The basics

A beautiful explanation given on basics by my colleague:

-----Original Message-----
From: Kumar SankaraIyer
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 4:25 PM
To: Harsha S Rao

A varnam is actually a fixed composition of relatively short
duration. It is usually sung in the beginning of a concert, for 'warming up'.
There are 2 classes of varnams - aditala and aDatala, based on the talams
(rhythm) to which they are set. The basic structure of a varnam consists
of:

1. Pallavi ( contains sahithyam, i.e. lyrics)
2. Anupallavi
(contains sahithyam)
3. Mukthayiswarams (consists of swara syllables only..
like ri ga ma etc.)
4. Charanam (usually one line, contains saithyam)
5.
Chittaswarams (usually 3,4 or 5 in number, contain only swara
syllables).


After singing each chittaswaram, we sing the charanam; and then follow to the
next chittaswaram in sequence. The size of each chittaswaram increases
progressively, and the last chittaswaram is undoubtedly the biggest
one.


In varnams, everything is fixed. Even the chittaswarams have been composed
already, and the musician's duty is to reproduce whatever has been composed.
There is little scope for improvisation or manodharma
(imagination).


Kritis and Keerthanas are the major pieces in a concert. After one varnam, the
musician keeps singing various kritis and keerthanas of varying lengths, and of
many different talas. This continues till almost the fag end of the concert,
when the musician takes up light recitals like bhajans and thukkadas (it is a
Tamil name for 'junk'), and even special classes of compositions like tillanas
and javalis (Tillanas are usually sung for dance, they contain words like
'thakadheem','kidathom', etc.)


Kritis and Keertanas are
the 'songs'. Kritis have a pallavi, anupallavi and one or more charanams.
However, keerthanas don't have anupallavi. Thus they are purely lyrical in
nature. Every line of the song has got 'Sangadhis'. Sangadhis are variations of
tune in a line of the song. Initially the tune is simple. Successive
sangadhis are more complicated. Thus a kriti or keerthana contains many lines,
and each line has got different sangadhis. Purists say that you should sing a
kriti or keerthana, as you have been taught. Improvisations can be made only in
areas like alapana, niraval or while singing swaras. I will brief on the
three:
Alapana is the sketching of a raga using meaningless syllables like
"tadana" and "tarinau". Only the tune has significance in alapana. Niraval is
the repetitive singing of a line, in different tunes. It is similar to
'sangadhi', but it differs in the fact that the different tunes are not
composed. Rather, they are extempored by the musician at the time of the
concert. Swaras. You take up a line in the song and append swaras so that they
fit into an integral multiple of talas.

Thanks and Regards,
Kumar.