Indian Carnatic Music

What is Carnatic Music?

It is the classical music of Southern India. The basic form is a monophonic song with improvised variations. There are 72 basic scales on the octave, and a rich variety of melodic motion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are varied and compelling. This is one of the world’s oldest & richest musical traditions.

Carnatic music, also known as karṇāṭaka saṃgītam is one of the two styles of Indian classical music, the other being Hindustani music. The present form of Carnatic Music is based on historical developments that can be traced to the 15th - 16th AD and thereafter, however, many ancient works tell us that it is one of the oldest classical music traditions, whose origins and history date back to about 2500 years[1].

Carnatic music is completely melodic, with improvised variations. The main emphasis is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki). Like Hindustani music, Carnatic music rests on two main elements: rāga, the modes or melodic formulæ, and tāḷa, the rhythmic cycles.

The Sama Veda is said to have laid the foundation for Indian music, and consists mainily of hymns of Rigveda, set to musical tunes, and would be sung using three to seven musical notes during Vedic sacrifices, sometimes accompanied by an instrument.[2] The Yajur-Veda, which mainly consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the veena as an accompaniment to vocal recitations during the sacrifices.[3]

Like all art forms in Indian culture, Carnatic Music is believed to have a divine origin, and music is venerated as an aspect of the supreme (nāda brāhmam)[4]. Ancient treatises describe the connection of the origin of swaras to the sounds of nature (as in animals and birds, the sound emanating from a bamboo reed as air passes through its hollows etc), and man’s keen sense of observation and perception that tried stimulating these sounds. Many scholars consider that folk music influenced the structure of Carnatic music too.[5]

References to Indian classical music are made in many ancient religious texts, including epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharatha. The Yajnavalkya Smriti mentions “Veena vadhana tathvangna sruti, jathi, visartha talanjaaprayasena moksha margam niyachathi” (”The one who is well versed in veena, one who has the knowledge of srutis and one who is adept in tala, attains salvation without doubt.”)[6] Bharata’s Natya Shastra mentions many musical concepts (including swara and tala) that continue to be relevant to Carnatic Music today.

Carnatic Music is believed to have derived certain classical music concepts from ancient Tamil music[7]. The concept of Pann is related to Ragas used in Carnatic music.[8]. The rhythmic meters found in several musical forms (such as the Tiruppugazh) and other ancient literature, resemble the talas that are in use today[9][10]

Both Carnatic and Hindustani music shared a common history. Hindustani Music started evolving as a separate genre from the 13th century onwards with increasing Persian influence in North India. In Carnatic Music (which was based in South India), the pan-Indian bhakti movement laid a substantial basis as far as the use of religious themes are concerned, while major developments post 13th century also contributed to its divergence from Hindustani music.[11]

After the musical treatise, Sangita Ratnakara of Sarngadeva (1210-1247), the word Carnatic came to represent South Indian Classical Music as a separate system of music. Around the latter half of the 14th century, Hindustani music and Carnatic music were seen as two distinct forms of Indian classical music, which flourished in the southern capital cities, particularly in Vijayanagara and Tanjavur. A number of musical treatises describing the concepts of Carnatic music were written. The present form of Carnatic music is based on historical developments that can be traced to the 15th - 16th AD and thereafter.

Carnatic music saw renewed growth during Vijayanagar Empire by the Kannada Haridasa movement of Vyasaraja, Purandara Dasa, Kanakadasa and others.[12] Purandara Dasa, laid out the fundamental tenets and framework for teaching carnatic music.[13]. Venkatamakhin is credited with the classification of ragas in the Melakarta System and wrote his most important work; Chaturdandi Prakasika (c.1635 CE) in Sanskrit. Govindacharya expanded the Melakarta Scheme into the Sampoorna raga system, which is the system in common use today.

Composers

PurandaradasaSee also: List of Carnatic composers
One of the earliest prominent composers in South India was Purandara Dasa (1480 - 1564), who belonged to the Haridasa cult, and is said to have composed around 475,000 compositions in Kannada, although only a fraction of these exist now. In introducing the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first mode to be learnt by a beginner, as well as structuring and composing several Swaravalis (graded exercises), Alankaras (exercises based on the seven talas) and Gitas (simple songs) for novice students, Purandara Dasa defined the basic lessons of Carnatic music. Owing to his pioneering contributions to Carnatic Music, he is known as the father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music. [14]

The contemporaries, Tyagaraja (1759? - 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776 - 1827) and Syama Sastri, (1762 - 1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic Music for their prolific output in composing kritis.

Prominent composers prior to the Trinity of Carnatic Music include Vyasatirtha, Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa, Gopaladasa, Muthu Thandavar (1525-1625), Arunachala Kavi(1712-1779) and Marimuttha Pillai(1717-1787). Other prominent composers are Annamacharya, Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, Swathi Thirunal, Narayana Teertha, Mysore Sadashiva Rao, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, Mysore Vasudevacharya, Muthiah Bhagavathar, Kotiswara Iyer, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Papanasam Sivan and Subramania Bharathiyar.

Composers of Carnatic music were often inspired by religious devotion and were usually scholars proficient in one or more of the following languages Kannada, Sanskrit , Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. They usually included a signature, called a mudra, in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyagaraja (who composed in Telugu) have the word Thyagaraja in them, all songs by Muthuswami Dikshitar (who composed in Sanskrit) have the words Guruguha in them, songs by Syama Sastri (who composed in Telugu) have the words Syama Krishna in them, Purandaradasa, who composed in Kannada, used the signature Purandara Vittala, Gopalakrishna Bharathi and Papanasam Sivan, who composed in Tamil, used the signatures Gopalakrishnan and Ramadasan respectivelyThese are books on Carnatic music considered authoritative and necessary for a serious study of Carnatic Music and its evolution. Most of them are in Sanskrit, and some are even dated before the Christian era.

Sangeetha Ratnakara - Sarngadeva
Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini - Subbarama Dikshitar
Sangeetha Chandrikai - Manikka Mudaliar
Swaramela Kalanidhi - Ramamatya
Natya Shastra - Bharata Muni
Chaturdandi Prakasika - Venkatamakhin
Raga Vibodha - Somanatha
Sangeetha Makaranda - Narada
Sangeetha Sudha - Govinda Dikshitar
Raga Lakshana - Shahji
Sangraha Choodamani - Govindacharya
Sangeetha Swaraprastara Sagaramu - Nadamuni Pandithar
Sangeetha Sudhakara - Haripala Deva
Sangeethasara - Vidyaranya