Raga (Sanskrit = color, tone)
Raga in the Evening: Akira ASKR / AKIRA Asakura
In Indian classical music, a raga is the totality of a set pattern of notes acting as a template that provides a structure for improvisation. When improvising on a raga, the performer is free to change the pitch, volume, tone, timbre, tempo and number of notes but must always begin and end on the same note, as stipulated by the particular raga.
Although ragas are regarded as vehicles for spiritual meditation, they also recall, in an abstract and condensed form, epic stories and actual events from Indian history–e.g. the archetypal motif of arriving home after a lengthy war and finding that one’s lover has died.
Accordingly, many see the raga as a tool for transcendence; for others it is also sublimely emotional.
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