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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Carnatic Music of India

Carnatic Music of India



The origin of Indian Music can be traced back to the Veda 4000 BC. The Sama veda laid the foundation for Indian Music. Indian classical music is classified into two categories - Hindustani Music and Carnatic Music. Hindustani music has is origin in the northern regions of the country, while Carnatic music developed in the southern regions of India.


¤ Classification of South Indian Music

The long history of South Indian music can be classified into 3 periods - The Ancient Period, the Medieval Period and the Modern Period. Carnatic music lies under the Ancient Period of Indian Music Form. The back bone of this great music is Purandara Dasa, known as the Father of Carnatic Music, and other scholars who classifies the music and developed it as a medium of teaching, performing, prayer and therapy.


¤ Evolution of Carnatic Music

Famous Carnatic music holds a special place in the classical music of Southern India. The music is considered as one of the oldest systems of music in the world. Endowed with color of passion and the soul of innovation the music also is well equipped with a scientific advancement.

The Carnatic Music is developed through the system of ragas known as 'melodic scales' and talas 'rhythmic cycles'. There are seven rhythmic cycles and 72 fundamental ragas. All other ragas are considered to have branched from these. The 72 Melakarta Ragas is a detailed approach to identify these scales.

The illustration of a raga varies from musician to musician whereas the structured portion has its predefined path. These compositions are extremely popular, with a strong accent on rhythm and lively melodic patterns. Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri - the saint composers of the 19th century, have given the best compositions that are quite renowned worldwide.


¤ Purandara Dasa, Known as the Father of Carnatic Music 

Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) has a strong influence in the development of Carnatic Music, he made great contributions to both Sacred and Art music. He is the most teeming of all the South Indian composers. He realized a well-organized approach to train students in Carnatic music. His teaching finally has formed and become a standard format to study the Carnatic Music. His great compositions - the "Swaravali" (simple exercises based on the Scale), "Alankaras" (exercises based on the seven basic Talas) and "Gitams" (simple melodic compositions in praise of the various deities), songs in Kannada known as "Devarnamas" have their special place in the world of Carnatic Music. He was also the creator of one of the most rhythmic musical form- "Kriti" which was later developed by the great composer "Thyagaraja".


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Past Vocalists

The 1930s to the 1960s are considered the Golden era of Carnatic music. D. K. PattammalM. L. Vasanthakumari and M. S. Subbulakshmi, commonly referred to as the female trinity of Carnatic music[1], rose to fame during this era. Other female singers that followed included N. C. Vasanthakokilam, P.Brinda, T.Mukta, as well as Radha and Jayalakshmi. The leading male vocalists during this era were Muthiah BhagavatharMysore Vasudevachar, [Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai], [Kanchipuram N.S.Krishnaswamy Iyengar] Chembai Vaidyanatha BhagavatharAriyakudi Ramanuja IyengarMusiri Subramania IyerMaharajapuram Viswanatha IyerSemmangudi Srinivasa IyerAlathur BrothersG. N. Balasubramaniam and Madurai Mani Iyer. The other popular prominent performers during this era were Alathur Venkatesa IyerRamnad KrishnanM. D. RamanathanS.Ramanathan, Prof. Mysore Sri V. Ramarathnam,K. V. NarayanaswamySirkazhi GovindarajanMaharajapuram Santhanam, Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman, D. K. Jayaraman, T. K. Rangachari, Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan, P. S. NarayanaswamyMadurai SomuJon. B. HigginsNeyyattinkara Vasudevan among others.


Senior Current Vocalists

Some of the most famous and accomplished senior vocalists today include Dr M BalamuralikrishnaDr Nookala Chinna SatyanarayanaDr Nedanuri KrishnamoorthyT. N. SeshagopalanR K SrikanthanS.R.JanakiramanT R SubramaniamR. VedavalliT. V. SankaranarayananSudha RaghunathanNithyashree MahadevanNeela RamgopalK G Jayan JayaVijaya and K. J. Yesudas, along with the likes of Thanjavur Shankara IyerO S ThyagarajanM.S Sheela, [Suguna Purushothaman], Mangad K Natesan and Parassala B Ponnammal]. Many of these artists are true stalwarts and have contributed significantly to development of carnatic music and its education.


Young Vocalists

Popular younger generation vocalists include Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, Shree Alappuzha K.S .Sreekumar. Bombay Jayashri RamnathAruna SairamVijayalakshmy Subramaniam,Neyveli SanthanagopalanSanjay SubrahmanyanP. UnnikrishnanT. M. KrishnaS. SowmyaPriya SistersNithyashree MahadevanVani SateeshRanjani-Gayatri, Suchethan Rangaswamy, Smitha Madhav, Sikkil Gurucharan, Carnatica Brothers (Shashikiran & Ganesh) Vijay Siva, Malladi Brothers - Sriram Prasad & Ravikumar, S Saketharaman, Sreevalsan J MenonHari Haran, Abishek Raghuram, T N S Krishna, S.P.Ramh, [Ranjani Guruprasad (Hebbar)[1], Shoba Raju, Charulatha Mani, R. Suryaprakash, Shankar Mahadevan,Bharat sundar, Sri Ranjani, Rama Krishnan, [V Shankaranarayanan.

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