Friday, May 21, 2010

A Brahmin Art

Is Carnatic music a brahmin art for the consumption of brahmin audiences promoted by brahmin institutions? There are no simple answers to the question. True, there have been and there still are, great non-brahmin practitioners of the art. Many of them are instrumentalists, and in the case of the nagaswaram and the tavil it is unlikely that any brahmin has ever been a performer.

Is the brahmin domination of the art the result of discrimination, an overt conspiracy of exclusion practised by a league of musicians, patrons and the media, or is it a more subtle form of apartheid? Is it just a case of brahmins showing the greatest aptitude for and interest in classical music? Is it merely an accident of history that a number of great non-brahmin musicians do not have non-brahmin disciples to carry their tradition forward? Is the relative scarcity of non-brahmin vocalists a reflection of their inability or refusal to enunciate lyrics in brahmin accents? Are they more at home in the lyrics devoted to the Tamil god Murugan rather than paeans to Rama or Krishna?

Whatever happened to the Tamil Isai movement after the first fine rapture decades ago? Is the south’s relative insulation from war and conflict the reason why the music has remained more tradition-bound, more orthodox, more rooted in grammar than say Hindustani music, which has seen far greater migrations and hence a much wider ethnic range of musicians? Has the emphasis on kalpita or composed music with a preponderance of bhakti been an inhibitor of Carnatic music’s reach beyond a small community? Does western classical music offer a parallel history for study and comparison? How do you democratise an art and yet retain its purity and rigour?

A recent nagaswaram concert succeeded in bringing to the audience “an experience of pristine Carnatic music”—as advertised by the organisers. A magnificent Kambhoji raga alapana followed by a grand O Ranga sayi—and in fact all the ragas and compositions of the evening which were founded on the creations of the great vaggeyakaras and pathantaras of the past—reinforced the belief brahmin musicians of the past were inspired by nagaswaram, but also suggested an equal possibility of reverse osmosis. The music sounded no less ‘brahmin’ than the best vocal music of our time.

5 comments:

Padma said...

I agree with whatever you have said. Democratization of the art can happen when there is freedom to express.

The Poetry Factory said...

I shouldn’t be doing this. I have no clue about the topic; haven’t even been to a performance.

Just a couple of things.

What about the origins of Carnatic music – was it a temple art? Well, I guess most “classical” arts are connected to temple life, anyways. If that is so, then that answers the why of it.....if you are looking for a why......

I’m not quite sure, but even in Hindustani, do you have many famous dalit exponents? What about tribals? Do you think they feel a part of that “culture?”

It may not just be exclusion, after all – I am not even hinting for a moment that there is no exclusion – but maybe, just maybe, some (groups) people do not want to be a part of all this......

I personally do not understand Carnatic music. I have to be “told,” “explained,” “convinced,” “taught” of its greatness. The accent, like you said, is not mine. It is alien to me too. I just nod my head when people tell me that a recital was great, because I do not want to be left out.

Because Carnatic music is art “elevated.” And I am supposed to be an intelligent, refined individual.

Ramnarayan said...

Thank you, Padma. Poetry Factory, I need some time to respond to you. Not that I know all the answers. I can only try to provide some of them. Thanks for your comments.

J.S.K said...

"Is Carnatic music a brahmin art for the consumption of brahmin audiences promoted by brahmin institutions?"

I personally think the answer should be a loud,resounding 'NO' but is actually far from it; nevertheless it's not exactly a 'YES' but is closer to it. This is the reason I can't really accept it. We appreciate the trendy music of A.R.Rahman and rejoiced when he was awarded 2 Oscars. The incomparable Ilayaraja is still a hot favourite at night on several FM stations. I personally enjoyed countless nights of listening to scintillating stuff composed by him. 'Harivarasanm' by KJ Yesudas is played in all Ayyappan temples. Has even a fleeting thought come to our minds regarding the religion/caste/background of these great men? The answer is obviously a big 'NO'. Their work supersedes everything. This is exactly how music is to be viewed, as far as I'm concerned.

With all due respect to Carnatic music,a notable aspect of Hindustani music is that there is no "community" dominating it. I don't intend/want to get into a discussion regarding which form is better; both are equally great in their own ways. Nevertheless, it'd be great if the south could take a cue from its northern cousin and become all-inclusive. I do know of some exceptions in some Brahmin-dominated areas (one that comes to my mind is Pazhani Subramaniam Pillai, a great mridangist). Vocals and violins, as far as I know, is a Brahmin stronghold.

I am a "Tam Brahm" and am proud of my culture. I am not for rebelling against my identity/religion; all I would like to see is a bit more wholeness in Carnatic Music to infuse more variety and richness in it.

All the above statements are my personal opinions and I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings.

kathir said...

The art of paaNars of Tamil community is hwat is praticed as Carnatic music. The ragas (paNs) were set to music with various istruments like yAzh (precursor) to Veena, murasu, kuzhal (flute) and songs were composed for dncing and recitals.. It has a longer history before the Thanajavur Trinity that sang in languages that locals could not appreciate and felt left out... Composers before the Trinity were Tamils from verious castes.. Muthu Thandavar was a pioneer of modern Carnatic.. He composed songs and set the trend for songs with Pallavi and Saranams.. Marimutha Pillai and Arunachala Kavi had compostions before Thayaraja, Shyama Shastri and M Dikshatar...

Arunagiri Naathar composed Thurpugazh set to music...