The Origin Story of Music 

This is by no means a small topic that can be explained away in a short blog. I am part of an active Whatsapp group of my classmates from another era and we routinely discuss topics of this kind apart from ephemeral current affairs not including religion, politics and thankfully, sleaze. This was my considered response to an innocuous question from a curious classmate. Poor guy, he didn't know what he was in for!! :-)

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This may be a huge topic that this WhatsApp group may not be able to support. I am no musicologist; just a devoted practitioner. Since the real expert, Ramesh⁩ is only listening to the sounds of the lapping waves of the ocean right now, I will just point out a few things I know.

Carnatic music is supposed to have originated in Samaveda and many epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata also mention music ( sAmagAnam) and musical instruments like Veena. Then, there are Azhwars (vaishnavite saints) and Nayanmars ( Shaivaite saints) of likely 6th to 8th CE who poured out a profusion of devotional poetry in specific musical structures (paNn, pAsuram). Then, we jump to Annamacharya (early 15th CE) and Purandaradasa and many other dasas (15th-16th CE). Purandara set out a music pedagogy which is still used. There was Narayana teertha (17th CE), Trinity (18th-19th CE) followed by their far and wide lineage network (Parampara) that continues to spread out.

In terms of languages, all South Indian languages apart from Sanskrit find huge presence in Carnatic music. Currently, however music of all languages is Kosher especially towards the end of the concert. However, the tunes are unmistakably Carnatic but the treatment may be modern with instant appeal.

In terms of compositional elements, devotion assumes a primary focus but there are 9 types of devotion (nava vidha bhakti) which includes insult (Ninda stuti). All of them are employed apart from purely spiritual songs like those of Sadashiva Brahmendra (17th-18th CE). 

Coming to types of compositions, there is varnam (technical, intricate), Kriti ( a predominant form with 2 or 3 part structure), viRuttam or shloka in a free melodic vein, rAgam-tAnam-pallavi (one or two lines of evocative poetry set to intricate melodic and rhythmic patterns with a lot of improvisation), neRaval (one of the lines of a kriti sung in improvised melodic variations but in strict rhythm of the Kriti), swaram (improvised note patterns sung on the fly in strict rhythm of the song again), Thillana (like Tharana which is quite a foot tapping number typically.. And quite challenging to deliver). There are also just pallavis which are super hard and are a super specialization. Even erotic, shringara poetry find their place with jAvaLis set to attractive tunes. There are then Thiruppavai, Thiruppugal, Thevarams etc. set to music. They don't necessarily follow a kriti structure and are mostly re-tuned as original tunes didn't survive.

I love Dhrupad, mesmerized by its flow which reminds me of tAnam in Carnatic. But it is certainly distinct iand is supposed to have influenced Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar during his sojourn with Chidambaranatha yogi in Varanasi. I had a chance to listen to a disciple of Dagar brothers and the music has divine appeal.

Overall, both Carnatic and Hindustani have a lot of parallels till 11th CE or so but since then, Carnatic continued to thrive without external influences from outside Bharat. I surmise that Persian influences played a significant role in differentiating Hindustani music further into a distinct genre of its own.

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House Concert by Sri Neyveli Santanagopalan - June 9 2007 - Review

'Parampara' center for Carnatic Music has just put its first step
forward in trying to bring vintage music to the students of the school
and the music lover (rasika) fraternity in the Whitefield area. We
made a grand beginning with Shri Neyveli Santanagopalan's concert ably
supported by HK Venkatram on the violin and Neyveli Narayanan on the
Mridangam. The ensemble was complemented with Shri Prasad on the
Tambura and Shri Sunil on vocal support.


Neyveli Sir opened the concert with a kriti in Mayamalawagowla. The
calm and serenity that he exuded with this kriti continued throughout.
I thought it is fitting in the school content to start with this raga
- easily identifiable by some of the beginner students in the first
row. He then sang Giripai (Sahana) complete with dripping raga bhava.
There was a brisk 'Nenendu Vedakudura' (Karnataka Behag) and Parimala
Ranganatham (Hamid Kalyani) in the first half of the concert. The main
item was in Dhanyasi followed by RTP in Sankarabharanam with swaras in
Ragamalika. He deftly used some of the ragas that were part of the
ragamalika swaras for his Tukkadas (Hamsanandi, Bhageswari etc.)


The ambience was festive and people were expectant. Most of the
audience was made up of the parents and grand parents of the students
of Parampara. It was an incredible feeling sitting a few steps away
from the maestro and without any fan fare of tickets, auditorium and
traffic etc. It was an orderly gathering and a very attentive rasika
community, I must say. There was not a bit of noise and of course, no
getting up to hit the canteen during the Thani Avartanam either.
People took heed of the basic ground rules set out by Mr. Kartik at
the very outset. The concert went on for more than 2:30 hours though
it started on the dot at 5pm.


Neyveli sir was very affectionate and had a nice, encouraging message
for the students. He said that students should not only find out which
raga is being sung but also sing in such a way that others can
recognize what they are singing, in a lighter vein! Audience mingled
with the artists at the end of the concert before they dispersed
humming their favourite string from one of the amazing the note/
sahitya patterns that caught their fancy.


All in all, it was a very worthy effort possible only by the
collective energy and enthusiasm of the core team ably guided by
Savita and Kartik.. We can't wait for the next one to happen in our
midst...


- Prasad

House Concert by Smt. Bombay Jayashri at Whitefield, Bangalore

Smt. Bombay Jayashri's concert was the 4th in the Parampara series since the inception of Parampara Centre for Music. It was an extraordinary concert where melody and peace reigned supreme and nuances were numerous. The music that was created on the beautiful morning of June 7th continues to ring in my ears still!

Bombay Jayashri tends to open her concerts with a medium tempo krithi on Ganesha or another aspect of the almighty in stead of with a varnam. She began this concert with a melodious Papanasam Sivan's "Karuna Nidhiye" in Bhowli. It was truly a gentle awakening. She followed this up, in contrast, with a rousing Subbaraya Sastri's Begada kriti "Shankari Neeve" with its attractive chitta swaram. A grand Tyagaraja krithi of "Meru samana Dhira" in Mayamalavagowla was laid out in all its grandeur. I was reminded of her amazing Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in the same raga from the "Azhaga" album.

She sang a beautiful, refreshing Nalinakanti alapana (which frankly kept me guessing for some time till I was reminded of "Manavi Alakincha radate" in the same raga) followed by GNB's "Ni Paadame Gati" with its raga mudra (signature) giving the name away. After this, Jayashri sang "Taamadam Thagadayya" in Mohana Kalyani. Though I have heard this repeated in 4 other concerts of hers, she sings it each time with the same verve and exhilaration. After her kriti "Eppadi Manam" in Huseni (Arunachala Kavi), she reserved the main piece for an expansive alapana, Neraval in her rendition of "Palinchu Kamakshi" (Syama Sastri).

A short, soft and sweet Thani by Shri Vaidyanathan followed the main piece. Smt. Jayashri rendered "Muruganin Maru Peyar Azhagu" (Behag) prefixed by an evocative slokam. This also figures, aptly enough, in her "Azhaga" album, but, the raga and the words of the composition do not ever tire one out. I have first heard MLV sing it (with Sudha Raghunathan as vocal support) in the 1980's in one of her concerts in Keys' High School, Secunderabad. Each rendition has its own charm and Jayashri's is a bit more leisurely. Later, Jayashri sang "Natha Hare" (Ashtapadi in Bhageswari) and ended the concert with a Lalgudi Thillana (Brindavani) which has her own unique stamp of style and brilliance and a traditional mangalam.

Violin by Sri HN Bhaskar was supportive and equally evocative all through.

Audience spontaneously stood up at the end of the concert as if in standing ovation. I could see that several of them were moved and beyond words to express the joy, peace and satisfaction that they experienced.

I am sure that Smt. Bombay Jayashri Ramanath will be back again in our midst in the future.

- Krishnaprasad