Rabindranath Tagore composed over 2000 songs that are revered and sung by Bengalis everywhere. However they remain mostly unknown to listeners from other communities. This book brings the Nobel Laureate’s unique music - Rabindrasangit - to a global audience with a lucid introduction by Ananda Lal as well as selected songs in international transcription and English translation. It includes an essay written originally in Bengali by the celebrated filmmaker Satyajit Ray himself a Tagore student and music composer. Ray presents his thoughts on Rabindrasangit its nuances music history and usage. Lal has also translated this essay into English for the first time. The book also presents for the first time faithful staff notations of all 41 songs in three of Tagore’s major plays - Rakta-karavi Tapati and Arup Ratan - providing a thematic unity to the music section. This volume will be of interest to Tagore and Ray enthusiasts and specialists musicologists and students of music theatre literature performance studies and cultural studies. It will appeal not only to scholars but to general readers wanting to know more about Tagore’s songs as well as directors arrangers composers and singers who may wish to perform or interpret the songs transcribed. |Songs of Tagore Poetry and Melody | Asian Studies
