Wedding Songs of Rajasthan (Set of Two Audio CDs)

Music is integral to wedding ceremonies in Rajasthan and is also the most eloquent manifestation of the celebratory mood of the occasion. The wedding song repertoire of Rajasthan is as varied as the number of rituals prescribed for the occasion by Custom.

This two hour album treated as a theme around the weddings in Rajasthan presents an anthology of 23 songs which are widely shared and equally loved across the communities and regions of Rajasthan. The music presented here is celebratory in nature designed to capture the authentic sounds and images of a Rajasthani wedding. Simple songs with immense musical beauty thematic significance and popular appeal touch upon a wide range of emotions of love joy and poignant sentiment of separation. The songs revolve around the bride and the groom their personal adornments physical arrangements ceremonial procession and receptions fun and frolic. These songs traverse the disparate customs that are rife before and after a marriage.

The first volume of the album features the familiar music of the Manganiar and Langa singers, instantly recognizable as unique to the desert people of the Thar region of Rajasthan. The chosen songs rendered by small all male ensembles with or without a lead voice represent their typical repertoire around the wedding celebrations. As one listens to their music sung with enormous verve and punch traces of art music and virtuoso singing become all too evident.

The second volume of the album features Maithi Bai (Together with her voc al companion Bhanwari Bai) a popular singer adored by the common people of Rajasthan. She has had a long career in popular music and her published repertoire is prodigious both in number and in variety. She is however being presented for the first time outside her home territory.

Inspite of the rustic desert feel the two communities of singers and their songs have a universal appeal.