Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

5. Compositions, genres and performance of vocal music.

(i) Compositions.

(ii) Improvisation on compositions.

(iii) Genres and performance: Hindustani music.

(iv) Genres and performance: Karnatak music.

India, Subcontinent of, §III, 5: Theory and practice of classical music., Compositions, genres and performance of vocal music.

(i) Compositions.

Each item of a vocal performance of South Asian classical music is based on a composed song with poetic text, set to a particular rāga and tāla. The song (Hindustani bandiś, cīz; Karnatak prabandha) may be of minimal length compared to the extensive improvisation that precedes and/or follows it. The contribution of the performer in its rendition is of crucial importance, and the act of composition and the role of the composer do not have the status that has accrued to them in the Western musical world. The art of the poet-composer (vāg-geya-kāra, ‘maker of words and melody’) is nevertheless a respected one, and compositions attributed to important figures such as Tyāgarāja or Tānsen, and identified by the poet's signature or chāp in the final line, are highly valued. The number and kind of compositions that a musician knows can be very important elements in his professional standing. Compositions can be treasured family property and, traditionally, could be sold, pawned or included in dowries. Compositions are further important because they determine many aspects of the performance in which they are embedded: not only the rāga and tāla, but also the style of rendition and techniques of ornamentation and improvisation that may be applied.

The theoretical discrimination of composition-types began as early as the Nātyaśāstra. The gītaka or sacred hymns performed during the ritual dramatic prelude (pūrva-ranga) were defined in terms of tāla structure (see §4(ii) above), whereas the dhruvā stage-songs were classified according to their poetic metres. Later texts such as the Sangīta-ratnākara discuss composition-types (prabandha) from different regions of South Asia, from which many current types (classical and non-classical) may be descended. The prabandha are defined according to a variety of features, including text elements (words, epithets, non-lexical syllables and solmization or drum-syllables), metre, language, subject-matter, rāga, tāla etc. Some prabandha were also dance forms. Central concerns of prabandha theory are the relationship of melody (dhatu) to text (mātu) and of musical tāla to poetic metre.

Most prabandha comprised a number of musical sections corresponding to text lines or verses, often including a refrain (dhruvā). Refrain-forms permeated Indian vernacular song from the 7th century onwards, owing to the spread of devotional religious movements, in which responsorial singing is a central feature of ritual. The definition of a particular composition-type called dhruvā-prabandha (‘refrain-song’) in the Sangīta-ratnākara records for the first time a complex of four features that are common to major Hindustani and Karnatak vocal forms today: the arrangement of four melodic sections in the pattern ABCB'; repetition of part of section A as a refrain; a higher register in B and B' than in A and C; and inclusion of the name of the dedicatee (and/or of the composer) in the text of the final section (B').

Examples of Karnatak kīrtanam and Hindustani dhrupad compositions are set out in parallel in ex.13, showing how far they conform to this structure. They differ in all other respects (rāga, tāla, language, style, genre etc.), suggesting that the common structure is a deeply embedded, historically rooted and geographically widespread unifying factor. In the kīrtanam and dhrupad compositions, the four melodic sections correspond to four text lines (t1–t4), as shown in fig.7. Section A sets the first words of the text, which often encapsulate the theme of the poem and identify the song. This section is termed pallavi (the ‘germ’, ‘shoot’ of the song) or sthāyī (‘fixed’, i.e. refrain) in Karnatak and Hindustani music respectively. Melodically it stresses the lower tonic and lower register of the rāga, though it may range as far as the upper tonic or even beyond. In performance, this section, or a part of it, can itself be cyclically repeated, and it is the point of repeated departure and return.

The B section is termed anupallavi (Karnatak: ‘after the pallavi ’) or antarā (Hindustani: ‘intervening’) and is melodically more constrained than the A section. It begins with an ascent from the mid-range to the upper tonic, which is then stressed (see (1) in ex.13). Subsequent phrases develop the upper regions of the rāga, carrying the melody to its highest point so far (usually a strong note of the rāga in the lower tetrachord of the upper octave (see (2) in ex.13)). The final phrases of the section may return to the lower register and often echo the end of the A section in order to effect a smooth transition back to the beginning of the song ((3) in ex.13).

Hindustani khayāl, instrumental gat and many dhrupad compositions have only the A and B sections, and therefore conclude with this return to A. In longer dhrupad and most kīrtanam compositions, the C section develops the same register as A but usually stresses the fifth or fourth degree (depending on the rāga). The final section, B ', which follows immediately without any intervening reprise of A, returns to the upper pitch-areas as in B, to which it may be melodically similar or identical. In dhrupad these two last sections are regarded as separate units, called sañcāri and ābhog respectively. In kīrtanam they are considered to form a single section termed carana. The end of B ', like that of B, leads into a reprise of A, or its first phrase, with which performance of the composition ends.

This basic structure also exists in expanded and contracted forms. Karnatak kīrtanam or kriti compositions may include additonal carana, usually set to the same melody as the first. Occasional khayāl and thumrī compositions, and many Hindustani devotional songs (bhajan), have one or more additional antarā, sung to the B melody. By contrast, shorter dhrupad compositions, most khayāl and thumrī compositions and instrumental gat compositions comprise A and B sections only, and sometimes no more than the A section is actually performed (or the B section may be improvised). Some Karnatak kīrtanam comprise a pallavi followed by multiple carana, to the same or different melodies, while in rāgam-tānam-pallavī the composition comprises a pallavi only (see §(iv) below).

All these structures are intrinsically cyclic, with the first phrase of the A section as the point of departure and return. In Hindustani music this first phrase (sthāyī-mukhrā) can itself be cyclically repeated as many times as desired. Both B and B ' sections lead at their conclusion into a reprise of this phrase, and it will be returned to many times during any improvisation that follows the composition. The whole performance will end with this phrase. The opening phrase of the B section (antarā-mukhrā) may also be used as a refrain for part of the improvisation, if the performer wishes to improvise on the words or melody of that section, but the sthāyī-mukhrā normally returns. In Karnatak music there is greater variety in the choice of phrases for repetition as the basis for improvisation, but the pallavi remains the essential point of conclusion in all forms except the varnam (see below).

Individual segments of the composition may be immediately repeated, with or without variation, if the singer (or dancer) wishes to stress or improvise on the words and/or melody of that segment. A repeatable segment or phrase normally comprises one cycle of the tāla in slow tempo, two or four cycles at faster speeds. Repetition of individual phrases is an important feature of Karnatak music, where the majority of concert kriti compositions (as opposed to more devotional kīrtanam) are learnt with fixed and memorized variations called sangati. It is believed that phrase-repetition with elaborate sangati was instituted by Tyāgarāja (1767–1847). Since his time it has become standard practice, and many compositions by others (such as Muttusvāmi Dīksitar) have also been adorned, by later musicians, with sangati variations that are now considered indispensable.

Another type of repetition with pre-composed variation is where a complete section of a composition is repeated at faster or (less commonly) slower speeds against the tāla, through augmentation or diminution. The words, melody and rhythmic proportions remain intact. This device may be employed in the performance of Karnatak rāgam-tānam-pallavi and Hindustani dhrupad (see below).

Vocal compositions in Indian music and their realization in performance can thus be seen to embody several fundamental musical processes: cyclical returns to the beginning; change of melodic register in different sections of the composition, exploiting the various registral and thematic elements of the rāga; repetition of individual phrases with variations increasing in melodic complexity and rhythmic density; and changes in metrical relationship between melody and tāla. These processes can be further elaborated through improvisation.

India, Subcontinent of, §III, 5: Theory and practice of classical music., Compositions, genres and performance of vocal music.