In the past, sarangi players accompanying professional women performers of Hindustani music often taught them vocal music as well. They were not necessarily vocalists, but they were adept at some aspects of the discipline. In particular, they were storehouses of vocal compositions due to their association as accompanists with vocalists belonging to various gharanas or musical lineages.
The second half of the twentieth century saw a transformation in the social organisation of Hindustani music. Several first-generation musicians trained under gurus in the traditional guru-shishya pedagogic method took to performing on the concert platform. In the new situation, sarangi players continued to accompany vocalists and also presented solo recitals, but most of them ceased to be teachers of vocal music.
Despite this changed circumstance, their connection with vocal music continued, because the sarangi was one of the instruments that came closest to resembling the human voice and that could effectively replicate embellishments that were desired of a Hindustani vocalist.
The third episode in our series on musicians adept in more than one musical sphere looks at three sarangi players whose vocal renditions are also available. Unfortunately, these do not give us a complete idea of their expertise as vocalists, but they demonstrate adequately enough their ease with the subject. Needless to say, their sarangi solo recitals and those of their contemporaries constantly bring to the fore their inherent engagement with vocal music.
The first track is a sarangi solo by Hanuman Prasad Mishra, a leading sarangi exponent of the Banaras gharana. He plays a composition set to Teentaal, a cycle of 16 time-units of matras, in the raag Gurjari Todi.
We now hear a short vocal recital by Hanuman Prasad Mishra. He sings a composition set to a medium-paced Teentaal. This composition with its song-text in Punjabi is usually heard in the raag Gaud Sarang.
The next track features a solo recital by the well-known sarangi virtuoso Sultan Khan. This track also includes his vocal rendition. He has chosen a composition set to Teentaal in the raag Des.
The final track features a rare vocal introduction to a sarangi solo recital. The artiste is the path-breaking maestro Ram Narayan. He plays a composition set to Teentaal in the raag Lalit.