The Music of Hindostan c8.s3.19

c8.s3.19

(with the drum at E, of course, all the time). The others were in Imankaliān, to which the descending F♯ gives an indescribably light-hearted touch, and in Bageshri (a Dorian). She used gamak sparingly, and therefore effectively; she detached the notes cleanly without making them too staccato. There was something most satisfying in the sweep of the periods, apparently haphazard but really conforming to strict law. A voice with good tone, as we understand tone, is a rarity in India; but Chandra Prabhu sang with full round notes and variety of quality in addition to the extraordinary flexibility of all her nation. But the musicianship of her song was the most notable thing about it. She never seemed to come across technical difficulties—as that friend of Assheton Smith’s never could ‘think where the young men found all these big things—he never met with them’.