MUSIC
The two distinct styles, Hindustani and Carnatic came
into vogue after the advent of the Muslims, particularly during the reign of
the Mughal Emperors of Delhi. Both the systems of music received their
nourishment from the same original source. Whereas the Indian music of the
Northern part of India assimilated some features of the music of the Persian
and Arabic musicians who adorned the courts of the Mughal rulers of Delhi, the
music of the South continued to develop along its own original lines.
HINDUSTANI MUSIC
There are 10 main forms of styles of singing and compositions:
Dhrupad, Dhamar, Hori, Khayal, Tappa, Chaturang, Ragasagar, Tarana, Sargam and
Thumri. Nowadays Ghazals have become very popular as the 'light classical' form
of music.
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DHRUPAD
Dhrupad is the oldest and perhaps the grandest form of Hindustani
vocal music. Dhrupad is essentially a
poetic form incorporated into an extended presentation style marked by precise
and orderly elaboration of a raga. The exposition preceding the composed verses
is called alap, and is
usually the longest portion of the performance. Dhrupad is in decline since the 18th
century.
·
KHAYAL
Khayal literally means
‘a stray thought’, ‘a lyric’ and 'an imagination'.
This is the most prominent genre of Hindustani
vocal music depicting a romantic style of singing. Khayal
is dependent to a large extent on the imagination of the performer and the
improvisations he is able to incorporate. A Khayal is also composed in a
particular raga and tala and
has a brief text. The Khayal texts range from praise of kings or seasons, description
of seasons to the pranks of Lord Krishna, divine love and sorrow of separation.
There
are six main gharanas in khayal: Delhi, Patiala,
Agra, Gwalior, Kirana and Atrauli-Jaipur. Gwalior Gharana is the oldest and is also
considered the mother of all other gharanas.
·
THUMRI
Thumri originated in the
Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, mainly in Lucknow and Benares, around the 18th
century AD
It is believed to have been influenced by hori,
kajri and dadra. Thumri is supposed to be a
romantic and erotic style of singing and is also called
“the lyric of Indian classical music”. The song compositions are mostly of
love, separation and devotion. Its most distinct feature is the erotic subject
matter picturesquely portraying the various episodes from the lives of Lord
Krishna and Radha.
A Thumri is usually performed as the
last item of a Khayal concert. There are three main gharanas of thumri -- Benaras, Lucknow and
Patiala.
·
DADRA
Dadra bears a close resemblance to the Thumri. The texts are as
amorous as those of Thumris. The major difference is that dadras have
more than one antara and are in dadra tala.
Singers usually sing a dadra after a thumri.
·
DHAMAR-HORI
These compositions are
similar to Dhrupad but are chiefly associated with the festival of Holi. Here
the compositions are specifically in praise of Lord Krishna. This music, sung
in the dhamar tala, is chiefly used in festivals like
Janmashthami, Ramnavami and Holi. The compositions here describe the
spring season. These compositions are mainly based on the love pranks of
Radha-Krishna.
·
TAPPA
The tappa is said to have
developed in the late 18th Century AD from the folk songs of camel drivers.
Tappa literally means 'jump' in Persian. They are essentially folklore of
love and passion and are written in Punjabi.
·
RAGASAGAR
Ragasagar consists of different parts of musical
passages in different ragas as one song composition. These compositions have 8
to 12 different ragas and the lyrics indicate the change of the ragas. The
peculiarity of this style depends on how smoothly the musical passages change
along with the change of ragas.
·
TARANA
Tarana is a style consisting of peculiar
syllables woven into rhythmical patterns as a song. It is usually sung in
faster tempo.
·
CHATURANG
Chaturang denotes four colours or a composition
of a song in four parts: Fast Khayal, Tarana, Sargam and a "Paran" of
Tabla or Pakhwaj.
·
GHAZAL
The ghazal is
mainly a poetic form than a musical form, but it is more song-like than
the thumri. The ghazal is described as the
"pride of Urdu poetry". The ghazal originated in Iran in
the 10th Century AD. The ghazal never exceeds 12 shers
(couplets) and on an average, ghazals usually have about 7 shers. The ghazal found an opportunity to grow and
develop in India around 12th Century AD when the Mughal
influences came to India, and Persian gave way to Urdu as the language of
poetry and literature. It developed and evolved in the courts of Golconda and
Bijapur under the patronage of Muslim rulers. The 18th and 19th centuries are
regarded as the golden period of the ghazal with Delhi and Lucknow being its main centres.
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