Saz-e-Bahar showcased rare Indian Instrumental Music

18-04-2018

Saz-e-Bahar is the festival of the various instrumental music forms of India held by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, with a view to showcasing rare classical musical instruments of India such as the Esraj and Vichithra Veena.

The main attractions of the Saz-e-Bahar: Festival of Indian Instrumental Music were the Vichithra Veena performance by Radhika Veena Sadhika and Esraj by Shubhayu Sen Majumdar. These instruments are understood to be quite obscure as in the present times not more than five persons might be used to playing these instruments.

The Vichithra Veens that comes with no frets has but several strings for releasing a sonorous as well as quiet sound. On the other side, Esraj is a delightful combination of a Sarangi and a Sithar. The Esraj is played like Sarangi with a bow, and has frets similar to the Sithar. The effect of this instrument is a unique timbre.

Another attraction of the festival has been the lectures by Suvarnalatha Rao, NCPA's programming head for Indian Music. She is reported to have delivered a speech on the Natyashasthra of Bharatha, one of the oldest texts that explain ways to construct a musical instrument besides classifying a range of instruments including tata, sushira and avanaddha.

Suvarnalatha said in her briefing to the press about the festival that musical instruments that are seen to be playing a supporting role to vocal music has a distinct idiom as well as language of their own. She added that the eighth edition of the festival had simed at asserting the musical instruments' independence from vocals.