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Carnatic Music

Carnatic Music. Classical Music of South India. India. Population: Over 1 billion Area 1/3 of United States 15 major languages and alphabets Many regional dialects 5,000 year history. Influenced and Unique. Cut off from neighboring lands by ocean Deserts Impenetrable jungle

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Carnatic Music

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  1. Carnatic Music Classical Music of South India

  2. India • Population: Over 1 billion • Area 1/3 of United States • 15 major languages and alphabets • Many regional dialects • 5,000 year history

  3. Influenced and Unique • Cut off from neighboring lands by ocean • Deserts • Impenetrable jungle • Major mountain ranges – highest in the world

  4. LONG History • Stone Age Evidence Found • 2500 BCE: Indus Valley Civilization • Birth of high culture • 1700 – 500 BCE:The Aryans • Invaders from Central Asia • Brought literature: The Vedas • Prototypes of Gods • Believed to be source of Indian classical music

  5. KINGDOMS 500 BCE – 1400 CE • Burgeoning of Hindiusm • Patronage of arts • NatyaSastra • Literature and sciences • Ramayana and Mahabarata written • Painting, sculpture, music (sound?)

  6. Saraswati: Hindu God • of music • (playing the veena)

  7. The Moghuls 1527 - 1867 • Muslim traders and warlords from Central Asia and Afghanistan • General Babur – 1527 Created powerful Moghul Dynasty which dominated until 1700s • Muslim • Lavish patrons of arts • Great cultural mixing – ragas, hybrid instruments

  8. British Colonization 1600s-1947 • Economic Exploitation and inherent racism • Also contributions: • Railways, communications infrastructure, universities (English) • Imported their own music- i.e. pianos and bands • Pax Britannica

  9. Golden Age of Carnatic Music • Flourished under British Rule (1700-1900) • 1920s- recording industry in India • 1930s movies with sound • Adapted European instruments into Carnatic music – i.e. violin, harmonium (portable reed organ) clarinet

  10. Recent Carnatic Music History • “Golden Age” – Late-18th and early-19th century • Three saint-poet-composers dominate • Best-known is Tyagaraja (1767-1847) • Very accessible songs • Noted female composers

  11. South India • Encompasses states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu • Occupies 19.31% of area of India

  12. Geography • Very diverse • Lies in peninsular Deccan Plateau • Bounded by Arabian Sea (West), Indian Ocean (South) and Bay of Bengal (East) • Two mountain ranges – Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats • Major rivers: Godavari, Krishna …

  13. Culture • Very diverse culture • Most speak one of five Dravidian Languages – • A number of dynastic kingdoms ruled over parts of South India • Most recently colonized by the British

  14. Carnatic Music • Roots in distant past • Courts, palaces, kingdoms, temples • Vivid imagery from sculpture, murals and miniature paintings • Actual sound and style?

  15. Oral Tradition • Cannot be frozen in time by transcription • Lives uniquely in each performance: • Particular day, particular hour, spontaneity of improvisation • Effect of recording technology?

  16. Dance • Very similar to classical music is music for South India’s dance traditions • Particularly bharatanatyam • Nattavangam – chanted rhythmic syllables (with dance) • Lyrics often repeated many times

  17. 2 Basic Concepts: Raga and Tala

  18. Raga • Melodic system/Musical personality • “That which colors the mind.” • No Western equivalent Definition • A collection of notes, a scale, intonation, ornaments, resting tones. It has particular musical characteristics and phrases that give it a distinct recognizable identity.

  19. More on Raga • Each raga has its own rules • Ornamentation • Changing notes • Learn a raga GRADUALLY. Over many years. • “Like getting to know a close friend.”

  20. Raga Continued • Connected with human emotions • 9 traditional rasa – “flavors” • Love, anger, sadness, fear, disgust, wonder, heroism, laughter, religious devotion (peacefulness) • Can be very powerful- magical properties • Causing rain, auspiciousness, charm snakes • Can be associated with deities, seasons, time of day

  21. Raga-mala • Genre of miniature paintings of raga • Viewers of painting hear raga • Listeners of raga imagine painting

  22. 1650? • Scene?

  23. Melakarta System • All ragas relate to a melakarta – a basic parent scale • Each melakarta scale has seven notes: • Sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, da ni • Sa is tonal center. Never changes! • Pa is the perfect fifth. Never changes! • Five of the seven notes change to form 72 possible scales!

  24. Hundreds of raga • Hundreds of raga in use • Some are popular, some are rare • Some are “major” some are “minor” • Some are simple some are complicated • Some are very old some are recent inventions • Raga are heart and soul of India’s music

  25. Tala • Organization of time in music • Tala: regularly recurring metric cycle • Spectrum of time in Indian thought • Fraction of a second • Yugahs – goelogical time periods

  26. Tala Continued • Theoretically there are hundreds of tala • Four dominate today • Most tala can be performed at a fast, medium or slow tempo • Differ from Western time signatures: accents occur in uneven groupings

  27. 3 Functioning Layers • Melodic Layer • Drone • Rhythm • Associated with particular instruments

  28. Melodic Layer • Two Parts: • Principal melodic soloist that dominates the ensemble • Usually voice. Can be violin, bamboo flute, veena.. • Melodic Accompanist who aids the soloist • Plays with vocalist • Echoes and supports improvisations • Plays solo improvisations

  29. Veena

  30. Drone • Holds one or two notes throughout a piece • Specialized drone instruments • Tambura: four-stringed plucked instrument tuned to tonal center and fifth • Purposeful Buzzing timbre • Sruti Box: Played with bellows • Today electronic synthesizer

  31. Tambur

  32. Sruti Box

  33. Rhythm/Percussion • Bedrock of the ensemble • Mridangam: principal percussion instrument • Ghatam: large clay pot • Kanjira: tambourine • Morsang: jaw’s harp

  34. Mridangam

  35. Drummer’s Art • Improvisatory style • Based on hundreds of memorized rhythm patterns and drum strokes • Art centers on drum strokes • Sollukattu – spoken syllables • Drummer is crucial!

  36. Gurukula System • Apprenticeship with guru • Very rigorous training

  37. Concert Song Forms • Start: Varnam • Continues: Kriti • Main Item: Often a Kriti • End: More relaxed atmosphere • Devotional music

  38. Kriti • Made up of numerous sections • i.e. • Alapana • Tanam • Kriti “Sarasiruha” • Kalpanasvaras 1 & 2 • Taniavartanam • Kriti (return and close)

  39. Alapana • First section of a performance • Free-flowing exposition and exploration of the raga of the kriti • Voice/instrument and drone background • Nonmetrical(no regular beat/tala) • Has general plan • Slow, low  high, fast  slow, low

  40. Tanam • Highly-rhythmic exposition of the raga • Improvised • No tala cycles but strong sense of beat • Like Alapana trace from low to high in graduated steps and back down again.

  41. Kriti • The major song form of the concert • May be short or very long • Very flexible structure • Sung or not, the words influence the performance

  42. KalpanaSvaras • Improvised section • At the end of or after a kriti • Singer sings names of notes! • Returns to phrase from kriti as home base (idam) • First short simple improvisations • Then longer and more complex

  43. TaniAvartanam • Improvised and precomposed rhythmic solo • By mridangam • Conclusion of the main item in a concert • Can be 10/15 minutes or more • Displays his skills and imagination • Ends on korvai – big pattern repeated three times • Leads back into kriti phrase

  44. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI9RJbljBLwRohan Krishnamurthy video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLA58vT-FI0&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL91F824B8ECE3D33CVeena Master • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBwAV8urkvwShruti Box • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxPwJ93aWcI With Tampura

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