The Rhapsody Of Rabindrasangeet : Translated Songs Of The First Nobel Laureate From Asia

Rabindrasangeet - music composed by Rabindrnath Tagore -is a wonder in the world of lyrical songs.It is not a very common occurrence for a single person to compose the lyrics, set it to tune and sing it. It is rare for that composer to be one of the finest poets in the world. It is rarer still for that person to be a playwright, a stage actor and a painter of high caliber. One can imagine the quality of blending of lyrics and melody that can emerge from someone who is adept at all these modes of expression.Poetry seeks to express through patterns of words what is beyond logic and impossible to express through standard usage of words. Lyrical songs can go where even poetry cannot reach. The tune can set to motion an imagery created by the lyrics.Both lyrics and melody are essential for a composer who perceives life itself as a song sung through a pattern of still and moving pictures.Another essential aspect is deep and wide interaction with nature and life. Rabindranath Tagore had a big family with wife, children, several other dependents and numerous relatives and friends. He had experienced pleasures of life just as he had to suffer indignation, sorrow and economic hardships that living with a huge family may entail.Apart from these pains and pleasures, he also got entangled in Indian politics from time to time. Further, he invested his own money and labour in founding a centre for holistic education, which alone might have filled any founder's basket of life experience. In this institution, which had indeed gained international prominence, there was scope for studying literally anything on earth. Rabindranath's songs are the products of his total attention to life. I try to bring Rabindrasangeet to people who do not know Bengali, as I feel the world has a lot to experience from this treasure trove. Rabindranath wrote these songs in a regional language whose global reach is far from expanding. Had these songs been written in a more accessible language, the people worldwide would have drawn much more from Rabindrasangeet in their daily living today and in the days to come.The intrinsic connection between the lyrics and the melody is the wonder of Rabindrasangeet.But this connection can only be shown by the movements of the notes. Keeping this in mind, the links to these songs are attached with the English Translation of the songs. It will be difficult for listeners of other languages to feel the movements of tunes in step with the wordings of the song. If the essence of the lyrics is captured through these translations, then the reader would hopefully be able to connect with the tunes better. For every song, I attach a picture that may help the reader relate to it.

• | Author: Paramesh Goswami
• | Publisher: Independently Published
• | Publication Date: Nov 04, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 80 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1729244149
• | ISBN-13: 9781729244142