Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

MUSIC

been written by great mystics like Kabir, Nanak, Tulasidas, Surdas and Mira. Their purport and music are simple and hence the musically untrained also can sing them. Similarly Keertan of Bengal is a traditional institution and not merely a way of singing. Drawing inspiration from the immortal Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, it was transformed into a song and dance congregation by that mystic of mystics, Sri Chaitanya (15-16th C.). In Maharashtra abhangas of saints Eknath (16th C.), Jnaneswar (13th C), Tukaram (16- 17th C.) Anandaghana (17th C.) and the bhajans of Narsi Mehta in Gujarat and a host of others have seeped deep and wide into the hearts of the people. In the South, some of the earliest known hymns were the tevaram. Composed by the three saints, Tirujnana Sambandar, Tirun- avukkarasu (Appar) and Sundaramurty Naya- nar (7-9th C. A.D.), they formed the founda- tions of the musical culture of the Tamil speaking people. Tevarams were sung in various panns (analogous to ragas) by a class of singers known as the oduvars and Vedic Period - (4500 B.C. - 1000 B.C.) established music i.e. singing of hymns as an inseparable part of devotion and was sung by three classes of Brahmans called Hotris, the Udagatra and the Adhabharya. The Hotris were to recite the hymns, the Udagaatris had to chant the hymns and the Adhabharyas used to perform the sacri- ficial rites and offered oblations in fire. (300 B.C. - 100 B.C.) - Puranas, Upa- puranas and maha-kavyas contain the names of seven notes. (1000 B.C. - First C. A.D.) - During this period there were five different schools of music. They were : 1) Brahma Mata - School founded by Brahma, 2) Shiv Mata - School founded by Shiva, 3) Narada Mata - School founded by Narada, 4) Hanuman Mata-School founded by Hanuman, 5) Bharat Mata - School founded by Bharata. It is unanimously acknowledged by learned men that Brahma - the Eternal su- preme power — is the creator of this uni- verse. The origin of music naturally starts from him. He taught this heavenly art to Shiva, the God of eternal bliss who deliv- ered it to Saraswati - the Goddess of knowledge and wisdom. She taught this art to the heavenly musicians and dancers,

others. There are also the Tiruvachakam of Manikkavachakar, the Tiruppugazh of Arunagirinathar. In Telugu the songs of Tallapakam brothers (15th C.) were the foremost of not only devotional keertanas but also the earliest known compositions with sectional arrangement of pallavi, anupallavi and charana. Bhadrachala Ramdas (17th C.), who was praised in great humility by even Thyagraja, was a great devotee and sang many a keertana. It is in Kannada that we come across songs of Adoration -devara nama (God's name)-of extraordinary num- ber; notably in 16th C. there appeared the saint-singer, Sri Purandaradasa, who went round the land with his tambura and chipla (hand clappers) as a mendicant, preaching the beauty of Adoration. The verbal contents of Karnatak classi- cal compositions with perhaps the exception of javali are invariably devotional, didactic or spiritual in character whereas in Hindus- tani music there is a wide variety of themes ranging from the mundane and sensuous to the sublime and spiritual. HISTORICAL PERIODS namely Gandharvas and Apsaras and lastly the Kinnaras - centaur - like performers on musical instruments. These divinities taught this art to the great hermits like Narada, Hanuman and Bharata and others, who passed it on to the human beings on the earth. 1 st C. A.D. - 4th C. A.D. - Bharat Muni wrote Natya Shastra - a treatise oh music. It contains 32 chapters in which only 5, namely 28 to 32 chapters are devoted to the then current form of music. It has been ac- knowledged by all scholars, to be the first and best work on music and Bharata as the founder of the present system of Indian music. 4th-7th C A.D. - Period of Duttila, Bharata mentions him as one of his sons to whom he had taught the theory and practice of music. Duttilla is also cited as an author- ity by Abhinava Gupta in his commentary on Nattya Shastra. Duttilla also accepts the same 18 Jatis that were enumerated by Bharata in his work entitled Duttilla. 4 - 9th C. A.D. - "Bruhaddesa" by Matangga. Mention of grama raaga had been chiefly made by Matanga in his text. He is of the opinion that the Jati generates the Grama- Raaga with the use of predominating note (Ansa Svara).

In Karnatak music there are no special compositions for instruments. All compo- sitions are for the human voice. Karnatak music thus displays a close adherence to and imitation of the human voice. The basic difference between the two forms is in the articulation of the gamakas (graces). In Karnatak music the oscillation of notes is much faster than in Hindustani music. In Karnatak music there is excessive undulation of almost every note with the result that it be- comes difficult to identify the note which is actually being sung. Improvisation is a characteristic feature of Indian music. Improvisation plays a major part in a performance with great emphasis being placed on the creativity and sensitivity of the soloist. The performance of a raga usually begins with an improvised melodic prelude. This is followed by a composed piece set in a particular tala. The composed piece is generally quite short and serves as a frame of reference to which the soloist returns at the conclusion of his improvisation. It is the selected collection of hymns from Rig-Veda meant for chanting on different oc- casions such as the sacrifices of the Aryans. The public religious rites and the domestic rituals were carried out in Sanskrit. All branches of education - spiritual or secular - were in the hands of Brahmins who spoke Sanskrit. Sanskrit was the language of sci- ence, of grammar, prosody, astronomy and even magical arts. Sanskrit was in effect the lingua-franca of ancient India. Vedic chants and accents : Other than Rig and Sama-Vedic verses, even the prose part of the Yajur-Veda are in Sanskrit with Vedic accents called as Udaatya, Anudaatya and Swarita. These accents were the musical notes, used in Vedic chants. Sama Sutra : The rules for chanting the Vedas are laid down in Sama Sutra, a treatise of seven chapters denoting the method of re- citing the hymns of the Vedas, particularly of Sama Veda. Almost all the verses except the fifth, are collected from the eighth and ninth chapters of the Rig Veda. He regards Raga as one of the seven classes of Jatis current in his time. SamaVeda