Introduction

Music has always been regarded as  the most philosophical  of  all the art forms, perhaps due to its exciting and invigorating blend of art  as  well as science.   Indian  classical  music  was referred  to  as  shastriya  sangeetham until the term 'classical'  was borrowed from the West. Loosely  translated, shastriya  sangeetham  means  'scientific  music'.     However,  while  the science of the music stresses conformity,  discipline and  acoustic  accuracy,  the  beauty  of Indian  classical music  is  the  immense  freedom  that it allows the performer; the freedom to improvise...

The music is rich  in its grammar,  for example,  in laya,  the  intense  mathematical rules that govern speed,  tempo and  rhythm;  or in  prayoga,  the  syntax  that  governs  allowable  note -sequences;  or in samvaditva, the consonance grammar, and so on.   But more of that later...

The historical roots of this tradition can be found in Bharata's "Natya Shastra" (circa 4 century BC),  a  treatise that presents  a  rich,  all-encompassing cultural  fabric of  dance,  music and drama.Since then, the literature on Indian classical music has evolved richly and dramatically.

There are two main streams of Indian classical music:

Hindustani music: the music of North India, and
Carnatic music: the music of the South.

Indian classical music is melodic in nature.  It does not  allow the four-part vertical harmony of Western classical music.   It does,  however, allow linear or horizontal harmony, in the form of unisonal harmony (singing in unision or playing different instruments), octave harmony (playing the same melodic music in two different octaves),  tonal or background harmony (an ensemble that includes instruments with varying tonal characteristics),and also drone harmony (provided  by the drone instrument).

The beauty of Indian classical music lies in the  smooth  and wave-like passage from one note to another.The music, which is melody-based, is filled with poly-rhythms and delicate nuances and is embellished with unimposed grace notes,  and note ornamentations (collectively known as gamaka-s).

The basic concepts of Carnatic music are:

               sruti (key or pitch),
               raga (melody),
               laya (rhythm), and
               sahitya (compositions).

The basic concepts:

The adage "sruti mata laya pita'' refers to sruti as the mother and laya as the father of Carnatic music; they are integral to the music.

There is no absolute rule for selecting the base sruti in a concert.   It is  selected  by the main artiste, and remains constant for the whole duration of the concert.   The selection of the base sruti depends on the range  of  the  artiste's voice ( in a vocal concert )  or  on the range of the instrument (in an instrumental concert).   The accompanying artistes tune to this base sruti, in order to perform in unisonal harmony.   The tampura (or, drone instrument) is also tuned to the base sruti and creates a meditative mood through its resonating and reverberating drone.

The raga is a form of melody and is the central concept in Indian classical music. The notes of a raga are transposed relative to the base sruti that is chosen for the concert.   The semantics that describe a raga are highly intricate;  even  the  slightest  hint  of a  wrong  note,  or even a quarter note,  may invoke the theme of a different raga altogether.   In the composition  "swara raga sudharasa",  the composer,  Tyagaraja writes,  "To discern the homes of the seven notes in the midst of the chaotic uproar is liberation".

Rhythm, or laya, is an important facet of Carnatic music.  The generic concept of laya may be expressed in terms of tala (the organization of beats according to predefined rules) and speed. Apart from the raga, the composer of a song also specifies its tala and its speed.

A  composition  in  Carnatic  music  is a piece of measured music set in a particular raga and tala.  Most compositions are generally made up of three distinctly identifiable sections: pallavi, anupallavi and charanam.A section called chittaswaram, which normally follows the anupallavi, can augment certain compositions.The chittaswaram section is a defined organisation of solfa syllables pre-set for a number of tala cycles and may be performed in multiple speeds.   Each section  of  a  composition  leads  the  performer  into  structured  sequences  of progressively complex melodic and rhythmic variations,  while providing ample scope for improvisation.   The pallavi is repeated at the end of each of the other sections and is generally  ornamented  by  a completion theme (or teermanam), performed by the percussionist.   Each of the sections can begin at any point in the tala cycle (on or off the beat).   A section can be sung any number of times with pre-set or sometimes, extempore variations of lines of prose.

Carnatic music is based centrally on a prodigious number of compositions,most of which may be attributed to  Tyagaraja,  Muthuswamy  Dikshitar and  Shyama  Shastri,  three prolific 18th century composers,  collectively known as the 'Trinity' of Carnatic music.

In the Vedic period of Indian civilization,  music  was  broadly  divided  into marga sangeetham ( classical music ) and desi sangeetham ( folk music ).   It is believed that marga sangeetham was practiced by the deva-s ( Gods ) and  sages ( like sage Narada and Thumburu ) as music that led one along the path (marga) of mukti (spiritual salvation).

It is no wonder then, that most compositions express intense religious  sentiment.  The music either evokes spiritualism  through  the  musical  content, or directly  suggests  it  through  its lyrics.

Compositions

Some of the major types of compositions are: varnam, kriti, keertana, and tillana.

A varnam  is a  composition  that  is  performed at  the  commencement of a concert.   It is an elaborate melody, replete with emotion.   The lyrics of  a varnam are comparatively simple and may  relate  to  devotion  or  to  divine love.   A  varnam could even be in praise of a patron.   It requires  great  skill,  technical  capacity  and  creative  faculty  of  a  high  order  to compose varnam-s. Hence, there are very few composers of varnam-s.  The constituent anga-s (parts) of a varnam are, in order, pallavi, anupallavi, mukthayiswaram, charanam and charanaswaram.

A composition that relies  mainly on its musicality is  a kriti and one that relies  mainly  on its poetic content is a keertana. A keertana is verbose and directly invokes the  spiritual  emotion using its prose.

A kriti is a highly refined form of composition.  The elastic nature of this form, coupled with the fewness of rules,provide extended avenues for the composer's creative genius to be displayed. Kriti-s stand as examples of absolute music.They contain apt themes for developing improvisa -tional routines. A pallavi, anupallavi and charanam are the minimum and essential anga-s of a kriti.   A kriti pays a great deal of importance to raga  bhava ( the emotion evoked by the raga ) and the raga lakshana ( the characteristic grammar of the raga ).   It  normally consists of very few words.   Although the lyrics in  a  kriti  may  be  free  from  doxological  constructs,  many composers shun secular, ethical, social, esoteric or didactic themes and resort to sacred and religious themes.   Hence  the  immortalisation  of  great  composers  of  the  past  as Saints.
Examples are Saint Thyagaraja and Saint Purandara Dasa.

A tillana is a short and crisp form of music that is rendered at the close of a Carnatic music performance. It is used in dance and incorporates rhythmic syllables directly as text. In most tillana-s, the first two lines of the charanam contain lyrical text.

There are also other forms of compositions, like padam-s and javali-s.   These types of compo -sitions often include romantic or Byronic themes.

Other forms of compositions include: bhajan, devaranama, tirupugazh, tevaram, swarajati, viruttam and slokam.

The medium

The principal vector of almost all Carnatic music compositions is vocal expression, ( or geeta), because of the ability of the voice  to  transmit  music  as  well  as  prose.   Vocal music often brings out the gamut of characteristics of a composition.   Moreover,  prosodic  concepts such as rhymes,  use of identical words or syllables,  stamps and footprints such  as  raga  names, names of deities and places (sthala), and composer's signature (mudra or ankita), can only be brought about and conveyed  through  vocal  music.   Hence a majority of solo Carnatic music artistes are singers.

Competent Carnatic music singers do not merely project their voices.  Singing Carnatic music is said to be an experience that involves the artiste's entire being.This philosophy is embodied in one of the principle lines of Tyagaraja's kriti "sobillu saptaswara''. The composer writes:

                                     nabhi hrith khanta rasana na sadhu layandhu

Tyagaraja  says:  "It is not merely the  voice, but the entire  being, the heart, the vocal chords, the  tongue  and  the  nose that shine in all the seven notes of the octave.   Let us worship the confluence of all of these through  music..."

It  is possibly  because  of  the  special  place accorded to vocal music that most instruments used in Carnatic music attempt to mimic the voice.

The violin

In Carnatic music, the singer sits cross-legged on the podium.  A violinist, who sits beside the singer, normally provides constant accompaniment  throughout a concert.  The violin is placed firmly between  foot and  chest  of the performer.  This enables rapid hand movements that are necessary for the innumerable  slides,  oscillations,  grace notes and other types of note -orna mentations that are so  intrinsic to ( and typical of ) Carnatic music.   Although identical to the Western violin, and although it was imported into Indian classical music ( possibly  in  the late 18th century ), the adaptation of this instrument to the  culture  is so complete  and  total  that most Indians would naturally assume that the instrument is indigenous!

The veena

The veena is one of the most ancient string instruments of India. Its origin can  be traced back to the ancient yazh, a stringed instrument, similar to the Grecian harp.  Bharata,  in his Natya Shastra,  explains the theory of the  22  sruti-s  in an octave with the help of two  experimental veena-s.

The veena then went through several  innovations  and  modifications.   In its current form,  the instrument  can  be  attributed  to Raghunath Nayak ( circa 17th century ) of Tanjavur  in Tamil Nadu.

The veena is 1.5m  long and is made from jackwood.   It has a large,  round body with a thick, wide neck, the end of which is carved into the head of a dragon. A small resonator is attached to the underside of the neck.   The veena has 24 metal frets embedded in hardened bees-wax, mixed with charcoal powder.

Melody is  produced on four metal strings that run above the frets.  These are stretched over a wide bridge that sits on the body of the veena.   Three other  strings  run alongside the neck of the instrument.   These are used for maintaining time and for playing the drone. The performer, who sits cross-legged on the stage, rests the small resonator on the left lap. The fingers of the left hand are used to press,  pull and glide on the frets,  while  the  fingers of the right hand are used to pluck and twang the strings.

The  veena  is  a  complete  instrument  and  provides the  basic  components:  sruti, laya and sahitya. Its main attraction is the mellow tonal quality which is capable of evoking a meditative atmosphere.

The Chitra Vina (Gottuvadhyam)

The gottuvadhyam, more correctly called the chitra vina these days,  is a twenty-one stringed, fretless, long-necked lute. Unlike the traditional sitar or the ( Saraswati ) veena,  the chitra vina is fretless.   The fretless  nature  of the  instrument  makes  it  the  closest instrument to vocal standards.   Writing  in  the  Indian  music  quarterly,  Shanmukha ( "The   Emergence  of  the Gottuvadhyam  as a Concert Instrument", Vol XVII, No. 4,  October  1991, pp 9-11 ) Chitravina Ravikiran  argues, "Scientifically  and logically the  Gottuvadhyam  is  the  earliest  form of the veena and arguably the earliest stringed instrument of Indian music."

The chitra vina has a hollow stem made of resonant wood,  about  thirty-two  inches  long  and four inches wide. It has a flat top and is set on two round chambers;  the main sound chamber is made out of wood and a  secondary  resonator  is made  of  a  gourd. Like the ( Saraswati ) veena, the chitra vina is carved from jackwood  and  has an imposing dragon headpiece at one end. It contains six melody strings and three secondary  strings for maintaining drone.   There are twelve strings that run parallel to and below the melody strings and resonate in 'sympathy' with the main strings. Like the (Saraswati) veena, there are three tala (or, rhythm)  strings that are flicked with the little finger of the right hand on the primary beats. Plectra (or meetu) on the right index and middle fingers  are used to  pluck the  six  main melody strings.   A cylindrical
block, made out of ebony, teflon or wood, is used to glide and stop along the strings.  Despite its metal strings,  it is a soft-toned instrument,  which,  in the hands of a master,  can express all the nuances of Carnatic  vocal  music.    Ravikiran  asserts,  "A fretless instrument has got much more scope than a fretted instrument.  It is much easier to produce a lot of nuances and finer microtones on this type of instrument".

 It is possible that, in an indirect manner, due to its fretless nature,  the chitra vina inspired the Hawaiians to  play  the  guitar with  a  'slide',  which then later influenced  Blues singers in the Mississippi Delta.

The mrdangam

The mrdangam is used to provide rhythmic  accompaniment.   The name mrdangam originated from the  Sanskrit phrase  mrit-anga  meaning  'clay body'.   It is a two-headed,  barrel-shaped drum.  The bodies of  original versions were made out of burnt clay. Later versions were carved out  of  single  pieces  of  jackwood.  Multiple layers of  hide, strapped  to  tension  by  leather runners that run around the body cover  the two heads.  The outer layer of the hide on the right head is cut in a perfect circle to expose an inner  layer, on which a black crust is formed. This produces the tonic note, which is used to tune the mrdangam  to the appropriate pitch.

The left head provides  the bass and has two layers of hide.   The  top layer is cut  in a perfect circle with a  large diameter,  to expose the inner layer. White paste (made out of semolina) is continuously  applied  during   the  concert  to  maintain the tonal quality of the left head.  The mrdangam has a remarkably crisp,  well-defined sound.

 It is played with dextrous movements of the whole hand, wrists and fingers.

The tampura

The tampura is a long-necked instrument with a gourd--shaped bowl and four strings stretched over a  slightly curved bridge.  The four strings are plucked continuously to provide a prolonged and resonant drone  of the octave and fifth, to which the musicians constantly refer throughout the concert.

Improvisation

Carnatic music  provides ample opportunity for  improvisation.   Improvisation may be melodic, rhythmic or melo-rhythmic.  Some of  the forms  of  improvisation are:  alapana, neraval, swara -kalpana, and  taniavarthanam.  The above aspects,  or a selection of them, may be performed for some or all of the  compositions in a repertoire, depending on the choice of the performers.

Alapana is the a non-metric or non-rhythmic  expository  prelude  of  a  raga  that  precedes  a composition.    Neraval  is  an  expanded  improvisation  of  a  phrase  from  the  song  that  is reiterated, using the allowable  notes in the raga and is extemporarily set within the framework of the tala. Swarakalpana involves the  use of the basic solfa syllables that constitute the raga of a composition.   These syllables are  permuted in   rhythmic patterns,  and culminate at the theme  line chosen  for exposition,  at a specific instance in the tala  cycle.   These passages provide the basis for plenary expansion of a given theme in an open-ended framework.

The  accompanying  artistes  try  to  spontaneously  match  the  improvisations and mirror the imagination  of  the main artiste by  directly-echoing  solfa  patterns,  or  by  producing  octave harmonical responses.This often involves rapid exchanges and is analogical to a spontaneous, enriching and imaginative solfa-based  conversation between the artistes.The musical dialogue climaxes  through  a  systematic  shortening  of  the  theme  line  within  the tala cycle.   This culminates in a combined extempore exposition of a complex  mathematical solfa-structure.

Once during the concert, the percussionist  performs  a  short solo  called  taniavarthanam;  a detailed thesis  into the various rhythmic constructs of the particular tala that is chosen.When more than one percussionists  are involved,  a reverberating interlude of exchanges occur, with a progressive  shortening  of the theme.  This often culminates  in  a  glamorous  integration of rhythmic ideas. The taniavarthanam ends in a note of  delightful charm,  and is followed by the co-ordinated resumption of music on the theme line.

Throughout  the  concert,  the  percussionist  draws  from  an  enormous repertoire of complex rhythmic patterns to constantly improvise.  The percussionist  continuously  attempts to antici -pate the soloists'  ideas  to  dynamically link them   with  elaborately  conceived,  yet,  utterly spontaneous personal rhythmic ideas.

Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi

Before  the term pallavi came to be associated with the first segment of kriti-s, it was normally used to specify a Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi.

In ancient musical  performances ( often held in the musical courts of Kings ), a single ragam- tanam-pallavi  rendition ( termed pallavi, in short ) would be sung for many hours.  Towards the middle of  this  century,  the  RTP ( as it is commonly known ) content of a concert often gave way to a composition-loaded repertoire.   The practice of performing a mandatory RTP is being revived in recent years through the concerted efforts  of art organisations,  musicians  and  the general listening public.

An RTP comprises three principal movements, namely, ragam, tanam and pallavi.

The first movement is similar to the rhythmless  and  non-metric raga alapana that precedes a normal composition.   In this expository prelude,  the  performer  elucidates  and interprets the moods, features and  facets of the particular raga, by exploring spontaneously,  various permu -tations and sequences of notes that  are allowed by the grammar that defines the raga.

The  tanam  that  follows the ragam  is  another  form  of  raga  elaboration  that  is  lively  and captivating, due to its rhythmic movements.   A  uniform  tempo  is  maintained throughout the tanam, although changes to it  introduce variety.   The tanam uses three basic syllables:   Aa, Nam and Tan. These are permuted diversely  within the framework of the raga. These syllables make up the word Ananta, which refers to the infinite  nature of raga-s and tala-s.

In the context of an RTP, the term pallavi refers to extensive improvisation  of  a line of text set to a chosen  raga and tala.  The literal meaning of pallavi is: 'sprout'; an image associated with rasa (sap, juice, flavour,  essence or vital).  One apocryphal etymology breaks the word pallavi into three syllables that constitute the  rasa-s of a composition: padam ( or, text ), layam  ( or, rhythm) and vinyasam (or, display).

The text of a pallavi in an RTP could either be secular or religious,amorous or humorous.Often, the pallavi consists of only one line of text that is normally set to a complex tala.

A neraval, which is an expanded reiteration of  the  text  of  the  pallavi,  is first performed. The performers  compose, on the spot, the text of the pallavi, using the allowable notes of the raga and extemporarily set it  within the framework of the tala.

Following the neraval, a variation of speeds is brought about through anuloma and pratiloma. In
anuloma the speed of singing the words is halved or quartered within the original time cycle. In pratiloma,  the speed  of  singing the words is doubled  or  quadrupled  within  the original time cycle.

Conclusion

The different forms of improvisation add different facets to Carnatic music and, thereby, provide variety.   The ability to improvise varies from performer to performer.   Moreover,  each of these forms of  improvisation evoke different  moods.   Again,  the ability to evoke,  characterize  and exploit these different  moods vary from  performer to performer and form an integral part of the exhaustive and demanding  training  that  is required.   All of the above make Carnatic music a highly refined, demanding, complex and,  most importantly, an exciting art form.