Bangla Dhun

Bangla Dhun was the opening sequence to The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. It was performed by Ravi Shankar on the sitar, Ali Akbar Khan on the sarod, Ustad Alla Rakha on the tabla, and Kamala Chakravaty on tamboura. The song is approximately 17 and a half minutes in length and is a "dhun" (literally "tune"), a light classical genre, and is based on a Bengali folk song.

The song is split into two parts, and almost seems as if it is two separate songs. However, this is not uncommon in Indian classical music. In this composition, the "first" part contains the alap, antra, and main body of the song. The second part is faster and includes the jhala and a fast paced "back-and-forth" between the melody instruments and between the melody instruments and the tabla. Both parts maintain the same melodic structure (see raga).

Since Indian classical music is usually based on improvisation, portions of this composition may also be improvised.