About Ragini Miyan Ki Todi: Bombay 1968
Ragini Miyan Ki Todi: Bombay 1968 is a live recording of the Dhrupad vocal tradition performed by brothers Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. The album captures a 1968 performance in Bombay and was officially released on September 2011 under the label Country & Eastern. The release format consists of a single CD.
The recording features a single extended composition titled Miyan Ki Todi, structured in the classical Dhrupad form with three distinct sections: Alap, Jod, and Jhala. The performance exemplifies the Dagar brothers’ mastery of the Dagarvani style, a subgenre of Dhrupad known for its intricate melodic development and sustained tonal exploration. The raga Miyan Ki Todi belongs to the Todi thaat and is noted for its complex emotional depth and technical demand.
Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar were prominent exponents of the Dagar tradition, a lineage tracing back to the 16th-century Dhrupad singers of the Mughal court. Their collaborative performances emphasized improvisational virtuosity and adherence to the raga’s grammatical framework. The 1968 recording predates the broader commercial availability of Dhrupad music outside specialized circles, making its 2011 release a significant archival contribution to the genre’s discography.
The album contains no additional tracks or supplementary material beyond the primary composition. The label Country & Eastern specializes in historical and traditional music releases, with a focus on preserving rare or unpublished performances. The exact venue and accompanying instrumentalists for the 1968 session remain undocumented in the available context. The release date of the CD coincides with the label’s broader effort to digitize and distribute classical Indian recordings from private and institutional archives.