Jhula Jhule

• This 2013 work for violin and piano was commissioned by MuSE – Multicultural Sonic Evolution of New York. 
• The commission called for a work based on an Indian folksong. Esmail chose to base this piece on two Indian folk melodies that had been transmitted through her own family: “Ankhon vina andharon re,” a song her maternal grandfather had recorded years before her birth, and “Jhula Jhule,”  a lullaby her paternal grandmother had sung to her when she was an infant. Visit Esmail’s program notes for more of the story, including the source recordings for the two folk songs. 

“Jhula Jhule, Jhula Jhule,
Reena Rani Jhula Jhule” 

“Back and forth, back and forth
Reena the Queen swings back and forth.”

From Esmail’s program notes, the text of Jhula jhule as her grandmother sang it¹

1. “Jhula Jhule (violin),” Reena Esmail, accessed August 26, 2021, https://www.reenaesmail.com/catalog-item/jhula-jhule-violin/#performances.