Expeditions Into India: An Exploration of History's Most Enchanting Music

[someonecompletelyrandom]

India

...has a rich culture of traditional music. The most familular instrumentation of Indian Classical music are the Sitar, Bansuri, Tabla and, later, violin. Classical music is always set to a raga.

From a technical standpoint, a raga is defined as five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. They are a structure underneath which composition and improvisation can take place. A non technical definition of a raga is "a combination of tones which, with beautiful illuminating graces, pleases the people in general". North Indian ragas in particular often correspond to a particular time of day, month or season. It is thought that performing these pieces at those times maximizes their effect.

What does a raga sound like? Please join me as I travel deep into this foreign land to uncover history's most enchanting forgotten music.

Prepare for the Journey

Before we can start our expedition we must be sure to prepare. In the context of this thread, that means learning a bit more about the technique and ideas behind India's classical music.

The two main forms of classical music are:

Hindustani music

Khyal and Dhrupad are the two main forms of Hindustani music, but there are several other classical and semi-classical forms. Players of the tabla, a type of drum, usually keep the rhythm, an indicator of time in Hindustani music. Another common instrument is the stringed tanpura, which is played at a a drone throughout the performance of the raga. This task traditionally falls to a student of the soloist, a task which might seem monotonous but is, in fact, an honour and a rare opportunity for the student who gets it. Other instruments for accompaniment include the sarangi and the harmonium. The prime themes of Hindustani music are romantic love, nature, and devotionals. Yet, Indian classical music is independent of such themes. To sing a raga any poetic phrase appropriate for the raga may be chosen and the raga would not suffer.

The performance usually begins with a slow elaboration of the raga, known as badhat. This can range from long (30–40 minutes) to very short (2–3 minutes) depending on the style and preference of the musician. Once the raga is established, the ornamentation around the mode begins to become rhythmical, gradually speeding up. This section is called the drut or jor. Finally, the percussionist joins in and the tala is introduced. There is a significant amount of Persian influence in Hindustani music, in terms of both the instruments and the style of presentation.

Further Reading

Carnatic Music

Carnatic music tends to be significantly more structured than Hindustani music; examples of this are the logical classification of ragas into melakarthas, and the use of fixed compositions similar to Western classical music. Carnatic raga elaborations are generally much faster in tempo and shorter than their equivalents in Hindustani music. The opening piece is called a varnam, and is a warm-up for the musicians. A devotion and a request for a blessing follows, then a series of interchanges between ragams (unmetered melody) and thaalams. This is intermixed with hymns called krithis. This is followed by the pallavi or theme from the raga. Carnatic pieces also have notated, lyrical poems that are reproduced as such, possibly with embellishments and treatments as per the performer's ideology; these basic pieces are called compositions. Compositions usually have flexibility in them so as to foster creativity: it is commonplace to have same composition sung in different ways by different performers.

Carnatic music is similar to Hindustani music in that it is improvised. Primary themes include worship, descriptions of temples, philosophy, nayaka-nayaki themes and patriotic songs.

Further Reading

Departure

As we leave on our great journey I must emplore you all to keep an open mind, comment often and enjoy the musical masterpieces of another time.