Classical music, in all facets

Thirty years ago, renowned violinist L Subramaniam and his wife Viji Subramaniam worked on the book ‘Euphony: Indian Classical Music’, using their research to describe both the theoretical and practical aspects of the Carnatic and Hindustani forms. A highly gifted classical vocalist, Viji passed away on February 9, 1995.

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Now, Subramaniam has released an expanded, revised and updated issue of the book under the title ‘Classical Music of India: A Practical Guide’. While there have been many books on music theory, focusing on both North and South Indian forms, his aim here is to provide text that would also be of use to practising musicians and aspiring composers. The book is thus written in a way that those newly initiated can have a slightly deeper understanding, whereas those with advanced knowledge get more details about various intricacies in a structured manner, in many cases through charts, tables or illustrations.

The individual chapters move seamlessly between Hindustani and Carnatic. The opening chapter, ‘A Brief History of Indian Music’, talks of four periods — ancient (prehistoric times to 4th century), medieval (5th to 15th century), modern (16th to mid-20th period) and post-Independence (mid-20th century onwards). The contributions of Jayadeva, Sarangadeva, Amir Khusrau, Tansen and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande from the North, and Purandara Dasa, Thyagaraja, Shyama Sastri, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Swati Tirunal from the South are explained in detail.

The chapter also talks of certain trends that evolved in the post-Independence period. These include the use of folk instruments on the classical platform, the shift from accompanying instruments to solo instruments, the adaptation of Carnatic ragas and rhythms in Hindustani music, and the North-South jugalbandi or duet.

After this chapter sets the tone, the book takes on subjects like the elements of music (swara, raga, tala, western scales and modes), the system of notation, and melodic and rhythmic concepts. Those new to the technicalities thus get introduced to how ragas and melas (Carnatic scales) evolved. There are details of the various gharanas of Hindustani vocal music, right from their origins, characteristics and major exponents. One wishes there was a similar section for Hindustani instrumental music, especially the Maihar and Etawah schools.

Irrespective of whether they are amateur listeners or connoisseurs, many aficionados talk of the differences between Hindustani and Carnatic music. Subramaniam addresses the subject in a separate chapter. The main points here are the different approaches to developing the raga and structuring the concert, the nature of the compositions and the kinds of melodic and percussion instruments used, with the flute, violin and tanpura common to both systems.

The chapter on musical instruments, which classifies them under string, wind and percussion, explains how they are played and depicts their physical parts through diagrams. Here, one wishes the main exponents were mentioned. The book concludes with a description of various forms, like the kriti, ragam-tanam-pallavi and thillana in Carnatic music, and dhrupad, khayal and thumri in Hindustani.

Unlike the original, ‘Euphony’, this edition doesn’t contain a glossary, which would have been useful. Overall, however, it’s an elaborate and well-structured compilation, which is bound to benefit different types of listeners, and even introduce them to something new.

— The writer is a Mumbai-based music journalist