Morning Raga

This is a first—a truly unique way to kick off a concert at the House of Music! The “Morning Concert and Yoga—Early Morning Indian Ragas” is indeed a concert that begins at the crack of dawn, and we invite fans of Indian music and all open-minded, curious music lovers who wish to take part in an unusual yet undoubtedly memorable experience. Ustad Irfan Khan on the sarod, Matyas Wolter on the sitar, and Balázs Virágh on the pakhawaj will perform Indian ragas at dawn. Following a short break after the concert, István Malik Tóth will lead a yoga class, which is free with a concert ticket; however, a separate registration form must be completed to participate.

If you would like to participate, please bring your own yoga mat.

7:00 - 8:30 concert on the Open-air Stage

8:45 - 10:00 yoga in the Concert Hall

The early hours of the morning hold a special place in the tradition of Indian classical music. In Indian music, every raga has its own time of day, a period when its mood, character, and emotional world can be experienced most fully. Musicians take this tradition very seriously; they even practice a given raga at the time of day that is considered its “playing time”. Many masters get up as early as three in the morning for disciplined, daily practice, when the world is still quiet, the mind is clear, and we awaken freshly together with the sound. The period just before sunrise is called Brahma Muhurta in India, a particularly calm and inspiring time that is conducive to deep musical (and other) concentration. In the modern world, most concerts take place in the evening, so we rarely have the opportunity to hear those ragas whose playing time falls at dawn. In India, however, there are still morning concerts where these special melodies can be heard. This is precisely why listening to dawn ragas is such a rare and special experience: the music at this time is not only performed, but it is performed in the way it has been meant to sound for centuries.