Alankar

Last updated March 07, 2019

Alankar, also referred to as palta or alankaram, is a concept in Indian classical music and literally means "ornament, decoration".^[1]^[2]^[3] An alankara is any pattern of musical decoration a musician or vocalist creates within or across tones, based on ancient musical theories or driven by personal creative choices, in a progression of svaras .^[1]^[4] The term alankara is standard in Carnatic music, while the same concept is referred to as palta or alankara in Hindustani music.^[4]

Indian classical music ancient music and music theories from the Indian subcontinent

Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music tradition is called Hindustani, while the South Indian expression is called Carnatic. These traditions were not distinct till about the 16th century. There on, during the turmoils of Islamic rule period of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Hindustani music emphasizes improvisation and exploring all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic performances tend to be short and composition-based. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences.

Svara or swara is a Sanskrit word that connotes a note in the successive steps of the octave. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept about the complete dimension of musical pitch.

Carnatic music, Karnāṭaka saṃgīta, or Karnāṭaka saṅgītam, is a system of music commonly associated with southern India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as Sri Lanka. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu traditions, the other subgenre being Hindustani music, which emerged as a distinct form because of Persian or Islamic influences from Northern India. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style.

The ancient and medieval music scholars of India state that there are unlimited creative possibilities available to a musician, but each scholar illustrated the concept with a set of alankara. Datilla discussed 13 alankaras, Bharata Muni presented 33, Sarngadeva described 63 alankaras, while mid medieval scholars presented numerous more.^[1] The Indian music tradition classifies alankara as rational or irrational, wherein irrational alankara being those that cannot be reduced to a fixed scale degree pattern. The Indian theory of gamaka covers the group of irrational alankara.^[1] The concept of alankara applies to both vocal and musical instrument performance.^[1]

Purandara Dasa, the father of Carnatic music, developed learning exercises for students based on alankara and svaravali, where the student systematically repeats a certain set of patterns over three octave registers, across various ragas and talas .^[5]

Purandara Dāsa (1484–1564) was a Haridasa, great devotee of Lord Krishna and a saint. He was a disciple of the celebrated Madhwa philosopher-saint Vyasatirtha, and a contemporary of yet another great Haridasa, Kanakadasa. His Guru, Vyasatirtha glorified Purandara Dasa in a song thus: Dāsarendare purandara dāsarayya. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-proponents of the South Indian classical Music. In honor of his significant and legendary contributions to Carnatic Music, he is widely referred to as the Pitamaha of Carnatic Music. He is respected as an avatara (incarnation) of the great sage Narada.

A raga or raag is a melodic framework for improvisation akin to a melodic mode in Indian classical music. While the raag is a remarkable and central feature of the classical music tradition, it has no direct translation to concepts in the classical European music tradition. Each raag is an array of melodic structures with musical motifs, considered in the Indian tradition to have the ability to "colour the mind" and affect the emotions of the audience.

A Tala, sometimes spelled Taal or Tal, literally means a "clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure". It is the term used in Indian classical music to refer to musical meter, that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time. The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or the other hand, verbally, striking of small cymbals, or a percussion instrument in the Indian subcontinental traditions. Along with raga which forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the tala forms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music.

Types

A song without any alankara,
would be like a night without a moon,
a river devoid of water,
a vine without any flower,
and a woman without any ornament.

— Natya Shastra 29.75
Bharata Muni (200 BCE-200 CE)^[1]

The Nāṭya Śāstra is a Sanskrit text on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.

Here are some common types of alankara used in classical music are

meend , a technique of singing notes in a fluid manner with one note merging into the next - there are many different kinds of meend
kan-swar, grace notes - the use of grace-notes depends on the raga being performed
andolan, a gentle swing on specific notes, used selectively
gamaka , a heavy to-and-fro oscillation involving two or three distinct notes
khatka/gitkari, a rapid rendition of a cluster of notes distinctly yet lightly
murki , an even lighter and more subtle rendition of a cluster of notes

In Hindustani music, meend refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice, and is used often in vocal and instrumental music. On the veena, sitar, sarangi and other plucked stringed instruments, it is usually done by pushing the strings across the frets to vary their effective length and tension; compare portamento and finger vibrato. This can be done on wind instruments like the bansuri by using the fingers to cover the holes in a manner that the changes between discrete pitches are imperceptible. It is considered a sort of alankar, or ornament.

A grace note is a kind of music notation denoting several kinds of musical ornaments. It is usually printed smaller to indicate that it is melodically and harmonically nonessential. When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of an acciaccatura. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending on interpretation.

Murki is a short taan or inverted mordent in Hindustani classical music, known as pratyahatam in Carnatic music. It is a fast and delicate ornamentation or alankar, employing two or more notes and is similar to a mordent or ulta murki. A murki is less forceful than a khatka or a zamzama. A combination like R R S S could be a murki or a khatka or the starting point of a zamzama, depending on the force of delivery. Murkis may or may not be appropriate for a given raga. It is also employed in thumris and other lighter genres.

Other definitions

Alankara also refers to:

a pattern on a swara group within a given octave, in ancient Indian music.^[2]
a type of exercise based on the 7 main talas and their variations.^[2]

Related Research Articles

Hindustani classical music is the traditional music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or Śāstriya Saṅgīt. Its origins date from the 12th century CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Shruti or śruti, is a Sanskrit word, found in the Vedic texts of Hinduism where it means lyrics and "what is heard" in general. It is also an important concept in Indian music, where it means the smallest interval of pitch that the human ear can detect and a singer or musical instrument can produce. The musical shruti concept is found in ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts such as the Natya Shastra, the Dattilam, the Brihaddeshi, and the Sangita Ratnakara. Chandogya Upanishad speaks of the division of the octave in 22 parts.

Brihaddeshi is a Classical Sanskrit text on Indian classical music, attributed to Matanga Muni. It is the first text that speaks directly of the raga and distinguishes the (marga) and the (desi). It also introduced sargam notation. In Matanga's discussion of musical scales and micro-tonal intervals he clarifies Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra on which the author based his work. It clarifies many issues related to shruti that were presented tersely by Bharata.

Arabhi or Aarabhi is a ragam in Carnatic music. It is a Janya raga, whose Melakarta raga is Shankarabharanam, 29th in the 72 Melakarta raga system.

Dattilam (दत्तिलम्) is an ancient Indian musical text ascribed to the sage (muni) Dattila. It is believed to have been composed shortly after the Natya Shastra of Bharata, and is dated between the 1st and 4th century AD. But Bharathamuni had given reference of the treatise " Dattilam" in his celebrated work "Natyashastra"(1-26) so there is a belief that Dattilam may be a work composed before Bharata Muni.

The Sangita-Ratnakara, सङ्गीतरत्नाकर,, literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important Sanskrit musicological texts from India. Composed by Śārṅgadeva (शार्ङ्गदेव) in the 13th century, both Hindustani music and Carnatic music traditions of Indian classical music regard it as a definitive text. The author was a part of the court of King Singhana II (1210–1247) of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri, Maharashtra.

Devagandhari is a raga in Indian classical music. In the carnatic classical music, Devagandhari is a janya raga, whose melakarta raga is Shankarabharanam, 29th in the 72 Melakarta raga system.

Śārṅgadeva (1175–1247), also spelled Sharngadeva or Sarnga Deva, was the 13th-century Indian musicologist who authored Sangita Ratnakara – the classical Sanskrit text on music and drama. It is considered to be the authoritative treatise in Indian classical music by both the Hindustani music and the Carnatic music traditions.

Gamaka, also known as gamak, refers to ornamentation that is used in the performance of North and South Indian classical music. Gamaka can be understood as embellishment done on a note or between two notes. Present-day Carnatic music uses at least fifteen different kinds of ornamentation. Gamak is any graceful turn, curve or cornering touch given to a single note or a group of notes, which adds emphasis to each raga's individuality. Gamaka can be understood as any movement done on a note or in between two notes. The unique character of each raga is given by its gamaks, making their role essential rather than decorative in Indian music. Nearly all Indian musical treatises have a section dedicated to describing, listing and characterising gamaks.

The Haridasas, the Vaishnava saints of Karnataka, are classified into the Vyasakuta and Dasakuta. The Vyasakuta were the pontifical saints known for their scholarship and exposition of the Madhva's philosophy. The Dasakuta were the peripatetic saint disciples of the Vyasakuta sanyasins. They were proficient singers and composers and used classical music and the Kannada language as a medium to propagate the teachings and philosophy of the Dvaita school. While Sripadaraya is sometimes credited with starting this musical movement, Purandaradasa, a disciple of Vyasaraya, became renowned as Karnataka Sangita Pitamaha.

Carnatic raga refers to ragas used in Carnatic music. A Carnatic raga has several components - primordial sound (nāda), tonal system (swara), pitch (śruti), scale, ornaments (gamaka) and important tones.

Odissi music (oṛiśī) is a genre of classical music in India originated from the eastern state of Odisha. Indian classical music has five significant branches: Avanti, Panchali, Odramagadhi, Hindustani and Carnatic. Of these, Odramagadhi exists in the form of Odissi music. Generally, Odissi is one of the classical dances of India performed with Odissi music. Odissi music was shaped during the time of Odiya poet Jayadeva, who composed lyrics meant to be sung. By the 11th century AD, folk music of Odisha in the form of Triswari, Chatuhswari, and Panchaswari was modified into the classical style. However, Odissi songs were written even before the Odia language developed. Odissi music has a rich legacy dating back to the 2nd century BCE, when king Kharavela, the ruler of Odisha (Kalinga), patronized this music and dance.

Veena A stringed Indian musical instrument

The veena, comprises a family of chordophone instruments of the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps. The many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Vichitra veena and others.

Garudadhvani or Garudadhwani is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is a janya rāgam from the 29th melakarta scale Shankarabharanam. It is a janya scale, as it does not have all the seven swaras in the descending scale. It is a combination of the sampurna raga scale Shankarabharanam and the pentatonic scale Mohanam.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Lewis Rowell (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
1 2 3 Prof. P Sambamoorthy (2005), South Indian Music - Vol I, Chennai, India: The Indian Music Publishing House, p. 51
↑ Neil Sorrell; Ram Narayan (1980). Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction. Manchester University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-7190-0756-9.
1 2 David J. Hargreaves; Adrian North (2002). Musical Development and Learning. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-1-84714-362-4.
↑ Bruno Nettl; Ruth M. Stone; James Porter; et al. (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-8240-4946-1.

External links

Ornamentation in Indian Classical Music

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[Rowell2015p163-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lewis Rowell (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.

[sim2007-2] 1 2 3 Prof. P Sambamoorthy (2005), South Indian Music - Vol I, Chennai, India: The Indian Music Publishing House, p. 51

[3] Neil Sorrell; Ram Narayan (1980). Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction. Manchester University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-7190-0756-9.

[davidadrian-4] 1 2 David J. Hargreaves; Adrian North (2002). Musical Development and Learning. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-1-84714-362-4.

[5] Bruno Nettl; Ruth M. Stone; James Porter; et al. (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-8240-4946-1.