A lek-dam at the Music Academy drew attention to improvised forms of raga performance in Carnatic music

V. Subashree and Vignesh Krishnamurthy

The sixth day of the academic session at the Music Academy began with a lecture titled ‘An Examination of Alapa and Thaya’ by Aarti Rao. Both Alapa and Thaya are described in 17th century texts, Sangeeta Sudha Govinda Dixit’s and Chaturdandi Prakayaksha Venkatmakhin’s. Earlier the rules for presenting alapas in 50 ragas have been described. Sangeeta Ratnakar The work of Sarangadeva (13th century) discusses two immediate forms of raga presentation: alapasa of village ragas and alaptis of desi ragas. The speaker compared these forms with the Alpas described Sangeeta Sudha And Chaturdandi PrakayakshaAnd with music notation from the TMSSML library. By the 17th century, alapa and thaya had evolved into pre-composed musical forms.

The speaker explained how the meanings of technical terminology change over time. In the grama raga period, the amsa swara had an important function of defining the boundaries of the octave of a jati. Until the 17th century, amsa swara referred to an important note in a raga.

Alapa-Chaturdandi Prakayaksha, Four major stages of ālapa – introduction (akshiptika/ayittam), elaboration (rāgavardhini), construction (sthayī) and conclusion (vartāṇī) were described. There are several sections of Ragavardhini and Sthiri. Each sthairai consists of melodic phrases around a base note, touching another note.

Alapa-Sangeeta Sudha, In Sangeeta SudhaEach alapa comes before the raga lakshana. The speaker noted that in some ragas, the Graha swara is not Shadaj, which appears to be a relic of earlier times when Shadaj was not the tonic swara. As today, each alapa ends on shadja, raising a question regarding the role of the nyasa swara.

Sthiri sections were named after the corresponding base note, for example, Pancham Sthiri refers to a section with the base note Pa. Interestingly, none of the sthira has Dhaivat and Nishad as base notes. Sangeeta SudhaAarti Rao hypothesized that a higher base note would be required to move well into the next octave. He pointed to the permanent structure emerging in Shyama Shastri’s ‘Bhairavi Swarajati’.

Aarti Rao played a recording of Malahari Alapa interpreted from the TMSSML manuscripts. It consists of short phrases. in raga lakshana Sangeeta Sudha And the notations mostly agree, except for Graha Swara, which is listed as Shaivata. Sangeeta SudhaBut is not reflected in the marking. Its flow varies from format to format Sangeeta Sudha,

The speaker observed that the actual number of alapa steps in the notation is always less than Sangeeta SudhaAssuming that in the format Sangeeta SudhaMay represent the maximum possible scope of Alapa, and in practice it may not be necessary to cover the entire range.

Thaya: First mentioned in Sangeet Samay Saar of Parshvadeva (13th century), it refers to melodic phrases. Thais in manuscripts follow Alapa notation, and are sometimes identical to the steyi of Alapa, raising the question of why both existed. Some scholars have described current developments independent of older concepts.

The Expert Committee discussed the possibility and challenges of comparing the alapasas of currently popular ragas with the texts. Sangeeta Kalandhi’s nominee TM Krishna also talked about the possibility of development in instrumental composition through Thaya’s voice. Krishna also discussed taala-bounded and non-taala-bounded forms.

Overall, the lecture contained a wealth of insights gained from painstaking study of the notations and texts, and raised many important questions for further research.

The second session of the day was ‘Thought-provoking expressions of Mohiniyattam using Carnatic music’ by Neena Prasad, Mohiniyattam exponent and this year’s Nritya Kalanidhi Award winner.

The senior dancer began the presentation by speaking about the role of Carnatic music in various dance styles, specifically mentioning Mohiniyattam and how it helps express the emotions of the compositions being performed. He explained how Mohiniyattam generally uses Carnatic music in a soft and slow manner unlike other dance forms (phrases) Vilamba Kala Sangeetham used). This was highlighted by the first piece presented, a Cholukkattu in Ritigaula and set on Chatusara Ata taala.

Neena Prasad presented excerpts from her choreographic works to highlight the use of Carnatic ragas in them. Photo courtesy: K. pichumani

Then the focus shifted to the meaning of literature. The play ‘Sakhe Krishnasakhe’ based on Pratibha Rai’s play on Draupadi was staged. In it, Draupadi, helpless in her plight, writes to Krishna demanding a normal life upon rebirth. To convey the poignancy in the song, it was tuned in raga Latangi.

After this came an article on Devyani (another character from the film) Mahabharata) and his fight with friend Sharmistha. Here Raga Darbar was used to generate aggression. Neena Prasad then talked about her extensive work with Shyama Shastri’s ‘Bhairavi Swarajathi’ and presented Pallavi and Pahela Swara Sahitya. This was perhaps the first time that this composition was being discussed in Mohiniyattam. It was also interesting to note that Bhairavi Swarajathi was mentioned in both the presentations!

Neena talked about dance being an undercurrent in the experience to bring out the beauty of music and literature. It was an interesting statement because it was from a dancer’s point of view.

‘How to select appropriate ragas?’ This was an important topic that was mentioned several times during the presentation, especially in the question-and-answer session when Naresh Kirti of Ashoka University asked about the ragas chosen in choreographies with strong narrative content compared to those without.

Neena Prasad concludes Lake-Dame with a poignant rendition based on Amrapali as she comes out to see the graveyard-like battlefield. This emotional piece was based on the controversial Raga Raga Ganamurthy. In his summary, TM Krishna explains that the sound of the Vivadi note evokes a dissonant emotional response from the listener, comparing it to the ‘devil’s note’ in Western music.

Krishna discussed the idea of ​​raga bhava which means different things in different art forms. He also raised questions about the Kalapramana (tempo) of the raga and asked what is the limit beyond which the raga disappears.

Many of the pieces presented were tuned by Changanassery Madhavan Nampoothiri, who has been Neena’s collaborator for three decades and provides vocals for Lek-Dame. Finally, he explains how his choice of raga is primarily inspired by the spirit of the text. Vidya Pradeep on Nattuvangam and KP Ramesh Babu on Mridangam also supported him.