Writings about Music

A Dream of Love

Another vision of piano, with a composition based upon a raga George Harrison sang for me in Maui. Charukeshi is a dream of love - the salt water of the sea rushing into the sweet rain water of the tide pool.

The purvanga of Charukeshi is symbolized by the salt water of the sea, and the uttaranga is symbolized by the sweet rain water of the tide pool. This image came to mind while contemplating the unique sound of Charukeshi, relating the raga to a favorite place in Hana where I've enjoyed swimming, my description actually occurring there.

Purvanga is the lower tetrachord of ragas, and uttaranga is the upper tetrachord, with Charukeshi possessing a major or joyful modality in the purvanga, and a minor or melancholic modality in the uttaranga.

- Michael Robinson, September 2020, Los Angeles (second and third paragraphs added March 2021)

 

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Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer (musicologist).