Surbahar: Alap - Raga Sree

Imrat Khan released Raga: Sree in 1974 under the His Master’s Voice label. The album appeared as a 12\" vinyl recording and featured a single extended composition centered on Raga Sree, a raga associated with the late evening or early night in the Hindustani classical tradition.

The opening track, titled Surbahar: Alap – Raga Sree, occupied side A of the vinyl. Imrat Khan performed the alap on the surbahar, a bass variant of the sitar known for its deep resonance and sustained tonal qualities. The recording captured the intricate development of the raga through the alap section, a non-metric improvisational form that establishes the raga’s melodic framework. The performance emphasized the meditative and expansive characteristics of Raga Sree, adhering to the Kiranagarana parent scale (thaat) in Hindustani classical music.

The album represented Imrat Khan’s contribution to the Imdadkhani gharana (Ettawah gharana), a school of instrumental music founded by his grandfather, Ustad Imdad Khan. The recording process and production details of Raga: Sree remain undocumented beyond its release year and label. No additional musicians or accompanying artists received credit on the vinyl sleeve, suggesting a solo performance format.

His Master’s Voice, a subsidiary of EMI in India, distributed the album as part of its classical music catalog during the 1970s. The vinyl’s cover art and liner notes, if included, are not archived in publicly accessible sources. The track duration and precise recording location were not specified in the original release documentation.