RĀGAM-TĀNAM-PALLAVI |
| rāgam
\rAgam\ / ālāpana: indicates an extensive development of the melodic
materials of the rāga. Rāgam is quite different from Hindustani ālāp in its emphasis on ornamentation and its juxtaposition of slow and fast
passages. |
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ākṣiptikā \AkShiptikA\ [Sanskrit, "thrown out"]. Beginning section in
which the performer presents the most important melodic phrases of the rāga in
both the purvānga and uttarānga. for consideration. This might
or might not be followed by other sections. [The Telegu word for this
same passage is āyittam (Ayittam).] |
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rāgavardhanī \rAgavardhanI\ [Sanskrit, "rāga expansion"] is the principal part
of the rāgam / ālāpana. Rāgavardhani phrases first
explore the purvānga and then the uttarānga. |
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sthāyī-makarini-vartani \sthAyI-makarini-vartani\ the section that often concludes a rāgam / ālāpana.
This section may have three subsections: descending-ascending passages
(sthāyī), ascending-descending passages (makarini), and
rapid scale patterns (vartani). |
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| tānam
\tAnam\ is distinguished by a pulsing sensation achieved through the rhythmic
use of non-lexical syllables such as "tā-nam, tā
ka nam, a nan dam" etc. Tānam are usually composed of sections at sequentially
higher registral levels, each section separated by a brief passage of ālāpana-like material. Commonly, tānam are cadenced by
stating a musical phrase in tānam style successively at roughly
the upper sa, pa, and lower sa and concluded by
another short ālāpana-like phrase focused on the lower sa. |
| pallavi
has been previously described under kriti. In rāgam-tānam-pallavi, a selected kriti pallavi is accompanied by several pre-composed variations (sangati),
just as in a performance of kriti. The pallavi theme is
the basis for two types of improvisation: niraval and svara kalpana. After this, rāgam-tānam-pallavi often concludes with an improvised percussion ensemble section (tani or tani avartam). |
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niraval [\niraval\ Sanskrit, "filling up"] specifically refers to an improvisatory,
elaborative technique in which the original text of the pallavi or a portion of it and much of its rhythmic structure remain the same
while the melody changes. [The same variation technique often occurs in
the carana of a kriti.] However, niraval often
refers to a section of the pallavi, pallavi in this case
refering to that part of the performance governed by tāla. Other
rhythmic practices within niraval are anuloma and tiśram (roughly similar to the bolbant of dhrupad). These take
the original pallavi theme at double and quadruple speeds (anuloma)
and sometimes at triple speed (tiśram). |
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svara kalpana [\svara kalpana\ Sanskrit, "art [of] notes"]. Performers will commonly focus
improvisations on the melodic expansion of the rāga using the pallavi theme
as its starting point. In one important technique, performers gradually increase the length of
phrases and diminish the rhythmic subdivision of the tāla so that the notes come more quickly without an actual tempo increase.
In vocal performances the singer uses the sargam syllables. |
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Performers
keep a model of the pallavi theme going in the back of their
mind and return to it in a precise way. The eṭuppu \eTuppu\
(or graha \graha\) is the consistent prescribed point in
a pallavi theme to which svara kalpana phrases arrive. |
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One of the most common
ways to end an improvisation in South Asian music is to play a phrase
three times and have it end at a cadentially important point in time (usually
beat one). In Karnatak sangīt, a mōrā \mOrA\ is an
elaborate three-fold cadential sequence often closing particularly important
sections. |
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tani āvartam \tani Avartam\ [Sanskrit "cyclic
variations"]. A common concluding
feature of a performance of rāgam-tānam-pallavi is
a, sometimes refered to more simply as tani], a mrdangam solo or a percussion ensemble improvisation which often concludes a performance
of rāgam-tānam-pallavi. Generally, these are concluded
by a restatement of the pallavi theme with, perhaps, one or two sangati or improvisations in niraval and svara kalpana style. |
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Schematic
of Rāgam-Tānam-Pallavi |