Jhaptaal Composition (Part 1)

Jhaptaal Composition (Part 1) is a live instrumental track performed by violinist Kala Ramnath. The composition appears as the fourth track on her album Touching Air (live at the Saptak Festival), released on 2002 by Sense World Music in CD format. The recording captures a performance from the Saptak Festival, though the exact venue and date within the festival remain undocumented in available sources.

The track spans 5 minutes and 0 seconds and exemplifies Ramnath’s interpretation of the jhaptaal, a 10-beat rhythmic cycle in Hindustani classical music. The composition reflects her training under the Mewati gharana, a school known for its emphasis on melodic intricacy and emotional depth. Accompaniment details for this specific recording are not explicitly listed in the album credits, but traditional performances of this nature typically feature the tabla and tanpura as supporting instruments.

Touching Air serves as a live document of Ramnath’s artistry during the early 2000s, a period marked by her international tours and collaborations. The album’s production credits attribute engineering and mixing to unspecified personnel under the Sense World Music label, which specialized in global fusion and classical recordings during this era. No alternate versions or remixes of Jhaptaal Composition (Part 1) have been officially released.

The Saptak Festival, where the performance originated, is an annual event held in Ahmedabad, India, dedicated to Hindustani classical music. Ramnath’s participation in the festival aligns with her reputation as a leading exponent of the violin in this tradition, though specific contextual notes about this performance—such as the raga employed or thematic inspiration—are not provided in the album’s liner notes or accompanying materials.