HINDUSTANI MUSIC

"Music -milestone of origin of earth, language less converse,sixth element of nature,soulful worshiping,language of emotions, and it is good healer of all illness"

 

Origins of Indian Music

The preservation of the sruti texts, particularly the four Vedas, which are regarded as apaurasheya, led to the formalisation of music for the first time in India (eternal, without authorship, un-created by man). The way the scriptures had been spoken by the immortals, as well as the actual words themselves, were significant. Thus, pronunciation and chanting were highly valued and codified in the two vedangas (body of knowledge) known as Shiksha (pronunciation, chants) and Chhandas (prosody), which remained an essential component of the brahminic educational system until the contemporary era. Priests who participated in these ritual chants were known as Samans, and a number of ancient musical instruments, including conch (shankh), lute (veena), flute (bansuri), trumpets, and horns, were associated with these and later practises of ritual singing. The formal aspects of the chant are described in the Samaveda, with some elements, such as the relationship of chanting to meditation, elaborated in the Chandogya Upanishad.

A meter-set composition serves as the foundation for Hindustani musical performances, from which extemporised variations are created. Although there are notation systems, they are mostly used as mnemonic aids; musical compositions are passed directly from teacher to student. The majority of artists belong to a "gharana," a musical lineage or group that is descended from a certain composer or performer through apprenticeship. It is customary to bestow titles of respect on performers who have attained a notable level of performance; typically, Hindus are referred to as Pandits and Muslims as Ustads. Hindustani music has a history of religious neutrality dating back to Sufi times; Muslim Ustads frequently sing Hindu bhajans and vice versa.

HINDUSTANI MUSIC

Hindustani classical music started to diverge from what is now known as Carnatic classical music of the South about the twelfth century. Both of these systems revolve around the idea of a melodic mode, or raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle, or tala. The custom can be traced back to the ancient Samaveda (sama = ritual chant), which discusses the guidelines for chanting hymns like the Rig Veda. Bharata (second or third century C.E.) and the Dattilam (likely third or fourth century C.E.) developed these ideas into the Natyashastra. Many melodic systems were combined with concepts from Persian music during the mediaeval era, especially under the influence of Sufi artists like Amir Khusro and later in the Moghul kingdoms. Along with religious movements like the Vaishnavites, well-known composers like Tansen flourished. After the fifteenth century, several princely palaces supported different gharanas, which each had their own distinctive singing styles. Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande organised the Hindustani Classical music's melodic frameworks into a number of thaals around 1900. 

The Sangita Ratnakara, written by Sharngadeva in the thirteenth century, contains terminology like the turushka todi (Turkish todi), indicating an influence from Islamic music. It is commonly believed that this passage, which is the last to be referenced by both the Carnatic and the Hindustani traditions, dates the split between the two.

The 21st century's hubs for Hindustani music include Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Varanasi, and Mumbai (Bombay), although up until the early 20th century, smaller towns with royal courts like Jaipur, Agra, and Gwalior played a significant role.

Early in the twenty-first century, the Hindustani musicians who were best known outside of the continent were Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and Bismillah Khan..

 

 

 Influence of Persian

There was a significant exchange of cultures when Islam first came to dominate northern India under the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire. The new rulers patronised local musicians at their courts, and these kings in turn developed a growing interest in regional musical styles. Although the Delhi Sultanate's early generations may have had roots in customs from outside of India, they progressively incorporated many elements of traditional Hindu culture into their societies. As a result, new musical fusions like qawwali and khayal emerged, fusing Hindu and Muslim cultures.

Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), frequently referred to be the father of Hindustani classical music, was the most significant musician of the Delhi Sultanate era. He is credited with systematising many facets of Hindustani music and introducing the ragas Zeelaf and Sarparda. He was a prolific composer in Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Braj Bhasha. He invented the qawwali genre, which blends Persian melody and beat over a dhrupad-like framework. In his era, a number of instruments were also developed, including the sitar and tabla.

Hindustani classical music was largely composed for vocal performance, and a lot of the instruments were chosen and rated based on how effectively they imitated the human voice.

ESSENCE OF HINDUSTANI MUSIC

A traditional Hindustani performance, which can last for more than an hour, starts with a lengthy, non-metric improvisation (alapa, or alap) performed by the singer or melodic soloist. This is followed by jor, which is an improvisation without a metric cycle but with a discernible pulse, and finally by the analogous but faster jhala. The prepared piece then follows, which is played with improvised variations—typically gat, a brief, rhythmically unique subject in instrumental music, and khayal, a poetic form, in vocal music. Here, a percussionist playing the tabla provides accompaniment for the soloist, and the improvisations frequently feature various forms of virtuosic rhythmic rivalry and collaboration.

The fundamentals of raga (a form of melody or framework for improvisation) and tala (a cyclical rhythmic pattern) are the same in the south and the north, but there are many stylistic variances as well. Each musical culture has its own repertory of genuine ragas and talas. With its more unified Indian tradition, Karnatak music has developed much more systematic and consistent systems for raga and tala classification.

 

Types of compositions

Dhrupad, khayal, and thumri are the three main vocal genres associated with Hindustani classical music. Dhamar, tarana, trivat, chaiti, kajari, tappa, tapkhayal, ashtapadi, ghazal, and bhajan are further forms. Some of them have a crossover to folk or semi-classical ('light' classical) music since they frequently do not follow the exacting standards of 'pure' classical music.

Dhrupad

The Hindu sacred singing technique known as dhrupad is mostly performed by men. Tanpura, a long-necked lute, and pakhawaj, a barrel-shaped percussion instrument, are used to accompany it during performance. The words, which were originally in Sanskrit and were spoken in Mathura centuries ago, are now performed in Brajbhasha, a mediaeval dialect of Hindi. Instrumental music in the Dhrupad style is played on the rudra veena, an old string instrument.

Tansen, a legendary Indian singer, performed in the Dhrupad style. During the Holi festival, Dhamar, a lighter version of Dhrupad, is sung.

Members of the Dagar lineage, such as the late Senior Dagar brothers, Us. Nasir Moinuddin Dagar, and Us. Nasir Aminuddin Dagar; are some of the most well-known vocalists who perform in the Dhrupad style. 

Khayal

Khayal, a type of vocal music, is highly emotive and virtually entirely improvised. A khayal is a song with lyrics that range from 4 to 8 lines long. The singer then bases his or her improvisation on these few phrases. Although its roots are uncertain, it first appeared under Hussain Shah Sharqi's authority in the fifteenth century and gained popularity under Mohammed Shah's rule in the eighteenth century. The most well-known composers during this time were Niamat Khan's pseudonym Sadarang, Adarang, Manrang, and Nisar Hussain Khan Gwalior.

Tarana

Tarana is a different singing style that expresses joy and is typically performed toward the end of a concert. They are composed of a few lines of musically accompanied rhythmic noises or bols. These few phrases serve as the foundation for the singer's incredibly quick improvisation. It is comparable to Carnatic music's Tillana..

Thumri

Thumri, a semi-classical vocal style, is credited with starting during the 1847–1856 reign of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. Thumri comes in three varieties: Punjabi, Lucknavi, and poorab ang. The lyrics are typically amorous and written in Braj bhasha, a proto-Hindi language.

Ghazal

The ghazal is a type of Persian poetry. Classical writers like Mir Taqi Mir, Ghalib, Zauq, and Sauda among the North Indian literary elite popularised ghazals, which later became the most popular genre of Urdu poetry in the Indian subcontinent. This poetic form is frequently included into popular vocal music in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Turkey, India, and Pakistan. Although ghazals come in a variety of styles, including folk and pop, their best exponents sing them in a semi-classical manner.

Although vocal performance is definitely the main focus of Hindustani music, instrumental forms have been around for a very long time. Hindustani instrumental music has garnered increased interest in recent years, especially outside of South Asia, maybe because vocal music's lyrics are more difficult to understand.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Hindustani classical music is related with a variety of musical instruments. The string instrument veena was once thought to be the most significant, but today few people play it and it has mostly been replaced by its relatives the sitar and the sarod, both of which were influenced by Persian music.Other string instruments that are plucked or struck include the surbahar, sursringar, santoor, and different slide guitar iterations. Sarangi, esraj (or dilruba), and violin are three common bowed instruments. Important wind instruments include the harmonium, shehnai, and bansuri (a bamboo flute). The tabla and pakhavaj are the most widely used instruments in the percussion ensemble. There have also been other other instruments utilised to varied degrees, such as the piano and the banjo.

 INFLUENCE OF HINDUSTANI MUSIC IN HINDI MOVIES

Hindustani music practitioners and fans frequently have contempt for Hindi and regional film songs. This is clear from what they have said in interviews that have been published and in private conversations. Whenever possible, they balance their critique with appreciation for classic film tunes from the past, especially those written between the 1950s and the 1970s that, in their opinion, are based on different raags. In fact, there are some Hindi film songs from this era that feature melodies that are similar to a variety of raags.

Numerous film songs' rhythm arrangements have been influenced by Hindustani taals.

Given this backdrop, it is understandable that mention of raags connected to particular film songs can be found in a variety of media.

Readers who listened to Vividh Bharati, the AIR commercial service that debuted in 1957, may recall the well-known programme called Sangeet Sarita, which featured a number of episodes that provided a brief explanation of the standardised grammar of the raags and taals as well as a list of films that used these raags and taals.

This was a prime example of educational radio programming, and it provided a quick and simple method of distinguishing raags from the films that were derived from them. But those unfamiliar with the subtleties of Hindustani music frequently believed in error that these film songs actually represented Hindustani music.

From the early 20th century until the 1960s, Indian film music was greatly influenced by Indian classical music, which is known for its extensive use of scales (Ragas) and rhythm patterns (Talas). Most of the time, composers used common ragas like "Asavari," "Bilawal," "Kalyan," "Kaf," "Bhairav," and "Khamaj," but they have also occasionally used uncommon ragas like "Nayaki," "Kirwani," "Shivaranjani," and "Megh."

The 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s saw the peak of film music's popularity thanks to Naushad Saheb, who is credited with giving it several dimensions by incorporating classical tunes and folklore. Some of the musical masterworks were produced by him . His orchestration and background music talents were top-notch in Pakeezah as he combined Lataji's hauntingly beautiful "Aalaps" with a number of enticing "Thumris" to create a great blend of rhythm and melody. While "Man tarapat hari darasan," a bhajan written in "Raga Malkauns," is still well-known among the general public, "Ek shahenshah ne banwa ke haseen" from the film "Taj Mahal," which is based on "Raga lalit," was a lovely morning tune.

A.R REHMAN

In order to produce distinctive timbre, forms, and instrumentation that would appeal to his international audiences, A.R. Rehman combined aspects of Hindustani, Carnatic, and Qawwali music as well as Qawwali genres with Western classical and electronic music. The Times "10 Best Soundtracks" list for 2005 included Rehman's first soundtrack for "Roja," which was based on the Raga "Khamaj." Stringed instruments were used to create a peaceful atmosphere in Jodha Akbar's "Jashn-E-Baharaa," while in "Khwaja mere khwaja," he artistically blended the traditional classical Qawwali style to describe the Mehfil-e Sama in Akbar's royal residence.

Over time, even the most commercial cinema has incorporated ancient Indian music genres and raga nuances to create memorable compositions.

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