DHRUPAD FANTASIA

Elizabethan England meets dhrupad at the court of Akbar the Great

Dhrupad is one of the oldest and purest forms within North Indian classical music. The name is derived from 'druva' (pole star) and 'pada' (word or poetry), and literally means “the unwavering word.” The roots of this tradition lie in the recitation of Sanskrit texts in Hindu temples, a practice that dates back more than 2000 years.

In the 16th century, dhrupad found its way to the princely courts of the Mughals in Rajasthan, where the genre gained high esteem and evolved into a refined classical art form.

Dhrupad can be experienced on multiple levels: as a performing art, a form of meditation, a religious practice, mantra recitation, and as a form of sound yoga.

At the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the fantasia was a beloved genre among English composers — polyphonic compositions written for a consort, an instrumental or vocal ensemble.

Dhrupad Fantasia is the evocation of a marvellous dream: a visionary idea or illusion, in which raga-based modal improvisation merges with the world of polyphonic instrumental music — both rooted in the court cultures of the 16th century.

The Musicians
Uday Bhawalkar . dhrupad singing
Pratap Awad . pakhawaj
&
Hathor Consort
Anne Freitag . Renaissance traverso
Liam Fennelly & Thomas Baeté . viola da gamba
Romina Lischka .  dhrupad singing, bass viola da gamba & artistic direction