A raga (Sanskrit rāga राग, Tamil rāgam ராகம், Kannada "Raaga" ರಾಗ, Malayalam rāgam രാഗം literally "colour, hue" but also "beauty, melody"; also spelled raag, raaga, ragam)^[1] is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.

A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, it is important to remember that the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a rāga. Non-classical music such as popular Indian film songs and ghazals sometimes use rāgas in their compositions.

Joep Bor of the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music defined Raga as "tonal framework for composition and improvisation."^[2] Nazir Jairazbhoy, chairman of UCLA's department of ethnomusicology, characterized ragas as separated by scale, line of ascent and descent, transilience, emphasized notes and register, and intonation and ornaments.^[3]

Terminology[link]

Look up राग in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up raga in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The Sanskrit word rāga is defined as 'the act of colouring or dyeing' (the mind and mood/emotions in this context) and therefore metaphorically means 'any feeling or passion especially love, affection, sympathy, desire, interest, motivation, joy, or delight.' Therefore, the word is used in the literal sense of 'the act of dyeing,' and also 'color, hue, tint,' especially the color red in the Sanskrit epics, and in the figurative sense of 'something that colors one's emotions.' A figurative sense of the word as 'passion, love, desire, delight' is also found in the Mahabharata. The specialized sense of 'loveliness, beauty,' especially of voice or song, emerges in Classical Sanskrit, used by Kalidasa and in the Panchatantra.^[4]

The term first occurs in a technical context in the Brihaddeshi (dated ca. 5th to 8th century),^[5] where it is described as "a combination of tones which, with beautiful illuminating graces, pleases the people in general".

Rāginī (Devanagari: रागिनी) is a term for the "feminine" counterpart or "wife" to a rāga. The rāga-rāgini scheme from about the 14th century aligned 6 "male" rāgas with 6 "wives."

Nature of rāga[link]

Raga Shree recital to Krishna and Radha, Ragamala paintings, 19th century

योऽसौ ध्वनिविशेषस्तु स्वरवर्णविभूषितः ।

रञ्जको जनचित्तानां स च राग उदाहृतः ।।

"That which is a special dhwani (tune), is bedecked with swara (notes) and varna and is colorful or delightful to the minds of the people, is said to be rāga" - Matanga in the Brihaddeshi.

The basic mode of reference in modern Hindustani practice (known commonly as the shuddha - basic - form) is a set which is equivalent to the Western Ionian mode (the major scale) — this is called Bilawal thaat in Hindustani music (the Carnatic analogue would be Sankarabharanam). In both systems, the ground (or tonic), Shadja, Sa, and a pure fifth above, Pancham, Pa, are fixed and essentially sacrosanct tones. In the Hindustani system, in a given seven-tone mode, the second, third, sixth, and seventh notes can be natural (shuddha, lit. 'pure') or flat (komal, 'soft') but never sharp, and the fourth note can be natural or sharp (tivra) but never flat, making up the twelve notes in the Western equal tempered chromatic scale (Western enharmonic pitch equivalences like, for example, A♯ and B♭ do not apply; e.g. Re tivra may, to a Western musician appear enharmonic to Ga shuddha in that system, but in practice is not.) A Western-style C chromatic scale could therefore theoretically have the notes C, D♭, D, E♭, E, F, F♯, G, A♭, A, B♭, B.

The Carnatic system has three versions — a lower, medium, and higher form — of all the notes except Sa, Ma and Pa. Ma has two versions (lower and higher), while Sa and Pa are invariant. Rāgas can also specify microtonal changes to this scale: a flatter second, a sharper seventh, and so forth. Tradition has it that the octave consists of (a division into) 22 microtones ("shrutis"). Furthermore, individual performers treat pitches quite differently, and the precise intonation of a given note depends on melodic context. There is no absolute pitch (such as the modern western standard A = 440 Hz); instead, each performance simply picks a ground note, which also serves as the drone, and the other scale degrees follow relative to the ground note. The Carnatic system embarks from a much different shuddha (fundamental) scalar formation, that is, shuddha here is the lowest-pitched swara.

By comparison, using the common tonic "C" for a western musician:

Rāgas and their seasons[link]

Vasant Ragini, Ragamala, Rajput, Kota, Rajasthan. 1770. Vasant is the raga of spring. The painting depicts Hindu god Krishna dancing with maidens.

Many Hindustani (North Indian) rāgas are prescribed for the particular time of a day or a season. When performed at the suggested time, the rāga has its maximum effect. For example, many of the Malhar group of rāgas, which are ascribed the magical power to bring rain, are performed during the monsoon. However, these prescriptions are not strictly followed, especially since modern concerts are generally held in the evening. There has also been a growing tendency over the last century for North Indian musicians to adopt South Indian rāgas, which do not come with any particular time associated with them. The result of these various influences is that there is increasing flexibility as to when rāgas may be performed.

Notations[link]

Although notes are an important part of rāga practice, they alone do not make the rāga. A rāga is more than a scale, and many rāgas share the same scale. The underlying scale may have five, six or seven tones made up of swaras. Rāgas that have five swaras are called audava (औडव) rāgas; those with six, shaadava (षाडव); and with seven, sampurna (संपूर्ण, Sanskrit for 'complete'). Those rāgas that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of swaras are called vakra (वक्र) ('crooked') rāgas.

The mood of the rāga and the way the notes are approached and used are more important than the notes it uses. For example, Darbari Kanada and Jaunpuri share the same notes but are entirely different in their renderings. Similarly, although Bilaskhani Todi is classified under the Bhairavi thaat because of the notes it uses, it is actually closer to Todi than to Bhairavi.

Northern and southern differences[link]

The two streams of Indian classical music, Carnatic music and Hindustani music, have independent sets of rāgas. There is some overlap, but more "false friendship" (where rāga names overlap, but rāga form does not). In north India, the rāgas have been categorised into ten thaats or parent scales (by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, 1860-1936); South India uses an older, more systematic classification scheme called the melakarta classification, with 72 parent (melakarta) rāgas. Overall there is a greater identification of rāga with scale in the south than in the north, where such an identification is impossible. Rāgas in north Indian music system follow the 'law of consonances' established by Bharata in his Natyashastra, which does not tolerate deviation even at the shruti level.

As rāgas were transmitted orally from teacher to student, some rāgas can vary greatly across regions, traditions and styles. Many ragas have also been evolving over the centuries. There have been efforts to codify and standardise rāga performance in theory from their first mention in Matanga's Brihaddeshi (c. tenth century).

Carnatic rāga[link]

In Carnatic music, rāgas are classified as Janaka rāgas and Janya rāgas. Janaka rāgas are the rāgas from which the Janya rāgas are created. Janaka rāgas are grouped together using a scheme called Katapayadi sutra and are organised as Melakarta rāgas. A Melakarta rāga is one which has all seven notes in both the ārōhanam (ascending scale) and avarōhanam (descending scale). Some Melakarta rāgas are Harikambhoji, Kalyani, Kharaharapriya, Mayamalavagowla, Sankarabharanam and Todi.

Janya rāgas are derived from the Janaka rāgas using a combination of the swarams (usually a subset of swarams) from the parent rāga. Some janya rāgas are Abheri, Abhogi, Bhairavi, Hindolam, Mohanam and Kambhoji. See the full List of Janya Ragas for more.

Each rāga has a definite collection and orders of swaras (the basic notes). In Carnatic music, there are 7 basic notes of which there are a total of 16 varieties. The seven basic swarams of Carnatic music are: Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni.

Related rāgas[link]

Even though Janya rāgas are subsets of Janaka rāgas in notation and representation, the differences between the child ragas are clear due to the differences like

• some notes that figure more in a particular rāga compared to another, while other notes used sparingly
• some notes may be sung with gamaka, stress, elongation, etc., in one rāga compared to other
• specific phrases used and other phrases to be avoided in a rāga (so as to avoid deviation into another rāga's domain)
• the scales of some ragas may contain at least one swara that does not figure in their janaka ragas. Such ragas are termed as bhashanga ragas. Ragas such as Bhairavi, Kambhoji, Bilahari, Devagandhari, and Neelambari fall under this category.
• An important fact to be noted is to never sing Bhairavi and Kharaharapriya together, since, the prayogas while singing aalapana are almost the same, with the Suddha dha of Bhairavi being the only difference between the two.

The effect of the rāgas are different from each other, even if they notationally use same swarams (or subset of swarams between each other) due to above subjective differences related to bhava and rasa (mood caused in the listener). The artists have to ensure the same when elaborating on a rāga, as has been followed and expected on each rāga, without digressing into the phrases of another related rāga.

Rāga-rāgini[link]

Basohli painting of Ragaputra Velavala, son of the raga Bhairava.

The rāga-rāgini scheme is a classification scheme used from the 14th century to the 19th century. It usually consists of 6 'male' rāgas each with 6 'wives' (rāginis) and a number of sons (putras) and even 'daughters-in-law'. As it did not agree with various other schemes, and the 'related' rāgas had very little or no similarity, the rāga-rāgini scheme is no longer very popular.^[6]

Rāgas and rāginis were often pictured as Hindu gods, Rajput princes and aristocratic women in an eternal cycle of love, longing and fulfilment.^[6]

See also[link]

Indian classical music portal

• Arabic maqam
• Echos
• List of rāgas
• Makam
• Melody type
• Muqam
• Nava rasas
• Rāga, a documentary about the life and music of Ravi Shankar
• Raga rock

References[link]

Literature[link]

• Bhatkhande, Vishnu Narayan (1968-73), Kramika Pustaka Malika, Hathras: Sangeet Karyalaya .
• Bor, Joep (1999), The Rāga Guide, Charlottesville,Virginia: Nimbus Records 
• Daniélou, Alain (1949), Northern Indian Music, Calcutta: Visva Bharati 
• Jairazbhoy, N.A. (1995), The Rags of North Indian Music: Their Structure & Evolution, Bombay: Popular Prakashan 
• Kaufmann, Walter (1968), The Ragas of North India, Calcutta: Oxford & IBH Publishing Company 

• Moutal, Patrick (1991), Hindustani Raga Index 

• Moutal, Patrick (1991), A Comparative Study of Selected Hindustani Ragas 

Some Ragamala paintings can be found in:

• Bautze, J (1987), Indian Miniature Paintings c:1590 to c. 1850, Amsterdam: Galerie Saundarya Lahari, ISBN 90-72085-01-9 
• Gangoly, O.C. (1934), Rāgas and Rāginis, Calcutta 

• • Ragas and raginis by Amiyanath Sanyal (English) ORIENT LONGMANS 1959 printed by S.C.Ghosh, Calcutta Press, Wellington Squate, Calcutta (Link: www.dli.ernet.in)
  • Sangita Ratnakara of Sarangadeva (Raga Adyaya) ( -do- )

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Raga

• A step-by-step introduction to the concept of raga for beginners
• Rajan Parrikar Music Archive - detailed analyses of ragas backed by rare audio recordings
• Comprehensive reference on raagas
• Krsna Kirtana Songs Ragamala — an informative database with over ninety rāgas (audio clips coming soon), tutorial on the North Indian notation system, rāga classification, and explanation of how rāgas work.
• Hindustani Raga Sangeet Online A rare collection of audio & video archives from 1902. Radio programs dedicated to famous ragas.
• Online quick reference of rāgams in Carnatic music.
• Basics of Hindustani Classical Music for Listeners: a downloadable PDF, and an online video talk. Includes "What is a Raga"?

v t e Hindustani Classical Music Concepts Swara · Tala · Laya · Raag · Shruti · Bandish · Alankar · Riyaz · Gharana Instruments Sitar · Sarod · Veena · Bansuri · Santoor · Shehnai · Harmonium · Sarangi · Tanpura · Tabla · Violin · Pakhawaj Genres Dhrupad · Dhamar · Khyal · Tarana · Sadra Semi-Classical Genres Thumri · Dadra · Tappa · Kajri · Chaiti · Sawani · Hori · Bhajan · Abhang · Natyageet · Qawwali · Ghazal Thaats Bilawal · Khamaj · Kafi · Asavari · Bhairav · Bhairavi · Todi · Purvi · Marwa · Kalyan

Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar at the Global Rhythm 15th Anniversary Party in 2007
Background information
Born	(1981-06-09) 9 June 1981 (age 31) London, United Kingdom
Genres	Indian classical, crossover
Occupations	Sitarist, composer
Instruments	Sitar
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Angel Records (1998–2007), Deutsche Grammophon (2010–present)
Website	AnoushkaShankar.com

Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British Indian sitar player and composer who lives between the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Shankar. She is the paternal half-sister of Norah Jones.^[1]

Personal life and education[link]

Shankar was born in London and divided her childhood between London and Delhi. As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas, California and attended San Dieguito Academy. A 1999 Honors graduate, Shankar decided to pursue a career in music rather than attend college.^[1]

Anoushka married British director Joe Wright.^[2] Their first child, Zubin Shankar Wright, was born on 22 February 2011.^[3]

Career[link]

Anoushka and Ravi Shankar in concert, 2005

Shankar began training on the sitar with her father as a child, and gave her first public performance at the age of thirteen at Siri Fort in New Delhi. By the age of fourteen, she was accompanying her father at concerts around the world, and signed her first record contract, with Angel Records (EMI) at 16.

Though success came at an early age for Shankar, she was still uncertain if music was the career she wanted to fully pursue. "The question was continually back and forth in my mind," she admits. "After I graduated from high school, I made a decision not to go to college and start touring full-time. Even at that time, I thought maybe I’d do it for a year and see what happens. During that year, it became so clear to me that that was my life and who I was– a touring musician."^[4]

She released her first album, Anoushka, in 1998, followed by Anourag in 2000. Both Shankar and Norah Jones were nominated for Grammy awards in 2003 when Anoushka became the youngest-ever and first woman nominee in the World Music category for her third-album, Live at Carnegie Hall.

2005 brought the release of Anoushka’s fourth album RISE, earning her another Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary World Music category. In February 2006 she became the first Indian to play at the Grammy Awards.

Shankar, in collaboration with Karsh Kale, released Breathing Under Water on 28 August 2007. It is a mix of classical sitar and electronica beats and melodies. Notable guest vocals include Norah Jones, Sting, and Ravi Shankar who performs a sitar duet with his daughter.

Anoushka has made many guest appearances on recordings by other artists, among them Sting, Lenny Kravitz and Thievery Corporation. Duetting with violinist Joshua Bell, in a sitar-cello duet with Mstislav Rostropovich, and with flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, playing both sitar and piano. Most recently Anoushka has collaborated with Herbie Hancock on his latest record The Imagine Project.

Anoushka has given soloist performances of her father's 1st Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra worldwide. In January 2009 she was the sitar soloist alongside the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for the series of concerts premièring her father’s 3rd Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra, and in July 2010 she premiered Ravi Shankar's first Symphony for Sitar and Orchestra with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at London's Barbican Hall.

Anoushka has also ventured into acting (Dance Like a Man, (2004)) and writing. She wrote a biography of her father, Bapi: The Love of My Life, in 2002 and has contributed chapters to various books. As a columnist she wrote monthly columns for India's First City Magazine for three years, and spent one year as a weekly columnist for India's largest newspaper, the Hindustan Times.

Anoushka recorded her next album in Madrid, Spain. Released in autumn 2011 "Traveller" is an exploration of the commonalities and differences between classical Indian music and Spanish flamenco, and features the talents of Shubha Mudgal, Tanmoy Bose, Pepe Habichuela, Sandra Carrasco and Duquende among others.^[5]

Benefit concerts[link]

On 29 November 2002, Anoushka Shankar was the opening act at the Concert for George, a posthumous tribute to the life and music of George Harrison, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. She was the principal performer in the entire first set or "Indian portion" of the concert. She opened the show by playing a solo sitar instrumental titled "Your Eyes". Also on the sitar, she performed George Harrison's "The Inner Light" with Jeff Lynne (vocals and guitar). Lastly, she conducted a new composition, Arpan, written by her father. The composition featured Eric Clapton playing acoustic guitar. The concert was modelled after Ravi Shankar's benefit concert with Harrison, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh.

Anoushka Shankar was invited by Richard Gere and Philip Glass to perform in a concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in 2003 in aid of the Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation. Shankar and Jethro Tull postponed a concert scheduled for 29 November 2008 in Mumbai after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. They reorganised the performance as A Billion Hands Concert, a benefit performance for victims of the attacks, and held it on 5 December 2008. Shankar commented on this decision stating that: "As a musician, this is how I speak, how I express the anger within me [...] our entire tour has been changed by these events and even though the structure of the concert may remain the same, emotionally perhaps we are saying a lot more."^[6]

Awards[link]

• British House of Commons Shield, 1998^[7]
• Voted Homecoming San Dieguito High School, Class of 1999
• Woman of the Year (shared with Kareena Kapoor, Ritu Beri, and Rhea Pillai) awarded on International Women's Day 2003^[1]
• Named as one of 20 Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time in 2004
• Nominated for a Grammy award in 2003 in the World Music category for her third-album, Live at Carnegie Hall. She was the youngest-ever and first woman nominee in this category.
• In 2005 she was nominated for another Grammy, in the Best Contemporary World Music category for her fourth album RISE.

Activism[link]

Shankar is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She and her father appeared in a thirty-second public-service announcement against animal suffering.^[8] Anoushka is also the spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Programme in India.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Anoushka (1998)
• Anourag (2000)
• Live at Carnegie Hall (2001)
• Rise (2005)
• Rise Remixes (2006)
• Breathing Under Water (2007)
• Traveller (2011)

Live and compilations[link]

• Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 (2000)
• Concert for George (2003)
• Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation (2007)
• Live in Concert at the Nehru Park, New Delhi (2005)

Features[link]

• Variant Moods – Duet For Sitar & Violin (Abridged Version) Written by Ravi Shankar, At Home With Friends by Joshua Bell 2009
• Charu Keshi Rain – Co-written by Nitin Sawhney and Anoushka Shankar, London Undersound 2008
• Mandala – Featuring Anoushka Shankar on sitar. Co-written by Hilton Garza, Radio Retaliation
• Beloved – by Anoushka Shankar remixed by Thievery Corporation – Versions 2006
• Rebirth – Co-written by Gaurav Raina, Tapan Raj and Anoushka Shankar. MIDIval Times 2005
• Sacred Love – by Sting 2003
• 8 classical ragas performed on ShankaRagamala composed by Ravi Shankar 2005
• Chants Of India – Ravi Shankar; George Harrison, featuring Anoushka as Conductor & Assistant 1997
• Adarini – In Celebration composed by Ravi Shankar 1995

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anoushka Shankar

• Official site
• Anoushka Shankar at the Internet Movie Database
• The show must go on – Video interview about A Billion Hands Concert
• Anoushka Shankar: Different Worlds, One Musical Language – Video interview about performing Ravi Shankar's Concerto No. 3 for Sitar and Orchestra.
• Anoushka Shankar Live : Gypsy Music From India to Spain on Medici.tv

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

Pandit Pran Nath (Devanagari:पंडित प्राणनाथ) (3 November 1918 – 13 June 1996) was a Hindustani classical singer and teacher of the Kirana Gharana (school), a visiting professor of music at Mills College^[1], and taught vocal music at the University of Delhi. Like his teacher Abdul Wahid Khan, Pran Nath's singing emphasized precise intonation and the gradual exposition of tone and mood in the alap section of the music.^[2] Pran Nath's students included a number of American composers of Minimal music, including La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Michael Harrison.

Early life[link]

Pran Nath was born into a wealthy family in Lahore in present-day Pakistan. While avid devotees of music (inviting musicians into the house to perform nightly), the family did not approve of his desire to become a musician, so he left home at the age of 13 and took up residence with legendary (but reclusive) singer Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana gharana, cousin of the more widely-known Abdul Karim Khan. Pran Nath served Khan for 7 years before he was accepted as a student, and stayed with Khan for nearly two decades. Both guru and disciple were much attracted to mysticism: Abdul Wahid Khan, a Muslim, to Sufism, and Nath, a Hindu, to a Shaivite sect in Dehra Dun. It is said that Nath lived in a cave near the Tapkeswhar temple to Shiva for five years,^[3] serving his guru intermittently. He eventually married and reentered the world at the request (guru dakshana) of his guru, in order to ensure the preservation of the Kirana style. In 1937, he became a staff artist with All India Radio.

However, Nath stuck to a very austere singing style – heavy emphasis on alap, and very slow tempi – which suited his voice well, but was not very popular to the modern Indian taste. Nath supported himself as a music teacher, and worked at the University of Delhi from 1960 to 1970.

Life in the United States[link]

In 1970, Pran Nath travelled to New York to visit the American composer La Monte Young and visual artist Marian Zazeela, who heard his first issued recording, Earth Groove: The Voice of Cosmic India. In 1972, he established his Kirana Center for Indian Classical Music in New York City and stayed in the U.S. for the rest of his life. He taught at several universities and attracted a strong following among the American minimalist composers.

Notable Students[link]

Pran Nath's students included La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Terry Riley, Michael Harrison, Sargam Shah, Charlemagne Palestine, Henry Flynt, Jon Hassell, Douglas Leedy, Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, Jon Gibson, Yoshi Wada, Rhys Chatham, W. A. Mathieu, Sufi Pir Shabda Kahn, Catherine Christer Hennix, George Brooks^[4] (Saxophonist), and Simone Forti.

Discography[link]

• Earth Groove (1968), Ragas Bhupali and Asvari
• Ragas of Morning and Night (1986), Ragas Todi and Darbari, two ragas for which Pran Nath was particularly noted
• Midnight (2003), Raga Malkauns, two separate recordings made in 1971 and 1976
• The Raga Cycle (2006), Ragas Shudh Sarang and Kut Todi, recorded in 1972

Unreleased Recordings[link]

Like his teacher Abdul Wahid Khan and other members of the Kirana Gharana, Pran Nath did not emphasize recording or the releasing of records, preferring live performance. As such, little recorded documentation of the Kirana Gharana style is available. While only two recordings of Pran Nath were released during his lifetime, a large number of recordings exist under the care of La Monte Young. In Pran Nath's will Young, as executor of his estate, was instructed to begin releasing recordings.^[5]

Films[link]

• 1986 - In Between the Notes: A Portrait Of Pandit Pran Nath. Produced by Other Minds. Directed by William Farley.
• 1995 - Musical Outsiders: An American Legacy - Harry Partch, Lou Harrison, and Terry Riley. Directed by Michael Blackwood.

References[link]

External links[link]

• MELA Foundation: Pandit Pran Nath
• 1986 - In Between the Notes: A Portrait Of Pandit Pran Nath. Directed by William Farley.
• On Pandit Pran Nath by Henry Flynt
• Other Minds: Pran Nath
• Pandit Pran Nath: Infinity’s Pathfinder By Marcus Boon
• Pandit Pran Nath: A Short Biography By Joan Allekotte
• Lord of the Drone: Pandit Pran Nath and the American Underground By Alexander Keefe

Pran Nath is a theoretical physicist working at Northeastern University, with research focus in elementary particle physics. He holds a Matthews Distinguished University Professor chair.

Research[link]

His main area of research is in the fields of supergravity and particle physics beyond the standard model. He is one of the originators of the first supergravity theory in 1975.^[1][2] In 1982 in collaboration with Richard Arnowitt and Ali Hani Chamseddine, he developed the field of Applied Supergravity^[3] and the supergravity grand unification^[4] popularly known as SUGRA or mSUGRA model for gravity mediated breaking of supersymmetry. SUGRA models, and specifically mSUGRA, are currently the leading candidates for discovery at the Fermilab Tevatron and at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). He has contributed to further development of the field through studies of CP violation,^[5][6] predictions on muon anomalous moment gμ − 2 ahead of experiment,^[7] supersymmetric dark matter,^[8] discovery of the hyperbolic branch of radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry,^[9] and detection of supersymmetric signal at colliders via the so called tri-leptonic signal.^[10] He has also made contribution to studies on stability of the proton in unified models.^[11] His early work concerns the invention of effective Lagrangian method, the first current algebra analysis of pion-pion scattering^[12] and solution to the notorious U(1) problem.^[13] His recent work has focused SO(10) grand unification,^[14] and on the Stueckelberg extensions of the Standard Model.^[15][16] In 1999 he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize for ”basic contributions in supersymmetry and supergravity”.

Life and career[link]

He was born in West Punjab, British India in 1939, and is of Kashmiri descent. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Science at the University of Delhi in 1958, and his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1964. He taught at the University of California at Riverside 1964-65, and was Andrew Mellon Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh from 1965-66. Since 1966 he has been at Northeastern University. He has held visiting positions at TIFR, Mumbai under the United Nations Development Program, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, at Bonn, CERN, Heidelberg and Munich. He was co-chair of the conference "Gauge Theories and Modern Field Theory", in 1975, and founding chair in 1990 of the annual PASCOS symposium (Particle physics, String theory and Cosmology), and also the founding chair in 1993 of the annual conference SUSY. In 2004 PASCOS symposium held a special Pran Nath Festschrift honouring his ”pioneering contributions over four decades in the fields of high energy theory, supersymmetry, supergravity, and unification”.^[17][18] A full list of his publications can be seen here^[19] International conference SUGRA20. An international conference was held at Northeastern University March 17–20, 2003 celebrating 20 years since the invention of SUGRA unified model of which he was a co-author.^[20]

References and notes[link]

'Proton stability in grand unified theories, in strings and in branes., Pran Nath, Pavel Fileviez Perez, Published in Phys.Rept.441:191-317,2007. http://arXiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0601023

External links[link]

• Pran Nath (Faculty Research Profile), Northeastern University, http://www.physics.neu.edu/Department/Vtwo/faculty/nath.htm, retrieved 2007-07-18 

Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek live in Athens, 2007
Background information
Born	(1947-03-04) March 4, 1947 (age 65) Mysen, Norway
Origin	Oslo, Norway
Occupations	saxophonist, composer, producer
Instruments	soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Years active	1966–present
Labels	ECM, Flying Dutchman
Associated acts	George Russell, Terje Rypdal, Bobo Stenson, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Eberhard Weber, Bill Frisell, David Torn, Gary Peacock, Hilliard Ensemble
Website	www.garbarek.com
Notable instruments
bass saxophone, clarinet, flute

Jan Garbarek (born 4 March 1947)^[1] is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter. Effectively stateless until the age of seven (there was no automatic grant of citizenship in Norway at that time) Garbarek grew up in Oslo. At 21, he married Vigdis. His daughter Anja Garbarek is also a musician.^[2]

Biography[link]

Garbarek's sound is one of the hallmarks of the ECM Records label, which has released virtually all of his recordings. His style incorporates a sharp-edged tone, long, keening, sustained notes, and generous use of silence. He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell (such as Othello Ballet Suite and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature). If he had initially appeared as a devotee of Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann, by 1973 he had turned his back on the harsh dissonances of avant-garde jazz, retaining only his tone from his previous approach. Garbarek gained wider recognition through his work with pianist Keith Jarrett's European Quartet which released the albums Belonging (1974), My Song (1977) and the live recordings Personal Mountains (1979), and Nude Ants (1979).^[3] He was also a featured soloist on Jarrett's orchestral works Luminessence (1974) and Arbour Zena (1975)^[4]

As a composer, Garbarek tends to draw heavily from Scandinavian folk melodies, a legacy of his Ayler influence. He is also a pioneer of ambient jazz composition, most notably on his 1976 album Dis a collaboration with guitarist Ralph Towner that featured the distinctive sound of a wind harp on several tracks. This textural approach, which rejects traditional notions of thematic improvisation (best exemplified by Sonny Rollins) in favour of a style described by critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton as "sculptural in its impact", has been critically divisive. Garbarek's more meandering recordings are often labeled as New Age music, a style generally scorned by more orthodox jazz musicians and listeners, or spiritual ancestors thereof. Other experiments have included setting a collection of poems of Olav H. Hauge to music, with a single saxophone complementing a full mixed choir; this has led to notable performances with Grex Vocalis, but not yet to recordings. In the 1980s, Garbarek's music began to incorporate synthesizers and elements of world music. He has collaborated with Indian and Pakistani musicians such as Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. Garbarek is credited for composing original music for the 2000 film Kippur.

In 1994, during heightened popularity of Gregorian chant, his album Officium, a collaboration with early music vocal performers the Hilliard Ensemble, became one of ECM's biggest-selling albums of all time, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and was followed by a sequel, Mnemosyne, in 1999. In 2005, his album In Praise of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy. Garbarek's first live album Dresden was released in 2009.

Awards & honors[link]

In 1999, Garbarek was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav and in 2004 he was awarded the Norwegian Arts Council award.

Discography[link]

Jan Garbarek live

As leader[link]

• Esoteric Circle (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Afric Pepperbird (ECM, 1970)
• Sart (ECM, 1971) with Terje Rypdal
• Triptykon (ECM, 1972)
• Witchi-Tai-To (ECM, 1973) with Bobo Stenson
• Dansere (ECM, 1975) with Bobo Stenson
• Dis (ECM, 1976) with Ralph Towner
• Places (ECM, 1977)
• Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof (ECM, 1978) with Bill Connors
• Aftenland (ECM, 1979) with Kjell Johnsen
• Eventyr (ECM, 1980) with John Abercrombie and Naná Vasconcelos
• Paths, Prints (ECM, 1981) with Bill Frisell
• Wayfarer (ECM, 1983) with Bill Frisell and Eberhard Weber
• It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (ECM, 1985) with David Torn
• All Those Born With Wings (ECM, 1987)
• Legend of the Seven Dreams (ECM, 1988) with Rainer Brüninghaus
• Rosensfole (1989) with Agnes Buen Garnås
• I Took Up the Runes (ECM, 1990)
• Ragas and Sagas (ECM, 1990 [1992]) with Fateh Ali Khan
• StAR (ECM, 1991) with Miroslav Vitous
• Atmos (ECM, 1992) with Miroslav Vitous
• Madar (ECM, 1992) with Anouar Brahem and Shaukat Hussain
• Twelve Moons (ECM, 1992)
• Officium (ECM, 1994) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• Visible World (ECM, 1995)
• Rites (ECM, 1998)
• Mnemosyne (ECM, 1999) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• In Praise of Dreams (ECM, 2003)
• Dresden (ECM, 2009) live album
• Officium Novum (ECM, 2010) with the Hilliard Ensemble

As sideman[link]

With Bill Connors

• Of Mist and Melting (ECM, 1977)

With David Darling

• Cycles (ECM, 1981)

With Paul Giger

• Alpstein (ECM, 1991)

With Egberto Gismonti

• Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM, 1977)
• Magico (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden
• Folk Songs (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden

With Trilok Gurtu

• Living Magic (1990)

With Zakir Hussain

• Making Music (ECM, 1986) with John McLaughlin and Hariprasad Chaurasia

With Keith Jarrett

• Belonging (ECM, 1974)
• Luminessence (ECM, 1974)
• Arbour Zena (ECM, 1975)
• My Song (ECM, 1977)
• Personal Mountains (ECM, 1979)
• Nude Ants (ECM, 1979)

With Manu Katché

• Neighbourhood (ECM, 2006)

With Eleni Karaindrou

• Music For Films (1991)

With Kim Kashkashian

• Monodia (2002)

With Karin Krog

• Jazz Moments (1966)
• Til Vigdis (1967)
• Joy (1968)

With Art Lande

• Red Lanta (ECM, 1973)

With Marilyn Mazur

• Elixir (2007)

With Gary Peacock

• December Poems (ECM, 1977)
• Voice from the Past - Paradigm (ECM, 1981)
• Guamba (ECM, 1987)

With George Russell

• Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Trip to Prillarguri (Soul Note, 1970)
• Listen to the Silence (Soul Note, 1971)

With Terje Rypdal

• Terje Rypdal (ECM, 1971)
• Hav (1971) with Jan Erik Vold

With L. Shankar

• Vision (1983)
• Song for Everyone (1985)

With the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra

• Caris Mere (1995)

With Ralph Towner

• Solstice (ECM, 1975)
• Solstice/Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977)

With Miroslav Vitous

• Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)

With Eberhard Weber

• Chorus (ECM, 1984)
• Stages of a Long Journey (2007)

With Kenny Wheeler

• Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jan Garbarek on ECM Records
• Jan Garbarek at the Internet Movie Database
• Jan Garbarek Group
• Jan Garbarek's daughter, singer Anja Garbarek
• Jan Garbarek Group @ Theatre Lycabettus concert review, Greece