In Review--The Spirit of India
Gundecha Brothers and Pushparaj Koshti Temple Voices Sense World Music Pushparaj Koshti Surbahar Sense World Music The ancient vocal form Dhrupad seemed to be in slow terminal decline according to the liner notes for The Gundecha Brothers' latest recording, Temple Voices . Also in the liner notes, "The Gundecha Brothers are at the forefront of the revival in fortune that has overtaken the ancient vocal form, Dhrupad." It had fallen victim to the popularity of the Khayal tradition. Also from my understanding of it, Dhrupad had also suffered the reputation of being painfully slow, and one writer for The Rough Guide to World Music, Volume 2 had compared Dhrupad to watching paint dry. I actually appreciate this ancient Indian vocal style. Yes, it unfolds slowly, but for those with patience (which is not many these days), this gentle unfolding does pay off. The vocal fireworks that contributed to the popularity of the Khayal form are not present in the same regard. ...