Daily Readings
Culture - Indian Music
Indian Music
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as sources of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. India is made up of several dozen ethnic groups, speaking their own languages and dialects, having distinct cultural traditions.
Classical music
Main article: Indian classical music
The two main traditions of classical music are Carnatic music, found predominantly in the peninsular regions, and Hindustani music, found in the northern and central regions.
Further information: Indian classical music,Hindustani music,andCarnatic music
Hindustani music
Hindustani music is an Indian classical music tradition that goes back to Vedic times around 1000 BC. It further developed circa the 13th and 14th centuries AD with Persian influences and from existing religious and folk music. The practice of singing based on notes was popular even from the Vedic times where the hymns in Sama Veda, a sacred text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition originating from the South, Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical Vedic philosophy and native Indian sounds but also enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughals. Classical genres are dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra.
The present form of Carnatic music is based on historical developments that can be traced to the 15th - 16th centuries AD and thereafter. However, the form itself is reputed to have been one of the gifts bestowed on man by the gods of Hindu mythology. It is one of the oldest musical forms that continue to survive today.
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is melodic, with improvised variations. It consists of a composition with improvised embellishments added to the piece in the forms of Raga Alapana, Kalpanaswaram, Neraval, and, in the case of more advanced students, Ragam Tanam Pallavi. The main emphasis is on the vocals as most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki). There are about 7.2 million ragas (or scales) in Carnatic Music, with around 300 still in use today.
Purandara Dasa is considered the father of carnatic music. Sri Tyagaraja, Sri Shyama Shastry and Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar are considered the trinity of carnatic music and with them came the golden age in carnatic music in the 18th-19th century
Noted artists of Carnatic Music include MS Subbulakshmi, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (the father of the current concert format), Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Prapancham Sita Raman, TN Seshagopalan and more recently Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Balamuralikrishna, K J Yesudas, N.Ramani, Lalgudi Jayaraman, umayalapuram sivaraman, Dr.Mysore Manjunath, Mysore Nagaraj, TM Krishna, Bombay Jayashri, etc.
Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its six week-long Music Season, which has been described as the world's largest cultural event. It has served as the foundation for most music in South India, including folk music, festival music and has also extended its influence to film music in the past 100–150 years or so.