Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

MUSIC

HINDUSTANI AND KARNATAK MUSIC

Otherwise it is merely craft. (M.R. Gautam, "The Musical Heritage of India.'')

There is much in common between Hin- dustani music and Karnatak music. There are also points of difference. The singing and playing in Indian music can be slow, medium or fast and this determines the tempo. North Indian music has explored the possibilities of the slow tempo and it accelerates in minimal gradations. In South Indian music the medium tempo is precisely the double of the slow and the fast precisely the double of the medium. North Indian music has fewer Talas and they are not organised in any systematic man- ner. Another distinguishing feature is the em- phasis placed on the characteristic drum pat- tern of each Tala in North Indian music. Two Talas might have the same duration and sub- divisions but have different drum patterns. Unlike South Indian music, a gradual accel- eration of tempo leading to a final climax is a characteristic feature of North Indian music. “The basic scale of modem North Indian music is heptatonic and its seven notes called nadja, mabha, gandhara, madhyama, pan- chama, dhaivata and nisada, abbreviated to Sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni correspond approximately to those of the European major scale. They may be elaborated with half-tones of varying intervals classified according to the number of srutis they contain. The shruti is a theoretical interval of which the scale contains 22 . • “There is no developed harmony in Indian music and the melody which usually proceeds by conjunct intervals (i.e adjacent notes on the keyboard), never suggests a harmonic basis, as do many European melodies. The tune is sustained by one or more drone notes and by drumming. The melodic line and the subtle and complex cross rhythms of Indian music take the place of harmony and counterpoint in the ear of the trained listener.” — A. L. Basham Coming to the musical forms, the Dhru- pad of Hindustani music was first shaped by Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior and devel- oped by Swami Haridas and his disciple, Tansen, who was a luminary of Akbar's court. It preserves the antique liturgical stateliness in its style. It begins with a free melodic elabo- ration or Alap and goes on to a rhythm-bound lyric whose first two sections traverse pro- gressively the lower, middle and upper oc- taves while the last two sections can be re-' garded as the complex development of the same material. There are only a very few practitioners of this style today.

The Khayal (a word of Persian origin meaning "imagination") probably originated with Amir Khusrau, the Persian aristocrat and humanist of the 13th century. It was devel- oped by Sultan Sharqui of the 15th century and established as a classical style by Sada- rang Nyamat Khan of the 18th century. The structure of the Khayal is considerably re- laxed. It is rarely that singing begins with the Alap or free melodic elaboration. More often the Alap is done in the melodic elaboration of the phrases of the composition itself. There is an extensive exploration of all possible re- sources of the Gamak, the type of movement from one note to another which includes shakes, trills, glides, swings, spiralling accents and numerous other graces. The Khayal later proliferated into many gharanas or schools. The oldest, the Gwalior Gharana, is distinguished by open-throated singing, formal simplicity and straight, linear transitions from note to note. The Agra Ghar- ana is close to the Dhrupad in its disciplined execution but loves dramatic contrasts and rhythmic syncopations. The Rangeela Ghar- ana evolved as a modulation of this style towards greater lyrical warmth and colour. The Kirana Gharana has a slow tempo, avoids dramatic contrasts and tensions and is sweet, serene and soothing. The Patalia Gharana spe- cialises in spectacular rhythm play. In South Indian music the main group is composed of 35 Talas. Each Tala is composed of one, two or three different units: short, me- dium and long. The medium unit is twice the duration of the short. The long unit, however, may be three, four, five, seven or nine times the duration of the short. There are seven basic Tala patterns - Dhruva, Mathya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata and Eka Tala. Each Tala may be performed in either slow, medium or quick tempo. There is no gradual acceleration of tempo as in North Indian music. "A study of the two styles indicates that the basic difference is in the articulation of the gamakas (graces). In Carnatic music the oscil- lation of notes is much faster than in Hindus- tani music. The bane of Carnatic music is the excessive undulation of almost every note with the result that it becomes difficult to identify the note which is actually being sung. "Carnatic music in the last 20 years has be- come hyper-intellectual, teeming with intri- cate combinations both in swara and tala con- struction. This doubtless is an indication of the intellectual brilliance of South India but art basically is and must be emotion-oriented.

LIGHT CLASSICAL FORMS In addition to the major form of the Khayal, the northern Hindustani system has produced a rich variety' of light classical forms. In Tarana, the tempo is generally fast, the syllables which have no articulate meaning are used for tonal values. The Tappa, which is derived by tradi- tion from the songs of camel drivers is distin- guished by quick turns of phrase with no slower elaboration. The Thumri is a very light form which was inspired by the Radha Krishna theme. It was patronised by Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh before it was annexed by the British. The Ghazal, a Persian lyrical form, has been completely naturalised in In- dia. It is perhaps the most popular Hindustani style today. In North Indian music there are some purely instrumental compositions, gat and dhun, which are usually played on plucked string instruments. The emphasis is on the im- provisation with the instrumentalist and the drummer alternating till the climax is reached. The composed piece is generally short. All the technical resources of the instruments are used to build up the fabric of the gat which is first played in a slow tempo and then builds up to a climax in the fast tempo. Other instrumental forms are the thumri, which is basically an in- strumental rendering for a vocal thumri and dhun which is based on a folk tune and does not follow a conventional Raga. Muslim and Hindu devotional group sing- ing has resulted in the evolution of the Abhang (in Maharashtra), the Kirtan (in Bengal and Orissa) and the Bhajan which has a greater regional spread and is sung in both northern and southern India. Saintly people of all classes, from Meera who was a princess of Rajasthan, to Kabir who was a weaver of Banaras' have enriched the legacy of this form. The Mughal emperors were, with the ex- ception of Aurangzeb, patrons of music. Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan had an ear for music and patronised musi- cians. The legendary Tansen was a member of Akbar's court. His original name was Ramtanu Pande and he was born in 1506 in Gwalior. His natural talent for singing was developed by Swami Haridas of Brindavan who gave him a sound training in the finer points of music. He was a close friend of Sur Das and, like many of his contemporaries, received much of his musical education at Gwalior,