A voice that commands instant listener respect, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan weaves a very compelling version of Raga Des. This was recorded in the studios of Firdous-E-Gosh, Pakistan Television.

Firdous e Gosh was a Musical show produced by PTV based on classical music.

Mubark Ali Khan was born in a village in India’s Jalandhar district in 1940. While he did not belong to a renowned musical household, he became the harbinger of music in his family. He was the paternal uncle and mentor of Javed Bashir and Akbar Ali.

He was a prominent artist of the Kirana Gharana [one of the most prolific Indian classical khyal gharanas concerned with perfecting intonation of notes]. Khan received his primary music education from his paternal uncle Ghazanfar Ali Khan and he called Ustad Amir Khan Indore his spiritual teacher.

Raga Desh

The raga is of Audav-sampurna nature, i.e., in its arohana (ascent) only five notes are used, whereas the avarohana (descent) uses all the seven notes. Shuddha Ni is used in the arohana, while Komal Ni (represented as ni below) is used in avarohana. All other swaras are shuddha.

Arohana: Ni Sa Re, Ma Pa Ni,Sa.

Avarohana: Sa ni Dha, Pa Dha Ma Ga Re, Pa Ma Ga, Re Ga Ni Sa.

Pakad: Re, Ma Pa Ni, Sa Re ni Dha Pa,ma Ga Re

The vadi swara is Re

The raga is to be sung during the second quarter of the night (6PM to 9PM ).

Re is very prominent, quite a few times the singer rests on Re, making it a centre to the melody. The Meend from Ma to Re via Ga is one of the most vital features of the raga. The arohana via shuddha Ni, and the transition from Re to komal Ni in the avarohana form an important part of the melodies in this raga. Further, Desh is quite close to neighboring ragas like Tilak Kamod, and hence requires skilful rendition to separate it.