About Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs de mal)
Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs de mal) is an album by Indian classical musician Ali Akbar Khan. The album was released on January 1, 1968. It consists of six instrumental tracks that blend Hindustani classical music with thematic influences from Charles Baudelaire’s poetry collection Les Fleurs du Mal.
Ali Akbar Khan performs on the sarod, an Indian string instrument. The album does not list a record label in available sources. Each track corresponds to a poem or theme from Baudelaire’s work, though the compositions remain rooted in raga structures.
The tracklist includes To a Passer-By, A Voyage to Cythera, Murdered Woman, The Albatross, Lethe, and Episode. The titles reflect the poetic themes, but the music adheres to traditional Hindustani forms, including alap, jor, and jhala sections. The album does not include vocal performances or lyrics.
Ali Akbar Khan recorded Flowers of Evil during a period of experimentation with Western literary themes in Indian classical music. The release date places it in the late 1960s, a time when Khan was expanding his collaborations beyond South Asia. The album’s total runtime and individual track durations are not specified in available sources.
No additional musicians or collaborators are credited on the album. The production details, including recording location and engineers, remain undocumented. The album stands as an example of Khan’s ability to adapt external artistic influences into his sarod performances while maintaining classical rigor.