Rāga Madhu‐Kauns

Rāga Madhu-Kauns is a 21-minute instrumental composition performed by sitarist Ravi Shankar and tabla player Alla Rakha. The track appears as side A2 on the 1959 album Music of India: Rāgas and Tālas, released by His Master’s Voice on a 12\" vinyl format. The recording exemplifies the dhrupad-influenced ālāp-jor-jhālā structure characteristic of Shankar’s early work, followed by a rhythmic exposition in tīntāl (16-beat cycle).

The album marked one of Shankar’s first internationally distributed releases under a major label, introducing North Indian classical music to Western audiences. Alla Rakha’s accompaniment on tabla provided a dynamic contrast to Shankar’s sitar, with intricate layakari (rhythmic improvisation) in the latter sections. The liner notes, authored by musicologist Deben Bhattacharya, described the rāga as a blend of Madhumad Sarang and Mian ki Malhar, though specific melodic or structural documentation from the session remains undetailed in available sources.

Music of India: Rāgas and Tālas featured two additional tracks: a dhun in Khamaj thāt and a tāla demonstration by Alla Rakha. The vinyl’s original pressing included minimal production credits, with no explicit mention of recording location or engineers. Later reissues by Angel Records (1960s) and EMI (1980s) retained the tracklist but added remastered audio. The 1959 release predated Shankar’s collaboration with violinist Yehudi Menuhin by three years and his breakthrough at the Monterey Pop Festival by eight.

No live performance recordings of this specific studio rendition of Rāga Madhu-Kauns are verified in archival sources. The composition’s reception in 1959 is poorly documented, though the album contributed to Shankar’s growing reputation outside India. Alla Rakha’s role in the recording solidified his partnership with Shankar, which continued until Rakha’s death in 2000. The original vinyl sleeves featured artwork depicting traditional Indian instruments, with no photographer or designer attributed.