Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like Shastriya Sangeet and Marg Sangeet. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as Hindustani and the South Indian expression known as Carnatic. Hindustani music emphasizes improvisation and exploration of all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic performances tend to be short composition-based. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences. Another unique classical music tradition from the eastern part of India is Odissi music, which has evolved over the last two thousand years.
The roots of the classical music of India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism and the ancient Natyashastra, the classic Sanskrit text on performing arts by Bharata Muni., Quote: "The tradition of Indian classical music and dance known as Sangeeta is fundamentally rooted in the sonic and musical dimensions of the Vedas (Sama veda), Upanishads and the Agamas, such that Indian music has been nearly always religious in character". The 13th century Sanskrit text Sangeeta-Ratnakara of Sarangadeva is regarded as the definitive text by both the Hindustani music and the Carnatic music traditions.
Indian classical music has two foundational elements, raga and tala. The raga, based on a varied repertoire of swara (notes including microtones), forms the fabric of a deeply intricate melodic structure, while the tala measures the time cycle. The raga gives an artist a palette to build the melody from sounds, while the tala provides them with a creative framework for rhythmic improvisation using time. In Indian classical music the space between the notes is often more important than the notes themselves, and it traditionally eschews Western classical concepts such as harmony, counterpoint, chords, or modulation.
History The root of music in ancient India is found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism. Around 1250 AD, sangeeta (loosely, "music") was said to be made of three components: melody (gita), drumming (vadya), and dance (nrtta). As these fields developed, sangeeta became a distinct genre of art, in a form equivalent to contemporary music. This likely occurred before the time of Yāska (), since he includes these terms in his nirukta studies, one of the six Vedanga of ancient Indian tradition. Some of the ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Samaveda () are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of Rigveda set to music.Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, , pp. 4–5
Samaveda The Samaveda is organized into two formats. One part is based on the musical meter, another by the aim of the rituals. The text is written with embedded coding, where swaras (octave notes) are either shown above or within the text, or the verse is written into parvans (knot or member); in simple words, this embedded code of swaras is like the skeleton of the song. The swaras have about 12 different forms and different combinations of these swaras are made to sit under the names of different ragas. The specific code of a song clearly tells us what combination of swaras are present in a specific song. The lyrical part of the song is called "sahityam" and sahityam is just like singing the swaras altogether but using the lyrics of the song. The code in the form of swaras have even the notation of which note to be sung high and which one low. The hymns of Samaveda contain melodic content, form, rhythm and metric organization. This structure is, however, not unique or limited to Samaveda. The Rigveda embeds the musical meter too, without the kind of elaboration found in the Samaveda. For example, the Gayatri mantra contains three metric lines of exactly eight syllables, with an embedded ternary rhythm.
Origins In the ancient traditions of Hinduism, two musical genre appeared, namely Gandharva (formal, composed, ceremonial music) and Gana (informal, improvised, entertainment music). The Gandharva music also implied celestial, divine associations, while the Gana also implied singing. The Vedic Sanskrit musical tradition had spread widely in the Indian subcontinent, and according to Rowell, the ancient Tamil classics make it "abundantly clear that a cultivated musical tradition existed in South India as early as the last few pre-Christian centuries".
The classic Sanskrit text Natya Shastra is at the foundation of the numerous classical music and dance traditions of India. Before Natyashastra was finalized, the ancient Indian traditions had classified musical instruments into four groups based on their acoustic principle (how they work, rather than the material they are made of) for example flute which works with gracious in and out flow of air. These four categories are accepted as given and are four separate chapters in the Natyashastra, one each on stringed instruments (chordophones), hollow instruments (aerophones), solid instruments (idiophones), and covered instruments (membranophones).
Of these, states Levis Rowell, the idiophone in the form of "small bronze cymbals" were used for tala. Almost the entire chapter of Natyashastra on idiophones, by Bharata, is a theoretical treatise on the system of tala. Time keeping with idiophones was considered a separate function than that of percussion (membranophones), in the early Indian thought on music theory.
The early 13th century Sanskrit text Sangitaratnakara (literally, "Ocean of Music and Dance"), by Sarngadeva patronized by King Sighana of the Yadava dynasty in Maharashtra, mentions and discusses ragas and talas.S.S. Sastri (1943), Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, Adyar Library Press, , pp. v–vi, ix–x (English), for talas discussion see pp. 169–274 (Sanskrit) He identifies seven tala families, then subdivides them into rhythmic ratios, presenting a methodology for improvization and composition that continues to inspire modern era Indian musicians. Sangitaratnakara is one of the most complete historic medieval era Hindu treatises on this subject that has survived into the modern era, that relates to the structure, technique and reasoning behind ragas and talas.
The centrality and significance of music in ancient and early medieval India is also expressed in numerous temple and shrine reliefs, in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, such as through the carving of musicians with cymbals at the fifth century Pavaya temple sculpture near Gwalior, and the Ellora Caves.
Texts The post-Vedic era historical literature relating to Indian classical music has been extensive. The ancient and medieval texts are primarily in Sanskrit (Hinduism), but major reviews of music theory, instruments and practice were also composed in regional languages such as Kannada, Odia, Pali (Buddhism), Prakrit (Jainism), Tamil and Telugu. While numerous manuscripts have survived into the modern era, many original works on Indian music are believed to be lost, and are known to have existed only because they are quoted and discussed in other manuscripts on classical Indian music. Many of the encyclopedic Puranas contain large chapters on music theory and instruments, such as the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Vayu Purana, the Linga Purana, and the Visnudharmottara Purana.A. A. Bake (1962), Review: Textes des Purāṇas sur la Théorie musicale by Alain Daniélou, N. R. Bhatt, Indo-Iranian Journal, BRILL Academic, Volume 5, Number 2 (1961–62), pp. 157–160
The most cited and influential among these texts are the Sama Veda, Natya shastra (classic treatise on music theory, Gandharva), Dattilam, Brihaddesi (treatise on regional classical music forms), and Sangita Ratnakara (definitive text for Carnatic and Hindustani traditions). Most historic music theory texts have been by Hindu scholars. Some classical music texts were also composed by Buddhists and Jain scholars, and in 16th century by Muslim scholars. These are listed in the attached table.
Classical Indian music texts Title Author Century Religion Notability Samaveda - c. 1000 BCE Hinduism Scripture set to music Dattilam Dattila c. 4th century BCE-2nd century CE Hinduism The text marks the transition from the sama-gayan (ritual chants), to gandharva music Natyasastra Bharata Muni c. 200 BCE–200 CE Hinduism Oldest surviving complete Hindu text on music theory and performance arts (Lost texts) Vishakhila, Sardula, Visnudharmottara c. 300–500 CE Hinduism Cited by medieval authors (Lost text) Rahul c. 5th century CE Buddhism Cited by medieval authors Brihaddesi Matanga c. 800–900 CE Hinduism Survives in parts, theory of regional music forms (entertainment), Murchana system Abhinavabharati Abhinavagupta c. 900–1000 CE Hinduism Theory of rasa Sarasvati Hridyalankara Nanyadeva c. 1080 CE Hinduism Music theory,appendix on Natyashastra bhasya Sangita Sudhakara Haripala c. 1175 CE Hinduism Abhilasitartha Cintamani Somesvara c. 12th century CE Hinduism Survives in parts,Murchana system, ragas Sangita Ratnavali Somabhupala c. 1180 CE Hinduism Sangita Samayasara Parsvadeva c. 1200 CE Hinduism Theory of gamakas Sangita Ratnakara Sarngadeva c. 1230 CE Hinduism Systematizes raga, prakirnaka, prabandha, tala, vadya and nritya;Definitive text to Carnatic and Hindustani classical music Sringarahara Raja Sakambhari c. 1300 CE Hinduism Directory of ancient ragas, 89 derivative ragas and 120 talas Rasatatvasamuccaya Allaraja c. 1300 CE Hinduism Four chapters to classical music Sangitopanisadasara Suddhakalasa c. 1350 CE Jainism Music theory, includes rare talas Balabodhan unknown c. 1350 CE Hinduism Review and quotes music texts believed to be lost Visvapradip Bhuvanananda c. 1350 CE Hinduism A major review on raga, tala, musical instruments Sangitacandra Allaraja c. 14th century CE Hinduism Commented by 17th century Nepalese king Jyotirmal Sangita Dipika Madhava Bhatta c. 1400 CE Hinduism Raga-ragini system Sangita Raj Kumbhakarna c. 1449 CE Hinduism A review Svaramelakalanidhi Ramamatya c. 16th century CE Hinduism Carnatic music, mela system Raga Mala,Raga Manjari,Sadraga Candrodaya Pundarika Vittala c. 16th century CE Hinduism Carnatic music, mentions Persian maqam Lahjat-i Sikandar Shahi Umar Sama Yahya c. 16th century CE Islam Hindustani music, includes a review of Natya Shastra and Sangita Ratnakara Rasakaumudi Srikantha c. 16th century CE Jainism A review of music systems Sangita Sudha Raghunatha Thanjavur c. 1620 CE Hinduism Carnatic, Three languages, musical instruments, 264 ragas, 50 popular ragas Sangita Cudamani Govinda c. 1680 CE Hinduism Carnatic, 72 melakartas, musical instruments innovations
Major traditions
The classical music tradition of the ancient and medieval Indian subcontinent (modern Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) were a generally integrated system through the 14th century, after which the socio-political turmoil of the Delhi Sultanate era isolated the north from the south. The music traditions of the North and South India were not considered distinct until about the 16th century, but after that the traditions acquired distinct forms. North Indian classical music is called Hindustani, while the South Indian expression is called Carnatic (sometimes spelled as Karnatic). According to Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, the North Indian tradition acquired its modern form after the 14th or the 15th century.