Bangladesh : Independence and Music

     The music of Bangladesh is very upbeat and complex. I’d never searched or aimed to listen to music from Bangladesh before do I had no clue what to expect. I wanted to understand the country’s history before I tried to describe the culture or music. After so much research, I discovered that Bangladesh wasn’t always independent. In 1971 Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan after the Bangladesh liberation war. This was the beginning of Bangladesh known today.

    As you can guess a lot of culture in Bangladesh extends from Pakistan. the reason Bangladesh broke away was because of oppression, war, and mass genocide of the people, also famine. the following video contains a brief history of Bangladesh.

On to the music...

    Some of the most common instruments of Bangladesh are the Sitar, Violin, Flutes Harmonium, and Esraj, which is a traditional Bengali instrument. The sitar is a string instrument, sort of like a guitar. The harmonium is a lot like an organ. The person playing has to push and pull a handle to achieve a certain sound. Last, but not least is the Esraj. It was hard for me to understand what an Esraj was by just reading but from my understanding, it is also a stringed instrument that is played with a bow. this video helped me to better understand.

Classical music of Bangladesh

   Bangladesh, as I mentioned earlier, has a lot of Pakistani and Indian influence. this is especially true for classical music in Bangladesh. the inspiration n comes from northern Indian Ragas. Ragas are "a pattern of notes having characteristic intervals, rhythms, and embellishments, used as a basis for improvisation". I think it's cool that the whole purpose of Raga is to improvise and manipulate it into something personal and relatable.

( I believe we talked about this artist in class)

    Anyhow, from what I gather the biggest way to explain the origins and the reason for music in Bangladesh is to tell a story and pass down traditions. I know this sounds like everywhere else but in times of genocide and oppression songs that carry history are important.

   The Golden Jubilee song is a way of celebrating the anniversary of their independence. This is the only song I could find that corresponded with what I wanted to say because most music in Bangladesh is pretty modern. I've found countless love songs that I don't understand, I feel the passion behind it and can piece together what's going on from the video.

the song above is the anthem of Bangladesh. In the beginning, a man is playing the keyboard. He plays the defining chords for the song and the other instruments join in. The video is choreographed in a way that shows how people come together for a cause. In the video, there are many other instruments that id didn't mention in this blog but the contribution of all of them is beautiful together.  

I hope you enjoyed this blog, I may have gotten a little wrapped up in the history rather than the music, but I think history is important. you cant understand the present unless you learn the past.