Desh, a word that many would relate in the Indian context only to terms such as country, nation and nation state, has in fact other connotations too. In musical parlance, it appears as the name of a popular Hindustani raag that has been presented through various genres by vocalists and instrumentalists across gharanas. Last week, this column featured vocal renditions of this raag. This week, we focus on instrumental presentations.

Noted sitar player Budhaditya Mukherjee plays a detailed Desh, through aalaap (free-flowing unaccompanied melodic elaboration) and jod (rhythm-bound unaccompanied melodic elaboration). This is followed by a madhya laya gat or medium-paced instrumental composition, and a drut gat or fast instrumental composition. Both gats, accompanied on the tabla by Souman Nandy, are set to Teentaal, a cycle of 16 matras or time units. The raag is brought to a close with a jhala or fast rhythmic movement that highlights repetitive strokes of the right hand that coincide with each matra of the time cycle. Mukherjee demonstrates great virtuosity through this live concert by employing several instrumental embellishments.

Santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma plays raag Desh with a short aalaap followed by a drut gat in Teentaal. This recording does not have the layakari or play with rhythm that is characteristic of Shivkumar Sharma’s performances. Instead, much like a vocalist, he elaborates upon the main theme through vistaar or melodic movement that freely runs over the rhythmic canvas. I had the opportunity of providing tabla accompaniment for this track.

The final track features a masterful recital in raag Desh by the sarangi wizard Ram Narayan. He plays an aalaap and a vilambit gat or slow instrumental composition in Teentaal. At times, he deviates from raag Desh to bring in shades of other raags. Ram Narayan conjures up phrases at various tempi that soar up to the high notes of the upper octave or swoop down on the lower notes, each time demonstrating the perfect intonation that is an exceptional facet of his performances.