Indian Music I INTRODUCTION

Indian Music I INTRODUCTION Classical Dance of South India The southern Indian kathakali is a dance drama that dates from the 17th century. Several schools of acting have since developed around the framework established for the kathakali, which also borrows from the martial arts tradition of kalaripayat. Aside from performances for tourists in kathakali clubs, the dance drama is performed during ceremonies for religious offerings. The music of the kathakali is based on the art music tradition of southern India; the rhythmic cycle and melodic scale direct the dancer’s movements. "Kathakali Dance Theater" from Ritual Music and Theater of Kerala (Cat.# Le Chant du Monde LDX 274 010) (p)1989 Le Chant du Monde. All rights reserved./Photo Researchers, Inc. Indian Music, vocal and instrumental music of India, making up a mosaic of different genres and levels of sophistication. At one extreme, classical music is performed in the urban concert halls for purely artistic reasons, and, at the other, many kinds of functional rural musics accompany life-cycle and agricultural rites. In between are many other musical genres of different regions of the country, reflecting the diversity of its peoples, their lifestyles, and their languages. II CLASSICAL MUSIC The origins of Indian classical music can be traced to the Natya Shastra (about 2nd century AD), a Sanskrit treatise on drama that also describes the music of the theater, probably a forerunner of present-day concert music. Two classical traditions are now recognized: Hindustani in north India and Karnāṭak (also referred to as Karnatic or Carnatic) in the south. This division was probably accentuated in the 16th century as a result of the influence of Muslim invaders in the north. Both traditions derive inspiration from the indigenous bhakti (devotional) movements modified by the patronage of the princely courts, especially in the north. Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar began his career as a professional musician in the mid-1940s. He toured Europe and the United States, playing the sitar at large international festivals. Shankar helped introduce sitar music to new audiences through an association with western musicians, including a 1969 appearance with pop singer George Harrison at the Woodstock music festival in New York. Shankar is credited with helping to increase the popularity of Indian music in the West. Rex Features, Ltd. The two traditions share basic musical features but differ in many details, so that followers of one often find the other incomprehensible. Both systems are essentially monophonic (consisting of unharmonized melody); employ a drone (one or more notes sustained against a melody); and are modal—that is, the melody line, which may either be composed in advance or improvised, is based on one of several hundred traditional melody matrices called raga (see Mode). These matrices are described by theorists in terms of abstractions, such as scale, ascending and descending movements, strong and weak or omitted notes, and characteristic phrases. Traditionally, ragas were learned by rote rather than by these abstractions, which have become more significant as teaching tools in present-day music schools and colleges. World Music Tour Click on the instruments to hear music from around the world. © Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. As a technical term, raga was first discussed in the Brihad Deshi, a treatise written about the 9th century AD. The most detailed technical treatise on Indian music, the Sangita Ratnakara, was written in the 13th century. However, subsequent writers tended to focus on the emotional connotations of individual ragas, associating them with moods, performance times, colors, and deities, and grouping them in terms of families. The modern theoretical system began in the 16th century, when ragas began to be classified according to scale—72 in the Karnāṭak system and 10 principal ones in the Hindustani. The 72 mela, as the Karnāṭak scales are called, are derived through permutations of the accepted notes of south Indian music. The 10 thaats of north Indian music, meanwhile, are based on prevalent raga practice in Hindustani music, 9 of which fit into a circle similar to that of the Western system of keys. A raga can be performed both in free time and in measured time. In free time, called alapa (or alapana), the melodic features of a raga are explored gradually in their natural rhythm or flow, often accompanied only by a drone played on the tambura or on an electronic shruti box (double-reeded wind instrument). A section with a pulse but no time measure, called jor in the north and tanam in the south, often precedes a raga in measured time. One of several possible tala (time measures) is used. A tala consists of a repeating number of time units (matra, or counts) that form a cyclical pattern; within this cycle, specific points receive different degrees of stress. Tala thus involves both a quantitative element (time units or counts) and a qualitative element (accent or stress). The Hindustani jhapatala, for example, has 10 time units, divided as follows: 2 + 3 + 2 + 3, marked by a drummer and also often counted by finger movements, claps, or waves during performance. A tala is introduced by a set composition, which is followed by variations and improvisations based melodically on the raga and constrained rhythmically by the tala. How much emphasis the alapa is given depends to some extent on each performer's inclination, but also relates to the compositional form that follows. In the Karnāṭak form kriti, much importance is placed on the composition and its usually devotional text, and the alapa section, accordingly, is generally short; in contrast, in the now less common Karnāṭak form ragam-tanam-pallavi, the alapa is much longer. In the Hindustani khyal, the usual vocal concert form found in north India today, the composition is generally considered subordinate to the improvisations, and a lengthy introductory section called bada (big) khyal is performed in a time measure so extremely slow and abstract that the vocalizations sound almost like alapa. This is usually followed by a chhota (small) khyal in fast tempo, with virtuosic runs to the vowel a. The khyal appears to have replaced the austere, formerly more prominent dhrupad, probably because it accommodates a greater display of virtuosity and imagination. Both Hindustani and Karnāṭak traditions also have vocal forms derived from dance and considered lighter in character. These forms, with their dance- rooted rhythms, are generally performed at the close of concerts, with little or no foregoing alapa. In the Karnāṭak system, instrumental music is based on vocal forms. The gat of Hindustani music, in contrast, is a specifically instrumental composition based on the plucking patterns of stringed instruments, especially the sitar. A long alapa and other nonmeasured pulsing sections (jor and jhala) often precede the gat. III CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTS The instruments of Indian classical music fall into two main categories: those that carry the main melody line and those that accompany. Among melody instruments the voice is considered preeminent. Of the many other melodic instruments, the most prominent are the plucked lutes, sitar and sarod in the north and vina in the south; the transverse flute bañsri; and the double reeds shahnai and nagasvaram. Sitar The sitar is probably the best-known instrument from India. It is a large, long-necked, fretted lute prominent in Indian classical music. This selection is performed by Ravi Shankar, who first introduced the sitar to the world of popular music at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Dorling Kindersley/"Raga Palas Kafi" from Ravi Shankar/Ali Akbar Khan: Ragas (Cat.# Fantasy FCD-24714-2) (p)1973 Fantasy, Inc. All rights reserved. Accompanying instruments serve three principal functions: to provide a drone, to provide a secondary melody, and to keep time and give rhythmic support. For the drone the most common instrument in both north and south is the long-necked lute called a tambura, although the electronic drone box (shruti box) is increasingly used either in conjunction with or in place of the tambura. In the south the Western violin is used to provide a secondary melody, while in the north the bowed lute sarangi and the hand-pumped, free-reed keyboard harmonium are used. To keep time and provide rhythmic support, the Karnāṭak system uses the double-ended drum mridangam, sometimes accompanied by the small frame drum kanjira and the earthen pot ghatam; the Hindustani system generally employs the pair of kettle drums called tabla and occasionally the double-ended drum pakhavaja, especially to accompany dhrupad, an austere, archaic form. Percussion solos have also been increasing in popularity and are inserted regularly into instrumental recitals. Another form of accompaniment that has grown popular is jugalbandi, referred to loosely as a duet, which involves two melody instruments exchanging phrases and improvisations. IV FOLK AND POPULAR MUSIC About three-quarters of India's population still lives in villages, and although change is increasingly noticeable, many old traditions remain. In most of these villages, men and women are segregated in song and dance, having independent repertoires and occasions for performance. Women's songs, often unaccompanied or accompanied only with a drum, are sung at weddings, childbirths, and festivals, and during agricultural and household activities. Men's songs are connected with devotional practices, particular festivals, and work, and are more often accompanied by instruments, especially for drone and rhythmic percussion. These songs may also employ some melody instruments such as the bowed lutes sarangi and kamaicha and the hand-pumped harmonium. In most regions specialist musicians perform for ritual, devotional, didactic, and entertainment purposes, sometimes as hereditary responsibility but often for payment in kind or money. These specialists include priests, religious mendicants, ritual performers, entertainers, storytellers, puppeteers, and theatrical troupes.

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