Raga Bageshri

Raga Bageshri is a khayal performance by Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Amir Khan. The track appears as the second composition on the album A Life in Music, released in 1984 by Saregama in CD format. The recording spans 26 minutes and 46 seconds, showcasing Khan’s interpretation of the late-night raga within the vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) sections, accompanied by traditional tabla and tanpura support.

The album compiles archival and studio recordings from Khan’s career, though specific session details for this track remain undocumented. A Life in Music serves as a posthumous anthology, issued four years after Khan’s death in 1974. The label Saregama, then known as HMV India, curated the release to highlight his contributions to the Indore gharana, a school known for its emphasis on rhythmic precision and melodic depth.

Khan’s rendition of Raga Bageshri adheres to the raga’s characteristic phrases, including the komal ni (flattened seventh) and shuddha ma (pure fourth) swaras. The performance follows the standard khayal structure, with an extended alaap leading into composed bandish (lyrical sections) and improvisational taans. The accompanying artists are not credited in the album liner notes, a common omission in historical classical releases of this period.

The 1984 CD release marked one of the early digital reissues of Khan’s work, transitioning his analog recordings to a format accessible for modern audiences. Saregama later re-released the album in subsequent decades, though the original mastering details for this track are not publicly verified. The track remains a reference for students of the Indore style and for analyses of Khan’s vocal techniques, particularly his controlled sargam patterns and breath management in prolonged phrases.