Saturday 18th February - Ahichhatragarh Fort, Nagaur
Tuesday 21st February - Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
Tuesday 21st February - Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
Mehardeen Khan Langa
Sher Khan
Sher Khan
The art of the flute in Rajasthan, satara and nar
Adopting the ancient traditional shepherd’s instrument, the satara flute, these professional musicians from Rajasthan exploit its possibilities with a rare mastery. Their repertoire remains rural, essentially pastoral. When played two at a time, the first pipe provides the drone, whilst the musician makes the melodic variation using the second pipe. Sher Khan, is a member of one of the last great pastoral communities of the Thar Desert – the Mehr.
Adopting the ancient traditional shepherd’s instrument, the satara flute, these professional musicians from Rajasthan exploit its possibilities with a rare mastery. Their repertoire remains rural, essentially pastoral. When played two at a time, the first pipe provides the drone, whilst the musician makes the melodic variation using the second pipe. Sher Khan, is a member of one of the last great pastoral communities of the Thar Desert – the Mehr.
He lives in the small village of Kodeisar (Barmer region).
The Mehr belong to one of the branches of the Raika (or Rabari), semi-nomadic tribes, some of which, like the Mehr or the Maru, still raise camels.
The nar, a long flute of the old shepherds of the valley of the Sindh and of Balochistan, filters the hoarse murmurs of a poetry recited by the voice of the poet musician. This ancient technique of playing, a sort of psalmody of love, is like the image of the beauty and harshness of the great desert.
