Raga Shuddha Sarang

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan performed Raga Shuddha Sarang as the opening track on the compilation album The Great Heritage: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Saregama released the album on CD in 2010. The recording spans 21 minutes and 50 seconds, showcasing Khan’s interpretation of the raga within the Khayal tradition of Hindustani classical music.

The album compiles archival performances by Khan, though the exact recording date of this track remains undocumented in the release. Saregama sourced the material from its vault of classical recordings, preserving Khan’s vocal technique and the Patiala gharana stylistic elements. The composition adheres to the vilambit (slow) and drut (fast) sections typical of Khayal renditions, accompanied by traditional instruments including the tabla and tanpura.

The Great Heritage: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan serves as a posthumous anthology, released decades after Khan’s death in 1968. The CD format includes liner notes that contextualize his contributions to Hindustani music, though specific session details for Raga Shuddha Sarang are not provided in the packaging. The track exemplifies Khan’s command of taans (melodic phrases) and gamaks (ornamentations), central to his artistic legacy.

Saregama marketed the album as part of its Great Heritage series, which revisits recordings by foundational Indian classical artists. The label did not disclose the original recording venue, engineers, or accompanying musicians for this track. The compilation targets audiences interested in historical performances of the Patiala-Kasur gharana, with Raga Shuddha Sarang positioned as a representative work of Khan’s mid-20th-century repertoire.