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Preface
Indian music is one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. This section of the web site will try to introduce Indian Classical Music from two perspectives - historical and technical. The historical
perspective will trace the evolution of this art form from pre-historic time to the present day. The technical introduction, to be provided later, will help a beginner to start appreciating the technical aspects of the classical tradition. This article is mainly a web survey. Wherever original material is available on the web, a link has been provided. As is true with any web or literature survey, multiple sources have been referenced before coming to any conclusion. Any correction or critique is most welcome.
the subjective merit. Classic \Clas"sic\, Classical \Clas"sic*al\, a. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the first class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. classique. ] 1. Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. Following that definition, classical music is defined as follows by Princeton university WordNet. Music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste. Classical Western Music refers in particular to
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European music during the latter half of the 18th and the early 19th centuries or in general to Music in the educated European tradition, such as symphony and opera, as opposed to popular or folk music.
Indian Classical Music is no different. It refers to music based on ancient musical traditions which have evolved through several thousand years. It is a part of the Hindu religion as well as Indian culture. Technically, in very general broad terms, Indian classical music can be defined by two basic elements - it must follow a Raaga (classical mode) and a specific rhythm or Taala.
Historical Development
Basics of Indian classical music started some 3,000 years ago. The musical form underwent continuous change and development to get to the musical form we now recognize as Indian classical music. This Historical Development can be traced through the following periods.
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The Origin Ancient Period (1000 BC - 1200 AD) Medieval Period (1200 AD - 1857 AD) The British Raj (1857 AD - 1947 AD) The Post Independence Period (1947 AD - 2000 AD)
Technical Introduction
Indian Classical Music essentially consists of Raaga and Taala. Basics of these and other related concepts are dealt with in the Technical Introduction.
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Technical Introduction
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Rig Veda
The origin
The origin of Indian music can be discussed from two perspectives, the religious one which believes in divine origin and the secular perspective which tries to trace the origin with reference to the development of civilization in India.
Divine origin
Music is an integral part of Hindu Mythology. According to Hindu Mythology, music originated with the first sound in the universe, OM, also called Naada Brahma (the first note). OM is believed to be the purest sound ever made, and just chanting of OM can heal the body. OM is positioned in Indian philosophical and religious thought as being one with the rhythms of the universe. The correct rendition of it requires a particular breath-process, and as such is believed to clear the system and the karmic cycle. There are several music CDs made around this theme of chanting OM. Preface to one such CD says - OM is a musical bliss through the regular use of which, a restive heart and stressful mind can achieve eternal peace and harmony, delirious joy and happiness of being at one with the Creator. Music in the celestial world was practised by Gandharvas, demigods. Indra and other gods requested the Creator, Brahma, to give the people something which not only creates a diversion from their bad ways, but helps in their upliftment. Brahma agreed and gave music to people through a human with extraordinary abilities, Narada Muni (sage). Even now, Narada is represented with images of him carrying a Tanpura.
Brahma is also said to be the author of the four Vedas, of which the SamaVeda was chanted in definite musical patterns. Other vedic hymns were sung in plain melody, using only 3 notes. Many mythological figures have music association. Sarasvathi, the goddess of learning and knowledge, is represented as playing the ancient instrument, Veena. Infact, the most common form of veena is called Sarasvathi Veena. Ravana, the villain of the epic Ramayana, was proficient in Veena. Considering these beliefs it is not surprising that even to this day, music and musical instruments are considered sacred. All classical composers are considered saints and are worshipped (especially the Carnatic composers like Sri Purandara and Shri Thyagaraja) as such.
Non-Divine Origin
The most ancient Hindu scriptures are the Vedas. There are four of them - RigVeda, SamaVeda, YajurVeda and AtharvaVeda. The singing or chanting of the hymns was called Sama Gana. The secular music for pleasure was called Gandharva gana. It is said the Gandharva gana grew out of Sama-Gaana. Though it is quite possible that they developed in parallel. There is no consensus on the age of Vedas. Also it is politically a very explosive question. History, we should note, has always been used to represent the political views of the historian.
The first systematic theory of the relationships between human languages began when Sir William Jones, the Chief Magistrate of Calcutta and the founder of the Asiatic Society, proposed in 1786 that Greek and Latin, the classical languages of Europe, and Sanskrit, the classical language of India, had all descended from a common source (The Third Anniversary Discourse On The Hindus,1786 ). The evidence for this
came from both the structure of the languages - Sanskrit grammar has similarities to Greek - and the vocabulary of the languages. Thus, father in English compares to Vater in German, pater in Latin, patr in Greek, pitr. in Sanskrit, pedar in Persian, etc. On the other hand, father in Arabic is ab, which hardly seems like any of the others. This became the theory of Indo-European languages, and today the hypothetical language that would be the common source for all Indo-European languages (Language Family Tree - Indo-European) is now called Proto-Indo-European. First it was thought that India was the possible origin of all civilization (Enlightenment scholars like Voltaire). The famous German philosopher Kant placed the origin of mankind in Tibet. Eighteenth century German scholar, Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), supposed that a new people had formed itself in northern India, swarmed towards the West, populating Europe. Later it was postulated that the original home of Indo-Europeans was Central Asia, (because of common word roots for winter and snow, but not for rice or ocean, also presence of horse - so the original home must hav been a cold place away from the oceans) and various groups of people migrated south to occupy India and Iran, West to occupy Europe. French writer Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882) proposed that Eurpean aristocracy was Aryan, peasants were not Aryan and Anti-Semitic ideas against the Jews was born. German scholar Max Muller (1823-1900), who picked up this prevelent theory, explained that Indo Aryans came to India from north west and conquered the Dravidian people who lived there, pushing them to the south, sometime around 1500 to 1000 B.C. He thought the high castes were Aryan people, while the lower castes non-Aryan (just like it was argued in Erupoe). After the excavations and discovery of Indus valley civilization (Harappa, Mohanjodaro - 1920 AD), Sir Mortimer Wheeler a British archeologist, in 1946 theorized that Aryans invaded the cities of Indus Valley bringing that nonaryan civilization to an end. Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) became the accepted theory.
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In recent times there is little support for the theory of an invading army of Aryans coming down from Eurasia and destroying the cities of settlers on the Indus valley or elsewhere. There is no archaeological evidence for destruction of IVC civilization by invading armies in Indus Valley civilization sites or elsewhere. AIT has been replaced by a migration theory, which talks about movement of people from Steppe of Central Asia to Europe and south and east Asia, spreading Indo-European languages (The Spread of IndoEuropean and Turkish Peoples off the Steppe). Indian civilization is thought to be the product of these migrating people and those who already existed here ( Romila Thapar - The Aryan Question Revisited).
Now it is thought that Indus Valley Civilization was abandoned because of shift in river courses rather than because of an invading army of Aryans. Tributeries of Saraswathi diverted to join Jamuna around 1700 BC, leading to drying up of Saraswathi, probably causing the abandonment of settlements and eventual decline of IVC. Some writers, aligned with the ideology of Hindutva, dismiss Aryan Invation Theory as colonial propaganda. The writers include Shrikant G. Talageri (The RigVeda - A Historical Analysis ), David Frawley ( The myth of Aryan Invation Of India), Dr. Dinesh Agrawal (Demise of Aryan Racial/Invasion Theory), Dr Subhash Kak ( The Aryans and Ancient Indian History ), N.S. Rajaram (Aryan Invasion), Dr. S. Kalyanaraman ( Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization), Koenraad Elst ( The Vedic Harappans in writing) and Dr. S.R. Rao (The Lost City of Dvaraka). They have proposed that Aryans are original to India and spread through out Asia and Europe. We can call this the Out Of India theory (OIT). Max Muller's scholarship and integrity have been questioned (Max Muller - A Missionary Bigot) , and he has been daemonized, by the backers of OIT. OIT proponents argue that Muller and other 19th
century Eurpoean scholars believed in divine origin of life as given in the Bible. Archbishop of Ireland had decreed in 1664 that creation took place at 9 a.m. on 23-10-4004 BC and one who will say anything else about it will be considered a heretic. Since, life on earth only started around 4000 B.C., according to their beliefs, they had to make everything else fit into that time frame. Also, several new sites along rivers other than Indus have been excavated in Pakistan, Rajastan and Gujarat in the last two decades. Many of the sites are on the banks of a dried up river, which the OIT backers assert is the river Sarasvti mentioned extensively in the RigVeda. Thus, the Indus Valley Civilization has been renamed as Sindhu - Sarasvati Valley Civilization by the backers of OIT ( Sarasvati Sindhu (Vedic / Indus) Civilization, Language and Script). They assign the Age of Vedas between 6000BC to 4000BC (chronology of sarasvati river). Many modern vedic scholars do not agree with this OIT (Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts ). They point to lack of positive evidence and political inclination of the proponents of OIT. Ofcourse, OIT tremendously benefits the Hindutva proponents of the sangh parivar. Some writers like Rajaram, went to the extent of manufacturing evidence to support their theory ( Horseplay in Harappa). Infact OIT proponents seem to be guilty of exactly the same thing they accuse Muller and other scholars of - writing history to suit their ideology. Prof. Michael Witzel (Age of the Veda) gives the date of RigVeda between 1700 BC and 1200 BC based on the following.
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RigVeda is a pre-iron age (copper/bronze) age text of the Greater Panjab (incl. parts of Afghanistan). SamaVeda, which is slightly later than RigVeda, mentions iron. This sets a late date of c. 1200 for RigVeda, the earliest iron in India. The date of the demise of the Indus civilization is c. 1900 BC. RigVeda is post Indus Civilization. Chariots of Indo Aryan type first occur around 2000 BC west and east of the Ural mountains Horses are indeed not found in South Asia before 1700 BC
Sama Veda
Though, Vedas are considered the source of Indian Music, it should not be assumed that classical music in its present form was fully developed by then. Infact, concept of Raga, Tala, Shruti or even Nava Rasas come only later. All except SamaVeda were sung using only three notes, Anudaatta (low), Udaatta(middle) and Svarita (high). As used today the Anudaatta, Udaatta and Svarita svaras of RigVeda, can be equated with Ni, Sa, and Ri of the North Indian Kafi scale (Kharaharapriya of the Carnatic). In early manuscrpts of RigVeda, the text was written along with accent notes. Anudaatta is marked with an underline and Svarita is marked with a small vertical line above the syllable. Udaatta is left unmarked. Sama Veda consists of about 1900 verses, called samans. Ninety-five percent of the verses of Sama Veda Samhita are in Rig Veda Samhita. One can see from the text of the Sama Veda mantra that the chanting notation in it is much more elaborate than that in the corresponding Rig Veda mantra. SamaVeda was chanted using all seven notes (prathama, dvitheeya, tritheeya, chathurtha, panchama, shashta and sapthama), in descending order, of the Vaidika scale (or of sama gana) which have been equated to (Ma, Ga,Ri,Sa,Dha,Ni,Pa) of the Laukika or Gandhara scale in later classical sanskrit texts like NaradiyaShiksha. RigVedic hymns are directed at Gods, to be chanted during sacrifices to please them. It is possible Gods were thought to be fond of music and that it would be easier to please them if the hymns were sung rather than just chanted. Thus, many of the Rig Vedic hymns were set to music and sung and were known as samans, rather than just hymns (Rik). The chanted Sama-Veda hymns or Samans were believed to possess the supernatural qualities capable of petitioning and even supporting the deities that controlled the forces of the universe. Since Rig Vedic hymns are just metered they could not be sung using all the seven notes. Thus started a tradition of insertion of a number of seemingly `meaningless' words or syllables
(stobha) for musical and lyrical effect, such as o, hau, hoyi, va, etc. It was these stobha syllables which were extended vocally with long duration on various notes of the Sama-Veda scale by the priests who had the special function of summoning the gods to the celebration through the use of droning (monotone) on a number of these tones, believing them to hold magical properties. The wife of the chief sacrificer (i.e. chief priest, brahmana) would play the Vina, during sacrifices. Precise methods of singing the Samans were established and preserved in three different schools, the Kauthumas, Ranayaniyas, and the Jaiminiyas, the oldest. Each has maintained a distinct style with regard to vowel prolongation, interpolation and repetition of stobha, meter, phonetics, and the number of notes in scales. Accordingly, there has been a fervent regard for maintaining continuity in Sama-Veda singing to avoid misuse or modification over many years. Since written texts were not in use, in fact prohibited, the priests memorized the chants with the aid of accents and melodies, and passed this tradition down orally from one generation to the next for over three thousand years ( Hinduism and Music).
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Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Buddhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
Ancient period covers the period between the vedic period and musliminvasionn of north India i.e. 1000 B. C. to 1200 A.D. Political history gives the background on whichculturall history rests, thus skeletal political history is traced here to aid the understanding of musical history.
Political History
Not much is known about India's political history between the Vedic period and the Maurya dynasty (324 B. C. to 185 B.C.). The main sources of information are theBuddhistt, Jain and Hindu texts of the period, esp. when they can be compared andcorroboratedd.Buddhistt texts mention 16 states which dominated northern India. They ranged from old states like north-western and north-central Gandhara, Kamboja, KuruPanchala, Matsya, Kasi, and Kosala to the newly emergingeasternn states like Avanti, Asvaka, Surasena, Vatsa, Cedi, Malla, Vrjji, Magadha, and Anga. The political system in these states was either monarchical or a type of representative government that variously has been called republican or oligarchic. Around 5th century BC, Magadha emerged as the most important kingdom under Bimbisara and then his son Ajathasatru (d. 459 BC). The capital of Magadha, Pataligrama (later Pataliputra, present day Patna) was to become the political and cultural center of north India for the next thousand years. Chandra Gupta Maurya (325-297 BC) overthrew Nandas who were ruling Magadha at the time. Mauryans were to establish the first Indian empire, consisting of almost the entire Indian sub-continent (and Afghanistan), except for areas south of present day Karnataka. Ashoka (272-231 BC) succeeded Bindusara (297-272 BC), the son of Chandra Gupta. The first inscribed edicts found in India are that of Ashoka, in Brahmi lipi. Ashoka took upBuddhistt religion and sent missionaries to various countries, helping the establishment of Buddhism inSri Lankaa, central and eastern asia. During this time, present day TamilNadu was ruled by Cholas, Ceras and Pandyas, with their own unique culture. A succession ofBuddhistt and Hindu dynasties ruled over north and central India after the Mauryan empire - Sungas, Kushans, Shatavahana (28 B.C. - 250 A.D.). The most important dynasty after Mauryan was the Guptas (320 A.D. - 467 A.D.) and then HarshaVardhana (606 - 647 A.D.). After that the south Indian dynasties of Chalukyas, Rastrakutas, Pallavas and Cholas consolidated the big empires. North India was splintered into a large number of small kingdoms till the raise of Sultanates of Delhi. Many foreign dynasties (Romans, Greek, Scythians, Huns) continued to rule north west India, and were localized over time.
Hinduism
Religiously lot of changeshappenedd. The local people and the Aryan migrants completely merged. Civilization moved eastwards to the Gangetic plain from the Vedic Punjab area. Vedic Gods were replaced by Puranic Gods. Vedic Gods gave way to two important monotheistic Gods - Siva and Vishnu. Saivism and Vishnavism were the two main practices. Vedic sacrifices and rituals were restricted to only royal and important occassions. Idol worship, possibly aBuddhistt influence, and Gods of local people (like RudraShiva) became a part of mainstream religion. Caste system set in (Manu 100 BC - 100 AD). Two important epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha became popular. By the time of the Guptas (4th century AD) Hinduism as we know it today, took shape. In the south, the culture of TamilNadu was getting influenced by Gangetic religions and culture, as sangam poems would suggest. Major Tamil diety, Murukan, was absorbed into Hindu religion as the son of Siva, Siva himself, it is argued is assimilation of local diety into Vedic culture. By the time of Pallavas Tamilnadu had been completely brought into Hindu fold.
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Oral Tradition
Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Budhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
Oral Tradition
Vedas have been transmitted orally, from one generation to the next, for over 3,000 years. Since the text was metered and so much stress was always put on perfect pronunciation, it is generally accepted that not much has changed in the last three thousand years. There were various schools of each veda, but their difference was mainly in terms of arrangement of the hymns. Various redactions of Vedas were attempted, by Sakalya and last by Vyasa. Similarly Mahabharatha and Ramayana were also redacted at a time later than their original compositions. Most of the texts were taught in Veda Pattashala (or Gurukulas). Students mostly lived with the teacher till he learnt all the texts. This is the beginning of Guru-Shishya parampara. The parampara was important in transmitting knowledge, whether religious or musical, to the next generation. Also, the knowledge itself was regarded as a secret, a kind of heirloom. Teachers were most reluctant to make their knowledge public. This was one the reasons why a lot of these were never penned down. That way, teachers made sure the knowledge remained within their family (and students, who were considered part of the family). Even after the invention of writing, the oral tradition continued - esp. in religious studies like Vedas and learning Music. Infact Vedas and music continued to be taught exclusively through oral tradition well until 20th century. Even now, it is considered unscholarly to refer to books when chanting Vedic hymns or singing (as some new Carnatic singers do).
significant role in the evolution of ancient Indian thought. Many schools of Hindu philosophy, sectarian movements and even the later day religions like Buddhism and Jainism derived richly from the vast body of knowledge contained in the Upanishads. Chandoga is the singer of Samans (i.e. the musical hymns of Sama Veda). Chandogya Upanishad ( Translated Chandogya Upanishad) helps the priests sing the samans properly for the pleasure of Gods. It is given as an instruction of Sanatkumara to Narada. It explains the meaning and importance given to OM, which is called udgitha. The person singing Udgita is called Ugdatri. The Samans could either be sung or played on the Vina. Chandogya says that if samans are sung properly, without mistakes in pronunciation, then his desires would be fulfilled. Chandogya also says that Mukthi i.e. the final liberation from the cycle of birth and death can be achieved by singing samans. An idea, that formed the philosophical underpinning to the belief that Mukthi can be achieved through music. Building on this, later ideas of Music as a form of worship developed. That became the basis of all later Bhakthi movements, where all other rituals and sacrifices as means of pleasing God were given up to be replaced by simple Bhakthi (devotion) expressed through devotional music.
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Ghazal
Ghazals as a poetic form started first in Persia and continued with poems written in Urdu language and set to music in the Hindustani Khayal tradition starting in 18th century. It is currently practiced both in India and Pakistan.
Artists Urdu Poets Urdu Dictionary Music Samples Evolution of Ghazal Singing Ghazal - The Poetic Form Ghazal History & Theory Links
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Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Budhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
The first available sanskrit text, dealing entirely with stagecraft (including dance and music) is NatyaShastra, the original portions of the revered treatise were written by Bharata Muni (sage). It has also been called the Fifth Veda, because of its importance. Though it has been dated between 200 BC and 200 A.D, the date of NatyaShastra is a big controversy. It is a text that has grown over centuries but it is not possible to point out which lines or portions are later additions. But it is believed to precede Valmiki Ramayana by scholars, as it is evident from the oldest portions like the Sunder and Yuddha Kandas that Valmiki was using Bharat Muni's terminology with a musicological awareness. Mention of many aspects of Indian classical music of today can be found in Natya Shastra. The treatise deals with the varied aspects of drama, including sections on dance and on music (particularly instrumental music), including tunings, scales, modal patterns and functions, instrument types, performance techniques, and accompaniment styles. Bharata describes a music system based on modes (jati-s) that are scales (murcchana) based on the successive notes of two heptatonic scales (sadjagrama and madhymagrama). Bharata speaks of dhruva (fixed) Gana which were the kinds of song with which a play was ornamented . . . . i.e. the music used in Dramas. Bharata also speaks of a microtonal interval: the sruti (that which is heard). He describes 22 of these microtonal intervals constituting an octave. Intervals of three sizes 4, 3, or 2 srutis formed the basis for ancient scales. Although this practice has not been in effect for well over a millennium, modern musicians still use the word sruti to describe microtonal inflections in their playing. The principal melodic concept of this period of ancient Indian music was jati (family or mode). A jati was mode in a scale (murcchana) which was drawn from either of two possible heptatonic parent scales: the sadja-grama (a scale based on the note, sadja) and the madhyama-grama (a scale based on the note, madhyama). The only difference between these two parent scales was the placement of one sruti. The term Raaga is first found in Natya Shastra, meaning not scale but tonal color - as the colour that fills the heart and mind of man. Natyasastra makes several references to the seven notes, saptasvaras, naming them by the same names used even today (shadja, vrishabha etc). It also associates the svaras with various rasas. He lists eight rasas (Shanta rasa was added at a later date by Abhinava Gupta),
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sringara - love veera - valour karuna - sympathy raudra - anger bhaydnaka- fear bhibatsa - disgust hasya - humour adbhuta - wonder shanti - peace (added later on by Abhinava Gupta)
NatyaShastra also mentions several musical instruments and the way they should be played. It classifies musical instruments in to four categories
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(1) Tata (lutes) (2) Sushira (flute) (3) Ghana (cymbals) (4) Avanadha (drums)
A.D, but after NatyaShastra. It was written in shloka form. The word shloka refers to a particular kind of metrical composition known for its brevity, easy tempo and lilting rhyme. From the lavish use of musical metaphors in the epic, it is evident that the precise concept of music or sangeet had been adequately established and appreciated. For example, when Rama describes Kishkindha, Sugreeva's kingdom, to Laxmana, he refers to the lute-like resonance of the bees, the rhythmic croaking of frogs and the mridang-like sounds of clouds. Rama was an expert in gandharva, the 'classical' music of the time. The term Marga sangeet is also used in the epic to denote the accepted and prestigious mode of music. There were three important features of Marga Sangeet. It was created and propagated by Brahma and other deities. It was not meant for entertainment. It was presented before the Gods to please them. The epic tells us that musical instruments were collectively mentioned as atodya. Four major types of instruments were identified. Names A wide variety of instruments were used such as the Veena, Venu, Vansha, Shankha, Dundubhi, Bheri, Mridang, Panav and Pataha. The knowledge of music was widespread. Ravana the demon-leader was proficient in music. So was Sugreeva, the monkey-leader. Occasions of festival music were known as samaj. There were professional classes of musicians such as Bandi, Soota, Magadha and others, whose repertoire included songs in praise of heroes, their deeds, their clans or dynasties. Ramayana, as an oral epic, was also propagated according to the musical norms perfected in the oral tradition. This was the pathya mode of music making, ideal for narration. This was the form employed by Rama's sons Kush and Lava, when they sang a narrative song in Rama's praise at his court accompanied by only a lute. Even today, the story of Rama, when traditionally narrated in India in different languages and regions, follows the norms laid down by the ancient Sage. The use of technical terms in popular literature signifies that knowledge in the concerned field of study is widespread in society. Musical terms such as pramana, laya, tala, samatala , kala , matra and shamya regularly feature in the epic.
Ancient History - Pg 2
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Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Budhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
One of the most important aspect of Vedas is that the vedic hymns should be pronounced perfectly. Absolutely no change is allowed. This is the reason Vedas have been orally transmitted unchanged for over 3,000 years. Nardiya Shiksha was written to help students in this regard. We know little about Narada or this text except that portions of it date from about the 100 AD with other portions added later. The students for whom Narada intended this, learned about vedic chant, how to deal with the all-important issue of pronunciation, and, notably, issues of musical pitch. In this last context, links between the musical scales used in sacred chant (sama gana) and secular singing (gandharva / laukika gana) are explained. Narada spoke of two important pitch distinctions: svara and sruti. The former refers to the musical pitches of a musical scale, while the latter covers a quality of the tone that can be heard, but which the listener will find difficult to distinguish. This treatise stands as a proof for the highly scientific system of music prevalent from early times. This is a very informative book and traces the evolution of music. This book must have been written after Natyasastra. The author of this book is believed to be Narada, about 2,000 years ago. The time theory of ragas, Ganagunas, doshas, classification of ragas and raginis are the interesting aspects of this book.
returns during the Bhakthi movement. Vayupurana refers to music as gandharva. The music of this Purana deals with the rituals performed during the different phases of a sacrifice. Markandeyapurana has a dialogue between Saraswati and Ashvatara, a king of Nagas or serpents, where Saraswati offers a boon to the King who desires nothing but the knowledge of the musical notes or swaras. The Vishnudharmottarapurana, touches on almost all the arts. It devotes one chapter each to Geet and Vadya, though nothing is original to this text.
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Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Budhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
Brihaddeshi by Sage Matanga, is the most important work between Natyashastra (2nd century BC) and Sangita Ratnakara (13th century AD). Matanga probably hailed from south India. This work is dated between 6th and 7th century AD But unfortunately, it is incomplete, may be portions of it are lost. Brihaddeshi is the first major and available text to describe the Raaga, as we understand the them today, which has been the central concept in Indian art music for centuries. It also introduced the sargam, or notation in the names of notes. In Matanga's discussion of musical scales and micro-tonal intervals he clarifies what Bharata had said in the Natyashastra. Margi music is a performance in which Gita, Vadya and Nritya were combined, as was described by Bharatha in Natyashastra. The performances which did not conform to such strict rules and which catered to the tastes of people of different lands are termed desi. It is the Desi music which Matanga describes. According to Matanga, "Deshi is that which is sung voluntarily and with delight and pleasure by women, children, cowherds and kings in their respective regions". So it is possible that music had become a separate entity and was sung for its own sake by the time of Matanga. There was no need to combine music with Nritya (dance). This was definitely an important evolution in the history of music.
instruments are mentioned - including nineteen types of Veena - kachchapi, kubjika, chitra, parivadini, jaya, ghosavati, jyeshta, nakuli, mahati, vaishnavi, brahmi, raudri, ravani, sarasvati, kinnari, saurandri, ghosaka etc. It also lists 22 srutis and their names and 9 gamakas.
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Saranga Deva
Ancient-History Political History Hinduism Budhism And Jainism Panini Oral Tradition Invention Of Writing Music In Ancient Texts Brahmana Period Bharatha's Natya Shastra Valmiki Ramayana Vyasa MahaBharatha Nardiya Shiksha Dattila's Dattilam Puranic Period Sangam poetry and Tolkapiyam Ilango Adigal 's Chilappatikaaram Matanga's Brihaddesi Tevaram and Nalayira Divya Prabandham Acharya Abhinava Gupta's Abhinava Bharati Narada's Sangita Makarandha Parsvadeva's Sangita Samayasara Someswara's Manasollase JayaDeva's Gita Govinda Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakar Simhabhupala's Sudhakara Beginning of Prabandha
This is considered the most important work on music, after Bharatha's Natya Shastra. It was written by Saranga Deva (1210-1247 AD). This is also the last work which both Carnatic and Hindustani traditions refer to. So we can assume that it is around this time that Carnatic and Hindustani emerge as two separate traditions. It is also the last major work, before Islamic influence was felt on Indian music, even though, the mention of the names of ragas like the turushka todi and the turushka gaud in this text show the percolation of the Islamic influence into Indian music had already begun. Sarangdeva's family was originally from Kashmir but his grandfather had moved to Devagiri (present day Daulatabadin Maharashtra). He worked as an accountant in the court of the Yadava King Singhana(12101247 AD). Yadava dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Singhana. Ratnakara emphasized the ever changing nature of music, the increasing role of regional influences on it, and the increasing complexity of musical material that needed to be systemized time and again. Sharangdeva is firmly tethered to the prevalent musical practices of his time. His stress is consistently on the 'lakshya', the music 'in vogue' as against ancient music. Bharatha's Natyashastra mainly deals with theatre, with music as an adjunct. Sarangdeva treats dance as an adjunct of music. Sangita Ratnakar has seven chapters and five thousand verses. Of the 7 chapters, titled Saptadhyayi, out of which 6 are devoted to music and 1 to dance. The titles of the chapters are Swaragatadhyaya, Ragavivekadhyaya, Prakirnakadhyaya, Prabhandhadhyaya, Taladhyaya, Vadhyadhyaya and Narthanadhyaya dealing with swaras, ragas, gamakas, prabandhas, talas, instruments and dance. Thus, it deals with almost all aspects of music. According to Sarangadeva a Raaga is defined as "those swaras that are beautified or decorated by the tonal excellence of swaras and varnas". He mentions 253 Raagas in all. Raagas are classified according to the various seasons and different times of the day and the importance of certain notes in the delineation of the Raga (i.e. Vadi and Samvadi). Sarangadeva talks about 22 srutis and lists fifteen gamakas, describing many of his gamakas in terms of their execution on the veena. He also explains many varieties of tala. He devotes a whole chapter to the different kinds of musical instruments. He mentions two main types of veena, the sruti and swara. He also talks about Ekaraga mela veena, Sarvaraga mela veena with frets, from which Sarasvathi veena evolved. He explains in detail Dhruva Vina, Sala Vina which are swara veenas. Among other instruments, he also explains 13 different sizes of flute, construction and the techniques of playing 14 kinds of drums like mridang, mardala etc.
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Medieval History
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Medieval Period - Evolution of Hindustani and Carnatic music Islamic Influence and Evolution of Hindustani Music The First Contact - Arabic rule in Sind Muslim rule in North India The Birth Of Khayal Evolution Of Carnatic Music Vijayanagar Empire Mysore Wodeyars Telugu and Maratha Kings of Tamil Nadu
Hindustani and the south indian Carnatic, mainly because of this Islamic influence. Muslim kings ruled over much of North India for nearly 700 years. Much of aristocracy was culturally Persian. Given that most of the arts, esp. music, was supported by kings and aristocracy, it should come as no surprise that musicians adopted their styles to suit the tastes of their pay-masters. Also, the slow and indirect influence of Persian music on Indian was to be expected. The most important changes relate to the change of style to a more melodious and fanciful form, emergence of new musical forms like Khayal and Ghazal and emergence of several new instruments like Sitar, Sarod and Tabla. Dhrupad the earliest form of Hindustani music, emerged around 13th century and reached its pinnacle during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar. Khayal which originated during 18th century, can be thought of as the ultimate blending of Indian musical theory and Persian musical expression. Ghazal as a poetic form started around 10th century in Persia and came into prominence in India after urdu started developing as the language of poetry in Indian courts. The Hindustani system may be thought as a mixture of traditional Indian musical concepts and Persian performance practice. The advent of Islamic rule over Northern India may have caused the musicians to seek patronage in the courts of the new rules. For instance the word tabla is a generic term for drum in Arabic language. It is possible that concept of time of a Raag has also come from Persia, since this concept is absent in Carnatic music and present in Persian music. Muslim rule also had negative effects on Indian music. Strict interpretations of Islam (as barring music) by some rulers, like Aurangzeb, drove music underground and into realm of social outcasts at times.
Dhrupad evolved as a form of religious temple music, from the existing form of music of the period called Prabandha. The word Dhrupad is derived from Dhruva Pada, meaning fixed word or composition, probably referring to pre-composed form of music. It is difficult to date the beginning of Dhrupad. Sangita Ratnakara does not mention Dhrupad, but by the time of Amir Khusro it seems to have been in use. So we can place the beginning between late 12th century and early 13th century. It was first brought to the royal court by Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior (1486-1517 AD) and for the next our centuries it was the main form of classical music in North India.
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Amir Khusro
Medieval Period - Evolution of Hindustani and Carnatic music Islamic Influence and Evolution of Hindustani Music The First Contact - Arabic rule in Sind Muslim rule in North India The Birth Of Khayal Evolution Of Carnatic Music Vijayanagar Empire Mysore Wodeyars Telugu and Maratha Kings of Tamil Nadu
Sufi Movement Sufism developed as the mystical form of Islam. Unlike the orthodox muslims who rejected music of any kind on the purported sayings of Prophet Mohammed, Sufi saints saw music has the vehicle through which to realize and experience God. In this sense they were similar to the saints of the Bhakthi movement. In Persia, Sufi poets like Jalal al-Din Rumi, composed devotional poems of love and philosophy. These were often composed and sung in the musical forms of the day. With the establishment of muslim rule in India, some Sufi saints came to India and settled down, starting many sufi orders in India. The contribution of these sufi orders to Indian music is immense. More importantly, sufi saints gave an alternate philosophy which accepted music within the frame work of Islam as opposed to the strict intolerance of orthodox schools of Islam. Thus we come across devout muslim musicians as well as intolerant muslim rulers who
influenced Indian music, though in opposite ways. Khwaja Muinuddin Hasan of Ajmer was the Chisti order in India (1206 A.D.). Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia (1258-1325 A.D.) was perhaps the most important of the Sufis of the period and belonged to this Chisti order. A disciple of Hazrat Baba Farid, he came to Delhi when he was 25. After the death of Baba Farid he led the Chisti order and admitted so many men into the Chisti order. So, to far-flung areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajastan, Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan, Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia sent able disciples well versed in the Chishti practices, yet sensitive to the needs of the local populace. The philosophy of Sufi saints was inclusive and they taught religious tolerance. Their disciples included people of both faiths. Popular later day poet Kabir belonged to this order, so did Nanak the founder of Sikh religion. One of Nizamuddin Awlia contemporaries was Amir Khusro Dehlavi, both a friend and a disciple. Amir Khusro Dehlavi (1253-1325 A.D.) Perhaps the most famous instance of persian influence on Indian music is that of the father of modern north Indian music, Amir Khusro Dehlavi (1253-1325 AD), of Turkish descent on the father's side and Indian on the mother's side. He was the court poet and musician throughout the reign of Khalji kings. Amir Khusro is credited with the creation of Qwawalii (present day Qawwali) form of north Indian music, by modifying Dhrupad by adding Persian melody and beat to it. Qawwali is the muslim devotional song, much like the hindu bhajan. Amir Khusro has become a figure of myth, with all kinds of inventions erroneously credited to him ... like that of Sitar and Tabla. Qwawali stayed as the most important form of court music under Delhi Sultanate. Sudhakalasa's Sangitopanishad Sarodhara (1350 AD) This is a rare treatise on music and dance written by Vachanacharya Sudhakalasa, a Jain scholar of Gujarat in 1350 AD It has 6 chapters dealing with gita, tala, raga, vadya, nritya and nritya paddhathi. This is an important book belonging to a period when Gujarat had been taken over by Muslim rulers and all aspects of life were changing. It says that prabandha song-type was no longer current, and probably Dhrupad was gaining ground. It gives the 'paata' or 'vocalization of drum strokes' that accompanies the description of a tala, probably a precursor of present day 'theka' of the tabla. Percussion instruments dholla and tabla are mentioned by Sudhakalasa as the drums of the foreigners. Ghunyat-ul-Munya (1374 AD) The earliest Persian work on Indian Music is Ghunyat-ul-Munya (meaning the songs of desire), written around 1374 AD, by an unknown author in the court of Malik Abu, governor of Gujarat. The author, as the contents of the book attest, mostly relied on the Sanskrit works, however, he fully observes the technique of music and dance as properly practiced during his time. In his introduction, he testifies that he benefited from Indian sources such as Sangita Ratnakara, Matanga and Bharatha. The author The book is divided into two parts, the first on songs and its characteristics, and the second on dance and its features. He describes, 22 shrutis, 25 swaras. Then he describes 42 Raagas - like som rag, maloseri, belawali, gandehara, sodbengal, gujeri, birari, ramkeri, dhanaseri, dumekri, gavari, sortehi, chehayanat, bahivari and palat. He has also described Alapana, Gamakas and Moorchanas. Most of the musical instruments listed and described also have been illustrated through well-drawn sketches. The dance-movements, poses and gestures too were maintained to be shown in corresponding drawings. Among the instruments he names, marak, pakavaj, disi, petvaj, tol, kahan, kansal, jikahant, jahlari, kerkech, mohri, boq, singa and kahali may be mentioned. The Mughuls (1526-1857 AD) The most important, politically and culturally, dynasty of Indian muslim kings was that of Mughals. Mughal dynasty started with Babar defeating Ibrahim Lodhi in 1526 and continued till Aurangzeb's death in 1707.
Minor mughal kings ruled Delhi until 1857, when Bahadur Shah Zafar was finally banished to Rangoon. These years saw the emergence of Dhrupad as the main style of music in the courts of north India. That was also the beginning of Khayal and Ghazal as styles of music which came into prominence later. Nayak Bhakshu, an eminent Dhrupad singer and composer served in the court of Humayun the second emperor after Babar. It was during this period that Dhrupad became the court music of Mughal emperors. Later a thousand of his lyrics were collected under orders from Emeror Shah Jahan and are called Sahasras or Hazar Dhurpad. During the reign of Akbar several prominent dhrupad artists flourished. Most prominent among them was Tansen. Tansen is credited with reshaping the entire of Dhruvapada music by the addition of new Persian ornamentations in Meend, Gamaka etc. He is also credited with the development of the Rabab (RudraVeena). Tansen also created many new ragas which, up till now, are regarded as the foremost ragas of Northern India. Some of these are noteworthy, e.g. Darbari Kanada, Darbari Todi, Miya ki Malhar, Miya ki Sarang. Other famous musicians in Akbar's court were Baiju Bawra, Ramdas and Tanrang. Just like Amir Khusro, with Tansen it is difficult to separate myth from reality. Stories and myths about him and his duels with Baiju Bawra abound. Almost every major Gharana of present day Hindustani trace their lineage to Tansen. Swami Haridas of Brindavan who is considered the guru of Tansen was an influential musician during that time. Akbar's son Jahangir(1605-1627) and grandson Shah Jahan(1627-1658) were both great patrons of art and music flourished under their rule. Various disciples of Swami Haridas (and Tansen) spreadout and became court musicians in various small kingdom's in the Mughal empire like Jaipur, Punjab, Gwalior, Lucknow etc. The famous Seni Gharanas were founded by the sons of son-in-law of Tansen. Aurangzeb (1658-1707), a religious fanatic, During the tenth year of his reign, banned music. He forbade its presence in court as well as all public performances. Court officials entered households and smashed musical instruments. Aurangzeb's dislike of music is well illustrated in a common story. It appears that during his administration a group of musicians, disheartened with their lack of patronage, took some musical instruments and wrapped them in the manner of a corpse and held a funeral procession in protest. Aurangzeb enquires about the procession and is told it is a burial to signify the death of music. Whereupon it is said that the emperor declares, "Good! bury it so deep that never a sound should be heard again". Musicians either went underground or simply took up other means of livelihood. The situation can be compared to the fate of Iranian music after the Islamic revolution of 1979. Mughal empire broke up soon after the death of Aurangzeb. Provential governors declared independence and Mughal emperor's authority didn't reach far outside Delhi's redfort. But, music did come back to the court in Delhi. Beginning of Khayal style of Hindustani music can be traced to the court of Muhammad Shah 'Rangile' (1720-1748). Popularly called Rangile because of his patronage of arts. But repeated external attacks on the empire by Afghans, Persians and others was not conducive to it. The last emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II (1837-1857) was a great patron of music and literature. Music, esp. Ghazals, flourished in his court. With the defeat of Indian kings in the first was of independence, the emperor was exiled to Rangoon bringing an end to the Mughal empire and 650 years of Muslim rule in Delhi.
Medeival History - Pg 1
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Vijaya Nagar
Medieval Period - Evolution of Hindustani and Carnatic music Islamic Influence and Evolution of Hindustani Music The First Contact - Arabic rule in Sind Muslim rule in North India The Birth Of Khayal Evolution Of Carnatic Music Vijayanagar Empire Mysore Wodeyars Telugu and Maratha Kings of Tamil Nadu
Shri Krishnadevaraya
darbar (court) of the eighteenth century Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangile (ruled 1720-48), where the musicians Nyamat Khan with penname of Sadarang (1670-1748) and Firoz Khan with the penname of Adarang composed songs that have been transmitted to the present time. It is believed that Sadarang and Adarang also formalized the structure of modern day khayal. Whatever be the origin of Khayal style, no doubt Dhrupad was the style that received patronage from kings and aristocracy till the time of later Mughal emperors, probably starting with Muhammad Shah. The Dhrupad compositions and style was serious and mostly in Sanskrit phraseology. Khayal compositions on the other hand were in commonly spoken language and the theme was mostly romantic. The singing style consequently was leisurely, ornamented and given to improvisation. Also, not being part of the religious ritual it was necessarily fostered outside the places of worship; hence an element of physical pleasure, particularly of the courtier, became predominant. Further development of Khayal took place in various Gharanas, each evolving a distinctive style of singing. Each of the Gharanas have long histories and lineages which go back to early schools of music after Tansen. The gharanas had princely support in the later mogul and then British periods. Most of the Gharanas are named after the princely states that supported artists. Artists guarded their khayal compositions and musical style like heirloom passing the knowledge orally from generation to generation mostly within the family. Another important development was the invention of numerous instruments like Tabla, Sitar, Sarod etc which changed the face of Hindustani music. Pakhavaj the percussion instrument used in Dhrupad, was probably found unsuitable as the accompaniment in Khayal. This must have given raise to the development of a more suitable percussion instrument, culminating in Tabla. The word Tabla is derived from 'Tabl', a generic Arabic term referring to any percussion instrument. Some see a connection with the Turkish term Tawal. Reference to Tabla is found from literature of 18th century, during which time it must have evolved. Various Tabla Gharana's trace their lineage also to 18th century, starting with Siddhar Khan Dhaadhi a pakhavaj player in Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangile court. Sarod developed around mid 1800's. It probably evolved from various forms of Persian Rabab that were played in the Delhi courts over centuries. The origin of Sitar, on the other hand, is controversial. Some want to trace its origin to various Veenas found from very early days in India. Most probably Sitar evolved in 18th century out of Persian Setar (literally three strings), a string instrument used in Delhi courts from 13th century.
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Shri Puranadaradasa
Medieval Period - Evolution of Hindustani and Carnatic music Islamic Influence and Evolution of Hindustani Music The First Contact - Arabic rule in Sind Muslim rule in North India The Birth Of Khayal Evolution Of Carnatic Music Vijayanagar Empire Mysore Wodeyars Telugu and Maratha Kings of Tamil Nadu
Birth of Keerthana - Tallapaka Annamacharya (1408-1503) Tallapaka Annamacharya was the earliest known South Indian musician to compose songs called sankeertanas, what we call Keerthana, from which the modern Krithi form has evolved. He lived and composed all his work in the important pilgrimage center of Tirupathi Temple. He composed a great number of sankeertanas, about 32,000 mainly in Telugu and Sanskrit and a number of other works. But his work was lost and not found till 1922. Untill then, Annamacharya's life and work was known only through a rhyming couplet of poems called dwipada written by Tallapaka Chinnanna, grandson of Annamacharya. Chinnanna writes that Purandara Dasa visited him in Tirupathi, even though the age difference is 70 years. Anyway, it is possible that Keerthanas of Purandara were influenced by Annamacharya's work, but since the work was lost, his work did not directly influence the development of Carnatic music. Annamacharya wrote the sankeertanas on palm leaves and later his son Tirumalacharya got them engraved on copper plates. But for reasons not known, most of these copper plates lay hidden in a rock built cell opposite to Hundi in the Tirumala temple in Tirupathi unnoticed for over 400 years. In 1922, twenty five hundred copper plates, comprising of about 14,000 sankeertanas and a few other works, were found in a rock built cell, later named as Sankirtana Bhandagaram.
Karnataka Sangita PraPitamaha Shri Purandara (1480-1565 AD) The greatest impact to the musical system of the day came from the HariDasas, who were Vaishnavi saints and had an elaborate system of Guru-Shishya ashrams called Dasa Koota. The most prominent among them was Purandaradasa (1480-1565), known as the PrePitamaha of Carnatic music. He devised the initial lessons and prescribed the graded exercises like sarali varisais, janta swaras, hetchu sthayi swaras, alankaras, geethas and so on. A person following this regimen was guaranteed to become a competent musician. Besides, Purandara Dasa pioneered many other practices. For the first time he started commenting in his songs on the daily life of the people. He incorporated in his songs popular folk language and introduced folk ragas in the mainstream. The most important contribution he made was the fusion of bhava, raga and laya into organic units. He was a great composer and thousands of his krithis are available even today. This was probably the beginning of a krithi based classical music that Karnatic music is today (one of the distinguishing characters compared to Hindustani). Dasakoota followed and orally transmitted the system devised by Purandara and also his krithis. Even today the system followed for learning Carnatic music probably is the same one devised by Purandara and faithfully transmitted by Dasakoota.
is the scheme in use today. The Trinity - Thyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Shastri Maratha kings (1674-1947) who succeeded Nayakas at Tanjavur continued the patronage of music and arts and Tanjavur became one of the great centers for music. It was during this Tanjore Maratha period that the famous Carnatic Trinity revolutionized Carnatic music. The trinity of Thyagaraja(1767-1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar(1776-1835) and Syama Shastri (1762-1827) were contemporary composers. They were never directly patronized by any royal court but were attached to temples of Vaishnava cult. Muthuswami Dikshitar composed most of his krithis in Sanskrit, while the others worked in Telugu. They were probably of Telugu origin or could have composed in Telugu because it was the prevalent language for literature at the time. The main contribution of the trinity was the standardization of kriti format as the most important form of Carnatic music. Starting in the 16th century, composers like Muthu Tandavar and Margadarsi Sesha Ayyangar had experimented with the kriti format and the characteristic pallavi-anupallavi-charana structure, one that was followed in Kshetragna's padas. The trinity, particularly, Tyagaraja perfected this format with the result that it dominates Carnatic music today. Thus, unlike Purandaradasa and musicians of his generation, who had perhaps a couple of dozen ragas to work with, Tyagaraja experimented with hundreds thanks to the Melakartha scheme. The 700 odd known krithis of Tyagaraja feature 212 ragas; 121 of these ragas have only one composition in them. Like the Haridasas (Purandara et al), disciples of Trinity carried forward the great musical tradition and popularized their compositions. This was also the time, music came to be associated more with the temples than the courts. It took a very religious and pious color, making it highly acceptable in larger society (unlike in North India). By 1850 AD the evolution of Carnatic music system was complete. PurandaraDasa had given the teaching system and krithis with the background of philosophy and Bhakthi. The Raaga classification and system was perfected with Venkatamakhi's Melakartha system. The trinity had given a great number of krithis in a large number of Raagas.
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The British Raj Gwalior and other vocal Gharanas Development of Tumri Development of Ghazal Chaturpandit Bhatkande V D Pulaskar and Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya Recorded Music Dikshitar and Thyagaraja Shishya Parampara Mysore - The model state Word origin of Carnatic Madras - The new center Violin - A successful adaptation
East India Company. From then on British Viceroys would govern India. Delhi came under the direct rule of British, finally ending 300 years of Mughal rule. The British rulers had no interest in Indian music. But large areas of India were still under various India kings, called princely states. The princely states were generally independent in local matters but had to pay heavy taxes to the British empire. They were under constant watch of the British representative in their states. But they had enough resources to support artists and musicians in their courts. They also enjoyed political stability and were free from worries of war, making it possible for most of the kings and aristocracy to lead a life of leasure, which was very conducive to growth of arts and music.
Dhrupad and Khayal and finally settled down on the court of Kolhapur kings. Alladiya modified the Khayal style by his own inventions. The swaras were governed by the laya in a sophisticated way and became the medium of his musical expression which then attained a IiIt and pulsating rhythm characteristic of style. Also the 'tedhi' or the complex 'phirat' boltaans and the ingenious and unexpected ways of approaching the 'sama' of the rhythmic cycle are unique to the gharana. In the tradition of the Jaipur gharana the khayal is always conceived and presented as a grand architectural design which is replete with intricate and well-crafted imagery. Alladiya trained quite a few experts like Kesarbai Kerkar, Moghubai Kurdikar, Sushila Rani Patel and Gulubhai Jasdanwala. His sons Ustad Manji Khan and Ustad Bhurjl Khan also trained a few disciples like Mallikarjun Mansur. Jaipur Gharana is represented by Kishori Amonkar, Ashwini Bhide, Padma Tralwalkar, Shruti Sadolikar Katkar and others. Patiala Gharana is considered a branch of both Gwalior and Delhi gharanas. Mian Kaalu of Delhi gharana, trained his son Ustad Ali Bux Jamail and his friend Ustad Fateh Ali (the famous Ali-a-Fattu). They received training from Haddu - Hassu of Gwalior too. This helped them to develop a unique gayaki of their own. Together, Ali Bux and Fateh Ali made a wonderful combination and presided at the Patiala darbar. Ali Bux Khan was one of their disciples and was the father and guru of the most famous Patiala exponent of 20th century, Ustad Bade Ghulam Khan. Kale Khan Kesarwale was another disciple of Ali-a-Fattu, who trained his nephew and another great master Barkat Ali Khan. Ustad Munawar Ali Khan is the disciple and heir to the legacy of Ustad Bade Ghulam Khan. Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty, the disciple of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan represents the Gharana today. Kirana Gharana was started by Khan Sahab Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937). Kirana is the birth place of the Ustad, and situated near Kurukshetra. Ustad Karim Khan served as a musician at the Baroda and the Mysore courts and had a tremendous influence on the music of western India. This perhaps explains the influence of Carnatic music on Kirana Gharana. His own somewhat nasal voice led him to adopt the Carnatic style for singing the saptak. Abdul Karim Khan's most important disciple was Pt Sawai Gandharva, who made it famous in the north Karnataka and Maharashtra regions. There are several fine exponents of this gharana today, including Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal and Prabha Atre. Bhendi Bazaar Gharana was founded by three brothers Chajju Khan, Ustad Nazir Khan and Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, towards the last decade of the 19th century in the Bhendi Bazar area of Bombay. The brothers who were from Uttar Pradesh, trained under their father Dilawar Hussain Khan as well as Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan of the Sahaswan Gharana. Renowned exponent of this gharana was Ustad Aman Ali Khan the guru of Lata Mangeshkar. Mewati gharana was founded by Ghagge Nazir Khan who hailed from Mewat but was employed by the Nepal Rana and was influenced by Haddu-Hassu Khan of Gwalior. Ghagge Nazir Khan had two main disciples Nathulal and Chimanlal. Nathulal's nephew was Pandit Motiram whose son is the renowned artist Pandit Jasraj, the current leading light of the Gharana. Pandit Jasraj learnt from his elder brother Pandit Maniram. Stylistically, today's Mewati gharana has evolved from that of Ghagge Nazir Khan and includes Merkhand and Murchannas both of which are direct influences of Kirana and Bhendi Bazar respectively.
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The British Raj Gwalior and other vocal Gharanas Development of Tumri Development of Ghazal Chaturpandit Bhatkande V D Pulaskar and Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya Recorded Music Dikshitar and Thyagaraja Shishya Parampara Mysore - The model state Word origin of Carnatic Madras - The new center Violin - A successful adaptation
Development of Tumri
The thumri is said to have originated in the court of Wajid Ali Shah (1822-1887, ruled 1847-1857) of Lucknow in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time it was presented in medium or fast tempos using taals like rupak and ek taal. It is believed that the thumris that arose at that time were closely allied to the khayal and originated as melodies to accompany dances presented by courtesans or tawaifs in the Mughal courts. The themes of the thumri are essentially romantic and based on the shringar rasa. The compositions were written in the dialect Braj-Bhasha, spoken in the Agra-Mathura regions of the Uttar Pradesh. On account its lyrical and lilting quality the thumri is often rendered in lighter ragas like Piloo, Pahadi or Kafi. At the beginning of 20th century thumri lost much of its seductive romantic content and became a purer form of music with an emphasis on its aesthetic features as part of the discipline of classical music. Also was also taken up by male singers especially vocalists known for their khayal renditions like Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who sang their thumris in the Punjab Ang. With the decline of Lucknowi Thumri, Benaras gharana with its Purab ang gayaki of the thumri gained prominence. Benaras Gharana produced such stalwarts as Siddeshwari Devi, Begum Akhtar, Rasoolan Bai and Girija Devi. The modern classical vocalists usually conclude their pure classical performances with a thumri rendered in a wonderfully light Mishra Bhairavi or Piloo.
Thumri has several varieties such as the Kajri sung during the monsoon, the Hori sung during the colorful festival of Holi and other harvest melodies such as the Chaiti, Saawan, Jhoola etc
Development of Ghazal
Ghazal as a literary form evolved in Persia in 10th century. The poetic form was brought to India by the Muslim rulers. At first, most of the ghazals were written in Persian. Urdu as the preferred language of Ghazals first emerged in the courts of southern muslim rulers of Golconda and Bijapur in the 17th century by poets like Wali Mohammed Wali (1667 - 1707) . By 18th century Urdu poetry was being in the north as well by poets like Meer Taqi Meer (1722 - 1810). 19th century was the golden age of Ghazal poetry in Delhi with poets like Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869) , Zauq, Ibrahim (1789 - 1854) and Momin Khan Momin (1800 - 1851) . Ghazal as a musical form was probably an offshoot of light classical forms like Thumri. Ghazal, like Thumri, probably became associated the courtesan. The courtesans, known as tawaif were educated in many forms of fine arts like music, dance and poetry. Many of them were poets themselves and probably started singing the Ghazals in the same way Thumri's were sung for the benefit of their Muslim masters, who were connoisseurs of Urdu Poetry. Like Thumri's, Ghazals are based on romantic lyrics and thus the Thumri style of singing was ideally suited to sing Ghazals as well. Ghazals were also set to particular Raags and formed a part of light classical Hindustani music. Not surprisingly, most well known Ghazal singers of 19th and 20th centuries were Thumri exponents as well like Begum Akhar and Barkat Ali Khan. Even Khayal singers like Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan occassionally sang ghazals. In the later part of 20th century Ghazal went through dramatic changes, finally losing much of its classical roots and imitating popular film songs in style.
Chaturpandit Bhatkande
Chaturpandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) is considered by many to be the father of modern Hindustani music. A lawyer by profession, Pandit Bhatkhande was the most important Hindustani musicologist of the 20th century. He researched prevalent practices in various gharanas in early 20th century north India. This followed his trip to south Indian musical centers where he learnt about the work of Venkatmukhi and the classification of Raagas into 72 Melas. His treatise on Hindustani music was presented in 4 volumes of his Marathi book Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi between 1909 - 1932. He described hundred and eighty ragas and classified them into ten basic thaats, or musical scales or frameworks -Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. He also devised musical notation that could be used to write music. That was perhaps the first attempt at writing music in India ... where for thousands of years music had been orally transmitted. He also collected more than two thousand compositions from different gharanas and brought them out into the public sphere. He helped starting a college of music, Sangeeta Maha Vidyalaya in Baroda using his system of music teaching. He trained music teachers. He wrote graded text- books on music. They are known as Kramic Putstaka Malika. With the help of the Maharaja of Baroda, Bhatkhande convened in 1916 the first All-India Music Conference in Baroda, a first of its kind. In the 5th All-India Music Conference in 1925 it was decided to open a College of Music at Lucknow and the following year the Marris College of Hindustani Music was established in the name of Governor of the province. Bhatkhande used to supervise the work of this college in its early years.
music, instead of the traditional Guru-Shishya parampara. On May 5,1901 he founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore. It was the first school run by a middle class musician without the direct patronage of rajas and maharajas. The vidyalaya (school) was run by public support, donations from the richer classes and funds raised by the concerts of Vishnu Digambar - it was truly a school of the people for the people. This was to change the course of Hindustani Music. Anyone interested could learn music here. It was also the beginning of the end of guru-shishya parampara. He returned to Bombay in September, 1908 to found a branch of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya there. Eventually Lahore school was shifted to Bombay. Here he brought together a set of pupils whom he trained not only in music, but also inculcated in them a respect for the art and a missionary zeal. This group of his early students became later some of the most distinguished performers and teachers in North India. What was more important was the atmosphere in the institution: while there was strict discipline in musical training, there was stricter discipline in moral training. The usual odium attached to the clan of musicians was thus removed and they began to be treated with respect. Economically, the school was a losing cause and was eventually auctioned off by the creditors in 1925.
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Gramaphone Saraswathi
The British Raj Gwalior and other vocal Gharanas Development of Tumri Development of Ghazal Chaturpandit Bhatkande V D Pulaskar and Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya Recorded Music Dikshitar and Thyagaraja Shishya Parampara Mysore - The model state Word origin of Carnatic Madras - The new center Violin - A successful adaptation
Recorded Music
Though the first recording was done by Edison in 1877, it was Emile Berliner 1887 invention of a flat Gramophone that eventually won commercially. In 1897 Gramaphone Company began trading in London, intending to establish a European market for the gramophone and its flat disc records which Emile Berliner had invented. In 1900 the company bought a painting of Nipper the dog listening to a gramophone, appropriately called His Master's Voice. Gramaphone Company came to be known as HMV for that reason. This was to become the famous logo of Gramaphone company and also that Emile Berliner's company Victor in the US. Emile Berliner bought the logo for use in US and Canada. Not soon after, recorded music came to India. Gramophone Company of India, popularly known as HMV, was formed in Calcutta in 1902. The first Indian recording by Gramaphone Company professionals was made in the same year, 1902. One of the first artists to record was GAUHAR Jan of Calcutta (1875-1930), who was an accomplished singer, dancer and Urdu poet. She was a renowned Thumri singer of the time and finally settled down in the Mysore court before her death in 1930. She was perhaps the first singer to have become famous because of her recordings.
The recordings were sent out to Hanover, USA where the records were pressed and sent back. This continued till 1908, when The Dum Dum factory of the Gramophone Company of India. The records were 78 rpm and had just a few minutes capacity (10 inch discs were 4 minutes long). That meant only short songs could be recorded, not the long Raaga expositions. This was the case till 33 1/3 rpm LP was recorded in 1948, with capacity of 23 minutes per side.
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The British Raj Gwalior and other vocal Gharanas Development of Tumri Development of Ghazal Chaturpandit Bhatkande V D Pulaskar and Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya Recorded Music Dikshitar and Thyagaraja Shishya Parampara Mysore - The model state Word origin of Carnatic Madras - The new center Violin - A successful adaptation
nominal sovereignty was ended, by pensioning the Nawab. Since the development of modern Carnatic music took place in the region that British called Carnatic, perhaps the British thought it appropriate to call it Carnatic Music. But historically the music started to deviate from northern tradition during Vijayanagar empire, who were based in Karnata(ka). Purandara Dasa, the PraPitamaha of the tradition wrote his krithis in Kannada language. Thus, the music was perhaps called Karnata Sangita in the courts of Mysore kings. Thus, interestingly we have two names, derived from the same original name applied to the tradition for totally different reasons. Both the names continue to be used, with Carnatic or Karnatic or Karnatik used more often in English and Karnataka Sangita used in the vernaculars. Change of spelling from C(arnatic) to K(arnati)k(/c) is because of the modern spelling of Karnataka.
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There are several reasons for the collapse of Hundustani Classical music in Pakistan after partition, apart from official apathy. Before independence Lahore was a an important cultural center in North India. Affluent Hindu and Sikh families were the main patrons of music. Most of these patrons migrated to India after partition. Interestingly many muslim artists chose to migrate to Pakistan from India - Amanat Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Fateh Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana; Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and Nazakat Ali Khan of the Shyam Chaurasi gharana; Roshanara Begum of the Kirana gharana; Asad Ali Khan (Ustad Fayyaz Khans nephew) of the Agra gharana and Sardar Khan (Taanras Khans grandson) of the Delhi gharana. But the patrons had migrated out of Pakistan. The artists realized that the old system of patronage had collapsed. Pakistan government (through Pakistan Radio), unlike All India Radio refused to step in as the chief patron. Wisely Bade Ghulam Ali Khan decided to migrate back to India after a few miserable months and had a very successful post independence career as well. Though in the beginning, official Pakistan govt. policy was very tolerant, later Increased criticism from orthodox quarters influenced the official policy which proceeded to discourage many forms of Hindustani music like Dhrupad, thumris and dadras as un-islamic. The artists were left at the mercy of the market and they had no market. They gradually lost their audience. They either dissuaded their children from following in their footsteps or the children themselves opted for film music or ghazal singing. In the last decade, some of them moved to pop music about half of those singing or playing in the pop groups are children of the great masters. So Pakistan lost out on its musical heritage. But those who migrated to Pakistan and chose to sing mainly ghazals later gained prominence in, like Mehdi Hassan, Farida Khannum, Iqbal Bano and Mallika Pukhraj.
Maihar Gharana
The Maihar gharana takes its name from the princely state of Maihar, where the founder of this gharana Ustad Allauddin Khan (18??-1972) lived. Since Allauddin Khan had received his musical training at the hands of Ustad Wazir Khan of the Beenkar gharana, an offshoot of Mian Tansen's Senia gharana, the exponents of the Maihar tradition are often said to belong to the Senia gharana. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, son of the founder, calls it Baba Allaudin Seni Gharana of Rampur and Maihar. Ustad Allauddin Khan revolutionized instrumental music. He was the visionary who pioneered the fusion of the gayaki, layakari and tantrakari. Allaudin Khan had command over scores of instruments, although he was the master of the sarod. Ustad Allauddin Khan also composed new ragas like Hemant, Prabhakali, Manjkhamaj, Hem-Behag and a host of others which are still in use today. The gharana is characterized by the systematic development through alaap, jod and jhala, the unique gatkari embodying the close rapport of swara and laya and above all, the pervading sense of aesthetics. The Gharana gained immense popularity because success of Allauddin Khan's disciples - Annapoorna Devi, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Pandit Pannalal Ghosh (Bansuri). Each of them were trail blazers in their own field and gained world-wide acclaim.
popularity of Beatles, who were greatly interested in the mystical aspects of Indian religion, meditation and music, gave some exposure in the west to Indian music. Particularly George Harrison, learnt Indian Music from Ravi Shankar and started incorporating some Indian sounds in Beatles songs. Indian music, identified now with Sitar, Sarod and tabla of Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Alla Rakha, became the staple diet of the Hippie culture. Satyajit Ray, the first Indian director to acquire world fame, and a common name in repertory art cinemas, also brought classical Indian music to the attention of Westerners, for the music of some of his early films was composed by Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan. Great interest in the west for Sitar brought other Sitar masters like Vilayat Khan, Imrat Khan, and Nikhil Banerjee to the west. This also started the era of Fusion music with several East-West collaborations between Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuin and also attempts by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. Ravi Shakar with Menuhin brought out two albums East Meets West and In Celebration. Ravi Shankar appeared on the famous Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for George Harrison. By the end of the 1960s the sitar and tabla were heard frequently in Western pop music, jazz, cinema, and television programs, as well as in radio and television advertisements. Sitars and sarods were shipped to American and European music shops by the thousands. Performances by Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha in the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and in the heavily promoted Woodstock Festival (1969) brought Indian Classical to the attention of a large number of younger fans. In 1968 the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music was established in Northern California. 1969 Ravi Shankar became Billboard Magazines Musician of the Year. The Concert for Bangladesh (1971), to raise funds for UNESCO's humanitarian programs in Bangladesh, was promoted by George Harrison. A performance by Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan with Alla Rakha in this concert was a media success. The United Nations Human Rights Day Concert, featuring Yehudi Menuhin, Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha was also well received.
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Indian classical music, mainly by getting artists from India and organizing their concerts in North America. The main centers for these organizations and Indian music in general have been the universities. Center for the Performing Arts of India (CPAI - earlier called University Circuit for Indian Classical Music) and Carnatic Music Association of North America (CMANA, 1976) are the two most important such organizations. Some universities established centers of Indian music - Wesleyan University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Amherst College and University of Texas at Austin have active Indian music programs. Apart from them, Ali Akbar Khan College of Music (est. 1968) and California Institute of Arts (est. 1973) continue to teach classical music in the US. Partly because of these institutions, several top artists have settled down in the US as well. They include Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Imrat Khan, Zakir Hussain, L Shankar, L Subramanium and Swapan Chaudhuri to name a few. A landmark event was the 1985 Festival of India. In 1982, Indira Gandhi proposed the idea of Year of India when she visited US to Ronald Reagon. It was organized in 1985, starting with the visit of Rajiv Gandhi to US. This was a year long multifaceted celebration of Indian culture in USA. Presentation of Classical Music was an important part of this festival. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) of India, the ITC-SRA and the University of Pittsburgh were jointly involved in organizing the event. Over 20 top ranking musicians, representing Hindustani and Carnatic styles, were invited, and they presented over 90 individual concerts, three two-day festivals and 25 to 30 workshops in Indian Classical Music across USA. In 1990s, there was another large surge of Indian Immigrants into US, mainly for software work. By the turn of the century there were 1.6 million Indians in US and 1 million in Canada. There are several hundred local organizations which organize nearly 300 concerts each year in coordination with big organizations like CPAI, CMANA, Kalalaya, Bhairavi etc. During the concert season (Mar-Apr, Sep-Nov), over 50 artists from India tour through North America. The general influence of Indian music on the US music scene has been minimal. Even Ravi Shankar is hardly a house hold name, though most avid music listeners might recognize his name. In most of the concerts arranged in the US, only 5% or so of the audience in non-Indian, though in universities and some large cities it could be as high as 80%. Even though Indian music is far from mainstream, it has established a niche in the genre of "world" music in the west.
Light (2000). L. Subramanium too has been at the forefront of Fusion Genre. He toured with Ravi Shankar and George Harrison in 1974 for the Bangladesh Tour. Garland (1978) was his first fusion album with several Jazz artists. He followed that up with Spanish Wave (1983) and Indian Express (1984) both of which got critical acclaim. Zakir Hussain has been a permanent fixture in many of the fusion adventures. Apart from Shakthi, he has collaborated with several rock artists, symphony orchestras. He founded a percussion ensemble Zakir Hussain and the Rhythm experience in 1984. The band is still active and tours giving concerts. The core group consists of Zakir Hussain, his brother Faisal Khureshi, Vinayakaram and Dana Pandey (pakhavaj). Guest artists come from all parts of the world. Vishwamohan Bhatt's collaboration started with Meeting By The River(1993) that he did with Ry Cooder, for which he won the Grammy, making him instantly famous. He later collaborated with Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Taj Mahal. Saltanah (1997) he did with Simon Shaheen, who plays Arabian Audh, is an interesting album showing the similarities of Arabic classical music and Indian. All these efforts were produced by Kavi Alexander's Waterlily Accoustics. Kavi Alexander has also produced many other fusion albums featuring several other Indian musicians with musicians from other parts of the world. Indian musicians include Ronu Majumdar, Sangita Shankar, N. Ravikiran, Kadri Gopalnath, L. Subramanium and Viji Krishnan.
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JugalBandhi
Jugalbandhi refers to a concert where two equals perform on their chosen instruments (or vocal) and their traditions. It can be either two Hindustani artists, two Carnatic artists or one from each tradition. Usually groups who normally perform together are not called jugalbandhis (like Mishra Brothers, Bombay Sisters or Parveen Sultana with Dilshaq Khan), since it is more of a collaboration rather than a bit of competition too, that makes Jugalbandhi so popular. Earliest recorded jugalbandhi was with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan in the 60s. Being students of the same Guru, they were ideal JugalBandhi partners. Ustad Bismillah Khan's first jugalbandhi was with Ustad Vilayat Khan. Jugalbandhi of V.J.Jog's violin and Ustad Bismillah Khan's Shehnai, were recorded such that they played the notes from different octaves and were again very popular. Jog and Bismilla Khan recorded a series of Jugalbandhi's, just like Ravi Skankar and Ali Akbar Khan did. Nikhil Banerjee too was involved in several of them with Ali Akbar Khan.
The vocal jugalbandhi's are rare. There have been some involving Carnatic and Hindustani vocalists. There were a couple of them between Bhimsen Joshi and Balamuralikrishna which became popular. There have also been interesting ones like the one between Balamuralikrishna and Hariprasad Chaurasia. Almost all top artists have now been performing in JugalBandhis.
the improvisations. But, ultimately most of the great artists did finally record. Records of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar gandharva were to become major commercial successes. Many of these recordings, apart from a full rendition of a Raaga, would contain some light bhajan. Marathi Abhangs of Joshi, for eg. were very big hits. Still, LPs were still the preserve of the affluent sections of the society. The middle class still relied on All India Radio and local concerts for their classical music. Compact audio cassette was invented by Philips in 1965, using 1/8-in. tape with 4-tracks running at 1-7/8 ips, allowing 30 or 45 minutes of stereo music per side. The compact size made it possible to manufacture small battery-powered versatile players that could be carried anywhere. In the west cassettes became the medium for personal music compilations, esp. for the car. LPs continued to be the preferred medium till compact disks came in the 80s. But in India, the most significant development of the 1970's was the introduction of the cassette. The introduction, though was slow, as the companies could not import the machinery needed because of Government regulation high tariffs. That helped 'pirate' cassette concerns in Singapore and Thailand to saturate the Indian market for sound recordings with 'illegal' copies of much of HMV's Indian repertoire. The pirated cassettes and availability of cheap cassette players changed the Indian recording industry in a big way. A lot of new recording companies were formed, who undercut HMV in a big way. This shook the Gramaphone Company so badly, that it was plunged in to deep red. It had to be handed over to BIFR from which it has successfully emerged out as a market leader only in the latter half of 90's. Inspite of their low-fidelity status, cassettes became immensely popular in India. They were cheap, portable and the players were cheap as well. For the first time, the middle class could get the kind of classical music they wanted to listen to and at the time of their convenience. While the LPs had brought classical music to the homes of the affluent, cassette tapes brought music to the homes of the middle class, numerically a much bigger group than the affluent. Though, HMV was late to come to the party numerous new companies came up, which would only produce cassettes. Especially, in the south, where HMV had traditionally relegated Carnatic music to the second rung, new companies like Sangeetha were a great boost to Carnatic music. A great many cassettes, not only of top artists like Subbalakshmi or Balamuralikrishna, but also of other popular concert artists were released. New companies in north like Music Today and Music India, did the same with Hindustani music and Ghazals.
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Music in US and Europe. They not only bring out new recordings of masters, but also restore old recordings and publish in CD format. These labels cater basically to the needs of a million or so Indians living in North America and Europe - Chhanda Dhara (1970s, Germany), Audiorec (1987, England), Navras Records (1992, England), Nimbus Records (England), Ali Akbar Khan's Alam Madina Music Productions (1971, California), Raga Records(New York), India Archive Music(New York), Zakir Hussain's Moment Records (1991, California), Oriental Records (1977, New York), Waterlily Acoustics (California) and Makar Records (1994, France).
The newest formats, which are yet to catch on anywhere in the world are SACD and DVD-Audio. SACD was developed by Sony in 1999, to address the short comings of the CD format, mainly in comparison to the more natural sounding LPs. DVD-Audio standard was developed by DVD consortium and the first disks appeared in 2000. These will probably not have any impact on Indian Music. Currently the only label making Indian Classical on SACD is Waterlily Acoustics.
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dancing girls.
Shehnai
The Shehnai, double-reeded instrument of the wind category is one of the most ancient instrument used in India. Shehnai was an outdoor instrument played on occasions considered auspicious such as processions and weddings. The auspicious sound of the Shehnai is the reason it is associated with the religious ceremonies. Today, the Shehnai is still played in temples. This status has made it a necessary instrument in north Indian weddings and festivals. The credit for making it a Hindustani concert instrument goes to Ustad Bismillah Khan. Interestingly, on August 15, 1947, he was invited to play at Red Fort to mark the unfurling of the Tricolour for the first time, when India got independence. Earlier, shehnai was played mainly in the upper register, just like the flute. Bismillah Khan started playing the instrument in lower octave. Also, he started playing the instrument gently, not loudly like it is done in temples or religious functions.
Guitar
Bringing guitar on the Hindustani concert stage goes to Pt Brijbhushan Kabra. Like many other pioneers, he was also self taught. He learnt classical music, mostly by listening to the great masters on the gramophone and practicing on the Hawaiian guitar, which he liked. He modified the guitar by adding a bridge and chikari string to it. Together with Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma he played in many Jugalbandhi concerts. Call of the valley, an immensely popular light classical album recorded by them, along with Chaurasia, introduced guitar as a classical instrument to a large number of people. To Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt goes the credit for introducing guitar as a Hindustani classical instrument to the western audiences. He experimental recordings with many western and eastern artists have been well received. He also won a grammy for one such effort. Pt Bhatt has modified guitar to suit Indian classical needs and calls it Mohan Vina. The Guitar was introduced into Carnatic music by Sukumar Prasad in the seventies. Sukumar Prasad and his successors adopted the standard electric Guitar for Carnatic music unlike Hindustani musicians who have always used some form of a modified Guitar. One of the current well known exponents is R Prasanna. Though guitar is constructed basically to produce western 12 tempered notes of an octave, the playing technique has been modified to play Gamakas, thus making it possible to play all the Ragas, including complex ones like Todi (Prasanna on Guitar).
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Claronet
Clarinet is a wood-wind instrument of European origin. But it was found suitable for playing Carnatic music too. It is played like the Nadaswaram (Nagaswaram). In the 19th century itself Mahadeva Nattuvanar was the first to practise this instrument and introduce it in a dance band in South India. But Clarinet was made popular on the concert stage mainly by 'Clarinet Chakravarthi' A.K.C. Natarajan, who adopted it very well to the needs of carnatic music - raga alaapanas and vocalized techniques.
Saxaphone
Saxophone though, is a recent introduction. The credit goes to Kadri Gopalnath, who began training in nagaswara from an early age. But he was thrilled by the vibrant tone of the saxophone played by the Mysore Palace Bandset and decided to master it. It took 20 years for Kadri to conquer the complex wind instrument. Since the 80s, he has become a regular on Carnatic concert stage,
Mandolin
Mandolin was introduced to Carnatic music by the famous child prodigy U.Srinivas. Mandolin is a small instrument which was developed in Italy from existing lutes. It has 4 pairs of strings. It was modified in the 50s to have 4 single strings and the electric block mandolin was born. Mandolin is inadequate to play Carnatic music. Srinivas introduced a fifth string (to the tradition 4 string electric block mandolin), used single strings instead of using pairs of strings. He also tuned the strings differently to get the strings to the right pitch. he devised very ingenious fingering techniques for playing intricate 'gamaka's. All this enabled him to successfully adapt Mandolin to Carnatic music. Child prodigies always have a magnetic attraction on the concert circuit. Srinivas had become a celebrated concert artist even as he was just entering teenage in the 80s. As with other new instruments, success of mandolin as an established carnatic instrument can only be gauged in the coming decades.
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