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Tagore Songs

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Introduction

The name Rabindra Nath Tagore needs no introduction to anybody associated with the Bengali community. The first Nobel Laureate of India, Tagore is a symbol of Bengali identity and culture. Two countries of the world use his compositions as their national songs. Tagore was foremost a poet, but he was also a gifted musician, a novelist and even a painter. As a poet, his repertoire is incredibly vast, it is difficult to conceive of any emotion that has been left unexpressed by him, through his poetry and of course, his music. The latter, is a unique blend of East and West, where he combines the diverse themes of Indian classical music, the ragas, with evocative poetry and Western opera, to form his own unique brand of music called Ravindra Sangeet.

Unfortunately, most of his works are in Bengali, which is not a language many people use today. This is so, even in his home country, where English and Hindi are paramount. However, his music has stood the test of time, it is an accepted form of more formal Indian music, despite the emergence of more modern compositions.

A miniscule few of his songs have been translated to English. A few singers have sung them, prominent among them being Hemanta Mukherjee, Kanika Banerjee, Suchitra Mitra, Subinay Roy and Debabrata Biswas, also known as George Biswas. There have been people in India and abroad, outside the Bengali speaking community, who have been so moved by the sheer depth of his compositions, that they have opted to learn Bengali in order to have a better cognition of the same. Rabindra Sangeet is also a key factor in the Bengali community, bridging the gap between India and Bangladesh, where rifts are created by political compulsions related to religious extremism.

Contents at a Glance

Tagore's Best Known Creation: The Indian...
The National anthem of Bangladesh
Biography
Indian Cinema
Indian Cinema
Popular sites for Tagore songs (Rabindra...

Tagore's Best Known Creation: The Indian National Anthem

This video combines the best of Indian musicians in a symphony of audio-visual delight that captures for an instant the composite culture and variety of this subcontinent and makes one proud to belong to it.

The translation reads as follows:

O ruler of the minds of our people and shaper of our destiny,
salutations to thee!
Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, South India, Orissa,Bengal, the mountains of VIndhyachal and Himalaya, the waves of our seas, all rise to the sound of our name and ask for your blessings while singing your glory.
Praise to thee, giver of India's bounty, praise to thee, praise to thee!

(The above song contains a few more verses, but the excerpt given above is all that comprises India's national anthem.

Jana Gana Mana - National Anthem: by Digit4L | video info

5,166 ratings | 2,259,381 views

curated content from YouTube

The National anthem of Bangladesh

My golden bangla, I love you
Forever your skies, your air set my heart in tune as if it were a flute,
In Spring, Oh mother mine, the fragrance from your mango-groves makes me wild with joy-
Ah, what a thrill!
In Autumn, Oh mother mine,
in the full-blossomed paddy fields,
I have seen spread all over - sweet smiles!
Ah, what a beauty, what shades, what an affection
and what a tenderness!
What a quilt have you spread at the feet of banyan trees and along the banks of rivers!
Oh mother mine, words from your lips are like Nectar to my ears!
Ah, what a thrill!
If sadness, Oh mother mine, casts a gloom on your face,
my eyes are filled with tears!

(this translation has been provided by romony http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=romony)

Amar Sonar Bangla Ami tomai bhalo basi: by amitendu001 | video info

241 ratings | 423,854 views

curated content from YouTube

Biography

The first and most well known film about Tagore was made by the well known film director, Satyajit Ray and captures his multiceted genius.

Indian Cinema

Tagore's songs have served as a rich source of material for Indian filmmakers to draw upon, especiallly in the film industry in Bengal. India's best known film%uFFFDdirector Satyajit Ray has used Tagore's songs in his films as in the clips given below.
a) The first is a clip from his masterwork 'Charulata' and the second is from 'Ghare Baire'.
b)The two songs are from the film 'Dadar Kirti'.
c)A love song featuring one of Bengal's stellar film personalities, actress and director Aparna Sen
d)A more modern film 'Anuranan' featuring Rahul Bose and Rituparna in a more modern Western context.
Unfortunately the song is not complete.
For more film clips featuring Rabindrasangeet check out my lens www.squidoo.com/tagoresongs1

AMI CHINI GO CHINI - CHARULATHA: by digitalworkshop | video info

399 ratings | 237,365 views

curated content from YouTube

Indian Cinema

Tagore's songs have served as a rich source of material for Indian filmmakers to draw upon, especiallly in the film industry in Bengal. India's best known film�director Satyajit Ray has used Tagore's songs in his films as in the clips given below.
a) The first is a clip from his masterwork 'Charulata' and the second is from 'Ghare Baire'.
b)The two songs are from the film 'Dadar Kirti'.
c)A love song featuring one of Bengal's stellar film personalities, actress and director Aparna Sen
d)A more modern film 'Anuranan' featuring Rahul Bose and Rituparna in a more modern Western context.
Unfortunately the song is not complete.
For more film clips featuring Rabindrasangeet check out my lens www.squidoo.com/tagoresongs1

AMI CHINI GO CHINI - CHARULATHA: by digitalworkshop | video info

399 ratings | 237,365 views

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Some well known artistes from Bangladesh

Having been born on the Western side of the Ganges delta and having lived in Delhi all my life, artistes from the eastern side of the Ganges delta, i.e. Bangladesh, have more or less escaped my attention until youtube came into being. So when I saw the variety of music and dance that was available, I was surprised and pleased, especially the dances set to the music of the songs. I had had the feeling that I was leaving out something of importance.

In India (Pakistan and Bangladesh included), musical expression in classical music is considered complete only when the song sung by a singer is accompanied both by a musical instrument and a dance. The last named mode of expression is also particularly typical of the Tagore school. The movements in this danceform are soft and flowing, even as this school draws its roots from the classical styles of Odissi, Kathak and Gauriya Nrityo.

Rabindra Sangeet: by nafisa125 | video info

305 ratings | 396,489 views

curated content from YouTube

A glimpse of Tagore's world

This video with a song sung by the legendary singer, the late Kanika Banerjee, gives a glimpse of the world the poet lived in.The song itself is an ode to the eternal wellspring of gladness and joy that creates the Universe in its myriads of forms.

The dance below is the perfect complement to the song. The dancer interprets the text in English.

Tagore Song : Anondo Dhara Bohiche Bhubone: by Gashforing | video info

68 ratings | 68,386 views

curated content from YouTube

Impromptu singers

a)I think he does a marvellous job. Don't you?

b)Interest in Tagore's compositions can start quite early as in these two cases. The little girl is two years old and the boy a little older, but he has memorized the full song.

c)A Tagore song sung in a mix of Italian and the original Bengali.

FRENCH GUY SINGING RABINDRASANGEET: by frankvictoria | video info

217 ratings | 68,081 views

curated content from YouTube

My personal association

Every child in a Bengali home has heard Rabindra Sangeet and ours was no exception. My grandfather used to play records of the old artistes on his gramophone as I sat beside him and chose the ones that were to be played. Later on, I got into learning Indian classical music and the different ragas and that they represented different moods and seasons. I found, over time that Rabindra Sangeet represented just those moods, but here, there was the additional bonus of exquisitely expressive poetry, something totally missing in vocal renditions of classical music, howsoever skillful. Rabindra Sangeet is based on ragas also, but each song could be a mixture of different ragas and even contain inputs from Western music. I found myself uplifted by the versatility and scope of this mode of self expression in music, and the vibrations it generated for me. This is the reason I am sharing my love for Rabindra Sangeet in this lens. If you have comments on this lens and how to improve it, I would love to hear them.

Recent news item

At last, the Indian govt. is taking notice of this treasurehouse and doing something to make it available to a wider public. Read on....

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2007/newsfullstory.php?id=1178730195

Added 17.7.2010

I was very moved by an article I read by a Bangladeshi exile living in Germany who talks about the Bangladeshi Freedom Struggle in 1971. The article was written in connection with the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore in a commemorative issue (here's the link)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/Tagore/DH_Tagore.aspx

Check out my new lens on my Tagore film clips.

www.squidoo.com/tagoresongs1

Tagore's Search for God

This article by Chris Cade epitomizes also all the ups and downs of my own search- to find the wellsprings of my own being. I reproduce the article drawn from Tagore's "Gitanjali" in toto, the link to the original is provided below the text.

I have been seeking and searching God for as long as I can remember, for many many lives, from the very beginning of existence. Once in a while, I have seen him by the side of a faraway star, and I have rejoiced and danced that the distance, although great, is not impossible to reach. And I have traveled and reached to the star; but by the time I reached the star, God has moved to another star. And it has been going on for centuries.

The challenge is so great that I go on hoping against hope... I have to find him, I am so absorbed in the search. The very search is so intriguing, so mysterious, so enchanting, that God has become almost an excuse%uFFFDthe search has become itself the goal.

And to my surprise, one day I reached a house in a faraway star with a small sign in front of it, saying, "This is the house of God." My joy knew no bounds so finally I have arrived! I rushed up the steps, many steps, that led to the door of the house. But as I was coming closer and closer to the door, a fear suddenly appeared in my heart. As I was going to knock, I became paralyzed with a fear that I had never known, never thought of, never dreamt of. The fear was:

"If this house is certainly the house of God, then what will I do after I have found him?"

Now searching for God has become my very life; to have found him will be equivalent to committing suicide. And what am I going to do with him? I had never thought of all these things before. I should have thought before I started the search: what am I going to do with God?

I took my shoes in my hands, and silently and very slowly stepped back, afraid that God may hear the noise and may open the door and say, "Where are you going? I am here, come in!" And as I reached the steps, I ran away as I have never run before; and since then I have been again searching for God, looking for him in every direction and avoiding the house where he really lives. Now I know that house has to be avoided. And I continue the search, enjoy the very journey, the pilgrimage.

The sourcepage for this article is http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-252-Searching+for+God.html

I want a golden deer

This is a song that illustrates very subtly, Rabindranaths intrinsic nature. To seek the whimsical and unattainable and to rejoice in the process. The dance in this video illustrates very clearly this facet of his personality. It is also a sample of the dance form that is quite common in the extended community of Rabindrasangeet lovers.

Here is a translation of the following song

Whatever you say, my friend, it is a golden deer that I want,
One that enthralls my heart with its restless feet.

One which sparkles with its energy, keeping itself just out of sight
One which cannot be tethered,
If one gets a glimpse of it, it runs away, playing hide and seek with my eyesight.
I run after it in vain, whether I catch it or not
I stay alone in the fields and woods, entranced and melancholy
Oh, I want a golden deer.....

You people ask for things attainable that can be bought in the market.
I wonder why asking for the unattainable has gripped me.
Whatever I had is gone in the pursuit of that which I have not
My resources dwindle, do you think I am dying of anguish
I remain happy with a smile on my face, I have no sorrow,
Oh I want a golden deer.....

Afternote: it is impossible to convey the flavour of the song in a translated version. But I am glad I triedd, for the full import of the song struck me in a way it had not done before, despite having heard this song many times over.

ToRa Je Ja BoLish Bhaai AaMaar: by SoNaMoNiiDerAsor | video info

11 ratings | 6,293 views

curated content from YouTube

Featured Lenses

Great Stuff on Amazon

Some of Tagore's written works

More Great Stuff on Amazon

Some of Tagore's novels

Tagore's genius was mainly exhibited in his poetry and his music. But he also wrote some haunting movels, which have provided material for spellbinding cinema. Here are some of them.

Tagore's philosophy and other written works

These writings contain the blueprint for the system of education taught by him at what was later to be called Santiniketan (abode of peace).

Reader Feedback

Reply

Sahaj Apr 8, 2012 @ 6:23 am | delete

thnk u so much...for this nice collection .... really very very thankful to you...

Reply

SpiritualBee Mar 29, 2012 @ 4:54 am | delete

Thank you for this beautiful lens! So little information is available about the writings of Tagore, that it was a great joy to find your lens!

Reply

sahilwaste Feb 10, 2012 @ 1:49 pm | delete

very nice lens....i'll share it with my frnds....thanks..

Reply

bms Feb 7, 2012 @ 10:41 am | delete

Thank you for your appreciation.It means a very great deal to me.

Reply

Steph_Tietjen Feb 6, 2012 @ 8:52 pm | delete

Thanks for taking me on this journey. I doubt I would have had this experience otherwise. I did not know Tagore and I am a lover of poetry. The English translations are much appreciated. I really love this work of yours. Thank you.
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Tagore Songs

Introduction

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Tagore's Best Known Creation: The Indian National Anthem

The National anthem of Bangladesh

Biography

Indian Cinema

Indian Cinema

Popular sites for Tagore songs (Rabindra Sangeet)

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Some well known artistes from Bangladesh

A glimpse of Tagore's world

Impromptu singers

My personal association

Recent news item

Tagore's Search for God

I want a golden deer

Featured Lenses

Great Stuff on Amazon

Some of Tagore's written works

More Great Stuff on Amazon

Some of Tagore's novels

Tagore's philosophy and other written works

Reader Feedback

by bms

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