|
Carnatic
Music
Prior to Thalapakkam Annamacharya, who evolved the
Krithi pattern as in vogue today - Pallavi,
Anupallavi and Charanam- Carnatic music had its own system. In Tamil
Nadu, saint composers like
Arunagiri Nadhar, Muthu Thandavar, Manikavachagar and
Thayumanavar had composed devotional canticles like
Thriupugazh, Thevaram and Kirtanas. As there was no system of notation obtaining then, these were leant and mastered by the ear.
It was Purandaradasa from Karnataka who not only gave shape and form to Carnatic music by perfecting the Krithi
pattern but evolving a number of musical exercises in the form of
Sanilli, Jandai, Dhattu and Geetam. This gave structure to
the idiom. It can therefore be said that it was Purandaradasa who gave a launching pad to
Thyagaraja, Syama Shastri and Muthuswami
Dikshitar to pour forth their devotion into music.
This trinity finally emerged as the greatest contributors to the enrichment of Carnatic music. Thaygaraja sang in simple
Telugu in praise of Rama who was his beloved God. As he had a large number of disciples by his side always his compositions easily caught on and became popular.
The unique feature of his compositions is that every song was the result of an inner inspirational urge, having for its background a personal experience or
anecdote. He covered almost the entire range of ragas and more than that the entire range of composition from various angles leaving very little elbow room for future composers. This must have prompted Dikshitar to adopt the Dhrupad system for doubling the pace of the stanzas in between to give a new look to his compositions revealed his technical virtuosity in
Carnatic music. While Thyagaraja's compositions can be leant by listening, those of the other two in the trinity have to be
learnt from a Guru.
There are also the Padams, Jhavelis and Kavadi,
Chindus to adorn the lighter side. The first two are the counterparts of the
thumris of the Hindustani style. They are erotic in content and have to be sung with emotion and a feeling for the lyrics.
Hindustani Music
Coming to the Hindustani idiom, the Dhrupad is the most ancient form of composition evolved by
Swami Haridas and Tansen. The Swami lived some time at the end of the fifteenth century. He became a
sanysasi belonging to the yogic lineage of the Andhra philosopher
Saint Nimbarka. Bhakti was the keynote of his compositions. Tradition has it that
Baiju Bawra and Tansen were his disciples.
Tansen was born in the earlier part of the 16th century. Legend has it that he was the
son of one Makrand Pande, and was named Ram Tanu and was christened
Tanna Misra. He adored the court of Akbar. He is credited with the creation of new ragas such as
Miyan ki Malhar, Darbari Kannada and Miyaki Thodi. This idiom had gone into oblivion for long, but has now surfaced due to the efforts of the
Daggar family. It has also caught on in the West in view of the robustness of the compositions.
The word
Khayal, of Persian origin means 'Imagination", Though its origin is attributed to
Amir Khusro to whom all untraceable things are traced, consensus of opinion is that it came into prominence due to the
efforts of Sultan Mohammed Sharqui in the 15th century and became acceptable as a
classical form from the time of Sadanand Nyamet Khan (18th century). Unlike the dhrupad, it is the more
delicate and romantic. For in structure and technique, it has certain freedom not found in Dhrupad.
A Khayal need not start with an Aalap so necessary in a Dhrupad. It depends on the genius of the singer to beautify it, by giving each note its proper environment,
Gamakas and an inner sense of melodic proportion. There have been great names in this regard like
Balakrishna Bua (Gwalior Gharana), Rahamat Khan (Gwalior Gharana),
Natthan Khan (Agra gharana), Fayyaz Khan (Agra Rangeels Gharana),
Alladia Khan (Jaipur ghrana), Bhaskar Bua (Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur Gharanas),
Abdul Karim Khan (Kirana Gharana), Abdul Walid Khan
(Kiran Gharaa).
The Thumri is a very light form
bordering on the sensuous. If quite possibly, is associated with the
Radha-Krishna Bhakti cult and harnessed in Kathak. It was very famous in the 19th century under the patronage of
Wajid Ali Shan, who was interested in Bohemian pleasures. He was a generous patron whose court was
adored with dancers and music luminaries. The Tarana is a composition which does not use meaningful words. Its
libretto is made of syllables like Nadir, Tome,
Tarana and Yalali which are mnemonics of
tabla and sitar strokes, Its parallel can be found in
the Thillana of the Carnatic idiom.
Ghazals
The Ghazals, now very popular, are more famous for their erotic content.
Mirza Ghalib can be called the father of this style and he did not mince words in
descending its purpose. His philosophy was wine and women. It is now a commercially viable venture and draws far larger audiences than any other style of Hindustani
music. |
