Vadi/Samvadi/Playing Time in Carnatic Music
AB
Did the practice of having a "vadi/samvadi" and a "time of playing"
for each raga ever exist in Carnatic music? If so, when did it stop being used
in raga performance? Was this after the 72 melakartha scheme was adopted?
This is for a research project for a RagaNet magazine article. Any informed answers
with book sources would really help.
Ashwin Batish
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Dakshin
ri-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni-sa....etc. (chop one swara until you are left with sa)
Samvadi starts with sa-ni-dha-pa-ma-ga-ri-sa and has the same scheme.
Vivadi starts with sa-mma-ga-ri (emphasis on ma). There are also anuvadi,
dhal, sphruti, kampita, ahata, pratyahita, tripucha, andola, etc.
The schemes of Vadi, Samvadi and Vivadi are so simple that I've heard it
only in beginner's lessons. Accomplished Carnatic vocalists have used the
rest of swara executions.
I am curious to know how in Hindusthani music these terms have been
defined and executed. Please copy to e-mail your reply, if you can.
Dakshin Murthy
Ranganathan Srikanth
VAdam/samvAdam as a concept has always existed and is
very much an integral part of carnatic music that is current.
It cannot be overlooked in ragas where they introduce a
very strong character eg. mayamalavagowla, thodi, hamsadhvani etc...
VivAdam is also an important concept and many very old
ragas with vivAdi pairs of note are often performed
eg. nAtai, varAli etc...
chrono-urnal (:-) concept is also very much there. Most
raga laskhana slokas have the kAla indicating words
built into them like sarvakAlika, sAyankAla, madhyakAla etc..
However, since the begining of this century diminishing
importance has been given to this not more than a lip service.
This has helped to assess the validity of time constraint
on some ragas.
srikanth
AB
Namaskar Srikanthji,
Thanks for replying to my post.
>
>VAdam/samvAdam as a concept has always existed and is
>very much an integral part of carnatic music that is current.
>It cannot be overlooked in ragas where they introduce a
>very strong character eg. mayamalavagowla, thodi, hamsadhvani etc...
>
>VivAdam is also an important concept and many very old
>ragas with vivAdi pairs of note are often performed
>eg. nAtai, varAli etc...
Are there any South Indian music authors that have produced a work that
will list this information for the various Carnatic ragas? I'm having
a tough time researching this.
>
>chrono-urnal (:-) concept is also very much there. Most
>raga laskhana slokas have the kAla indicating words
>built into them like sarvakAlika, sAyankAla, madhyakAla etc..
I would be interested in knowing "whose" slokas I should study
to get to this information. Could you please suggest. I was sure
this concept exists in Carnatic music but cannot find any complete work
addressing these areas. I'm also trying to research at what point in Bharatiya
history did North and South Indian music systems splitup.
>
>However, since the begining of this century diminishing
>importance has been given to this not more than a lip service.
>This has helped to assess the validity of time constraint
>on some ragas.
What do you think has been the reaction to this by the South
Indian music listener? I have seen this rule relaxed by some
musicians in the North Indian tradition also. But it is much
easier accessing the theory for this in the Northern tradition.
>
>srikanth
Regards,
Ashwin
PS: could you elaborate on the "chrono-urnal" term? I didn't quite get it
Dakshin
confused between time of the day vs. timing of notes in a raga. The
various talas, of which adi and rupaka are very well known, are based on
the time intervals to utter a certain number of letters. For instance, adi
tala belongs to the family of triputa tala with an 8-letter time period.
Rupaka's timing varies from 5-11 letters. How it is achieved varies very
widely. In fact, I would think it is a matter of one's own judgement. The
late Chittibabu's veena rendition of Jagadanandakaraka and
Endaromahanubhavulu, for instance, go much slower than their vocal
counterparts. If anyone can lip-sing to the veena, especially the words,
and make it sound melodious it will be quite a feat.
As for the time of day to render a raga...it is a whole different story.
It will be asynchronous to a number of ears if "Meluko Srirarama" (in
whatever raga) is sung at 6 p.m. when most people have gone through their
day, imagine that!. However, Vatapi Ganapatim in Hamsadhvani goes at any
time of the day. I think lullaby ragas (to my ear they outnumber the
phrase oriented ragas like Athana) abound in Carnatic music to put
everyone to sleep in a concert and should not be sung for a live audience
(like alcohol is not served to the drivers in a party :-). Whereas, the
same lullaby ragas make an excellent companion for a lazy afternoon.
One of our good friend thinks there is a split between North and South
Indian versions of music. It is too populist to predict one, as far as I
am concerned. Music evolves by the "sangatis" or local renditions. The
basic swaras, we can debate how many are there ad infinitum, are atomic to
all Indian music (if you wish call them quarks or whatever is your latest
subatomic particle from U. of Chicago around my corner here :-). I think
swara based ragas came about so that instrumentalists can easily figure
out what swaras are NOT there. Words make a raga memorable as most people
can't hum to a raga with swaras. In fact, most Carnatic musicologists
don't use swaras for moorchana. Moorchana is based on ta-da-ri-na. In our
dance, ta-di-ki-ta-ta-ki-ta goes and rarely any swara is used. A best case
in point is one of Smt. Sobharaj's tapes of Annamacharya where the kirtana
is interspersed with sapta swaras and ta-di-ki-ta-ta-ki-ta swaras. It
makes the music all the more melodious
And to the person who is hoping to write a book--please look for your
sources in India rather than on the internet. That's where carnatic music
is practiced and taught. Here we just talk about it. A good book should
have reliable sources.
Dakshin Murthy
Srini Pichumani
>
>Did the practice of having a "vadi/samvadi" and a "time of playing"
>for each raga ever exist in Carnatic music? If so, when did it stop
>being used in raga performance? Was this after the 72 melakartha
>scheme was adopted?
Before this question can be answered, we have to understand that
the terms "vAdi", "samvAdi" have had different connotations over
the years... the broadest, earliest definition of these terms
just seems to encompass the 9-shruti, 13-shruti consonances (i.e.
the consonance of the fourth and the fifth... or 4/3, 5/4 in
fractions ). Other terms like ams'a, graha, nyAsa etc were used
to indicate svaras in a raga's scale that served a distinct melodic
purpose.
Vadi/Samvadi as used in contemporary Hindustani music however
seems to indicate the svaras that serve as axes, in the two tetra-
chords that make up the octave, around which a raga is elaborated.
Thus the Vadi/ams'a categories seem to have coalesced. I don't know
if Pt.Bhatkande is solely responsible for this modern definition of
"vAdi"... but Pt.Omkarnath Thakur severely criticizes him for giving
such new, different "meanings" to ancient terms, for inconsistencies
in his theorizing, etc... and seems to prefer keeping vadi, ams'a as
separate entities.
[I have not read their books... but there is a very interesting
and detailed article comparing the theories of the two legendary
scholars, by Prof.Harold Powers in the following book.
Title: The Traditional Indian theory and practice of music
and dance / edited by Jonathan Katz.
Published: Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1992.
Description: 230 p. : music ; 24 cm.
Series: World Sanskrit Conference (7th : 1987 : Kern Institute).
Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference ; vol. 11.
]
Now, in Carnatic music, the terms vAdi/samvAdi (or rather, just
samvAda svaras) serves to indicate just consonant svaras. Even
when not articulated explicitly, they are present subliminally in
the melody... in rAga AlApana, compositions etc... in the latter,
they are very prominent and help establish connections between
the different parts of a composition... Prof.Sambamurthy mentions
this in his books, when discussing the pallavi, anupallavi, caraNa
structure of kritis. In rAga AlApana of many old rAgas, the preferred
melodic patterns, the emphases, the correct intonations, the gamakas
given to corresponding svaras in the two tetrachords, etc seem to
follow this vAdi/samvAdi principle closely.
However, it is certainly true that a straight scale based elaboration
has also gained strong ground... call it "the emancipation of dissonance"
if you will ;-) as I once heard during a program on Webern !
And yes, to a large extent this maybe concomitant with other theoretical
entities like mEla, Arohana/Avarohana, gaining ground... in the same book
that I have cited above, there is an _excellent_ article by Prof.N.Ramanathan
on how emerging theories and practice have influenced each other, with
specific emphasis on the post-Sangita Ratnakara period in Carnatic music.
_______________________________________
As regards the time theory, yes, it was there in some limited sense
in Carnatic music too... but probably has been given up entirely in
the modern era of concerts...
In the ancient Tamil works, where paNs (rAgas) are talked about,
there is a clear mention of
pagal paN - daytime rAgas
iravu paN - night rAgas
poduppaN - common...
and this was/is still followed (to what extent, I don't know
exactly) in singing the tEvArams. In all the other treatises too,
there is mention of the time theory, with the attendant confusion
about time assignments ! For example, Venkatamakhi calls Bauli an
evening raga... a lot of Mayamalavagaula (Bhairav) based ragas are
given the evening time slot !
Maybe it was just a simple mistake... it is unimaginable, as someone
else mentioned, to think of anyone, in the bygone centuries, singing
bhUpALam or bauLi or Tyagaraja's kriti "mElukOvayyA" in bauLi in the
evening.
However, this raises the issue of the lyrics... yet another beast !
_______________________________________________________
-Srini.
ps: Even in the elaboration of new/rare/"vivAdi" rAgas or melakartas or
what have you, where there is a penchant for straight scale based
elaboration, this consonance principle still holds sway... you can
observe this in the music of GNB, Balamurali, Kalyanaraman, MLV, TNS,
TVS, etc as they do rAga Alapanas.