Carnatic
Carnatic music is considered by many to be one of the most sophisticated systems of music. Songs are composed in a fixed raga. Each composition is set with specific notes and beats, but performers vary widely in their presentation. Improvisation occurs in the melody of the composition as well as in using the notes to expound the beauty of the raga. A concert usually consists of compositions called kritis or keertanams. Most often, these compositions are religious in nature and conform to one raga, although a few have sections composed of different ragas (a raagamaalika). Many performers first begin the song with a section called raagam. In this, they use aakaaram (essentially, using the vowels aa, ri, na, ta, etc. instead of words) to slowly elaborate the notes and flow of the raga. This establishes a complicated exposition of the raga that shows the performer's skill. With the raga established, the song begins. The accompaniment (usually violin, sometimes veena) performs along with the main performer and the percussion (mridangam, and sometimes ghatam and kanjeera). Each phrase is repeated with variations.
“Saraswati Manohari”
Vocal: Sriram Ravi
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Saraswati Manohari; Taala: Adi
Composer: Muthuswami Dikshitar
“Bajare Manasa”
Vocal: Arun Rajagopalan
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga; Taala: Adi
Composer: Vasudevaachaarya
“Abheeshta Varada”
Vocal: Vaishno Dasika
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Hamsadhwani; Taala: Adi
Composer: Tyagaraja
“Sangeeta Jnanamu”
Vocal: Srilakshmi Bhagavathula
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Dhanyasi;Taala: Adi
“Shivakameshwarim”
Vocal: Suneetha Tatapudy
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Kalyani; Taala: Adi
Composer: Muthuswami Dikshitar
“Bhajana Seya Raadaa”
Vocal: Srikanth Balaji
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Dharmavati; Taala: Roopakam
Composer: Mysore Vasudevachaariaar
“Venkataachala Nilayam”
Violin: Prashanth Gururaja
Mridangam: Sriram Balasubramanian
Kanjira: Raghu Venkat
Raaga: Sindhu Bhairavi; Taala: Adi
Composer: Purandara Daasa
The Indian Classical Music and Dance Group
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Presents
Geetanjali
An evening of Carnatic
& Hindustani Music
Friday, March 18th, 2005
7:30 pm–9:30pm
University Club
Michigan Union
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
The Indian Classical Music and Dance Group, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
The Indian Classical Music and Dance Group - is a registered non-profit student organization at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The group aims to enrich the Indian classical music and dance talent in the community, and to draw interest from a wide spectrum of audiences in Indian classical art forms. The group also intends to raise funds for charitable causes by using Indian art forms as a medium.
ICMD was formed in March 2003 by a small group of classical music enthusiasts at the University of Michigan. We have over 25 active participants and we organize one concert every semester on campus.
Our members come from diverse backgrounds in terms of culture, training and education. Practice sessions are informal, usually in our homes and the environment is conducive to learning and camaraderie. Our members are skilled at playing a variety of instruments such as the violin, tabla, flute, sitar, mridangam and harmonium. We have performed at concerts organized by the EPA, Pampa Kannada Koota, Tamil Sangam, Great Lakes Aradhana Committee, PROVIDES, Persian Student Association and other groups in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area.
Please visit http://www.umich.edu/~icmd for information about our group and our performances. To get in touch with us, email us at .
We would greatly appreciate any monetary support, as this would help us in the purchase and upkeep of our instruments, and in organizing events.
Speak with us after the event or email us.
Our music
Indian classical music is nearly three thousand years old and there is a semantic divide between the North Indian and South Indian styles of music. The fundamental elements of both the styles are raga (melody) and taala (rhythm). Both Hindustani and Carnatic music follow a melodic line and employ a drone (tanpura) with the help of one or two notes against the melody.
A raga is most simply described as a collection of five to eight notes, together with a set of rules to combine them effectively and create a particular mood. Each Raga has a name and it also has a character, which can be devotional, bold and valorous, tragic or peaceful. Hindustani compositions include Dhrupads, Khayals, Tappas, Taranas and Thumris while Carnatic compositions include Varnams, Kritis, Javalis, Swarajathis, Viruttams and Tillanas.
A taal is made up of a number of matras or beats and a unique set of bols (patterns) defines each taal. Unlike other music styles, some taals have six, seven and ten beats.
Today’s Program
Invocation
“Jaya Jaya He Bhagawati”
Vocal: Malavika Chandra, Himabindu Nandivada, Srilakshmi Bhagavathula, Arun Rajagopalan
Harmonium: Suparna Mandal
Tabla: Ashish Deshpande
Raga: Poorvi; Taal: Teentaal
Hindustani
In this style, the performance begins with an alaap- a slow rendition of a combination of notes of the raga, to create the mood of the raga. The performer then builds pace with a chhota khyal which is a short composition set to the beat of a taala. This is followed by taans which are at a double pace and the performance ends at this high tempo. A vocal performance is accompanied by tabla, harmonium and occasionally violin, flute and sitar. An instrumental performance often involves a jugalbandi with multiple instruments complementing and challenging each other. The semi classical compositions are bhajans, which are devotional; and ghazals wherein the emphasis is on the romantic lyrics.
“Barjo na mane (chhota khyal)”
Vocal: Himabindu Nandivada
Harmonium: Suparna Mandal
Tabla: Aniket Joshi
Raga: Bihaag Taal: Teentaal
“Sharada Sharada (bhajan)”
“Vitthala Amuche (bhajan)”
Vocal: Nitin Haldankar
Harmonium: Suparna Mandal
Tabla: Ashish Deshpande
Taal: Bhajani
“Durge Bhavani (chhota khyal)”
Vocal & Harmonium: Amit Sawant
Tabla: John Churchville
Raga: Malkauns; Taal: Ektaal
“Pahadi Dhun”
Flute: Chaitanya Sampara
Tabla: Ashish Deshpande
Raga: Pahadi; Taal: Dadra, Keherva
“Surmayee Shaam (ghazal)”
Vocal: Srikanth Balaji
Harmonium: Ruthvick Divecha
Tabla: Ashish Deshpande
“Tabla ”
Tabla: John Churchville, Ashish Deshpande,
Aniket Joshi, Nidhip Patel
Taal: Teentaal