Najam Sheraz to sing Tagore in Urdu with Shubha Mudgal

Rabindra Sangeet, also known as Tagore Songs in English, is a form of music composed by Bengali musician, poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore who added a new dimension to the musical concept of India in general and Bengal in specific. Rabindra Sangeet use Indian classical music and traditional folk music as sources. Tagore wrote some 2,230 songs. Theses songs are now being trancreated into Urdu nazms and for the first time a Pakistani singer has been roped in to render Tagore’s songs. “Officially, this is for the first time that a Pakistani singer will be singing Tagore’s songs for an album,” said Kumkum Bhattacharya, director of this novel initiative.

The Tagore songs will be rendered by Indian singer Shubha Mudgal and Najam Sheraz in their mellifluous voices and recomposed by Debajyoti Mishra.

Rabindra Sangeet has had a very strong influence on Bengali culture. These songs are regarded as cultural treasures of Bengal in both Bangladesh and West Bengal (India).

Indira Varma, a contemporary poetess and an accomplished lyricist, has translated 100 Tagore songs in Urdu, out of which only 12 songs will be part of this album. “The translations are not verbatim. And, I’ve recomposed the songs retaining the Tagorean feel,” said composer Debajyoti Mishra. Debajyoti Mishra will be using the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in the compositions. Najam Sheraz went to India two days ago to record his vocals for this one-of-its-kind project.

[ H/T Hassan Nasir | via – TOI ]