sixteenths.

9:38-10:05

Preparing to end the piece, Sharma plays six rhythmic cycles - three times through the first measure of the main theme and three times through the second measure. At the 13th beat of the sixth cycle, he jumps to a pick-up note and plays a brief outro (Fig. 5 - notice the 'ghost' notes here). The percussionists break from the rhythmic cycle and accent the last seven notes of the outro along with Sharma. By the time the santoor stops ringing, the Turin audience is roaring! 

Sources

Lavezolli, Peter. "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West." Continuum: New York, NY (2002). Pages 32-33.

Levin, Theodore. "The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia." 

Indiana University Press: Bloomington, IN (1996). Pages 78-79.

RealWorld Records Online Catalogue. "Music of the Himalayas." . Updated July 2002. Accessed 16 September 2009.

Wikipedia