Natya Gaaner Parampara

The Poila Baisakh, this year, couldn't have been better spent than what we enjoyed at Academy during the noon. Ambarish Bhattacharya and Sohini Sengupta presented one of the unique demonstrations of songs on stage titled, Natya Gaaner Parampara, a tribute to the composers and their musical creations for the Bengali theatres over the years. The programme was simply marvellous.

Mesmerising the audience with numbers, primarily designed for various plays, the performance celebrated the musical diversity that enriched the Bengali theatres through the ages. Melody, traditionally played as conventional Rabindrasangeet, was rendered by

Ambarish with his brilliantly supporting musical ensemble in a way, designed reportedly, by the great laureate himself, for drama! Sohini gave her voice to a Swatilekha Sengupta composition, yet to be included in a play and perhaps displayed the latest upto which Bengali music for the stage has evolved. Spanning, literally, over centuries, from the early nineteenth to the twenty-first, the depth of the musical contribution in Bengali theatres seemed never to be better explored! Songs were selected from plays of Shishir Bhaduri, Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay and presented to give us a taste of the yonder years of which we only might have heard! The Marjina Abdullah duet by Bhattacharya and Sengupta

from the play, Alibaba, displayed the perfection of comic timings in harmony. Rarest of the rare numbers, a song with music composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay belonged to the category of serious lyrics, while a parody composed by Jyotirindranath Tagore reflected the sobriety in satire, the golden art of forgotten old! The children in the audience also had something for them too, as besides the other hilarious pieces, a charmingly addictive cuddly rhythm, from Astronauter Thikana, displaying a novel and diverse manifestation of vocal skill, not only refreshed the younger batch, but this seemingly effortless singing, being far from a childish attempt, promised moments of innocent mirth and smiles on all the faces that listened.

Thus, the programme truly displayed the spectrum of theatrical ballads, composed for all the human sentiments and spanning over more than a century, a tradition of tunes, distinctly Bengali and one, which is evolving continuously in all the varied musical shades.

Harmonising majestically with their instrumental adroitness, Rajeeb Chatterjee on octapad, Dipankar Chattopadhyay on keyboard, Abhijit Basu on tabla and conducted by Subir Sanyal on harmonium, the accompaniment was both superb and absolute. The lighting arrangement by Sadhan Parui and the decor by Ayan Ghosh transformed the stage to the gorgeous gramophone period while the sound arrangement of Santu Das and Soumitra Das (Das & Co) preserved the acoustic elegance with modern appendages. Supervised by Arghya Dey Sarkar, this Nandikar production will remain memorable to music lovers for days to come if not years!

The magnetism of music was apparent in the way the audience synched gradually and actually played the main cast in the culminating Dhana Dhanye Pushpe Bhora when the real artists suggested the leads while the majority of the audience sang the entire song, standing, in a unique display of passion and musical harmony, a gesture so theatrical but so earnest - tradition is indeed so alluring!

Caveat: A soothing gesture of offering ORS to each and every audience in the waiting area of Academy by staffs of Nandikar was not only welcome in the scorching heat but won the heart even before a single note had started quenching the musical thirst.

pictures: Amrita De

mp.b

Developed in Visual Basic 6.0, mp.b is an easy to use home made Metronome for Pc.

The facilities that it provides:

1.Gives a count from 1 – 16 beats in a bar in std. beat formats of 2, 4, 8 and 16.

2.Beat speed ranges from 1 – 276 beats per min.

3.Emits a distinct beep sound as the beat is counted which can be muted as well.

4.Displays the beat count.

5.Graphical display of beat count.

6.Display of bar count.

How to use?

1.The default count of the programme is 4 crotchet beats per bar @ 138 beats per min in sound ON mode.

2.Change the beat count (range: 1-16) using the vertical scroll bar in beat count window.

a.The value in the upper box of the time signature window box will be set.

b.The number of magenta coloured circles in the lowest window in will be set likewise.

3.Change the beat type (options: minim / crotchet / quaver / semi-quaver) using the red coloured buttons in the beat window.

a.The value in the lower box of the time signature window box will be set.

4.Change the beat speed (range: 1 - 276) using the horizontal scroll bar in the beat speed window.

a.The beat speed and the corresponding beat interval will be displayed in the brown and green boxes below the scroll bar.

5.To start count press starcount button.

a.Bar count starts from 0 and is displayed in bar count window.

b.Beat count starts from 0 and is displayed in the window, right of the time signature window.

c.Beat count is graphically displayed changing the corresponding circle’s colour in the lowest window to orange from magenta.

6.To put OFF the beep, press mute button.

a.The caption the button toggles from mute to beat. If again sound is required press the beat button.

7. To stop count press stopcount button.

a.Beep, if ON, is stopped.

b.Bar count is reset to 0.

c.Beat count vanishes and is reset.

d.The colour of all the circles turns to magenta.

8.In the event of any change during a count.

a.Bar count is not reset.

b.All other displays and sounds are dynamically changed.

Point to be noted:

Dynamic change of variables is not recommended. To change any variable, 1st stop the count, change the parameter values and then start the count.