History of Carnatic Music

History of Carnatic Music:-

We can begin our discussion of the
history of Carnatic Sangeet with
Purandardas (1480-1564). He is
considered to be the father of
Carnatic Sangeet. He is given credit
for the codification of the method of
education, and is also credited with
several thousand songs.
Venkat Mukhi Swami (17th century) is
the grand theorist of Carnatic music.
He was the one who developed the
melakarta system. This is the system
for classifying south Indian rags.
Carnatic music really acquired its
present form in the 18th century. It
was during this period that the
"trinity" of Carnatic music,
Thyagaraja, Shamashastri, and
Muthuswami Dikshitar composed
their famous compositions. In
addition to our "trinity". Numerous
other musicians and composers
enriched this tradition. Some notable
personalities were; Papanasam
Shivan, Gopala Krishna Bharati, Swati
Tirunal, Mysore Vasudevachar,
Narayan Tirtha, Uttukadu
Venkatasubbair, Arunagiri Nathar, and
Annamacharya.

Carnatic music:-

carnatic music has a very highly
developed theoretical system. It is
based upon a complex system of
ragam (rag) and thalam (tal). These
describe the intricacies of the
melodic and rhythmic forms
respectively.
The melodic foundation is the ragam
(rag). Ragam (rag) is basically the
scale. The seven notes of the scale
are Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha and Ni.
However, unlike a simple scale there
are certain melodic restrictions and
obligations. Each ragam (rag) has a
particular way that it moves from
note to note.
The ragams are categorised into
various modes. These are referred to
as mela, and there are 72 in number.
The mela are conceptually similar to
the thats of North Indian music.
There is however, a major difference.
South Indian scales allow chromatic
forms that are not allowed in
Hindustani sangeet. For instance it is
perfectly acceptable for the first
three notes (i.e., Sa Re Gato all be
roughly one semitone apart. It is
these permissible forms which allow
there to be so many mela.
The tal (thalam) is the rhythmic
foundation to the system. The south
Indian tals are defined by a system of
clapping and waving, while this is
much less important in the north.
North Indian musicians define their
tals by their theka.
Nomenclature is one of the biggest
differences between North and South
Indian music. It is normal for a
particular rag or tal to be called one
thing in the North and something
totally different in the South. It is
also common for the same name to
be applied to very different rags and
tals. It is theses differences in
nomenclature that have made any
theoretical reconciliation difficult.

Performance:-

Vocal music forms the basis of South
Indian music. Although there is a
rich instrumental tradition that uses
vina, venu and violin, they revolve
around instrumental renditions of
vocal forms.
There are a number of sections to the
Carnatic performance. Varanam is a
form used to begin many south
Indian performances. The word
varanam literal means a description
and this section is used to unfold the
various important features of the
ragam. The kritis are a fixed
compositions in the rag. They have
well identified composers and do not
allow much scope for variation.
However such compositions are often
preceded by alapana. The alapana
offers a way to unfold the ragam to
the audience, and at the same time,
allow the artist considerable scope
for improvisation. The niruval and the
kalpana swara also provide
opportunities to improvise. Another
common structure is the ragam,
thanam, and, pallavi
South Indian performances are based
upon three major sections. These are
the pallavi anupallavi and charanam.
These roughly correspond to the
sthai, antara and the abhog
inHindustani sangeet.

Conclusion

The rich tradition of South Indian
music is one of the worlds gems. The
high performance standards and the
well organised theoretical foundation
put it on par with anything that
world has seen, either East or West.

Source : Internet