Swaramelakalanidhi is a much celebrated musicological treatise of 16th century Vijayanagara . Authored by Ramamatya in the year 1550, the work is counted among the sangita shastra navaratnas or the nine 'gems' of the theory of Carnatic Music . The work's importance lies in the fact that it is more relevant and related to modern practice than the books written prior to it. Spread over five chapters, it deals primarily with the theory of raga , describes the melas for the classification of raga -and the different shuddha svaras and vikrta svaras constituting the melas .
24-475: Works by other celebrated contemporaries like Pundarika Vitthala and Somanantha also deal with similar themes, namely the description of ragas, their classification under melas and the enumeration of the shuddha and vikrta svaras constituting the melas. Minor ideological difference can however be discerned among these works. Ramamatya was the grandson of the illustrious Kallinatha (the author of an authoritative commentary to Sarngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara ). He
48-623: A summary of sangita practice in the Vedic literature , then presents the post-Vedic developments and recommendations for practice. It includes a description of theatre design, make up and decoration of the artists, performance standards for instrumentalists and singers, as well as methods for improvising on a musical theme. In the 6th chapter, Sarang Deva describes the ancient and pre-13th century musical instruments of India into four class of musical instruments: chordophones , aerophones , membranophones and idiophones . He mentions physical description of
72-811: The Bhagavad Gita relating to non-attachment. Sańgītaratnākara is a very important text and this is evident from the many commentaries written on it. It remains as a reference text in the contemporary times among the Indian musicologists and music schools. The text attracted secondary literature called bhasya in the Indian tradition. Two of the many commentaries on the text have been translated into English. These are Sańgītasudhākara of Simbabhūpāla and Kalānidhi of Kallinātha. Sańgītaratnākara compiles information found in earlier works like Nāţyaśāstra, Dattilam, Bŗhaddēśī, Sarasvatī-hŗdayālańkāra-hāra, ideas of Abhinavagupta on Nāţyaśāstra, as well as others. Sarangdeva expanded
96-498: The antara and kaishiki notes. The work is divided into five chapters viz., 1. Upodghataprakarana 2. Svaraprakarana 3. Vinaprakarana 4. Melaprakarana 5. Ragaprakarana Sangita Ratnakara The Sangita-Ratnakara , संगीतरत्नाकर, ( IAST : Saṃgītaratnākara), literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important musicological texts from India. Composed by Śārṅgadeva (शार्ङ्गदेव) in Sanskrit during
120-505: The 13th century, both Carnatic music and Hindustani music traditions of Indian classical music regard it as a definitive text. The author was a part of the court of King Simhana (r. 1210–1247) of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri , Maharashtra. The text is divided into seven chapters. The first six chapters, Svaragatadhyaya , Ragavivekadhyaya , Prakirnakadhyaya , Prabandhadhyaya , Taladhyaya and Vadyadhyaya deal with
144-768: The Hindu kingdom in the Deccan region near Ellora Caves (Maharashtra). Śārṅgadeva worked as an accountant with freedom to pursue his music interests in the court of King Simhana (r. 1210–1247) of the Yadava dynasty. The text is a Sanskrit treatise on Sangita ( IAST : Saṃgīta), or music-related performance arts tradition. Sangita is stated by the text as a composite performance art consisting of Gita (melodic forms, song), Vadya (instrumental music) and Nrtta (dance, movement). The 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara classifies Sangita into two kinds: Marga-sangita and Desi-sangita. Marga refers to
168-621: The Vedic literature of Hinduism such as in the Aitareya Brahmana , and in early post-Vedic era Sanskrit texts such as the Natya Shastra , Panchatantra , Malvikagnimitra and Kathasaritsagara . A stringed instrument is described with proportional lengths in Jaiminiya Brahmana and Aitareya Aranyaka , and these are compared to poetical meters. It is referred to as "Gandharva Sangita" in
192-411: The accordatura, range, preferred strings (for particular notes) etc., for a variety of stringed keyboards. Among other things, it also innovates and dedicates a new keyboard to king Achyutaraya. A new scheme for classifying ragas into uttama (superior), madhyama (middling) and adhama (inferior) on the basis of their expressive potential is also expounded in the work. It also resolves the problem of
216-405: The anachronism notwithstanding. The Svaramelakalanidhi brings the theory up to date, rationalizes intervals and scales, introduces the concepts of svayambhu-svara (self-generating note, upper partial), .dharashruti paryayatattva and pratinidhitattva of svaras . Mukhari is established as the shuddhasvara saptaka . It also fixes and standardizes musical intervals on the keyboard, defines
240-475: The ancient Hindu texts, whose leader is mentioned to be the Vedic sage Narada – the author of seven hymns of the Rigveda . The Hindu goddess Saraswati in revered in these texts as the source and patron of sangita . Some important Sanskrit manuscripts relating to Sangita include Sangita Ratnakara , Sangita Ratnavali , Sangita Ratnamala , Sangita Darpana , Sangita Siromani and Sangita Sagara . One of
264-514: The art of individual movements of a dancer. According to Peter Fletcher – a professor of Music and Drama, the Sangita Ratnakara states that "the composer was expected to be a competent performer, but he also made clear that the composer was expected to know his audience, and how their minds work, rising above his own likes and dislikes, in order to bring delight to everyone". Sarangadeva's views on music, states Fletcher, exemplified ideas in
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#1732891884662288-410: The classical techniques taught by Bharata in Natya Shastra . Desi Sangita refers to regional improvisations that may not follow the classical rules and structure for the music and performance arts. The text has seven chapters: The first chapter has eight sections. It opens with reverential verses to the Hindu god Shiva , who is called the "embodiment of sound, sung about by the entire world" and
312-613: The earliest known Sangita treatise is Sangita Meru , authored by Kohala – the student of Bharata Muni of Natya Shastra fame. The text is lost to history, but its existence is known because it has been quoted and cited in other Indian texts. The 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara text has been influential to North and South Indian music traditions, and is available in many languages. It states, according to Tarla Mehta, that "Sangita constitutes song, dance and musical instruments". The fusion of experience and concept, states Mehta, established Sangita as an integral component of play production in
336-560: The first chapter describe nada (sound), svara (tone), śruti (microinterval), gramas (primary scales), murcchanas (derivative scales), varna (color), jati (mode), alankara (embellishment), giti (singing styles), meters and other basic musical concepts. The suddha (pristine) svaras are those in the Sama Veda , states the text. The mammoth text describes 253 ragas in chapter 2, while chapter 5 presents all classical (marga) and 120 regional Talas . Chapter 3 opens with
360-417: The instruments, how to play them and the repertoire that best flows with each musical instrument. In the 7th chapter of this massive text is a relatively brief description of classical and regional dance forms of India, including Kathak . Its dance chapter describes expressive styles, posture and body language as a form of silent communication of ideas, the rasa theory categorized through nine emotions, and
384-433: The modern term music fails to capture the historic sense of "Sanskrit sangita and Greek mousike ". In the Indian tradition, the term sangita includes melodious singing, rhythmic dancing, instrumental music, classical, provincial, ritual chanting and incidental forms of music-related performance arts. Sound Nada (intelligible sound) is the treasure of happiness for the happy, the distraction of those who suffer,
408-483: The more ancient and medieval ideas as well, such as with his ideas on lasyas . The text forms a useful bridge between the ancient, medieval and the post-13th century periods of music history in India. Sangita Traditional Sangita ( Devanagari : संगीत , IAST : saṃgīta ), also spelled Samgita or Sangeeta , refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions. According to Guy Beck,
432-451: The one delighting according to the Vedas . The author pays homage to his ancestors, then to ancient scholars such as Bharata, Matanga, Dattila and Narada, as well as major gods and goddesses of Hinduism in first section of the first chapter. In the second section, there is hardly any mention of music or dance, rather Sarngadeva presents his metaphysical and physiological beliefs, as well as credits
456-515: The origin of music to the Samaveda . He presents musical topics and definitions of musical concepts starting with section three of the first chapter, with frequent mentions of Shiva and the Hindu goddess Saraswati . According to Sarngadeva's verses 27-30 of the section 1.1, song is everywhere, in the cry of a baby, in the beats of nature, in the pulse of life, in every human act of Dharma , Artha , Kama and Moksha . The sections 3 through 8 of
480-554: The root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome blending, unison" in the context of musical arts. Sangita connotes any form of singing with music, harmonious recitation or chorus singing in particular. In some medieval era literary genre such as the Puranas and poetic texts such as Kathasaritsagar , a related term Sangita-shastra and Sangita-vidya mean the "art, science or knowledge of singing and dancing with music". According to Alison Arnold and Bruno Nettl ,
504-604: The text include the Sangitasudhakara of Simhabhupala ( c. 1330 ) and the Kalanidhi of Kallinatha ( c. 1430 ). Sangita Ratnakara was written by Śārṅgadeva , also spelled Sarangadeva or Sharangadeva. Śārṅgadeva was born in a Brahmin family of Kashmir . In the era of Islamic invasion of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent and the start of Delhi Sultanate , his family migrated south and settled in
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#1732891884662528-606: The various aspects of music and musical instruments, while the last chapter Nartanadhyaya deals with dance. The medieval era text is one of the most complete historical Indian treatises on the structure, technique, and reasoning on music theory that has survived into the modern era, and is a comprehensive voluminous text on ragas (chapter 2) and talas (chapter 5). The text is comprehensive synthesis of ancient and medieval musical knowledge of India. The text has been frequently quoted by later Indian musicologists in their music and dance-related literature. Significant commentaries on
552-453: The winner of the hearts of the hearers, the first messenger of the god of love... the fifth approach to the eternal wisdom, the Veda. — Sangita Bhasya , A text on music Translator: Roshen Dalal Sangita is broadly categorized as consisting of three interrelated knowledges: gīta (vocal music, song), vadya (instrumental music), and nrtya (dance, movement). These ideas appear in
576-467: Was also the royal composer and architect at the court of king Ramaraja. He described himself as abhinavabharatacharya and todara-malla (meaning "the hero ( malla ) who wears the honorific anklet ( todar )"). The Kannada term means hero (malla) who wears the honorific anklet (todar). The last epithet is however, usually interpreted by some as alluding Todarmal, a minister in the Mughal emperor Akbar 's court,
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