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BBC Proms - 17 July - 12 September 2009 - The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival
All Proms are broadcast live on Radio 3
What's On / Programme Notes
The Art of Khyal
Viram Jasani introduces the historic
performing styles of this ancient Indian classical vocal
tradition
The music of this first concert of the BBC
Proms Indian Voices day is performed in the North Indian khyal style
– featuring singing as well as solo performance on the sarangi (short-necked
lute). The exception comes with the contrasting South Indian
fusion ensemble Asima, which briefly opens the concert and
performs the final set. Created by the talented and innovative
Australian composer and musician Devissaro, this group
comprises singers who work in the Western traditions of harmony
and counterpoint.
The word khyal means
‘imagination’ and represents the meeting of two
different cultures, especially during the Mughal period of
India’s history, resulting in a difference of styleistic
rendition of an established system of music. Raga, the
extraordinary concept that underpins Indian classical music,
was already well established in the Sanskrit/Hindu period of
India’s history and especially by the 6th and 7th
centuries. By the time the Islamic Sultanates were established
and consolidated in the 12th and 13th centuries the predominant
style of classical music was a form of dhrupad that is said
to have its origins in a form known as prabandh and also in
haveli sangeet – the devotional music of temples with
fixed compositions and austerity of style. However the desire
to perform the traditional music of India – even without
a knowledge of Hindi or Braj or related languages of the
lyrics, or of the stylistic influences of the Sufi music from
countries such as Persia – led to the voice being used
more as an instrument, with less emphasis on the words. The
resultant style developed into the modern-day khyal. This
gave the musician greater freedom to improvise and develop
incredible vocal techniques and virtuosity, to match their
imagination. Today the language used in khyal is mainly
Hindi/ Braj/Urdu and also the meaningless but very rhythmic
syllables of a style known as tarana. In other
styles such as thumri, words are extremely important and are very
romantic, providing the inspiration for melodic creativity and
expression.
It is often asked why Indian classical
musicians never seem to play from a written score, or why the
music is unrelated to the Western concepts of harmony,
counterpoint and orchestration. The answers are complex, and
point to the long evolution of the music from ancient Vedic
times into a highly refined art form providing a unique
platform for creativity and self-expression.
In India, music has always been seen as a
way of personal gnosis, or spiritual enlightenment – a
way into the world of intuitive knowledge of the deeper reality
of things. The beautiful concept of ras, often described
as ‘emotion’, is said by scholars to transcend
mundane human emotions to achieve a state where there is no
emotion and no ego. By developing our spirituality, music aims
to take the soul beyond our physical environment into that
state of total peace. The knowledge and experience so gained is
very personal and so it can only be expressed by the individual
and not in an ensemble. Music becomes the language through
which a personal view of the world is expressed spontaneously.
This approach may also have affected the
way in which music is learnt and taught in India and why there
is no written music. Music has to become an integral part of
one’s mind, body and soul – in the way that spoken
language is. Our command of spoken language will dictate the
level, beauty and spontaneity of our communication; however
such linguistic command can only be truly fulfilling if the
ideas communicated are also beautiful. Similarly, a great
artist is one who has such technical control over the medium of
expression, whether it be the voice or an instrument, that it
is as integral a part of the body as an arm or a finger; such
an artist does not have to think twice to execute any idea that
comes to mind, it just comes naturally and flawlessly. Practice
is of fundamental importance in Indian music. When an artist
greets a fellow musician, it is with ‘How is your riaz
(practice)?’, rather than ‘How are you?’ The
state of one’s practice is a reflection of one’s
well-being. A student practises to gain total mastery over the
voice or instrument and to gain an understanding and mastery of
the music – the raga system; finally the student practises to
develop his or her own ideas and imagination.
Raga is
a wonderful concept but almost impossible to define. It is in
essence what one understands the mood or feeling to be of a
given set of musical features that comprise the rules, grammar
and syntax of a particular raga if these are used correctly. Ragas are associated
with different emotions and moods and also the times of day, as
well as the seasons. They may be named after the region from
which they have originated, or after the musicians who were
said to have created them; they can be named after a symbol
such as the movement of a swing (suggesting freedom and
romance), or after a tribe or community. Ultimately each raga has
acquired its own distinct atmosphere and characteristics,
having evolved from its origins as a simple folk song. The
integral relationship of music to everyday life and to nature
is profound. While a virtuoso musician with a fertile
imagination can use all his or her abilities to create a
‘novel’ in music, the integrity of the mood and
characteristics of the raga must nevertheless be maintained. Thus, as with
spoken language, a student will study the ragas and then
select one and perform it according to his or her mood, and be
able to do so without written music – improvising within
given musical structures but using them to best effect. It is
interesting how aspects of Hindu philosophy manifest themselves
in the performance of raga
sangeet. It is said that we develop
awareness and understanding to the ultimate stage of
‘bliss’ or ras from the fundamental fact
that we exist. So a musician will begin using a minimum number
of notes – perhaps just one – and will then develop
the music to eventually include the entire range of notes in
that raga. The music may begin with no tal (or rhythm) and
gradually involve rhythm beginning with a slow tempo and
working up to an extremely fast ending. Phrases are very simple
to start with, but become more complex as the musician weaves
beautiful phrases together from the musical elements of the raga. The
whole performance is one that grows and moves forward from
nothing into a fantastic, complex work of art that takes both
performer and listener to a heightened state of mind.
With this in mind, it is easy to understand
why there is only one melodic line in Indian music, performed
by one principal artist, whether vocalist or instrumentalist.
This line is supported by a rhythmic line played on percussion
such as the tabla – rhythm is seen as an essential aspect
of the music as it evolves and develops. The third element
comes with the underpinning by a drone played on the tanpura
(long-necked lute). This provides the base or key note of the
music (there being no modulation), against which each interval
of the chosen raga is heard and understood. More importantly the tanpura provides
a way of focusing and drawing the mind into the music. It is
often seen as an inspiration for meditation.
Programme notes © Viram Jasani
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2009 Calendar
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | ||||||
| 17 | 18 | |||||
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| August | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
| September | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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