Classical Music from India

Beginning as a series of Vedic chants several thousand years ago, Indian music developed into one of the world’s most complex systems of music. Many of the artists mentioned here will be appearing live at venues across the UK as part of the Darbar Festival 28 March-12 April 2009.

It is said if one wants to enter into the heart of a culture, you should listen to their music. The heart of Indian classical music, which is in the spiritual and natural world, gives musicians immense scope to pour out their emotions about nature, sensual beauty and love in the worldly and godly sense.
The music is based on a single melody line, which is played over a fixed drone. The performance is based melodically on particular ragas and rhythmically on talas. The music has been passed down orally. Improvisation predominates and written notation, when used, is minimal. 

Regional Variations

Broadly speaking, there are two main styles: North Indian classical or Hindustani music and South Indian classical or Carnatic music. Both are based around ragas or the melodic modes used in Indian classical music comprising a series of five or more notes upon which a melody is based. Beyond this rather dry abstraction, there are several definitions of raga, but each one only conveys a particular aspect of the whole. Different ragas or combinations of notes or musical phrases express feelings, emotions, ideas and experiences.
In the south, Carnatic music has been comparatively free of the disruptive influences of invasions and retained much of its original character. In the north, the interaction between other civilisations led to other styles grafting themselves onto Indian music.
In the Carnatic traditions, a number of highly respected composers have influenced the contemporary scene. A concert is generally a series of pre-composed pieces blended in with the musician’s own creativity. Carnatic lyrics often have philosophical or devotional meanings. Their appeal is to the intellect and heart. One of the finest female exponents of Carnatic vocals is Aruna Sairam, whose singing has enthralled audiences in India and across the world.

Aruna Sairam performing live

In contrast, little is pre-composed in the Hindustani tradition. The lyrics, often of secular and mundane themes, but sometimes with a deeper hidden meaning generally appeal to the heart and emotions. And few are better vocalists of this style than Ashwini Bhide.

Ashwini Bhide at Darbar Festival 2006

Carnatic performances generally adopt a fast to slow sequence with music developing in geometric progressions and complex tala or rhythmical structures. Hindustani performances begin with an unhurried alaap setting the predominant mood of the raga before gradually moving to faster improvisations within a rhythmical structure. A Carnatic musical presentation is more a chiselled, carved finished piece of sculpture, whereas a Hindustani performance is more like a nebulous musing or musical reverie.

Gharanas or Schools of Music

In India, music has traditionally run through families and passed on orally through generations. Hindustani musicians often belong to a particular gharana or a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage and/or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. Typically, gharanas refer to the area where they originate like Agra, Gwalior, Patiala, Kirana, Indore and Jaipur.

Hindustani Styles of Music

In Hindustani music, there are various styles that have waxed and waned with time.
Khayal meaning ‘imagination’ or ‘creative thought’, is the style most commonly associated with Hindustani music today. It is delicate, romantic and fluid but strictly follows the rules and grammar of raga and tala. Khayals allow the musician a great deal of freedom for improvisation and personal decorative effects and one of the finest exponents of this genre is Ashwini Bhide, who belongs to the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana.
Thumri enhances the personal, feminine, tender and romantic qualities of khayal. The form, however, allows the musician to mix ragas in complex ways and gives the musician to give full play to extend an expressive musical phrase.
Dhrupad is India’s oldest surviving style of music and considered the foundation of Hindustani music. It arose out the singing of sacred Sanskrit texts. Although without decorative touches, dhrupad does have meends (glides from one note to another) and gamakas (heavy oscillations between notes). The presentation comes across severe and noble, sometimes coldly austere, with a slower rhythm. The golden age of dhrupad was the 16th and 17th century when it was sung in the Moghul courts. Today, Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar continues the tradition, representing the 20th unbroken generation of dhrupad singers in the Dagar family.

Wasifuddin & Bahauddin Dagar
Performance and interview at the Théâtre des Abbesses, 2007

Outside of these, there are several other styles like Dharmar, Tappa, Dhun, Ghazal, Bhajans, Kirtan and Jugalbandis some of which may be featured in a classical music concert.

Kulbir Natt

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