Raga Malkaus

Raga Malkaus is a 29-minute-50-second instrumental track performed by Hariprasad Chaurasia on the bansuri (North Indian bamboo flute). The composition appears as the third track on the album Night Ragas - Volume Three, released on CD by Music Today in 1992.

The album belongs to a series dedicated to evening and night ragas in the Hindustani classical tradition. Chaurasia interprets Raga Malkaus (also spelled Malkauns), a pentatonic raga associated with the late evening or night. The raga omits the second (re) and sixth (dha) swaras in its ascending and descending scales, employing komal ni (flattened seventh) as a defining feature. The recording captures Chaurasia’s improvisational alaap-jor-jhala development followed by structured gat compositions in vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) tempos.

Accompaniment details for this track remain undocumented in the provided context. The album’s production credits and additional session musicians, if any, are not specified. Night Ragas - Volume Three forms part of Music Today’s catalog of classical Indian music releases from the early 1990s, targeting audiences of traditional Hindustani instrumental performances.

The track exemplifies Chaurasia’s approach to raga exposition, emphasizing melodic phrasing and breath control characteristic of the Maihar gharana. The 1992 release date aligns with his established career phase, following his collaborations with composers like Ravi Shankar and his tenure as a soloist in international concert circuits.