Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. Its name comes from a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
/
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the performer greater freedom of expression than
dhrupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...
. In khyal,
ragas
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...
are extensively ornamented, and the style calls for more technical virtuosity than intellectual rigour.
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
origin which means "imagination, thought, ideation, meditation, reflection". Hence khyal connotes the idea of a song that is imaginative and creative in either its nature or execution. The word entered India through the medium of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
language. Just as the word reflects ideas of imagination and imaginative composition, the musical form is imaginative in conception, artistic and decorative in execution and romantic in appeal.Francis Joseph Steingass خیال A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary
Characteristics
There are three main characteristics of khyal: various musical materials that can be employed, the selection of different types of
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
, and the placement of various materials in order to produce a balanced and aesthetically pleasing performance.
Musical Materials
Raga
is a
melodic
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...
framework for improvisation based on the idea that certain characteristic patterns of notes ( ) evoke a heightened state of emotion. These patterns of notes are a fusion of scalar and melodic elements, and each raga can be described in terms of its ascending lines ( ) and descending lines ( ), as well in terms of its characteristic melodic figures in which certain intervals are emphasised and attention is focused on particular notes.
Khyal can be played in hundreds of ragas and there are few conceptual limitations when it comes to selection. Instead such decisions are made on the basis of artistic preference, vocal quality, the nature of the composition and time of the day of the performance. Some khyal singers maintain a large anthology of ragas while others prefer to focus their attention on a smaller selection. Those with high pitched voices often prefer ragas in the upper register while those with heavy vocal quality can choose ragas that are deep and ponderous in nature. Similarly artists that are adept in intonation can cultivate ragas which has melodic skips and those who enjoy intellectual and musical challenges might choose ragas of a complex nature.
Tala
The term , which is perhaps best translated as 'time measure', covers the whole subject of musical meter in Indian classical music. A tala is a metrical framework, or structure of beats ( ), within which musical compositions are composed and performed. They can be performed in different tempi - slow ( ), medium ( ) and fast ( ).
Khyal is usually performed in seven talas, which are , , , , , ''Tintāl'' and ''Aḍacautāl''. Tilwada, Jhumra and Rupak are generally used for vilambit performance although composers who use tilwada are relatively few. Ektal was traditionally used for vilambit and madhya performances, but it is also used for drut performances. Jhaptal is used for madhya performances. Adacautal is used for both slow and fast performances, but rarely encountered. Tintal was conventionally associated with drut performances, especially those that emphasize rhythmic play. It is now used for playing performances in all three tempi.
Bandish
Khyal bases itself on a repertoire of short songs (two to eight lines); a khyal song is called a . Every singer generally renders the same bandish differently, with only the text and the raga remaining the same. Khyal bandishes are typically composed in a variant of
Hindi-Urdu
Hindustani (; Devanagari: ,
*
*
*
* ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the ''lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the langu ...
or occasionally the
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...
variant of the
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
,
Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries , Oxford U ...
Rajasthani
Rajasthani may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India
* Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there
* Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region
* Rajasthani architecture
* Rajasthani art ...
, or
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
. These compositions cover diverse topics, such as romantic or divine love, praise of kings or gods, the seasons, dawn and dusk, and the pranks of Krishna, and they can have symbolism and imagery.
A bandish is divided into two parts, the and the (if there are three sections, the third will be considered as an additional antara verse). These sections can be characterised in terms of three pitch registers, low middle and high. The sthayi section is composed in the low register and bottom of the middle half register, while the antara section is composed in the upper middle register and high registers. The sthayi section is considered more important because it shows the pitch selection and melodic contours of the raga, while antara section is more textually dense.
Types of Improvisation
Alap
is a form of improvisation that is used to the characteristics of a raga in a gradual and systematic fashion. It can be sung to vocables in free form, in which case it is known as . It can also be sung to the text of the bandish in metrical form, in which case it is called or ( is a Sanskrit word which means 'composition'). The degree of rhythm that is introduced to the alap by the bandish also varies from singer to singer. There are various styles of presenting a raga, such as (combination of various pitches manner) and (pitch-by-pitch manner). The pacing and divisions of alap can also vary, some artists spend more time in a certain pitch register than others.
Tans
are fast melodic figures of a virtuosic nature, sung to a vowel - usually 'ā' (which is called ). They can vary in shape, range, presence of ornamentation, speed, etc. The concept of tans is elusive and difficult to define. Some singers are well known for singing tans, especially tans of shape such as ‘roller-coaster’ and ‘plateau’, while others use only a few in their performances. Tans can be sung in different sections, or they can be ornamented to the point that the different pitches are indistinguishable.
When tans are sung to syllables of the bandish text they are known as boltans. They provide a textual element to improvisation in khyal. The bols in bolton are supposed to be spaced in a scattering of tans so that the meaning of the text can be properly understood. They can be described as being melismatic and contrasted with the long and stretched form of akars. They can be used to create rhythmic interest or they can be indistinguishable to akars.
Bolbant
refers to the use of the bandish text (bols) for the purpose of rhythmic play. It is used by musicians who excel in the control of tala. Some artists create passages of bolbans with rhythmic placement of the straight lines of the bandish text while others recombine the text words and phrases for variety. Many artists use simple syncopation patterns while others use more audacious patterns such as layakari. The rhythmic variety in bolbant is essentially unlimited.
Sargam
passages are those enunciating the syllables for the pitches (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) as they are sung. Most artists use them for speed, in the manner of tans, but with manifestation of mathematically proportioned rhythmic densities relative to the speed of the tala counts (double speed, quadruple speed, etc) than a 'flowing' tan is likely to give. Another option is to use sargam in bolbant-like improvisation, and a few khyal singers bring the text syllables into play.
Nom-tom
features rhythmic pulsations, achieved by pitch repetition, particular ornamentation, and enunciation of text syllables, vocables, or vowels. It is only used by a limited number of artists since it is associated more often with dhrupad than with khyal. In dhrupad, it is sung as part of the unmetered ragalap which is presented before the composition is performed, and it is sung to vocables. In khyal, it is sung before or after the composition is presented, and it can be sung to either vocables or syllables of the bandish text. Its features complement the rippling effects of tans and the lyrical element of alap while avoiding the rhythmic complexity of boltans.
Placement of various materials
A typical khyal performance uses two bandish compositions — the (great khyal) constitutes most of the performance, while the (small khyal) is used as a finale and is usually in the same raga but a different tala. The bada khyal covers a wide range of possibilities, ideally giving attention to all musical elements - melody, rhythm and speed. In the chota khyal, melody is accomplished through the bandish while rhythm and speed is emphasised through improvisation. Another difference is one of speed, the bada khyal begins at a slow speed (vilambit laya) or medium speed (madhya laya), while the chota khyal begins at a fast speed (drut laya). In each of these two songs, the rate of the tala counts gradually increases during the course of their performance.
The main portion of the khyal performance is often preceded by some kind of melodic improvisation which widely varies due to artistic preference. Some artists begin their performance by singing to a small number of vocables, such as 'de', 'ne', or 'na', or to vowels (usually 'a'), or to the words of the bandish text. For some, this section acts as a kind of vocal warm-up, taking up only a few seconds. Others use it in order to set the mood, singing for a minute or two, with the effect of beginning a ragalap, or singing a kind of 'mini-ragalap', or possibly foreshadowing the bandish that comes next. Meanwhile, some singers make it a major structural portion of their bada khyal and surround it ragalap before and rupakalapti after.
The first phrase () of the sthayi is the most important component of the bandish because it provides material for most cadences in the performance. Some artists present the antara gradually by creating a cadence or two in the process while the first phrase of the antara (antara mukhda) provides material for the cadence. The mukhda can be performed as an element of rhythm, or it can be blended into the alap-oriented structure of the slow bada khyal. The melody of the mukhda generally undergoes a great deal of change during improvisation. The bandish is usually sung with its sections (sthayi and antara) separated in some way. In the bada khyal, especially at a slow speed, artists usually sing the sthayi only at the beginning, after which the sthayi text (or the vocables or the vowels) are augmented with new melody. Most artists begin singing the antara some point when the high pitch register is reached. Meanwhile, other artists prefer to skip the antara section, thereby reducing the textual density of the bada khyal, and instead sing the sthayi text in an antara-like melody. Some artists sing both the sthayi and the antara are the beginning of the bada khyal, this is particularly common in medium speed bada khyal performances. They often use some kind of improvisation to separate the sthayi from the antara, or they might use a different arrangement.
Ensemble
The basic ensemble of a khyal performance consists of the featured soloist(s), an accompanist (or two) on a melody-producing instrument, a
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
player, and one or two accompanists on the
tanpura
The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music.
It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...
, the
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
-producing instrument. A possible addition to the basic ensemble is a supporting singer (or two). This is a traditional part of training for young aspiring artists whose task is to begin improvising when the soloist wishes to rest, or when the soloist asks the supporting singer to repeat a passage after him (for example, a tan repeated in sargam). The supporting singer can also be assigned to play the tanpura.
Khyal is usually sung as a solo, but in some cases there are two soloists who perform together by dividing the improvisation between them so that there is still only one vocal part, this is known as
jugalbandi
A jugalbandi or jugalbandhi is a performance in Indian classical music, especially in Hindustani classical music but also in Carnatic, that features a duet of two solo musicians. The word jugalbandi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet ca ...
. The jugalbandi form of khyal is cooperative, as opposed to competitive, and it requires a considerable amount of skill and intimacy to create a performance in which both soloists contribute equally.
The melody producing instrument in a khyal performance can either be a
sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...
(a
bowed string instrument
Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound.
Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to t ...
) or a
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
(a portable organ). The role of the artist is to complement the vocal line of the soloist, by playing in
heterophony
In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Such a texture can be regarded as a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized at the same time ...
a split second behind as the soloist improvises, by repeating ends of phrases for continuity when the soloist takes a short break, or by repeating earlier phrases during longer breaks. In some cases, the soloist and the sarangi player can form a partnership, in which case the sarangi player can be asked to improvise rather than just repeat during vocal breaks, or they can asked to perform a challenging feat such repeating a phrase such as a tan. The other major instrument used in a khyal performance is the tabla, which is a
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
instrument. The tabla player is essentially the time keeper for the performance, and it is their task to play the various drum patterns associated with a particular tala.
History
Development of Khyal
Music in the Indian subcontinent was traditionally divided into two categories, and . Gandharva was an ancient form of music which was traditionally handed down from master to pupil while Prabhanda, also known as or , consisted of regional songs or tunes. Prabhanda was a systematic and organised form of music that consisted of four sections, (later known as ), , and , and numerous musical elements such as , , , , and . There were several musical compositions such as , , , , and . Sadharani was an eclectic style of composition that incorporated elements of other styles, particularly bhinna, and incorporated sweet idioms and delicate nuances of emotion. Rupakalapti was a creative and imaginative style of composition which consisted of (musical improvisation), raga and tala, incorporated inside of a prabhanda.
The
Ghaznavid
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
conquest of northern India resulted in the introduction of the
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
and
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
into the Indian subcontinent. The Ghaznavids were
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
based in
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
(in present day Afghanistan) and they were the political heirs of the Persian
Samanid dynasty
The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Kho ...
based in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
(in present day Uzbekistan). When
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
became the capitol of the new rulers, it inherited many of the cultural institutions and literary practices of the Ghaznavids, causing a new literary florescence. The Mongol invasions caused many poets to seek refuge and find patronage at the royal court of Delhi. The first generation of Persian poets, such as Abu al-Faraj Runi and Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman, continued the literary traditions of the Samanids.
Amir Khusrau
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian culture, Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural his ...
(1253 - 1325) was a poet and composer who lived during this period. He was born in North India but raised in a Turco-Iranian environment. He served in the courts of various sultans and princes belonging to the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
,
Khalji
The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.Tughlaq
The Tughlaq dynasty ( fa, ), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Indo- Turkic origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the ...
dynasties, and remained attached to the
Chisti
The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a ...
suffis of Delhi. It has often been speculated that khyal was created by Amir Khusrau, but the evidence for this is insufficient. Most scholars agree that khyal was the outcome of a gradual process of evolution that occurred in the Delhi Sultanate. It developed upon the ancient structure of sadharani composition and its creative and imaginative style was based on the rupakalapti form of composition. The Sharqui rulers of Jaunpur were great patrons of fine art such as architecture, painting and music. They patronised khyal to a great extent in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Medieval India also witnessed the emergence of different schools of classical music known as
gharanas
In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...
. The term gharana carries multiple and diverse connotations, but the concept can be said to include a lineage of hereditary musicians, their disciples and the different musical style they represent. In the case of khyal, a gharana may consist of a single lineage or several lineages of hereditary musicians. In the case of the
Gwalior gharana
The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605).
The favourite singers of t ...
, the oldest of the khyal gharanas, the lineage of hereditary musicians who were the founding family of the khyal style is extinct; a different family of hereditary musicians who were trained into the tradition by the founding family carries on the tradition.
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
, khyal was nurtured by eminent musicians, and many master musicians, such as Suraj Khan, Chand Khan, Baz Bahadur and Rupamati, were interested in the culture of khyal, though it did not enjoy royal patronage like dhrupad. As a result, it remained outside the pale of royal courts and aristocratic societies of the time. A list of musicians at the court of Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
included in Raga Darpan, a book written by Faqir Ullah, one-time governor of
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
, mention two khyal performers.
Mughal emperor
Muhammad Shah
Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...
was another great patron of music, poetry and painting, which he continued even after the
invasion
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
of India by Persian emperor
Nadir Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
. One of his musicians, Niyamat Khan, who was adept in both dhrupad and veena, won the title Sadarang from the emperor for his talents and theoretical and practical knowledge in classical music. He created the elegant classical form of khyal in a majestic and colourful slow tempo ( vilambita laya) like dhrupad. Sadarang heightened the classical form of khyal such that it was appreciated by the top-ranking musicians and royal sovereigns of the time. As a result, khyal attained a similar high position to that enjoyed by dhrupad, and gradually came to be developed with many modifications and changes in forms and styles and decorative elements.
Colonial period
The decline of the Mughal empire and the British colonisation of the Indian subcontinent had a detrimental effect on the quality and quantity of khyal music as it did not get any special patronage from the British colonial government in India. As a result, its patronage was more or less confined to the courts of certain maharajas, rajas and nawabs who provided employment for numerous artists. Meanwhile, others preferred (or could only afford) to maintain a few artists or to invite artists to visit on a temporary basis. Some patrons, such as the Gaekwads of
Baroda
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...
, employed khyal players from more than one gharana; as a result, Baroda is associated with many different styles of performance. Others, such as the rulers of
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
and Rampur, preferred to patronize consistently and primarily musicians of one gharana, so that those courts are associated with a single style of performance. In the nineteenth century, a large number of wealthy urban citizens became patrons of Indian classical music. By the early twentieth century, some khyal players were leading efforts to introduce classical music to the general public, which helped in broadening the patronage base.
During this period, particularly the early twentieth, two major ideas emerged about the study and transmission of Indian classical music. The first had to do with the growing demand for institutional teaching, which led to a rising number of music schools being established though patronage by native princes and urban elites. The other was concerned with systematisation and generalisation of the Indian classical music. The Indian musicologist
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (10 August 1860 – 19 September 1936) was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, an art which had been propagated for centuries mostly through oral traditions. ...
played a major part in systematising the tradition while also opening it up for the general audience. He wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, introduced the
Thaat
A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...
system for classifying ragas, published a series of textbooks, and initiated a number of conferences to provide a common platform for discussion between Hindustani and Carnatic classical musicians.
Post-Independence period
In 1947, British rule in the Indian subcontinent came to an end, and two new nations came into existence, India and Pakistan. The
princely states
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
that had been part of the British Raj were incorporated into the two new nation states. This led to a radical change as patronage shifted from the hundred of princely courts to the Government of India. As part of the post-independence project of nation building, the cultural domain was developed by the establishment of bodies such as
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
History
It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...
(inaugurated in 1953), the state-owned
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
and, later, the national television broadcaster,
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
. Such agencies have continued to support khayal music prominently, making it accessible to the public of the nation through concerts, recordings, music education, grants and fellowships, etc.
The second half of the twentieth century was also a period when khayal entered the global stage on several levels. On the one hand, beginning in the 1960s, instrumental artists such as
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
and
Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he ...
introduced Hindustani classical music genres to mainstream audiences in Europe and North America through concerts, collaborations with popular musicians and training of non-Indian disciples. On the other hand, the growing
Indian diaspora
Overseas Indians (IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of Indi ...
implied transnational audiences, patrons and students for the classical form.