About Raga Nat Bhairav (Birthday Recital by Rishab Rikhiram)
Raga Nat Bhairav (Birthday Recital by Rishab Rikhiram) is a digital release by sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma. Sharma presented the recording as a solo performance featuring two movements in the morning raga Nat Bhairav, a variant of the traditional Bhairav raga associated with the dawn hours.
Sharma released the work on September 24, 2020. The recording comprises two tracks: an alap (unmetered introductory exposition) and a gat (composed melody) set in ektal, a 12-beat rhythmic cycle. The performance adheres to the khayal-influenced instrumental style of the Indore gharana, though Sharma does not explicitly state the gharana affiliation in the release metadata.
The first track, titled Raga Nat Bhairav: Alap (Introduction), spans approximately 20 minutes and explores the raga’s ascending and descending phrases with gradual tempo acceleration. The second track, Raga Nat Bhairav: Gat in Ektal, introduces a fixed composition followed by improvisations within the 12-beat structure. The total runtime of the release is not documented in available sources.
The recording emerged as a self-produced digital release, with no commercial label attachment confirmed in public records. Sharma distributed the work via online platforms, targeting listeners of North Indian classical music. Contextual details about the recording venue, accompanying artists, or production personnel remain undocumented. The title references Sharma’s birthday, suggesting a personal or commemorative intent behind the performance.
Notable features of the release include Sharma’s use of meend (glissando) and gamak (ornamentation) techniques in the alap, as well as the rhythmic interplay in the gat section. The raga’s characteristic phrases—such as the emphasis on the komal re (flattened second) and komal dha (flattened sixth)—align with the Nat Bhairav scale structure. No lyricists, composers, or additional performers are credited in the available tracklist.