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Something to sing about
This book is an invaluable source of information on South Indian classical music.
Intrestingly, the author is a German, trained in Western classical music, who, mersmerised
by Carnatic music, became a disciple in the guru-shishya parampara of Tyagaraja himself.
LUDWIG PESCH is a German. who trained as a musician in the western classical tradition, “taught music,
played the church organ. and also turned out with some rock and jazz bands.” He was exposed to carnatic
music by hearing a programme over the radio. “I have never heard anything so stirring” he recalls. ‘It was the
music I had been searching for all my life.” He got the address of Kalakshetra, “gave up a lucrative job at the
school of music” —and left for Madras. At Kalakshetra, he became a disciple of H. Ramachandra Shastry,
and learnt carnatic music on the flute.” (quotations from an article by V. ft. Devika).
Pesch was very fortunate in his choice of a guru. Ramachandra Shastry was a disciple of the foremost flautist
of the 1920’s to 1950’s, Palladam Sanjiva Rao, who was himself a disciple of the legendary Sarabha Sastri.
the blind genius who elevated the flute to the level of a solo instrument on the concert platform. Sarabha
Sastri was a disciple of Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar. nephew and disciple of Tyagaraja. Thus
Ramachandra Shastry belonged to the direct line of the sishya parampara of Tyagaraja himself.
Ramachandra Shastry gave Pesch every encouragement; Pesch was obviously an apt pupil, and was
encouraged to sit on the concert platform, and to play the flute along with his guru. He also became very
interested in the theoretical aspects of carnatic music, including percussion; he published A guide to South
Indian Rhythm (with T. R Sundaresan) in 1996. The book under review is his third essay in this field and
much wider in scope. The claim by the publisher on the back cover page “the most inclusive authoritative
reference work available for South Indian classical music” — is not an exaggeration, especially in respect of a
book published in English.
The first chapter Conventions” deals with the basic structure of the Solfa syllables used in carnatic music—
Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa. Dha, Ni, the sruthi or pitch, the normal range of vocal music (usually two octaves) and the
scale division of the octave. The representation in western notation (staves) should be very useful for
students of western music. Our own notation, as seen from publications of carnatic music, is useful mainly to
the student or performer who has learnt the composition by hearing it sung.
The second chapter, “Graceful dialogue” describes the “major role” that “music has always played” “in the
social and spiritual life of India. There are also references to the adaptation of the western musical
instruments by practitioners of carnatic music — e.g. the harmonium (widely used as an accompaniment in
Hindustani music), and the adoption of the violin as a normal accompaniment for both vocal and instrumental
music (e.g., the flute), and also as a solo instrument. Pesch describes the introduction of the violin as a most
spectacular (auricular?) success story.
In the next chapter on “Variety”, Pesch points out that singing one continued note, (e.g., the upper shadja, a
common practice by concert artistes) can be enjoyable. “In Indian music there is beauty and variety even
when the basic note is sounded alone and continually.” In the chapter “Child’s play”, Pesch refers to the
traditional methods of teaching music in South India, from childhood onwards. It “is rooted in a tradition of
apprenticeship based on respect for elders —“the guru-sishya relationship, of which the relationship between
Ramachandra Shastry and Pesch is a happy example.
Chapter 5 on “Instrumental music (vadya)” gives an exhaustive list of the instruments commonly used in
South Indian music, beginning with the thambura, which gives the performer a continuum of the basic pitch
(sruthi). There follows a capsule history of the veena and its evolution in its present form, next comes the
gottuvadyam (nowadays called chitra veena), which is a veena without frets, using a sliding rounded object
instead of the fingers of the left hand. The nadaswaram and the tavil, instruments of first choice for temples
and weddings, are dealt with briefly. Then comes the bamboo flute (venu) in which Pesch himself is an adept.
In dealing with percussion instruments, Pesch begins with the konnakkol, which is a vocalisation of rhythmic
syllables (sollukkattu). The percussion instruments used in traditional concerts, beginning with the
mridangam, and other upa pakka vadyams like the ghatam, the kanjira and morsing (known in western music
as the jew’s harp) are dealt with briefly. The role of the violin (already dealt with) is described next. The sruthi
box with bellows, and its current substitute in electronic version, are also described.
The jalatarangam, saxophone and clarionet, which have the handicap of not being able to reproduce the
gamakas so important to carnatic music, are also mentioned. Kadri Gopainath is a popular saxophonist and
A.K.C. Natarajan is a well known clarionet player. The last item on this list is the mandolin, which has been
popularised by the extraordinary talent of U. Srinivas.
Chapter 6 deals with “The Voice” in south Indian music. It begins with a correlation of the seven svaras with
certain birds and animals. Next, there is a reference to the correspondence of the sapta svaras with various
parts of the body. (Let us remember that the human voice is called saariram) the two-octave normal vocal
range is shown in staff notation. Finally, there is a section on the integration of Western and Indian voice
culture.
A brief chapter 7 “Music for all” shows on a map of South India the geographical distribution of stone
sculptures with their religious connotation.
Chapter 8 on “intonation (sruti)” is a continuation of chapter 6. It shows in staff notation the distribution of
seven svaras, 12 svarasthanas and) 22 srutis.
Chapter 9 deals with “embellishment (gamaka)” which is the special glory of our music. Rightly the author
says: “The concept of gamaka is difficult to convey in words.” Different types of gamakas, eight in all are
briefly explained.
Chapter 10, on “music education” describes the various steps in the syllabus, beginning with sarali varisai
and the tala combinations, all shown in staves.
Chapter 11 on “Raga” begins by stating that a raga has an “audible image” (raga rupa). It traces briefly the
evolution of the raga from the earlier ‘pan.’ Chapter 12 is very interesting. It delineates the scientific
development of “the system of 72 scales (mela karta raga).” Pages 103 to 105 show the symmetry of the
system, in staves 17 to 19. There is also a brief explanation of the katapayadi samkhya, by which the number
of a melakarta raya is derived from the first two consonants of the name of the raga — which Pesch calls the
“alpha-numerical mnemonics.” Chapter 13 deals with the “types of raga (janya raga),” derived from the basic
melakarta ragas, using five (audava) or six (shadava) notes in the ascending (arohana) or descending
(avarohana) order or any combination of the two. Then there are the vakra ragas, where the arohana/
avarohana takes a curve e.g. pa ni dha ni sa OR ri ga ma ri sa.
There are also desya and bhasanga ragas, wherein notes which are not part of the parent melakarta are
introduced, there are also ragas which do not go above the pa dha OR ni. All these raga combinations are
shown with reference to specific ragas in staves 21 to 29. Stave 30 shows two types of ghana ragas, first as
used by Tyagaraja in his pancharatna kritis and the five ‘Dvitiya’ (second set of) ghana ragas. Staves 31 and
32 depict the rakti ragas: staves 33 and 34 show the desya ragas: and stave 35 deals with the Pancama,
Dhaivata and Nishada antya ragas. These staves can be very useful for a western student of the Carnatic
system to understand the complexities and nuances of Carnatic music.
Chapter 14 on tala deals with the various tala combinations, and the way in which time is kept, using the
hands to count the laghu, druta and anudruta. It is a very comprehensive explanation, dealing also with the
sollukattus making up the syllables. The tempo is called kala pramanam: some songs are traditionally
rendered in a slow tempo (cauka kala). but most songs are sung in a medium tempo (rnadhyama kala).
There is a further complication, because the starling point or eduppu can be before or (usually) after the
samam. The seven basic talus are shown in diagrams in table 19— Pages 144 to 147. In spite of this
plethora of 35 possible combinations, ordinarily only the adi. ata. rupaka, desadi, khanda capu and misra
capu talas are used in most compositions.
Chapter 15 deals with concert music. The great vaggeyakaras such as Tyagaraja wrote the lyrics and also
set the runes. There are however a vast number of kirtis sung in concerts where the author of the lyric (matu)
is different from the tune smith who composed the music (dhatu, in ‘tamil varna mettu). The south Indian
concert format, which was introduced by Ariyakkodi Ramanuja lyengar, a titan of the music of this century.
has been generally followed by other leading musicians and in turn, their sishyas.
Opening with a tana varnam arid a kirti in praise of Lord Ganesa, a few kritis arc rendered in medium or even
fast tempo. Next, there is the mano dharma (creative) phase — the alapana of a raga. the kriti itself with
various sangathis or variations. The niraval and the svara kalpana. The accompaniment, usually a violin,
takes turns with the main artiste in the alapana and especially - in the niraval and swara prastara, at one
point, or even two, the mridangam player is given the opportunity for a solo, taniyavarttanam. If there is
more than one percussionist, eg. kanjira or ghatam, there is a lively exchange between them. In any major
concert. ragam, tanam. pallavi is commonly rendered at a later stage of the programme. after this stage.
usually lighter pieces, such as padams and javalis, are sung, before concluding with a mangalam mangala
slokam.
The last substantive chapter 16, deals with dance and music and the neglected art of Harikaiha
kalakshepam. The historical evolution of present day bharatanatyam is briefly described. The conventions,
musical forms and themes of classical dance are explained. The chapter ends with a brief reference to
Harikatha kalakshepam.
The second part of the book beginning with chapter I 7, “Musical forms” is an invaluable source of
information, almost encyclopedic in its scope and range. In chapter 1 7. various commonly used expressions,
beginning with alapana and ending with takkada followed by viruttam, are explained in a language which a
layman can understand.
Chapter 18 is a compendium of Composers of south India,” including vaggeya kuras, lyricists (matu) and
tunesmiths (data). There are beautiful colour pictures of Ramadasa. Jayadeva, Kshetrajna, Dikshitar,
Purandara Dasa, Svati Tirunal. Syama Sastri and Tyagaraja. exquisitely done by the gifted artist S. Rajam.
Chapter 19 is a continuation of chapter 18 and enumerates the mudra or musical signature. used by various
composers.
The biographical notes on musicians and music scholars are very comprehensive and up-to-date. I would like
to add “Pesch, Ludwig” to this list.
There are very useful sections on bibliography and discography. Nowadays, of course, the cassette is
popular. There is a useful, neccessarily restricted, alphabetical index, or ragas and scales. The rest of the
book is an invaluable source of information -- the glossary-cumindex.
At the risk of being accused of nitpicking, I would point of that on Page 97. marugelara, should read
marugelara. On Page 122, byag is repeated a second time The Rama natakam kritis were mostly set to
music by Ramanuja lyengar ( P1911) and on Page 230, the nadaswaram player is Chinna Moula, not
Moulana.
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This book is a most informative, thorough, and scientifically accurate companion to our classical music. The
pencil sketches by V. C. Arun are an added attraction. The diacritical marks are accurate and make the
correct pronunciation easily understood.
This book should figure in the library of every rasika. It is well worth the price of Rs. 650. The quality of the
paper and the legible typeface are also tube commended.
C. V. NARASIMHAN
The Illustrated Companion To South Indian Classical Music, Ludwig Pesch, OUP, price Rs. 650.