Raga Jogiya Kalingra: Aroma of Saffron

By John Pitts

The word raga literally means 'to colour', and from that also 'to induce emotion' or 'to arouse passion'. The musical term raga refers to a performance, within the melodic and structural conventions of Indian classical music, that evokes a particular emotion. Raga Jogiya Kalingra "Aroma of Saffron" evokes a mood of wonder: It is night-time. Strong breezes blow through purple fields of the beautiful saffron flower, its red stigma the source of the world's most expensive spice, releasing wafts of powerful fragrance. This through-composed Raga Jogiya Kalingra "Aroma of Saffron" is a solo performance piece for piano lasting around 16 minutes. It is a fully fleshed-out version of the musical material from the 12th raga/raag in the book How to Play Indian Sitar Raags on a Piano (2016) by British composer John Pitts, and is suitable for advanced pianists. Indian ragas have an extraordinary musical heritage dating back several centuries (from the area that is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) - a truly unique musical genre of fascinating melodic beauty and rhythmic intricacy - freely combining elaborate composed melodies with carefully rehearsed improvisation. With improvisation being such an important element in the performance of Indian ragas, sheet music of a through-composed and fully-notated raga may seem like a contradiction in terms. However, this piece, with its notated sections of 'improvisation', is designed to serve two purposes: 1) as a model example of how to follow the ample instructions in raga improvisation for owners of copies of How to Play Indian Sitar Raags on a Piano; and 2) simply as a performance piece in its own right for classical pianists who are used to playing entirely from written music.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1650187777
• ISBN13: 9781650187778
• Release Date: December 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 33 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.7" x 0.1" x 8.3"