Rabindra Sangeet Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Tagore's concept of music appears in 'Sangeet Chinta'.

'Sangeet Chinta' (Thoughts on Music) is the collection of Rabindranath Tagore's essays and lectures on music, in which he sets out his views on melody, Bengali song and the relation between words and tune.

The other titles in the options are not known works of his on music.

Answer: B

Tagore played the character of Vikram in the drama 'Tapati'.

In the play 'Tapati' (1929), which is a revised form of his earlier play 'Raja o Rani', Tagore himself took the role of King Vikram on the stage.

Kumar Sen, Ratneshwar and Devadutta are names of characters in other plays of the Tagore family and of his period, not the role he is known to have played in Tapati.

Answer: B

The key gives 'Mayar Khela' as the last dance drama among the options.

The question asks for the last dance drama among four titles. Kalmrigaya is an early musical play of the 1880s and Chitrangada was staged as a dance drama in 1936. Mayar Khela, a musical play of 1888, was later reworked by Tagore as a dance drama, and the key treats this reworked form as the latest.

Chandalika is also a dance drama of the late 1930s, so a reader may doubt the key here; the answer follows the official key.

Answer: C

'Aso Aso Hey Baishakh' is the occasional song for the Bengali New Year.

Bengali New Year falls on the first day of the month of Baishakh, and Tagore's 'Esho he Baishakh, esho esho' calls on the month to come and sweep away the old and bring in the new. It is the song most often sung at New Year programmes.

'Aji Basanto Jagroto Dware' is a spring song, 'Aoye Tabe Sahochari' is a song for dance and company, and 'Aso Syamolo Sundoro' is a rain song, so none of them is the song for the new year.

Answer: C

The song belongs to the dance drama Shyama.

'Aha mori mori, Mahendra nindita kanti' is sung in Tagore's dance drama Shyama (1939), and the key assigns it to that drama.

Chitrangada, Chandalika and Natir Puja are other dance dramas with their own songs.

Answer: C

'Maran Sagar Pare Tomra Amar' was written on the death of Dwijendranath Tagore.

Rabindranath's eldest brother died in January 1926, and Rabindrasangeet scholars (among them Shantidev Ghosh) report that the song was written in his memory; Tagore himself is said to have called it the song written after 'dada's' death. One other scholar relates it to two other men, but the view linked with Dwijendranath is the one followed by the key.

'O Bhai Kanai' is a song of a different kind, 'Haye Haye Haye Din Chole Jay' is a song of passing time, and 'Cholo Jai Cholo' is a marching song.

Answer: D

'Bajromanik Diya Gatha' is not in the Grishma paryay.

The Grishma (summer) songs of the Prakriti group include 'Darun agni bane re', 'Esho esho he trishnar jol' and 'Madhyadine jabe gan', songs of the heat and thirst of summer. The line 'Bajromanik diya gatha, Ashar tomar mala' belongs to another group, and so the key picks it as the one that is not in the Grishma paryay.

The other three songs are about drought, fire and noon heat, which are the themes of the summer songs.

Answer: B

'Sharoto Aalor Kamal Vane' is composed in Rupkara tal.

Rupkara is one of the talas created by Tagore, with eight matras. The key names this autumn song as the one set to it.

The other songs in the options are set in other talas, and the key does not give them Rupkara.

Answer: B

'Mandire Mamo Ke' is not composed in dhrupad style.

Tagore composed Brahmo songs in the dhrupad mould, with grave words and a slow, dignified tune, such as 'Maha biswe mahakashe', 'Prathama adi tabo shakti' and 'Jogote tumi raja'. The key identifies 'Mandire mamo ke' as the one that is not in that style; it is based on the khyal, which also appears in a later question.

That is why the other three, which are in dhrupad, are not the answer.

Answer: A

'Saghano Gahano Ratri' is composed in Raga Bageshree.

The song is set in Bageshri, a night raga of the Kafi thaat that suits a mood of deep night and longing.

Bhimpalasi (Bhimpalashree) belongs to the afternoon, Chayanat to the night in a brighter mood, and Malkauns to a late night, so the key's choice is Bageshree.