Chapter 6
Indian Music: South India
(& some North?)

Brief History
2500-1700 BCE —Indus Valley cities
3 rd century BCE —countless kingdoms and emperors such as the Buddhist
Asoka c. 1400-1800 CE —Moguls c. 1600-1947 CE —three centuries of
British colonialism

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.”

Islam
Moslems
“belief in Allah as the sole deity and in
Muhammad as his prophet.”
About 10%

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 . . .”
(compare with China and Japan)

History, Culture, Politics one billion people —a fifth of the world’s population an area one-third the size of the United
States
Fifteen major languages
More than Five Thousand years of history

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

The Taj Mahal

English Influence railways democratic systems of government bureaucracy universities
European musical instruments

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

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.

Important religious works
The four Vedas
Upanishads
Puranas

Music of India
Pop music
Devotional song
Classical music

Cine Music
Indian popular music
A blend of East and West
Sometimes reminiscent of early rock and roll
“Anything goes”
“Engal Kalyanam (CD II:20)

Hindustani and Carnatic Music
Similarities ragas talas
Differences
The Hindustani north -- expansive improvisations
Carnatic south -- pre-composed devotional songs

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 )

Tala regularly recurring metric cycles consisting of groups of beats.
Beat groupings are usually uneven
(i.e., 3+2+2; 4+3; 1+2)

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

Mridangam double-headed, barrel-shaped drum.

Sruti-box and tambura

The Carnatic texture
Melody Layer vocalist(s)/instrumentalist (veena)
Drone Layer sustained (continuously sounding) central tone tambura or sruti box
Rhythm Layer (percussion) mridangam —multi-timbral, double-headed tala

bhajan devotional song sung by a soloist with accompanying instruments or by a vocal group in a call-and –response manner
“ Devi Niye Tunai ” (CD II:21)
Tala accents p. 255

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.

Chinna Melam instruments nagasvaram doublereed pipes, tavil drums and sruti -box drone

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

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

CD III:1 “Sarasiruha” (“To the
Goddess Saraswati”)
Kriti in Natai raga and Adi tala .
Performed by veena and mridangam .

Sarasiruha
0:00-3:15 Alapana
 “free-flowing exposition and exploration of the raga absence of meter drone sustains tonal center and the tone a fifth above tonal center
3:20-8:15 Tanam
“strong sense of beat.” improvised melody continues

Sarasiruha
8:25-15:45 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.”

Sarasiruha
15:45-18:05 Kalpana Svaras mridangam continues to accompany melody played on the veena
18:06-22:20 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
22:04

North India
Tabla = drum
Sitar = descendent of veena

Tabla
Zakir Hussain, master tabla player
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

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

Indian Influences
The Beatles
Minimalism (Philip
Glass et al)
Pieces of East
David Amram Ballet
(Chakra)

Chakra , David Amram
Jhaptal Tala (2+3+2+3)
1
X
2 3 4
X X
5 6
X
7 8 9
X X
10

Combined Result
(Raga transposed to G in
Oboe Part)

Pieces of East