Lalit
is amongst the older and more popular ragas of the Hindustani system. It bears
a close resemblance to raga Lalitha of the Carnatic system. The two ragas
are considered manifestations of the same traditional melodic idea.
Lalit
(also called Lalat) is a hexatonic raga prescribed for performance in the
pre-sunrise hours. In the contemporary context, it has found a niche for itself
in the three-hour period after sunrise. Some musicological texts approve
of this timing. The melodic contours of the raga have also changed during
this century. Its older form is still in occasional practice. Its popular
contemporary form is, however, most relevant for present day listeners. (swara
material:S r G M M^ d N).
The
melodic personality of Lalit is dominated by the rare, probably unique, use
of the two Ma swara-s (shuddha and tivra). Lalit features the use of the two Ma
swara-s sequentially
in the ascent as well as the descent. This is an exception to the
general rule for ragas using both pitches of any swara (natural and flat or natural
and sharp). In such cases of twin-swara usage, the the general rule is that the
raga is permitted to use only one of the two in the ascent, the other being
used in the descent. Their
sequential use in either direction is generally considered improper. The importance
of this feature of Lalit is enhanced by the fact that the shuddha (natural)
Ma is the vadi-swara, the pivotal around which the raga revolves.
In
its predominant contemporary form, Lalit uses flat (komal) swara for Dh. Bhatkhande,,
writing in the 1930's considered the natural (Shuddha) Dh swara as
proper for Lalit, while acknowledging that the flat (Komal) Dh usage also had
textual validation. He also recognized that, because of the dominance of twin-Ma
usage in the melodic personality of the raga, the choice of either of the
alternative Dh swara-s does not materially influence the distinctive Lalit effect.(Bhatkhande
Sangeet Shastra Vol.III Ed.LN Garg, Sangeet Karyalaya, Hathras,
Third Hindi edition, 1984.Pg.304-321),
Bhatkhande
described Lalit as uttaranga-pradhan, a raga whose center of gravity
is in the upper tetrachord. Bhatkhande might now be obsolete with respect
to this description. Traditional and modern compositions, considered collectively,
betray the compelling grip of the twin-Ma usage in the mid-octave
region over the composer's mind. The raga may now be more appropriately classified
as madhyanga-pradhan.
Lalit
has two facets to its personality: the geometric, and the melodic. Bhatkhande
provides the basic clue to both these facets. He recommends treating
the scale, notionally, as a two-part, discontinuous scale, split between
the two Ma swara-s, with Shuddha Ma on one side, and the tivra on the other.
This gives you S-r-G-M and M^-d-N-S.
This
division does not yield symmetrical or congruent units. To achieve this balance,
the scale gets redefined, for
phraseological purposes, in first-fifth
correspondence: N.-r-G-M and M^-d-N-S'. These divisions, considered separately
but in correspondence, provide the acoustic basis for the geometry. Lalit
releases its distinctive fragrance by treating these scale divisions as discontinuous,
and in fusing them together. The welding takes place between the
Shuddha and tivra Ma swara-s, with the support of either Ga below or Dh above.
This joinery gives the raga its defining, and unique, melodic personality.
The
raga has a third, but unintended, facet, which can surface due to the inept
or mischievous handling of the dominance of the shuddha (natural) Ma in the
raga. With excessive or inattentive improvisation around shuddha Ma, it is easy
to create an aural illusion of Ma as the scale-base. The results can be quaint.
If
Ma becomes, even momentarily, the notional scale base in the listener's mind,
Lalit starts sounding like Todi. Interestingly, one significant gharana of
vocal music explicitly teaches Lalit as Todi sung to scale-base at Ma, and does
so without ridiculous results.
Lalit phrasing: G M d M^ M
Todi
illusion: N S g r S
Lalit phrasing: N d M^ d M^ M
Todi
illusion: M^ g r g r S
Lalit phrasing: r' N d M^ d M^ M
Todi
illusion : d M^ g r g r S
Orthodox
musicians calculatedly avoid such risks. Contemporary musicians occasionally
take delight in the raga's potential for mischief, allowing the illusion
to persist for a while before restoring the relationship of the phrasing
to base-Sa.
The
Ma/Sa confusion is relevant also to the tuning of instruments. Because Lalit
does not use the Pa swara, vocalists tune their tanpuras to Ma-Sa-Sa-Sa. If
Ma replaces the Sa as the scale-base in the listener's mind, the Sa on the tanpura
begins to sound like Pa, which is forbidden in the raga. The danger of such
slippage is generally negligible in sitar and the sarod music, where the second
string and the chikaris, tuned to Sa do not allow the scale-base to relent
for any significant duration.
The
chalan (distinctive phraseology) provides the defining contours of the raga's
melodic personality. The scale divisions permit the improvisational process
to explore its potential for symmetric, geometric as well kaleidoscopic
tonal patterns. And, the Ma/Sa double-entendre makes the raga pregnant
with an element of wit. Lalit is thus rich in musical potential.
Bhatkhande
has described Lalit as a raga of serious temperament. The standard Lalit
of his times uses Shuddha Dh, and omits Ni in the ascent (M^-D-S'). The contemporary
Lalit uses komal Dh, and permits the ascent to use Ni (M^-d-N-S') without
prohibiting the traditional ascent (M^-d-S'). With this change, the raga
has shed some of its robust quality, but sharpened its poignancy.
The seriousness
of the original Lalit has now tilted towards pathos. To appreciate this,
we merely need to observe what the "Lalit effect" does when blended
with raga Gauri in Lalita-Gauri
and when dovetailed to Sohini in Lalita-Sohini. It makes them weep.
(c) India Archive Music, New York.
