About Rudra Veena Recital
Rudra Veena Recital is a studio album by Hindustani classical musician Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Dagar released the recording in 1974 under the His Master’s Voice label. The album appeared as a 12\" vinyl LP and marked an official commercial publication of his work on the rudra veena, a fretless lute associated with the Dagarvani tradition of Dhrupad.
Dagar performed all three tracks on the album. The opening composition features Raga Chandrakauns, a late-night raga characterized by its pentatonic structure and meditative phrasing. The second track, Gat Jog, showcases a rhythmic exploration in jog taal, a 14-beat cycle. The final piece, Mridang Solo, highlights percussive interplay on the mridangam, though the album credits do not specify the accompanying artist.
The recording captures Dagar’s approach to alap, jor, and jhala in the Dhrupad style, emphasizing sustained notes and intricate gamakas. His Master’s Voice produced the vinyl in India, with distribution limited to the domestic market during its initial release. The album cover and liner notes provide minimal documentation beyond the tracklist and artist name. No reissues or digital remasters have been confirmed from available sources.
The context of the 1974 release aligns with Dagar’s period of active performance and recording, though specific details about the session location, recording engineers, or additional personnel remain undocumented. The album serves as one of the few commercial recordings of Dagar’s rudra veena work from the 1970s, complementing his broader contributions to the Dhrupad tradition.