RAGA DHANA
The raga was defined by Muni Matanga in the Brihaddesi : svara-varna-visesna dhvanibhedana va punah rajyate yena yah kascit sa ragah sammatah satam :the enhancing of articulate sounds by apt musical vowels by which variations of melody are generated to rouse in the listener the nuances of ecstacy is called raga.
Indian music seeks to transcend the common notion of time & space, history & culture, collective & individual consciousness. We deal here with a philosophy of music that probes the depth of any conceivable experience & aims at correlating the totality of experience with laws & energies observed in the universe. These forces were traditionally percieved as manifesting themselves through anahata nada, (literally "unstruck" sound) percieved only by the few whose latent spiritual faculties have been sharpened by the rigorous practice of yogic or tantric disciplines (sadhana). Ahata nada, (literally "struck" sound, music included), is but a pointer to universal laws that cannot be comprehended ordinarily. Like the Music of the Spheres spoken of by ancient Greek philosophers, anahata nada is the inaudible frame of reference which goes beyond the momentary enjoyment of sounds on the mundane plane of human existence; and the experience culminates in the unity (yoga) of thought, feeling & action induced by certain types of raga based music. Yet the experience of good Indian music leaves a profound impression on the initiated & uninitiated alike.
The art & science of creating melody has found masterly expression in the concept of raga. This microcosm of minute musical differentiation helps us to expand our horizon beyond the parameters dictated by familiarity, utility & predictability.
Raga occupies the pride of place in classical Indian music & has two principal aspects. On the one hand, it can be described in terms of an open musical system suing the terminology of laksana (characteristic features) for its technical aspects. On the other, the term raga stands for an aesthetic concept which can be studied with the help of models provided by other disciplines such as psychology, anthropology & philosophy of music.
Several important aspects need to be contemplated while speaking about raga in general terms. Originally there were relatively few melodic models that could be termed raga; and most of these belonged to regional (desya) traditions. With the cultural unification of subcontinent in the "classical period"(early centuries A.D.), regional music traditions became also available to musicians, experts & their patrons in other parts of India & beyond. At this stage, the need for identifying & classifying an unprecedented number of ragas ( or their respective predecessors) would have arisen in the centres of culture & learning in order to preserve what was perceived to constitute the integrity of traditional or marga (path) ragas from being obliterated by imported forms & styles of music. The generalization of certain raga features (lakshana) was bound to conflict with the individual character of existing ragas. Early attempts at measuring & prescribing specific intervals would have faced the same dilemma modern musicologists are confronted with; namely the impossibility of accurately describing certain notes in terms of sruti (micro-intervals) particularly in those cases where the very individuality of a raga is derived from a single characteristic note (jiva svara) or from a embellishment (gamaka).
Rigid rules (lakshana) cannot encompass or regulate each possible turn of melody sanctioned by established conventions (laksya). Laksya may vary to some degree, depending on a performer's style (patanthara) or a tradition (sampradaya) traceable to a particular composer. Laksana, on the other hand, is subject to rules & regulations laid down from time to time by leading experts & subjected to the scrutiny of critics (rasika). Deviations from the rule have often proved to be so immensely satisfying to musicians & listeners that they have gained universal acceptance even among the grammarians of music (laksanakara). In this manner, many erudite composers have shaped & popularized unknown or uncommon ragas through their compositions. Thyagaraja (1767-1847), the most beloved composer of the South, has elevated mere scales like Kharaharapriya (the 22 mela) & Harikambhoji (the 28 mela) to the status of genuine ragas.
Thus the existence of a matrix or a model in the form of a general scale pattern (arohana/avarohana) provides the creative mind of a composer with enormous scope for innovation; and many renowned classical composers have availed of this opportunity both in the past & present. Indian music would certainly be poorer in the absence of this quest for new means of musical expression. Yet asymmetrical raga patterns, often older than their "parental" & symmetrical scales, are sometimes difficult to reduce to a common denominator for the sake of classification or as an aid to memory. All scale systems (including the that & mela systems) tend to be at variance with the organic growth of music. The conflict is one of intellect aiming at "universal" ideas about music & formulating general, often symmetrical patterns; and feeling expressed through poetical if not dreamlike chains of associations that leave no room for generalizations.
The evolution of the raga theory reached new heights from the 17th century onwards. The present concept of raga takes full advantage of the marvellous auditory faculty we possess & transalates it into a purely aesthetic realm, gana rasa or undiluted musical delight.
Raga as understood by contemporary Indian musicians, has no known equivalent in non-indian music although there are certain features that can also be found in early European & West-Asian music. A raga differs from a mere scale (mela or that) mainly on account of the pleasant effect produced by the former & lacking in the latter.
Many ragas termed janya (derived) existed prior to the scales now regarded as janaka (parental ragas). Unlike a mela, a raga is subject to various cultural influences. These factors assign a raga a more or less prominent role in each period of history and, apart from purely musical considerations, determine its prominence as well as the frequency & degree of elaboration during a performance.
Musicians eagerly absorb new ideas, instruments & techniques irrespective of their origin provided they enrich the vocabulary of musical expression. Hence the question of authenticity, of whether or not a particular musical instrument or theory is indigenous or introduced (from another part of India or from abroad) is often impossible to answer & quite irrelevant from an artistic point of view. The various strands making up the rich tapestry that is India's music history comprise a colourful array of schools (bani, gharana) or chains of master-disciple relationships (guru sishya parampara) instituted by a vast number of illustious masters. Traditionally, these schools are known to have relied more on personal discipline & effort (sdhana), apprenticeship (gurukula), mnemonic devices (samkhya) and oral transmission than on written records. Most musicians, in spite of the establishment of modern music schools & colleges all over India, still regard personal guidance by a master (guru) as the most important factor in their artistic formation. According to recent research based on numerous interviews with leading artists, gurukulavasa (apprenticeship) is not as obsolete as commonly believed. Almost every master ( a southern vidvan or a northern pandit) prides himself on being the sisya (pupil) of a great musician. Technical information pertaining to music, mostly supported by cryptic memos, was meant to be memorized; internalized & orally transmitted rather than written down in great detail. Standard notation systems have only quite recently been devised for use in Indian music & still await their acceptance among a majority of performing artists. Thus neither octave (sthayi), rhythmic structure (tala), auxiliary notes (anu svara) nor ornamentation (gamaka) were stated in most manuscripts & musicians' notebooks until a few decades ago. Equal importance was given to memorization & the degree of artistic refinement that comes with virtually unlimited repetition. In other words, great musicians of the past have sought a quality & authenticity of interpretation that cannot be captured or replaced even by the most elaborate musical score.
source : raga dhana
an alpha-numerical directory of ragas by ludwig pesch
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