Raga delineation is an integral part of Carnatic music concerts. An artist’s manodharma or ingenuity could be gauged only by how he or she develops the raga.
It was interesting to listen to veteran vocalist Rama Ravi delivering a lecture demonstration on ‘Structuring of Raga Alapana.’ She began her lecture by saying “music is an art form which is different from dance or painting since the musician has to communicate a raga through a cognizable form of sound to make them enjoy a raga or melody.” This needs to be done by varying the pitches, intensity of sound, vocal modulations generated from the internalisation of the musical form by the singer.
Ragas have a lakshana, a form or identity. Here, the musician has to employ styles and at the same time follow the sampradaya, the code. True, a raga has an ‘arohanam,’ the ascending notes and ‘avarohanam,’ the descending notes. All ragas are fit into the seven swaras (sapthaswaras) and 12 swarasthanas. Rama Ravi said that it is just a scale; a skeletal melodic structure revealing the bare features of a raga. It may show whether it is a sampoorna (complete), vajra (not with all swaras), or vakra (notes in disorder) raga. But, a raga is better identified by the sruti, nuances, shades and gamakas and their enormous ability to express individuality. The embellishments add more charm to the ‘guna’ which is the inherent beauty of the raga.
So, it is impossible to sing a melody just by going up and down the scale. Some notes have to be stressed, a few to be given a fleeting touch, certain others should go flat, a few should be used as starting or resting (nyasa swaras) or starting or completing ones (amsa swaras).
She explained these aspects further by singing ragas like Abhogi, Sriranjani, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Arabi and Begada. She made references to Bharata, Mathanka and Sarangadeva who have devised and formulated principles on the way a raga has to be developed.
Rama Ravi demonstrated where and how the pulse or shake (gamaka) should be given to the note and how that creates the unique image of the raga. The grouping of swaras, movements, resting points and different types of touches only give the structuring of a raga a strong foundation. She also explained how to start and move on to develop a raga essay. Rama Ravi mentioned the importance of keeping the limits in the upper and lower regions depending on their vocal felicity.
The speciality of such swaras deciding the image of the raga was elucidated by singing a swara segment of the kriti ‘Gajavadhana’ in Thodi by Maharaja Kumara Ettendra where the ‘gandharam’ of Thodi had been greatly emphasised. Rama Ravi also pointed out that certain ragas like Kurunji and Navroj have limitations. Many of the compositions of the great masters give a cue to the alapana technique, she added, by citing the kritis of Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar.
She concluded by saying that students of music should practise building any raga treatise on a strong base. This implies a complete understanding of the raga image by learning and practicing several kritis in that particular raga.
Nandita Ravi gave vocal support to Rama. The programme was followed by a question and answer session.Violinist R.K. Shriram Kumar, who is also a good speaker, presented an informative lecture demonstration on the ‘The importance of compositions for Manodharma Sangeetham.’
SHRIRAM KUMAR
Why look always for the compositions of the great Trinity and the padams, javalis, thillanas and varnams of the composers and maestros of yesteryear? This is a question that is gaining importance today. Shriram Kumar categorically stated that one can develop manodharma only through the creations of these masters. They have shown the best ways in their compositions and charted wonderful routes to take, in order to achieve the manodharama aspects such as alapana, niraval and swaras.
The artist explained that our music is based on the image of the raga. The arohana and avarohana of a raga is just a scale but not the body of the raga. A raga is identified more by its phrases than just notes, explained Shriram Kumar citing Sankarabharanam as an example. “Look how different ‘Sami Ninne’ sounds when you sing it using flat notes and when you do the same with gamakam.” He sang and distinguished the difference by adding gamaka to the notes. Each raga has a flavour, mood and standard phrasings which were assigned by the experts through their years of knowledge, practice and experience. He also demonstrated how an alapana could be built by taking cue from kritis such as ‘Akshaya Linga’ and signified the role of madyamam, and certain special combination of swaras leading to characteristic phrases of the raga. Other kritis cited as reference points were ‘Enduku Peddala’, ‘Manasu Swadeena’ and many of the Tyagaraja kritis.
Similar examples were drawn for Thodi where Tyagaraja has composed kritis starting from madyama sthayee shadjam to tharasthayaee shadjam quoting ‘Raju Vedala’, ‘Dasarathi’, ‘Kaddanu Variki,’ etc. He also brought ragas such as Atana Suruti, Yadukula Khambodi and Begada into the discussion. These ragas are known more by their phrasings. Shriram Kumar sang those loaded phrases and motifs.
Later, he also identified ragas which could be built just on scales like Bahudari, Kapi Narayani and Nalinakanti. A more detailed elucidation was attempted on following the specific ‘patanthara’ of the composer like how Muthuswami Dikshitar had dealt with Hindolam eschewing nishadam in the ascent. Here, this was explained with his popular kriti ‘Neerajakshi Kamakshi’.
The second part of the lecture covered how the compositions help in singing tanam, spreading niraval and framing swaras. Here, he quoted ‘Jagada Nandakaraka’ in Nattai and showed how the swaras were structured in a tanam pattern and also the effective use of jandai swara prayogas. Niraval, Shriram Kumar said, is a multi-tasking exercise where the artist needs to keep an eye on the raga bhava, rhythm and lyrics. Some points in the kritis inherently offer potential for the exploration of a creative niraval, he said. He was amazed at the beautiful construction of the kriti ‘Akshaya Linga’ where one could attempt a niraval.
In conclusion, Shriram Kumar stated that at no point should one compromise the quality or the image of the raga’s beauty for the sake of manodharma. In fact, he said, the compositions are better sources for learning how to improvise than any text book.
