Raga: Malkauns - Gat Vilambit and Drut - Teen Tal

Nikhil Banerjee performed Raga Malkauns – Gat in Vilambit and Drut Laya as the second track on his 1989 album Sitar Recital. Saregama released the recording on CD. The composition spans 19 minutes and 59 seconds and adheres to Teen Tal, a 16-beat rhythmic cycle.

Banerjee structured the performance in two tempo sections. The vilambit (slow) segment establishes the raga’s melodic framework with deliberate phrasing and extended note development. The drut (fast) section accelerates the tempo, showcasing intricate taans (melodic runs) and rhythmic interplay. The recording captures Banerjee’s use of the gandhar-pancham nyas (resting on the third and fifth notes) and komal dhaivat (flattened sixth), hallmarks of Raga Malkauns in the Kafi thaat.

The album Sitar Recital documents Banerjee’s live or studio renditions of North Indian classical music. Saregama, then known as HMV India, produced the release as part of its classical music catalog. The label did not disclose specific session details, recording locations, or accompanying artists for this track. Banerjee’s interpretation aligns with the Etawah Baj (style of sitar playing) tradition, emphasizing clarity in note articulation and layered jor-alap (melodic elaboration).

Critics and archivists often cite this recording as representative of Banerjee’s mature phase, marked by technical precision and emotional restraint. The 1989 CD format preserved the dynamic range of the sitar’s sympathetic strings and the subtle variations in meend (glissando) technique. No alternate versions or reissues of this specific performance have been officially documented under the same label.