RAGA UDAYA

October 18, 2023  by Stefano Palleni

CONTEMPORARY RAGA #7: UDAYA

After a long time since the release of Raga Vela, my latest recording in the series Contemporary Raga, I decided to work on a studio version of the first Raga Udaya, which I earlier pictured at Goa Cina beach in Balikambang at the time of my research in music therapy at University of Malang. You can watch the video here.

In the back of my mind I kept the idea to produce - sooner or later - a studio recording of that same song endowed with the control and formal refinement that the early version lacks, being focused on the ambiance and the artistic facet.

This raga borrows its name from the Sanskrit’s term udaya which means sunrise, or dawn. In fact, in a daily practice routine it should be placed in the earliest hour of daybreak or at sunset, as the opening / closing rite of the day. The mode I’ve used in this composition is the Lydian, it has a bright longing quality that makes it my favorite among the others. It’s perfect to represent the subtly mystical atmosphere of the moment, encapsulating in a seal the infinite potential of things to come or memories of days-gone-by. After much meditation I’ve made up to open this song with an arpeggio on acoustic guitar that firmly represents a concept I call tonal engram, referring to a melodic cell or pattern that autonomously could go on its own virtually forever. An alto saxophone unfolds upon it moving to a delicate tonal transition to break monotony and return to the first statement. After the solo a sampled tanpura background steps in to support the melody, also delivered by the alto doubled by a second voice in a canon fashion, setting the mood for arrival or departure of the sun. At the end, the return of the arpeggio paces a short coda, this time in the Ionian mode.

Although these are the shortest moments in a day, they’re also a harbinger of hopes and dreams  for the individual who stops for a moment from whatever activity to contemplate the sun as a reflection of the ever-changing nature of life and, ultimately, ourselves. At sunrise children meet on the seashores of the world to salute the new day, at sunset to say goodnight to the sleeping sun. At each of these turns we can realize how much variety in colors and sensations they bear. There’s no dawn or crepuscule like another. This is what I mean by the expression always the same, never alike.

I am very happy with this composition and I consider it my best in this collection. I feel it well represents the idea of the infinite shades and possibilities each day offers to us. I hope you’ll find relief and beautiful dreams on this.