This is a humble attempt to introduce our great Carnatic Music to beginners and new comers. We will keep adding more articles on various aspects of music, which we hope will be of use to those who want to learn more about our music. -Krishna
Carnatic music is one of the two classical forms of music in India. The other form being Hindustani music. Both these forms though originating together have developed to become very distinct classical idioms. Carnatic music is musical form completely base don melody. This musical form is over 500 years old and has developed today to be a wonderful blend of grammar and poetry. Its musical structure is highly scientific in form, at the same time very aesthetic and allows for the development of the creative form. Carnatic music is completely based on creativity and imagination. This forms the main part of its presentations. The pre-composed compositions that are presented are but a nucleus around which the musician lets his creativity flow. This music is completely created on the stage and there are no rehearsals that take place before a concert between the artists. This is a highly vocalized form of music. This classical form is basically is orients itself to a vocalist.
In most Carnatic music concerts the vocalist is the main performer with a violin as the melodic accompaniment and a Mrudangam (south Indian drum) as the rhythmic accompaniment. We will also find a drone instrument (known as a tambura), which maintains the pitch for the artist. Over the years solo instrumental performances have developed. Today we do have solo violin, flute (the bamboo flute) and veena (a south Indian stringed instrument) concerts. But the objective of all the instrumentalists is to sound as close to the human voice as possible in their melodic expression.
This form has its basis in Raga. Raga in very elementary terms can mean a musical scale but in actuality is much more. Carnatic music derives its distinctive identity with the use of pure tones and microtones. The usage of these microtones (half tones and quarter tones) gives each note a very distinct identity in each raga. This is done by various types of oscillations and movements of each note (Swaram). A variation to every pure note is known as a Gamakam. Therefore a raga is not a scale, but a melodic concept, which uses these halves, and quarter tones along with the pure tones and creates a distinct melody. The raga is the basis of this music system.
Thalam is a rhythmic cycle. As acknowledged by many international musicians Carnatic music and its rhythmic system are considered as one of the most advanced forms in the world. It involves the use of over 100 different kinds of rhythmic cycles with variations to each. Using this structure each musician improvises and creates rhythmic structures and patterns with mathematical progressions that fit into a rhythmic cycle. Many times these patterns blend along with the melodic presentation and create the most wonderful effect. The Mrudangam (south Indian drum) accompanies a rendering of a composition using very complex rhythmic structures and patterns, which blends with the progression of the compositions.
Carnatic music uses many different (more than 10 different kinds) forms of compositions. These compositions are of different structural forms and are all very prevalent in concerts heard today. These different structures have developed over the last 200 years and have been handed down by the composer through his disciples. Over the last 100 years when concert music has developed many musicians have performed these compositons. In Carnatic music all compositions have lyrics to it. The main languages used are Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. A composer in Carnatic music parlance is one who writes the lyrics and composes the melody for it. Even today there are numerous composers. A concert performer need not be a composer and vice versa. These are two distinct roles.
Ultimately the greatest aspect of this form is the creative freedom it gives the performer. There are at least four different kinds of creative elements that a performer brings out in a concert. This forms the most important aspect of a carnatic music concert. This is the soul of our music. This creative ability of each performer defines his stature in the music field. Carnatic music is art music and derives its distinctive nature from the very fact that it’s an art form where every performing musician has to be a creative musician. Creativity and manodharma (imagination) is the driving force of carnatic music. It is not enough if he/she can sing a pre- composed composition to perfection but he/she must be able to use that and build a creative edifice that towers above everything else.
A Carnatic music concert or Kutchery has a character of its own which is very different from that of a Hindustani concert. The shape, flavour and rhythm of a concert is unique and cannot be compared to any other classical system. The structuring of a Kutchery has changed over the last 100 years, but on the whole has retained the intrinsic qualities of the carnatic classical form. In this column, I hope to give you an idea of the history of the Kutchery and answer some of the FAQs about Kutcheries.
A Kutchery (public concert performance) is a relatively new concept in carnatic music, about 120 years old. Till then, there were no formal concerts. I think there were Carnatic music performances in courts of kings or in temples only.
Initially, there were very few krithis sung in concerts. There were a few compositions and a long alapana, a thanam, followed by a pallavi. These concerts lasted for over 4 hours, I hear. It was Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar who gave us the structuring that we have retained till today.
’What makes this structuring special? What did he do?’
The concert of public performances itself was relatively young and the art of concert performance was just developing. Ariyakudi was in many ways the first innovator in modern day carnatic music. He broke a lot of traditions and was a revolutionary of sorts. His concert planning was on the basis of providing variety to the audience in the duration of the concert. The earlier pattern was mainly one-dimensional. The concert was basically a Ragam Thanam Pallavi. This was possibly interesting to the very knowledgeable but did not relate with the rest of the listeners. Ariyakudi discovered that it was possible to provide a concert of variety and at the same time maintain classical purity. I think this aspect makes his contribution to Kutchery music outstanding.
He was the first musician to discover the beauty of madhyamakalam (medium tempo). He found that this ‘mean’ was the best way to maintain the tempo of the concert and there by the interest of the public. He packaged carnatic music in a concert. In modern terms he created a very viable and profitable product out of carnatic music. He realized that in order to increase carnatic music’s listenership and reach he had to present it differently. That’s exactly what he did.
Secondly he also structured the role of kalpitha (taught – composed) and kalpana (imaginative – manodharma) sangeetham in a concert. The greatness of carnatic music is the unique balance between composed music and imaginative music. It’s possibly the only classical form world over, that has this balance. Before Ariyakudi’s time, I feel that the concerts did not give due importance to the compositional aspect of our music. Ariyakudi was the first to balance these two aspects of our music.
A sample Ariyakudi concert list:
Composition type |
Ragam |
Thalam |
Composer |
improvisation |
Varnam |
Kanada |
Ata |
|
|
Rajuvedale |
Thodi |
Rupakam |
Thyagaraja |
Short neraval and swaram |
Ramanatham |
Panthuvarali |
Rupakam |
Muthuswami Dikshitar |
Short alapana, neraval and swaram |
Samajavarada |
Sudha Saveri |
Rupakam |
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar |
|
Manasuswadhina |
Shankarabharanam |
Misra Chapu |
|
Main raga alapana followed by neraval and swaram |
Ragam Thanam Pallavi |
|
|
|
|
Marubari (javali) |
Khamas |
Adi |
|
|
Kandu dhanyana |
Behag |
Rupakam |
Thirupavai |
|
Vaishnava janatho |
Sindhubhairavi |
Adi |
|
|
Thillana |
|
|
|
|
Mangalam |
|
|
|
|
When you have a look at the above sampling you see a very scientific method in planning the concert. First, a Varnam to warm up the voice and give a foundation to the concert. This is followed by small krithis with just a sampling of neraval and swaram. This sets the pace for the concert. Next comes the first alapana usually a prathi-madhyama ( raga that uses the higher madhyamam) raga to give a very contrasting aural experience for the listener. The krithis rendered is added with neraval and swaram. This is usually a longer exercise than the first. Between two pieces of manodharma sangeetham, Ariyakudi most of the time put in a small krithi. Then would come the main piece of the concert usually one of the six major ragas. A longer alapana, a bigger krithi followed by a more extensive neraval and swaram. This will be the krithi for the tani avarthanam.
After this would be the Ragam Thanam Pallavi that may contain ragamalika swarams and another short Tani avarthanam. The post Pallavi pieces contained a variety. A Javali, a Thirupavai, krithis in other languages like Kannada (kandu dhanyana, a patriotic song (very important to the times when Ariyakudi performed) and a Thillana.
As you can see, this was such a well-balanced effort. He made sure that in the 3 or 4 hours that you listened to his concert you got as many different things as possible.
This format has been retained till today. Of course, there have been changes in the last 60 years. Today many ragas that were not handled for alapana then, have found place as major ragas. Rare ragas have been included in the concerts. Ragam Thanam Pallavis have gotten more mathematical in structure and rendition. Compositions in many other languages like Marathi are today part of concerts. The post pallavi section of the concerts is longer. More modern compositions are presented.
The next question : “Will this format change?”
I do not have a definite answer to this. It may change, as the time available for people to listen reduces. There may more innovations to the planning. There may be more demands from the audience for a change in structuring. There may be more Hindustani ragas included. The possibilities are infinite but, I feel that any changes that take place will only be on the basis of Ariyakudi’s Kutchery plan. This is a watershed in the history of kutchery music. It will remain the basis for kutchery music forever.
What is the role of a tambura?
The tambura provides the sruthi. Sruthi is the basic pitch that a person’s voice or instrument. The pitch of a voice will vary from person to person depending on their tone. In the case of an instrument the artist will choose that sruthi where the instrument sounds most pleasing.
As a novice how can I find out when the artists are improvising and when they are singing a composed piece?
In very layman terms the best way to figure this out is when you see the vocalists and violinist taking turns in playing and singing they are improvising.
Does a kanjira have a sruthi? Is it tuned?
No, a kanjira has no sruthi and cannot be tuned to a pitch.
How does a ghatam get tuned to sruthi?
The sruthi of a ghatam cannot be varied. It has a natural sruthi when it is made. It can only be fine-tuned using materials like wax or Play-Doh (now a days) to reduce the sruthi.
Why do artists gesticulate?
The gesticulations are only a natural movement when they sing. It is like our hand movements when we talk. They have no meaning.
How do I know when a thani avarthanam is ending?
This you will gather by continued listening and paying attention to the thani avarthanam. At the end of a thani avarthanam the percussionists play what is known as a Mohra and Korvai. The Mohra is always played at the end of a thani avarthanam. This is a mathematical pattern based on 8 as a mean. This will be followed by a Korvai, which is a mathematical improvisation by the percussionists. Through continuous listening you will start identifying the basic pattern of a Mohra.
What is the difference between a Sangathi and Neraval?
Sangathi is a fixed variation to a line in krithis. These are taught by the teachers to the students and is fixed. A neraval is an improvised variation to a line. These are musical variations to the line chant is improvised upon according to the imagination of the artist.
Why is more than one tambura (electronic or otherwise) used?
More than one tambura is used in a concert so as to make it more audible for the artists on stage and also to the audience. Many times, we find that due to the largeness of the halls the audience is not able to hear the tambura so we use more than one tambura.
Why is only violin used as accompaniment?
The violin is used as accompaniment over other instruments due to the continuity and support that it can give to the voice. If, for example, we were to sing with the veena (as was done earlier) it will be difficult for the accompaniment to provide a long continuous swara on the veena as it is a plucking instrument. Instruments like the nadaswara will be too loud and even the flute will not merge well with the voice. The violin has the best sound, and can reproduce the gamakam like the voice and provide continuity to be used as an accompaniment.
How does a Hindustani concert differ from Carnatic concert?
A Hindustani concert is totally different in structure. They do not have as many composed pieces presented. The concert consists of may be 2 major ragas and a few thumris (lighter compositions presented in the latter part of a Hindustani concert). Fixed compositions are not a major part of the concert. The concert is almost completely improvisational. Ragas are explored for a longer time and the build up is slower.
The structuring of the carnatic concerts revolves around composed krithis, which are used like a nucleus around which the musician develops his imagination. Therefore the composed pieces are as important as the manodharma aspects (improvisational aspects). In a carnatic music concert, we use different speeds of compositions and the most used pace is madhyamakalam (medium tempo). Usually more ragas are explored but with a shorter time span for each as compared to Hindustani concerts. There is also a larger focus on rhythmic and
Mathematical aspects in the carnatic form. Another point will be that the choice of the ragas for the concert are driven by the time of the concert in the Hindustani style, but in a carnatic concert the time of performance does not determine the ragas chosen.
What is vilamba kaalam or chauka kaalam rendering?
Vilama kaalam or chauka kaalam means, a slow tempo rendition.
When two people sing to the same sruthi, why does it not sound the same?
When two people sing in the same sruthi it does not sound the same as the tone and the nature of each one’s voice is different. Even if ten people say hello on the same pitch it will sound different due to the nature of their voice.
What are Padhams and Jaavalis?
Padham and Jaavalis are the post ragam thanam pallavi compositions presented in a concert. They all are love poems and are traditional tukkudas. Javalies are faster in pace and smaller in structure but the padams are slower in rendition and are longer in structure.
Like “raga malikas” are there “thala malikas”?
There are thala malikas that employ many thalas like “ragamalikas” that have many ragas.
How does one choose ragas for “raga malikas”?
If one is to compose a “raga malika” then the ragas have to be chosen on the basis of the meaning of the lyrics.
Do we have a concept called "Gharanas" as in Hindustani music?
We do not a strict concept of gharana in carnatic music. It is much more flexible. A person who belongs to the GN Balasubramanian (GNB) Bani (gharana) may be influenced by the Musiri Subramania Iyer Bani (gharana) and will mix both in the presentation. Nowadays, every artist takes what he likes from every school of music and adopts it in his singing. In the Hindustani music, each gharana also may have different understanding of a raga. For example, one gharana may use a swara in a raga which another gharana will not. This does not exist in carnatic music. All the ragas are the same to everyone.
How many thalams are there and why aren't all of them deployed?
There are more than 175 thalams, but in concerts only around 20 are used. The reason for this is just the convenience of singing and of course, an artist is more than welcome to sing in other thalams. Another reason is that many of the 100 plus thalams, do not have compositions in them.
I have only given a very small note on carnatic music and hope that I have given you a glimpse of this unique Classical art form. This is indeed a very unique classical form that is a perfect blend of composed and the extempore forms of music with a wonderful balance.