Praner Alap: Meeting of Hearts

Ochin Pakhi, a Chicago band devoted to traditional Bengali music, is proud to announce the release of their album Praner Alap: Meeting of Hearts on Innova Recordings. An ambitious artistic collaboration, the album features new musical arrangements of songs by poet Rabindranath Tagore from his Nobel Prize-winning poetry collection Gitanjali (Song Offerings).
With soaring vocals by Subhajit Sengupta and Swarnali Banerjee intertwined with sweeping strings, accordion, raga-based improvisations, and a myriad of instruments, Praner Alap brings new emotional intensity to Tagore’s melodies and lyrics. The digital album is complemented by a poetry and art booklet featuring paintings inspired by each song, painted by a variety of artists, and newly translated lyrics.
“Praner Alap is the culmination of a beautiful collaboration between dear friends from around the world who joined their diverse artistic backgrounds to explore the depth of Tagore’s songs,” said Lucia Thomas, the band member who translated the lyrics, and who performs on violin and Bengali folk instruments. “We hope this album will introduce listeners to the incredible power of Tagore’s words and melodies.”
Published in 1910, Gitanjali was Tagore’s groundbreaking collection of Bengali poetry that largely contained lyrics of songs he had composed. Tagore’s English translation of Gitanjali gained popularity in the West and won him a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, but the melodies of the songs remained unknown to Western audiences. Praner Alap brings these musical works to life for contemporary listeners through innovative cross-cultural arrangements.
Ochin Pakhi has been performing Bengali music in Chicago since 2017. In addition to Tagore’s songs, the band’s repertoire includes songs of the Bauls, mystic minstrels of Bengal. The group is featured in an award-winning documentary titled “Ochin Pakhi” by director Elja Roy. Praner Alap, the group’s first album, was produced by Chicago Folklore Ensemble, a group established in 2015 to celebrate immigrant communities through interdisciplinary performances interweaving music and storytelling.