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Description

Svaagat is an Indian song of greeting and peace, wishing all the people of the world endless goodwill and love.  The melody and harmony of the piece are based upon a parasu ragam of the Carnatic System (or Carnatic Sangeet), a South Indian music system in which different ragas are thought to inspire different emotions within the listener.  The parasu ragam chosen by Paranjoti for Svaagat is traditionally performed from three to six in the morning, right before dawn, and is said to invoke the moods sringhara (love) and bhakti (devotion).  The use of this raga in Svaagat creates harmonies and melodic intervals that may sound dissonant to western ears, yet its strict use allows the singer a chance to perform a music written in a traditional Indian raga within a western choral context.