Khayal (lit. “imagination”) is a form of classical vocal music originating in the Indian subcontinent. Among the various vocal genres of Hindustani music, it has occupied a preeminent position for at least the past century, if not longer. A defining feature of khayal is its reliance on a small set of pre-composed textual and melodic units—typically comprising three stanzas—around which the performance is structured. The core of a khayal presentation lies not in the composition itself but in the vocalist’s creative elaboration of these lines through improvisation. This process involves an imaginative and systematic exploration of the raga’s melodic framework, often extending over considerable spans of time between successive statements of the sthāyī and antarā sections. Khayal performance has historically been shaped by a number of distin \t stylistic lineages, most of which are well represented in the surviving recordings of the 78 RPM era.