Page 100 - The Apu Trilogy_ Satyajit Ray and the Making of an Epic

Working with Ravi Shankar 87

Shankar, with Ray, recording music for Aparajito in Calcutta, 1956

precise about its music, specifying the ragas chosen by Shankar.
Thus, raga Desh was used for the dance of the insects before
the monsoon, raga Todi after the death of Durga (as already
remarked), raga Patdeep for Sarbajaya’s grief, raga Jog with the
sudden flight of pigeons after the death of Harihar, raga Jog
again (in a different orchestration) to suggest Sarbajaya’s loneli-
ness in the village, and raga Lachari Todi to represent the poign-
ant Apu–Aparna relationship. Ray also noted: ‘There is one
scene in Apur Sansar which is crucial from the point of view of
music. It shows Apu’s aimless wanderings after Aparna’s death,
and ends with him throwing away the manuscript of his novel as
a gesture of renunciation. The music here, scored for flute and
strings, has the noble simplicity of a Vedic hymn.’ (This is where
a piano is also used.)
One memorable piece in Pather Panchali that was not com-
posed by Shankar, for lack of time, involved the comic twanging
of the single-stringed ektara, a folk instrument, that accompa-
nied the wobbling sweet-seller, the children and the dog. ‘This

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