Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

(b) Repetition with variation (bhañjanī).

Here a particular phrase or section of the composition is repeated one or more times. The words and rhythm of the segment remain intact, but the melody is varied. This process has resulted, in the Karnatak kriti, in variations (sangati) that have become fixed and are transmitted and performed as part of the composition itself. A related Karnatak technique, but improvised, is niraval (‘filling up’). A single line of text from the composition – occupying one cycle of a slow tāla, two or four in a fast one – is sung repeatedly, quite closely following the original rhythmic distribution of text syllables but with melodic phrases appropriate to the rāga supplied by the performer. In practice the effect is much like that of kalpana svara: the improvisation of niraval must lead back to the beginning of the original setting at the proper time-point and svara position, and it proceeds at two speeds, first with several cycles at the basic pulse, then a number of cycles at double time. The rendering of compositions in south Indian music is frequently embellished by niraval followed by kalpana svara attached to the same line of the composition, or by one or the other. The first line of a composition is rarely chosen for niraval but often for kalpana svara alone.

The bhañjanī type of variation does not occur as such in Hindustani music. In slow khayāl the unpulsed ālāp is often done using the words of the khayāl composition rather than the open vowel, in which case it is called bol-ālāp, but the rhythm is very flexible within the tāla. The singing of tān on bol (the words of the composition) rather than on the open vowel is called bol-tān, and is the nearest equivalent to south Indian niraval, although in most khayāl styles it is again very flexible rhythmically. The term bol-tān is sometimes confused with the very similar bol-bat (partition or distribution of the words); bol-bat belongs to the dhrupad style, but is also used in some khayāl styles. Like bol-tān it uses words from the composition to carry improvised phrases of the rāga, but the text and music phrases are syllabic, not melismatic, and the emphasis is on interesting rhythmic combination.

The laya-bat of dhrupad and the anuloma-pratiloma of rāgam-tānam-pallavi maintain the melody and rhythmic proportions of the composition, but they change the rhythmic relationship of the melody and text-syllables to the tāla through diminution and augmentation. This type of manipulation of the composition is not improvised.

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

(iii) Genres and performance: Hindustani music.

To a greater extent than in the south, north Indian vocalists distinguish a number of genres each with its proper composition-type, vocal style, techniques of improvisation, aesthetic objectives and other features. The principal genres are dhrupad, khayāl and thumrī, though there are a number of related genres or sub-genres. Most vocalists take at least some training in all three principal genres but specialize in one or two. Khayāl singers often sing thumrī as an encore, but it is unusual for a dhrupad singer to sing khayāl or vice versa, because of the very different vocal techniques required.

(a) Dhrupad.

Dhrupad compositions are believed to be the oldest part of the Hindustani repertory, with some attributed to Tānsen and other historical figures (see §II, above) still in circulation. Likewise the associated performance practice is regarded as older than that of khayāl and thumrī, which developed in the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. Consequently dhrupad is valued by its proponents for its authenticity of structure (correct rendering of intonation, rāga and tāla and complete and accurate rendering of the composition), stylistic purity (full-throated voice production, restriction of ornamentation and improvisation to a limited number of techniques) and elevated purpose (addressed to the Divine and to connoisseurs, not compromising with popular taste). Having never enjoyed widespread popularity or understanding since its heyday in Mughal times, dhrupad became all but extinct in the mid-20th century. Its revival in the latter part of the century was a surprisingly vigorous phenomenon.

A dhrupad poem is usually in the Braj dialect of Hindi (used for devotional hymnody) and comprises two or four rhyming lines, set to two or four melodic sections (described above). Although in earlier times almost any subject, sacred or secular, could be treated in dhrupad, it has come to be associated particularly with devotional or philosophical subjects, including both Hindu and Islamic themes. Consequently dhrupad is regarded by its exponents as a more sacred art than other Hindustani genres. Dhrupad compositions are found in almost all rāgas, but only in certain tālas (see Table 13). Of these, Cautāl is the most common, but sub-genres exist using Dhamār (for dhamār compositions describing the Holī spring festival as celebrated by Krsna), Jhaptāl (especially for Sufi mystical songs called sādrā), and Sūltāl and Tīvra (for fast-tempo songs usually in praise of deities). The accompaniment for dhrupad is properly provided by the barrel-drum pakhāvaj rather than the tablā. Other accompanying instruments include the tambūrā drone lute and, optionally, a bowed lute sārangī and/or harmonium (avoided by some performers).

The vocal style of dhrupad is based on voice production from the diaphragm, smooth glissandi and other pitch-inflections, and avoidance of any rapid fioritura that requires constriction of the throat. Dhrupad singers need voices able to compete with the powerful resonance of the accompanying pakhāvaj – one reason, perhaps, why dhrupad singers are usually male and often perform in pairs.

A dhrupad performance in concert context usually begins with an extended nom-tom ālāp (see §3(ii)(c) above), which may last 30 minutes or more and demonstrates the artist's insight into the structure and aesthetic of the rāga. The composition is then presented in a dignified rhythmic style (see §4(iv) above). If it is in slow tempo, it may be followed by one or more further compositions in different tālas and faster tempo.

Elaboration of the composition in dhrupad is termed bat (‘division’), upaj (‘invention’), or laya-kārī (‘making (different) rhythmic densities’). The performer's options are considerably more restricted than in khayāl (see below), since he must always use the words of the composition, and only two basic procedures are permitted, sometimes termed laya-bat and bol-bat. In laya-bat, a section of the composition is sung with its time values systematically reduced to a half, a third or a quarter of their original length; that is to say, it is sung as dugun, tigun or caugun laya (see §4(i) above). No other material change and no element of improvisation is involved. More complex proportional diminutions are referred to in literature but never heard in practice.

According to some authorities, these calculated rhythmic manipulations of the composition were all the variation that was originally allowed in the performance of Cautāl dhrupad compositions. In dhamār, the lighter sub-genre sung by dhrupad musicians, a freer style of variation is considered appropriate. The musicians can improvise new rhythmic and melodic settings of the syllables of the poem, repeating phrases, words and even syllables as desired, at any level of laya, provided only that the structures of rāga and tāla are respected. This reflects the frolicsome character of the spring Saturnalia described in dhamār texts. This free upaj or bol-bat is now also often performed in Cautāl and other dhrupad sub-genres, reflecting the strong preference for improvised variation that is a hallmark of contemporary Hindustani musical culture. So strong a preference is it that the fixed laya-bat is often omitted altogether.

Inbol-bat the essential requirement is for the vocalist and pakhāvaj accompanist (who improvises simultaneously with the vocalist) to return to the beginning of the composition, arriving together at the sam, the first beat of the tāla cycle. If the composition begins with mukhrā leading to sam, this must be worked into the final moments of each improvisation, though it may be expanded or compressed rhythmically if required. Thus the cyclicity inherent in both the tāla and the composition is further reflected in the pratigrahanikā-type improvisation.