Indian and South India

1
Chapter 6

• Indian and South India

2
Madras

• in southern India on the east coast
• Chennai means the city in Tamil.

3
Brief History

• 2500-1700 BCEIndus Valley cities
• 3rd century BCEcountless kingdoms and emperors
  such as the Buddhist Asoka
• c. 1400-1800 CEMoguls
• c. 1600-1947 CEthree centuries of British
  colonialism

4
Hinduism

• the dominant religion of India.
• Caste one of the hereditary social classes in
  Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their
  members and their association with the members of
  other castes.

5
Islam

• Moslems
• belief in Allah as the sole deity and in
  Muhammad as his prophet.
• About 10

6
Palimpsest

• a manuscript parchment written on again and
  again in which everything written before is never
  fully erased. Everything written before is
  somehow still there, visible and readable . . .
• Similarly in Indian culture old traditions
  persist and coexist with the new and innovative
  . . .

7
History, Culture, Politics

• one billion peoplea fifth of the worlds
  population
• an area one-third the size of the United States
• The country hosts fifteen major languages
• Its continuous history . . . stretches back five
  thousand years and beyond . . .

8
Regions

• Hindustani -- North
• Moslem concentration
• Hindus Valley
• Carnatic -- South
• Hindu concentration
• Carnatic Plains

9
The Taj Mahal
10
English Influence

• railways
• democratic systems of government
• bureaucracy
• universities
• European musical instruments

11
European musical instruments

• While Indians adapted European musical
  instruments to their musical styles, they did not
  adopt European musical styles.

• violin
• clarinet
• piano
• saxophone
• Guitar
• Mandolin

12
Traditional literature

• two Sanskrit epics between 400 B.C.E. and 400
  C.E.
• Ramayana
• Mahabharata
• In Carnatic music many song texts refer to events
  in these epics.

13
Important religious works

• The four Vedas
• Upanishads
• Puranas

14
Hindustani and Carnatic Music

• Similarities
• ragas
• talas
• Differences
• The Hindusthani north -- expansive improvisations
  
• Carnatic south -- pre-composed devotional songs

15
Raga

• that which colors the mind and the heart
• a collection of notes, a scale, intonation,
  ornaments, pillar tones,
• a precise melody form
• sa ri ga ma pa da ni (sa)

16
Tala

• regularly recurring metric cycles consisting of
  groups of beats.

17
veena

• plucked string instrument with seven strings
• three drone strings and four playing strings (for
  playing melodies).

18
Mridangam

• double-headed, barrel-shaped drum.

19
Sruti-box and tambura
20
The Carnatic texture

• Melody Layer
• vocalist(s)/instrumentalist (veena)
• Drone Layer
• sustained (continuously sounding) central tone
• tambura or sruti box
• Rhythm Layer (percussion)
• mridangammulti-timbral, double-headed
• tala

21
Music of India

• Pop music
• Devotional song
• Classical music

22
Cine Music

• Indian popular music
• A blend of East and West
• Music is reminiscent of early rock and roll

23
CD 220 Our Wedding

• 023 to 031retro-sounding guitar solo
• language of lyrics (Tamil)
• a love marriage, more common in Indian movies
  than in real Indian life,
• 020, 022, 050, and 052incongruous whistle
  sound
• sudden insertion of Woody Woodpecker theme
• (timbre)flute, clarinet, retro guitar
• 115-141 and 213-235unique percussion
  instruments playing heavy rhythmic accompaniments
  

24
bhajan

• devotional song
• sung by a soloist with accompanying instruments
• or by a vocal group in a call-andresponse manner

25
chinna melan

• small band, an ensemble of two or more
• A chinna melam is likely to be performed at any
  auspicious occasion, for example, at temple
  worship, weddings, the opening a new store, and
  so on.

26
Chinna Melam instruments

• nagasvaram double-reed pipes,
• tavil drums and
• sruti-box drone

27
CD 221 O Devi! with Fish-Shaped Eyes

• Vocal solo
• mridangam (Indian drum)
• electronic drone

28
O Devi!

• 000006Drone (electronically-produced)
• 007singer enters with raga-based solo
• glides/slides to and around the important notes
  of the melody
• Raga a precise melody form

29
O Devi!

• The song text praises Devi Meenakshi, a
  beautiful Hindu goddess . . . who is worshipped
  in . . . a great temple. O Devi! (Goddess)
  with fish-shaped eyes (that is, her eyes are
  always open) . . . protect me.
• 035 to end
• adi tala (an Indian metric cycle of 4 2 2
  beats
• Tala rhythm pattern

30
Karnataka Sangeeta

• Classical Music of South India
• in English simply Carnatic music.
• It is named after the Carnatic plateau

31
Transmission

• oral tradition passed down by memory. The music
  is to nudge the memory.
• no definitive version of the music exists.
• musical renditions may become highly variable

32
Extra Kriti by Tyagaraja

• Banturiti
• Hamsanadam raga
• c e f g b
• adi tala
• 4 2 2

33
Banturiti - Overview

• Drone
• srutibox
• alapana
• pallavi
• anupallavi
• pallavi

• Niraval
• vocal
• violin
• vocal
• svarakalpana
• returns to text
• pallavi

34
Banturiti

• 000 sruti -box
• drone
• 005 alapana
• singer explores raga
• violin minics
• SA range

35
Banturiti

• 043 pallavi
• listen for Banturiti
• violin is in unison
• 130 empty space
• 134 anupallavi
• begins on eduppu
• 214 pallavi returns - Banturiti
• 231 caranam begins

36
Banturiti

• 300 niraval
• vocal improvisation
• violin improvisation based on voice
• vocal improvisation
• 428 svarakalpana
• vocal improvisation on syllables
• 514 singer returns to words

37
Banturiti

• 525 pallavi returns
• listen for Banturiti

38
CD 31 Sarasiruha (To the Goddess Saraswati)

• Kriti in Natai raga and Adi tala.
• Performed by veena and mridangam.

39
Sarasiruha

• 000-315 Alapana? free-flowing exposition and
  exploration of the raga
• absence of meter
• drone sustains tonal center and the tone a fifth
  above tonal center
• 320-815 Tanam
• strong sense of beat.
• improvised melody continues

40
Sarasiruha

• 825-1545 Kriti Sarasiruha
• centerpiece of the performance
• Pallavi O Mother who loves the lotus seat,
• Anupallavi Save me who have taken refuge in
  you!
• Charanam Complete Being, who holds a book in
  her hand which bestows all dominion.

41
Sarasiruha

• 1545-1805 Kalpana Svaras
• mridangam continues to accompany
• melody played on the veena
• 1806-2220 The Drum Solo Tani Avartanam
• A long and complex improvised drum solo played on
  the mridangam accompanied only by the drone being
  played on the drone strings of the veena
• 2204

42
Ravi Shankar

• virtuoso sitar player
• 1960s concerts brought him superstar status in
  Europe, the United States and India.