Classical music, by definition, and in contrast to folk music, is intellectualised music. The intellectual elements can either supplement and strengthen the musical element or suppress and supersede it. Of the various aspects of Carnatic music, one element that is intellectual and also the most apt to run away with itself is rhythm. Pallavi singing, therefore, provides an interesting, challenging ground for the interaction between, and synthesis of, the melodic and the rhythmic elements in Carnatic music.
To musicologists, RTP represents the high watermark of Carnatic music. In practice, however, RTP is treated as a coffee break by many listeners and as mangalam by a few! Conceptually, what exactly is RTP? Is it just a mechanical mixture juxtapositioning three aspects of music, viz. ragam, tanam and pallavi? Or, is it an organic compound in which these three are aesthetically linked? For example, suppose musician A sings a brilliant alapana in one kriti, an excellent tanam in another, superb niraval in yet another and a brilliant kalpanaswaram in a different kriti. And musician B, in an RTP item, covers all the above aspects equally well. How are these two experiences aesthetically different for a listener? The overall rasanubhuthi is broadly similar in both cases. One has a nagging feeling that there has to be something more to an RTP than simply putting together R,T and P in a single concert item. In some sense, these three items have to complement one another and hang together as an aesthetic gestalt.
Unique quality of tanam
The origins of tanam are obscure. Some views of musicologists are: According to Prof. S.R. Janakiraman, the dhathu of the earlier tana varnams, in which sahitya syllables were few and akaram syllables were prominent, must have suggested singing tanam as an independent exercise. Tanam has a special, unique quality only when it is played on the veena. It must have, therefore, been an accidental or experimental discovery of some vainika. Vocalists and other instrumentalists must have ‘hijacked’ this (just as they have ‘hijacked’ rhythmic korvais from percussionists and incorporated them in kalpanaswaram).
According to Prof. Sambhamurthy, tanam was introduced as a variation and welcome relief after a heavy, long alapana in chauka kalam. While interesting raga alapana demands a deep perception of the raga swarupa and creativity, interesting kalpanaswarams demand precise swara gnanam, creativity and an intuitive sense of rhythm. Tanam must have been thought of as an interesting, loosely structured via media between these two which is easier to sing and would also provide variety.
Dynamic patterns
A unique technique is available for playing tanam on the veena. By combining the plucking with the movement of the left hand fingers and the striking of the sarani strings with the little finger, endless, dynamic patterns of melodic rhythm can be produced.
In vocal or any other instrumental music, tanam sounds routine and ritualistic and on a wind instrument it has little impact and flat.
Attempts were made even by stalwarts like Vasudevacharya to classify tanam sounds by comparing them with the sounds of sankham (conch shell), mandookam (frog), etc.! The word ‘tan’ means to extend or spread. Tanam should, therefore, extend the swarupa of a raga beyond what was covered in the alapana. The special contribution, if any, that tanam could or should make to the delineation of a ragam, or in providing an appropriate setting for the kriti or pallavi to follow needs to be explored further.
Rhythm is a valuable adjunct to, but not an integral part of music. Our tala systems are sophisticated and unique in the world but they should always subserve raga bhava and melody. Vinyasam should not result melody taking sanyasam and melodiously hummable music should not be converted into mathematically drummable music. Talams with a large number of aksharams cannot be enjoyed by the listener like khanda chapu or misra chapu. Complicated talams make the musician concentrate on the temporal tightrope walking and ignore the melodious aspect making the pallavi sound often like Remo Fernandez’s ‘rapp’ in pop music. It is said that a violinist accompanying a vocalist, who was singing a talam with more than 100 akshara kalam, played one note and kept the violin down and told the musician, “Now count 100. By the time you finish, I shall be back from the toilet!” Pallavis were the battleground of egos and one-upmanship in royal courts but something of this syndrome still seems to persist in a milder form even today.
Art is primarily a delicate balance between readability and complexity. At either extreme, it ceases to be exciting. There is a mid-range where there is endless scope for experimentation and innovation. It is this mid-range that an RTP should identify, occupy and, if possible, enlarge. In a melody-centred system, mixing rhythm and melody calls for a delicate, dynamic optimisation.
It is not the point here that complicated talams should be given up or consigned to the limbo. Everything sophisticated and demanding — sadhakam and virtuosity — in our music should be preserved and presented to the public occasionally not merely as show pieces but as something contributing to our enjoyment of music.
The writer is a retired IAS officer
