In North India there has been an old tradition of holding all night music concerts, perhaps to allow the listening of ragas that are to be performed after midnight, till sunrise. These include all the Kanhras, the Kauns, Jog, Lalit, Ramkali, Bhatiyar, and all the Bhairavs. Almost all the cities traditionally associated with classical music, including Allahabad, Banaras, Patna, Gwalior, Jalandhar, Lahore and, of course, Calcutta has had all night music sessions, ending after dawn. Another reason for holding all night concerts could be related to logistics – since most music festivals are held in the conducive weather of winter, it was difficult to go home late at night, in the cold and was safer and easier to travel in daylight.
There are several all-night concerts still held – notably in Jalandhar, (Harivallabh), Banaras, (Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh), Kolkata, (Dover Lane and Uttarpara). Sankat Mochan is unique in that it is held in summer, to coincide with Lord Hanuman’s birthday. The who’s who of the classical world congregate together to give “haazari” (pay obeisance) at the temple during the six days in April or May, and the scorching heat adds spice to the concerts that end around 7 a.m., after dawn.
Delhi used to have all night music at the Constitution Club, later at Modern School auditorium. But in recent years this practice has been abandoned, which is why the initiative of IGNCA with Spic Macay to hold an all-night session to conclude their year-old Bhinn Shadj series is so welcome. Bhinn Shadj concerts presented ragas for each hour of the day, starting with morning concerts, and ending with evening ones. The grand culmination was listening music from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
As Vidushi Ashwini Bhide put it, “All-night music sessions are welcome as one is performing to dedicated audiences that are committed, and are prepared to wait to hear all night ragas in difficult conditions. Even if the next day you do not remember all you heard, the memory of the music somehow remains with you for much longer. I am very happy that Delhi has revived this tradition; Mumbai today has no all-night music sessions but these were very common years ago.”
Starting with ever-popular Deshpande, who regaled the expectant audience with raga Gauri, then a leisurely Des. The next piece was a dadra in raga Kalingra, dedicated to the late Girija Devi. Vocal support by the very talented Shweta Kilpady was pleasing.
Girija Devi at a night concert
Memories of Patna
The next artist was senior violinist Dr M Rajam, born in the Carnatic tradition, but trained in the Hindustani by the great Pandit Omkarnath Thakur. She again was very ably accompanied by her granddaughter, no doubt, a chip of the old block. Ustad Akram Khan on tabla was magnificent; his light-fingered and delicate “laya” forays always enhancing the concert, and taking it forward. Her lyrical Bageshwari was followed by an equally adept Jhinjhoti, ending with “Vaishnav Jan To”.
The violin virtuoso spoke of the all-night sessions she attended in Patna in the past; they had a charm of their own, with the evening starting with light music and going on to classical. She recalled a concert where she woke at 4 a.m. to play at 6 am. She used to accompany her great Guru Pt Omkarnath Thakur too, though in his later years he stopped playing at all-night sessions.
The next artist was Ustad Shujaat Khan, who played raga Charukeshi, a Carnatic raga that can be played anytime. The young Zuheb Ahmed Khan stood out with his superb tabla accompaniment; the other tabla player was the usual Arunangshu Chaudhary, quite regularly seen with the Ustad. A spontaneous standing ovation followed. Khan reminisced about bygone all night concerts he had played in, accompanying his father Ustad Vilayat Khan – once he recalled it was difficult, as his fingers were numb with the biting cold at 2 a.m. on a freezing night in the depths of Punjab.
It took some time for the next artist vocalist Shyamalee Joshi to settle down to her raga Malkaus. The style of gayaki was pure Jaipur Atrauli, her vilambit khayal was slow meticulous but somewhat repetitive. (She is training under Vidushi Padma Talwalkar, though has learned in the Gwalior and Kirana tradition too.) Shyamalee has a powerful voice, better trained in the high octave, with very fast taans. Rather surprisingly after Malkauns she sang raga Patdeep.
The main attraction of the night was the percussion ensemble with the redoubtable Vidwan Vikku Vinayakam on ghatam, (he had 4 ghatams at 4 different swaras) with his son the great Selva Ganesh on khanjira, and his amazingly proficient grandson Swaminathan, also on khanjira. By then the sleepy audiences were shaken out of their sloth by this great trio of musicians who created magical rhythms. Indeed a concert to remember.
Rakesh Chaurasia on flute with Ustad Akram Khan slowly took the audience back to a more meditative ambiance, playing a very succinct yet complete raga Lalit, aalap jor jhala, with three gats in rupak then teen taal. He is truly a most polished, pleasing artist. He also concluded with “Vaishnav Jan To” and then, more beautifully “Jai Jagadish Hare”.
Uday Bhawalkar, fittingly took the night to its fitting conclusion with his dhrupad vocal recital, starting at 6 a.m. as dawn broke.
The perfect arrangements of covered tent to keep the cold out, free tea and pakoras to keep the audience awake, perfect artist choice made this a memorable experience. Deepak Chopra, a seasoned listener, summed up, “I hope there are more late night concerts in Delhi like there used to be; it’s a perfect time to listen to music without interruptions, and to savour it. I don’t feel tired at all after sitting up all night, in fact it refreshes me.”
