About Indian songs and Music
as well as on Robert Maycock's program note of Ravi Shankar's performance at the BBC Proms on August 3, 2005.
The Raga Sangeet system of Indian music has a history of some 2000 years. The roots of Indian classical music are religious and lay in the Vedic hymns of the Hindu temples. According to the traditional teaching, sound is God - Nada Brahma. Through music, human consciousness can be elevated to a degree which allows one to understand the eternal essence of the universe. Indian classical music has "an unbroken history of development, and above all it is a living tradition that still is in the process of evolution", specifies Ravi Shankar.
The Hindustani or North Indian style of music developed after the subcontinent was invaded by the Moguls from the 13th century onwards. In the Mogul empire, cultures derived from Persia and elsewhere merged with local traditions. The indigenous music of India, with its intricate systems of ragas and talas, continued uninterrupted and has become the Carnatic or South Indian style, dominant in the areas never conquered by the Moguls. Whereas in the North, musicians from Persia and India influenced each other and experimented with each others instruments.
Singers led the way in this musical fusion. Over the centuries, hybrid instruments such as the sitar - attributed to Amir Kushroo in the 13th century and modified over the following centuries - have emerged that can match the subtleties and emotional force of the human voice. Initially a courtly music, the Northern style has lost the concise, mathematical perfection and social openness of the South Indian style, but it gained new dimensions.
Originally, all Indian music was sung in Sanskrit. But after the two systems divided, Hindustani music was centered around Hindi and its dialect Brajabhasha, whereas the Carnatic system was mainly influenced by Telegu as well as by Kannadese and Tamil.
Historically, the musical tradition was passed on in gharanas or regional schools or styles of performance in the cities of Northern India, especially through family dynasties of famous teachers and musicians, frequently named after the place where it originated. Today, teaching has often transferred to colleges and conservatoires, but the traditional system through guru-shishya instruction persists, and so do the dynasties. Family members of outstanding musicians such as sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, sarangi pioneer Ram Narayan, santoor player Shivkumar Sharma, tabla genius Alla Rakha, sitar player Ravi Shankar and others continue the tradition of classical Indian music, some of them creating a special style of playing an instrument (baaj).
The basics of Indian classical music
India's performing arts - music, dance, drama, and poetry - are based on the concept of Nava Rasa (the nine sentiments). The acknowledged order of these sentiments is as follows: Shringara (romantic and erotic), Hasya (humorous), Karuna (pathetic), Raudra (anger), Veera (heroic), Bhayanaka (fearful), Vibhatsa (disgustful), Adbhuta (amazement), and Shanta (peaceful).
Indian classical music is based on ragas (melody) and talas (rhythm), but not on harmony, counterpoint, modulation, chords, dynamics and other structural elements of Western (classical) music. Furthermore, the tradition of Indian classical music is an oral one. The guru teaches it directly to his disciples. There is no sheet music, no written tradition as in Western music.
The background drone tone accompaniment for the soloists for almost all performances of classical Indian music is provided by the tanpura, a string instrument with no virtuoso function.
The heart of Indian classical music - of both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system - is the raga: the melodic form upon which the musician improvises and which may take hours to develop. The raga framework is established by tradition and nurtured by the leading musicians of the past and present, composer and sitar player Ravi Shankar being one of them.
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