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Light Classical Music & Semi-Classical Music

 Gazal: The origin is Persian. The themes revolve around ‘love’. These are generally composed of 5-13 couplets (shers) which are independent. Same melodic theme is applied to all the couplets for a particular Gazal composition. Some of the famous exponents are Master Nadan, Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Gulam Ali, and Jagjit Singh.

Qawwali: This is a devotional song sung in a group, but with a solo voice against a chorus. But today the lyrics have become vulgar and obscene.

Soofiana Kalam: This is highly grammatised and has well set rhythmical structure. This form is popular in Kashmir

Keertan: It literally means ‘to sing the praises of’ is a typically Vashnavaite congregational singing of Bengal. Starting from Chatanya Deva (1485-1533) it blossomed out into many varieties.
 
Rabindra Sangeet: Rabindranath Tagore used Indian ragas and talas from Indian classical music and has also taken ingredients from the folk music, like keertans, the bhatiyali and the bauls. He was also influenced by western music. He created various mixed ragas like Bhairava - Bhairavi, Darbari Todi-Bhairavi and created new talas such as Navami and Roopakda.

Semi-Classical Music:

Between classical music and the popular folk and tribal music there is much regional music with less stress on grammar. These forms have been associated with religious festivals, monasteries and temples.

Tevaram: These are religious songs in Tamil Nadu addressed to Lord Siva. The songs were composed by the sixty-three nayanars.

Sopana Sangeet: The songs are sung in Kerala on the doorsteps of temple.

Veera Saiva Vachanas: These were devotional songs in Kannada composed by Basava, Allamaprabhu, Akkamahadevi and many others.

Padas or Devaranama: These were sung in Kannada region by dasas. Dasas were a set of religious singers of the Madhva faith.

Bhajan: Bhajans are sung throughout the north in the praises of the Lord. Narsi Mehta of Gujarat, Mira: the Princess of Mewar, Kabir, and Tulsidas are the chief exponents.

Sabads: The Granth, the holy scripture of Sikhs, contains devotional songs known as Sabads in various ragas.

Karnatak Music: The word ‘Karnatak’ was coined by Vidyaranya in the fifteenth century. He served Vijayanagar Kingdom as Prime minister. However, Karnatak denotes south Indian music distinct from the Hindustani music. This form of music has been influenced greatly by the old Dravidian music.

As for the Tala is concerned, Karnatak music follows the old system and nomenclature of mantras (beats). Ragas in the south are mostly named in Sanskrit, whereas, in the north, the names are derivatives of the dialects of the regions.

Stalwarts of Karnatak Music: Jallapakkam Annamacharya of Andhra Pradesh is believed to have conceived Kirti form of composition, which consists of pallavi, anupallavi and Charanam. Purandardasa, who hailed from Maharashtra, is said to have composed 475,000 songs (according to his own reference in the dasarpada). He developed the Kriti, which had just been introduced by Jallapakkam. He also composed the earliest laksana gitas and other vocal exercises. The immortal Trinity of Karnatak music, Thyagaraja, Syama Sastry and Muthuswami Dikshitar, were born in the later half of the nineteenth century. The greatest of them was undoubtedly Thyagaraja. He would make several compositions in a Raga so as to explore thoroughly its various musical potentialities. He also introduced what are known as sangatis. These are beautiful variations of phrases occurring in Kritis.

The post-Trinity period witnessed many stalwarts setting traditions and different styles. Some of the important names are Patnam Subramani lyer, Poochi Srinivas Iyengar, Veena Dhanam, Tirukodikaval Krishna Iyer (violin), Subrama Diksatar (musicologist and Vainikar), Govindswami Pillai (violin), Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer, Kumbakonam Azhagunambi Pillai (Mridangam), Sarabha Sastri (flute), and Pudukkottai Daksinamurti Pillai (Mridangam and Kemjira). There are several other individual musicians who established themselves for their originality of styles. Maharajapuram Viswanatha lyer and G.N. Balasubramanium are worthy of mention in particular.

Sarabha Sastri left behind Palladam Sanjeeva Rao who held the top position among flute players for several decades, until the genius of T. R. Mahalingam appeared. After Sanjeeva Rao, T.S. Swaminatha Pillai was in several respects a much better flautist in Raga delineation. Veena Dhanam is the quintessence of Karnatak music. Her style was handed down to her daughters who, in turn, passed it on to their daughters. Her grandchildren are Brinda and Mukta (Vocal), Balasarswati (Bharatnatyam) and Vishwanath (flute). The family is the best exponent of the Padams. Other great names are T.R. Mahalingam (Mali), T. Viswanatha (Viswam), and the violinists M.S. Gopalkrishnan, T.N. Krishnan and Lalgudi Jayaraman.

Kriti
Kriti is the finest compositional type. The word Kriti means "that which is made or created". The musical structure is of greater significance. The text is always religious. If compared with the Kheyals, it stands out in the term of literary value. Also the structural beauty is better planned than that of the modern Kheyal. Like dhrupad it is independent of the alapa.

Pallavi, the anupallavi and the Charanam are the three parts of a Kriti. Pallavi is the opening section followed by anupallavi. After each Charanam the pallavi has to be repeated. The oldest Kritis were those of Tallapakkam Annamacharya (15th century) written in Telegu. The hey days of Kriti were in the 18th century with the rise of the Trinity: Syama Sastry, Tyagaraja,
Muttusvami Deekshitra. Svati Tirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore, was also a composer of some eminence.

Padam
It is a ‘lighter’ composition. The mood is one of erotic lyricism both in text & music. Padams are slower in tempo than Javoli.

LITERATURE OF SOUTHERN INDIA

 Kannad Literature: Kannad is one of the important parts of Indian literature and even during the fifth century, it was considered well developed. It is very close to the Sanskrit. During the 10th century, Pampa, Ranna and Panna were the three chief architects of this language. In the 13th century, Shabada ManiDarpan, a Kannad grammar was composed by Kashiraj. Nagvarma II produced Vastukosh which is combination of both, Sanskrit and Kannad.

 A revolutionary change in the Kannad literature was brought by Basveshwar who contributed a lot in prose writing which was also adopted by Telugu. The Kannad Bharat of Kumar Vayas also became very popular. Lakshmeesh and Shanker Dev are the other popular authors. The tradition of modernity in Kannad literature started in 1850.

The prominent authors of the cultural Renaissance period were B.M. Shri Kantya, M. Govinda Pandey, K.V. Puttama and D.R. Bandre

Puttama and Bandre have been awarded Gyanpith award. Girish Karnad is the famous dramatist of this phase. The fiction Sanskar of U.R. Anantmurthi has also bagged Gyanpith award.

Konkani Literature: Konkani is very close to Marathi and Hindi. The Portuguese impact may be easily traced in most of the literary work of Konkani. Father Jokim The Mirando, a Portuguese is the greatest poet of the Konkani. In the 18th century, he wrote Riglojesu Bholantam, a rebirth story of Jesus Christ. Another Portuguese author wrote Papyansee Kaserthiti (Protector of Sinners). The modern phase in the Konkani started in 19th century during which Shomaya Goyambay, B. Barker, R.B. Pandit and Sar Desai were the chief authors. The prominent Konkani novelists are Reginaldo, Fernandese, M. Sar Desai and B.J.P. Saldhana.

Tamil Literature: It is the language of Dravida family, the origin of which may be traced around 500 B.C. It is very ancient as well as modern. At the primary stage Tolkapiyam, a grammar was published. This period (500 B.C -200 B.C.) is known as the Sangam Period. Poddituppanu and Ettatu are the other major works. During this period, most of the literary works followed either the theme of war or love. Tirukural of Tiruvallure is still very popular.

As far as devotional literary work is concerned, the Ramayana of Kamban got wide popularity like Ramcharitamanasa of Tulsidas. Manimekhale and Shilappadikaram are the other prominent epics. The Shavism and Vaishnavism theme may be tracedd in the works of Nayanar and Alwar respectively. The Tamil devotional songs also consist of the works of Jainism, Buddhism, Christian and Muslim literary tradition. Umru Puluor has composed 500 verses on the life of Hajrat Mohammad.

The trends of modernisation, patriotism and consciousness in Tamil literature started with the works of Subrahamanyam Bharti. He inspired thousands of youths through his literary works. The other prominent novelists are Rajan Ayyar, Madhavaiya, Pudumaipitan, K.P. Rajgopalan and Kalki Krishnamurthi. The chief architects of prose composition are Jayakanthan, Neela Podamnabhan, Sunderamswami, Indira Parthsarthi etc.

Telugu Literature: The origin of this language is traced in the 11th century. It is also a language of Dravida family and largely influenced by the Sanskrit language. The period between 11th to 15th century is considered as the period of translation. In the 16th century. The poet, Srinath emerged who composed Shreengar Naishadham which was widely acclaimed.

Gona Ganna Reddy is considered as the Tulsidas of Telugu. His Rangnath Ramayana became very popular. Patana, Tikkanna and Gauranna were the other religious poets. The period of 16th and 17th centuries is considered as the golden age in the Telugu literature. Manucharitra, Poddadana and Amukta Malyada of Krishnadev Rai became very popular during this phase. 19th century is considered as the period of Renaissance in Telugu literature. Vireshlingam Pantlu (1818-1919) composed his literary works against the social evils. His novel Rajshekhar Charitamu is considered as the modern great literary o work of modern times.  

Malayalam Literature: The primary Malayalam literary tradition consists of three streams of thought in its composition. The first is the Pach Malayam stream, which consists of folk song and folk story. The second is the Tamil stream, during which the Ramayana like composition were composed and third is the Sanskritic stream, during which refined literary compositions were composed.

In the 15th century, Krishnagatha was composed by Cherushasheri Nambudri. The second known author of this century was Eshutchan who composed, Adhayatam Ramayana, Bhartam and Bhagvatam. The poetic works, Kottaakara of Ramnattam, Bakbadham Kalkeybadham of Kotayantu Tapuran, Nalcharitam of Unayani Variyar etc. are also became popular.

GLIMPSES OF LITERATURE OF NORTHER INDIA

Dogri Literature: Recently, the Dogri language has adopted the Devnagari script by replacing Takri. It is generally spoken in Himachal I Pradesh and Jammu. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit and Pahari Dogra languages. Manchand, Gambhir Rai, Devi Dutta and Ganga Ram were the famous poet from 16th to 19th century. The first prose writing in the Dogri was started with the translation of Rajauli.

In 1818, the Christian Missionary published the Old Testament in Dogri. In the modern time, Hardutta Shashtri and Deeni Bhai Pant are the two great poets. Ved Rahi is famous as a novelist in Dogri while Narendra Khajuria is known as a prose writer.

Kashmiri Literature: The Kashmiri language and literature is greatly influenced by the Farsi and Sanskrit. The famous Brihat Katha Manjri of Sanskrit is entirely written in Kashmiri. The first literary works in Kashmiri is Tantrasar of Abhinav Gupta which was composed during the 11th century. The famous poetess Laldodha opted the theme of feminism in her writing.
The modern phase in Kashmiri literature started when a large number of Urdu poets used to start writing in Kashmiri. Prominent among them are Mahjur, Kaulam, Akhatar Moinuddin, Mohammad Amin Kamil and Ali Mohammad

Punjabi Literature: The Punjabi language independently came into existence in the 11th century onwards. It is largely influenced by Persian, Arabic and Vedic literary traditions. Baba Fareed is assumed as the first poet of Punjabi. Besides Baba Fareed, Amir, Khusro composed War in Punjabi in 13th century.

The Punjabi literary tradition followed the gurukool tradition right from Guru Nanak (1469) to the death of Guru Govind Singh (1708). This period is considered as the Golden period or age during which the Gurumukhi script was adopted by Punjabi. During this phase, a large number of mystic and religious compositions were created and the Aadi Granth came into its final form.

In 1800, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Shree Madbhagwat Gita, Puranas and Upanishads were translated into Punjabi. In 1852, Bible was translated into Punjabi. The first Punjabi newspaper ‘Khalsa Samachar’ was published from Amritser in 1854. Some of the prominent and modern Punjabi authors are/were Amrita Pritam, Ajit Kaur, Mahendra Singh Sarna (poet) Gur Baksh Singh, Harcharan Singh (Dramatist) etc. Amrita Pritam got Gyanpith award.

Maithili Literature: Maithili is chiefly spoken in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar. It is the second State language of Bihar. During the 8th century, Maithili was passing through its primary stage of development. Its origin may be traced in the ancient Buddha and Sanskrit literature. In the 14th century, Jyotishwar enriched the literature in a wholestic way. His work Dhurt Samagam is very popular in Maithili. Vidyapati was another founding father of Maithili. He was the court poet of Mithilanchal under King Shiv Narayan. His poetic works and songs are full of devotion to the God Shiva.
He opted the theme of love, beauty and separation for his literary work. He is also very popular in Hindi and Bengali. In the 20th century, Hari Mohan Jha, Mayanand Mishra, Baba Nagarjun, Ramanand Renu etc. contributed in the field of prose writing. The Graduate Putauh and Kanyadan of Hari Mohan Jha are very popular

Sanskrit Literature: The origin of Sanskrit language is traced during the 1500 B.C. to 1200 B.C. Earlier the literary works of Sanskrit were orally transmitted from generation to generation or from teachers to disciples. The Ashathadhayi of Panini, Ramayana of Valmiki, Mahabharata of Vyas etc. were composed during the fifth century B.C. Around 1000 B.C. Gita was composed. Brihatkathamanjari of Kshemendra was also composed during this period. The Pancha-Tantra of Vishnu Sharma, Budhacharitra of Ashwaghosh and Bodhimatiakavya of Saurdanand are other famous works of this period. Meghdutam, Kumarsambhav and Raghuvansham of Kalidas are still very popular. His famous drama, Abhigyan Shakuntalam got world-wide recognition. Malvikagnimitra and Vikramorvshiyam are the other famous dramas of Kalidas.

Kalidas

Ashwaghosh and Bhas started the dramatical composition in Sanskrit. Pratiyogandharayan and Pratibhanatkam are very popular dramas of Bhas. Later on, Shudrak is known for his Mrikshakatikam. Vishakhadutta, Harsh, Bhavbhuti, Bodhayan and Rajshekhar were the other prominent dramatists.

The Arthashastra of Kautilya reveals a lot of facts about the administration, society, economy and polity of the Mauryan period. The ancient book on Ayurveda such as Rasraj Mahodadhi, Charakshamhita, Yog Ratnakar etc. were composed in Sanskrit. Algebra of Aryabhatta and “Lilawati” of Bhashkaracharya were also composed in Sanskrit.

Urdu Literature: Urdu has Farsi script and it has close relationship with Hindi. In fact, Urdu is a form of Hindi. The literary trends of Urdu may be traced in the 13th century especially in the Muslim courts and administration. Urdu poems have forms such as Maslan, Masnavi, Gazal, Kasida, Marsia, Rekhta and Najam. The prominent authors of Southern Urdu are Sheikh Ganjus Elm, Khawaja Banda Namaj, Mukini and Ahmed Aziz. Mizajul Aashikeen of Banda Namaj Namaj is still recited in a very voracious tone.

In 17th century, Mullah Vajhi composed Kutub Mustari and Anayokti Sabras. The trend of Gazal writing was started by Amir Khusro, Vali, Kutub Shah etc.
The credit of starting the trend of modernism in Urdu goes to Sir Saiyad Ahmad Khan who widened its scope by infusing socialism and naturalism in it. Mirza Galib, Mir Hasan and Khawaja Mir also contributed a lot. The Gul-i-Nagma of Raghupati Sahay Firak Gorakhpuri got Gyanpith award. Prem Chandra, Najeer Ahmad etc are the prominent prose writers. The popular dramatists are Banarsi, Talib Hasan and Lakhnavi. In 1990, Aag Ka Daria of Kurtul-in- Haider got Gyanpith award.

Hindi Literature: According to Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla, the entire history of the Hindi literature may be understood by dividing it into the three major phases. The first is called Virgatha or “Aadikal” (1050-1375) during which the composition of court poets became very popular. Some of the best compositions are Prithiviraj Raso, Parimal Raso, Hamir Raso, Beesaldev Raso etc. Chandbardai, Sridhar and Madhukar were the popular poets.

The second phase or period is known as “Bhakti Kal” (1375-1700) during which most of the literary works were composed in devotion or respect to God especially Ram and Krishna. Sakhi, Sabad and Rasal of Kabir are still alive. Dadu, Raidas, Nanak, Maluk etc. were the prominent authors. Ramcharitramanas, Vinay Patrika, Kavitawali and Hanumanbahu etc of Tulsidas are popularly known works.

The third phase is known as “Ritikal” (1700¬1900). By this time, the Hindi literary tradition became very matured and ornamental literary composition had already made its departure along with romanticism. Ramachandrika of Kesavdas became very popular. Bihari, Jaswant, Padmakar etc. were the prominent poets of this time.

The tradition of modernity in Hindu started in the late 19th century. In 1826 Udant Martand, a Hindi weekly was started. Bhartendu Harishchandra wrote Premchandrika and Satya Harischandra (drama) which became very popular. Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi started Sarswatipatrika in 1930. In the field of novel writing, Devki nandan Khatri, Srinivas Das and Prem Chandra contributed a lot. Jayshankar Prasad, Bhagwati Charan Verma and Vrindawan Lal Verma are known figures. Maha Devi Verma, Nirala and Prasad were the prominent mystic (Chhayavadi) poets.