Classical music

Subject:Arts and culture

Context:

Indian classical vocalist PanditJasraj passed away . He belonged to MewatiGharana

Concept:
Throughout the ages, man has sought to express the stirrings of his soul, the search for something beyond the mundane through the medium of the arts.

The evolution of poetry, painting and other visual arts has been preserved on stone, leaves and paper but music being auditory, no such evidence exists. As such it is not possible to listen today to the music of the ancient times.

Inspite of such a variety of cultural interactions, our music has remained essentially melodic. In melody, one note follows the other, making for a continued unity of effect, whereas in harmony musical sounds are superimposed on one another. Our classical music has retained its melodic quality.

Today we recognise two systems of classical music: the Hindustani and the Carnatic.Carnatic music is confined to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The classical music of the rest of the country goes under the name, Hindustani Classical Music. Of course. there are some areas in Karnataka and Andhra where the Hindustani Classical system is also practiced. Karnataka has given us in the recent past some very distinguished musicians of the Hindustani style.

It is generally believed that the music of India was more or less uniform before the 13th century. Later it bifurcated into the two musical systems.

The present Indian music has grown from ancient times. Almost every tribe or people have lent their own share in this growth. What therefore, we now call a raga might have started as a tribal or folk tune.

Hindustani Music is the one among the two distinct varieties of Indian Classical Music.  The other variety of Indian classical music is Carnatic Music. While the former belongs to the Northern part of the country, the latter is south Indian. This music became popular during the Mughal Empire. Some Persian and Arabic elements have been assimilated in this music system. There are 10 forms are styles of singing and composition. Among them, Dhrupad, Khayal, Tappa and Thumri are the most popular.

Dhrupad

This is the oldest and grandest form of Hindustani music. It is essentially poetic and it is presented in a style marked with precise and orderly elaboration of  Raga.  exposition proceedings composed verses is called Alap.

Khayal

Khayal means imagination. This is the most prominent style in hindustani depicting romantic style of singing. It largely depends on the imagination and improvisation of the performer. It is also composed of particular raga and tala. It ranges from praise of kings description of seasons and pranks of Lord Sri Krishna.

Thumri

Thumri originated in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. It is influenced by hori, kajri, Dadra. Tumhri is supposed to be romantic and erotic style of singing and is also called “lyric of Indian classical music”. The song composition mainly on love and devotion.

Tappa

Tappa developed around the 18th century. It means jump in Persian, it is developed on folk songs of camel riders.

Gharanas

• Gharanas in Indian Classical Music is an age-old tradition. All the Gharanas have distinctive styles and manner in which they sing the notes. There are different Gharanas based in different regions, and their styles are also highly influenced by the creative style invented by one master that goes on to be emulated by his students. This Guru-Shishya concept is called ‘Gharanas’ in Hindustani Classical Music. They also devised new style by improvising on the existing musical structures, and giving it new form through different approach and interpretation.
• Gharanas in Hindustani Classical Music are divided in two major categories – ‘Khyal’ and ‘Thumri’, based on the singing style or known as ‘Gayaki’ in Hindustani Classical Music.

Reasons for emergence of Gharans

• The gharana concept gained currency only in the nineteenth century when the royal patronage enjoyed by performers weakened. Performers were then compelled to move to urban centres. To retain their respective identities, they fell back on the names of the regions they hailed from. Therefore, even today, the names of many gharanas refer to places. Some of the gharanas well known for singing khayalsare : Agra, Gwalior, Patiala, Kirana, Indore, Mewati, Sahaswan, Bhendibazar and Jaipur.
  Gharanas in Dhrupad singing too came into existence several centuries after their birth. It moved from the temples to concentrate in the royal courts of the north, and finally, in the 18th century, when its popularity began to wane, dhrupad singers dispersed to places like Mathura, Rampur, Jaipur, Varanasi, Darbhanga, Betia, Vishnupur etc.
• There are also gharanas for thumris – like Banaras. Lucknow, Patiala though another school of thought opines that thumris are devoid of gharana divisions and are only to be associated with certain styles or Baj.
  The concept of hereditary musicians was not confined to vocal music alone. Hence there are also gharanas in instrumental music – sitar, sarode, tabla etc.