Indian Carnatic Music: A Brief Introduction
Indian Carnatic Music: A Brief Introduction
India is an ancient and beautiful place rich in culture and spirituality, elements that have developed some of the most distinctive and beautiful forms of music to grace the human ear. Many of us, even those without a rich musical background, could pick out the unique sound of this regions music from the tonal qualities inherent in the form. The Carnatic music of southern India (a region defined for this purpose by those areas south of Hyderabad in the Andhra Pradeh state) is one of the more ancient forms of India’s musical culture.
Origins in Antiquity
Carnatic music is a heavily voice-oriented form that can trace its musical traditions back to the 12th or 13th century when it first began to develop itself as a distinct style that directly evolved from the Ancient Hindu traditions. Since that time it has stood relatively unaffected by the Islamic influences that were incorporated into the Hindustani music of the northern region as a result of conquest.
This highly devotional form of music focuses heavily on the human voice and its characteristics, even in those moments where the instrument stands alone the embellishments and range of the instrument are typically kept within those of the human voice. Further, this style of music builds its foundation on a system of melodic scales and rhythmic cycles known as ragas and talas respectively.
Purandara Dasa is known as the grandfather of Carnatic music, and is credited with having formulated the basic teachings that are still used today, known as the Swaravalis and Alankaras. The Raga Mayamalavagowla, the first scale learned by those beginning to study and practice the Carnatic style.
The Great Composers
Those interested in experiencing this ancient and beautiful form of Indian music can research such famous composers as Purandara Dasa, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, and Patnam Subramania Iyer to get started. These names stand among the most important composers of Carnatic music in history, the Indian equivalents of Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi, and are frequently performed by modern artists.
Steemians, what do you think of this rich musical style?
