Traditional Carnatic Indian Music Compared to the Compositions of Composer John Cage

Presentation by Crystal Garcia

India

Second most populous country with 1.21 billion people as of the 2011 census

Largest country in South Asia, covering 3,287,263 square miles

Hindu population 80.5%, Islam 13.4%, Christianity 2.3%, Sikhism 1.9%

Official Language is Hindi and English (used more for business)

Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Hinduism

80.5% of the population is Hindu; its impact on culture (including music) is very evident

Has no single founder Many diverse traditions and

dynamic festivals Hindu sacred texts mostly discuss

philosophy, theology, and a way of living

Carnatic Music

Seen as both entertainment and spiritual inspiration

Purandara Dasa is seen as the father of the traditional carnatic style

Carnatic music is believed to have been given to man directly from the Hindu gods

Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its six week long “Music Season,” which has been described as the world's largest cultural event. It is the foundation for most music in South India.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvedtf_mZvU

Carnatic Music

Carnatic music is based on a 22 note scale (swaras) on contrary to the earlier 12 note scale that is used in the western classical music. But in all its practical aspects and purposes, not more than 16 notes are generally used

Usually performed by a small ensemble Emphasis is on the vocals, and many times

instruments are played so that they mimic the characteristics of a voice

Persian and Islamic influences Inspired by Hinduism

Carnatic Talams

Instruments Commonly Found in Carnatic Music

The Tabla -a pair of hand drums varying in size and style The Sitar-long-necked bowl lute The Ghatam-percussion played with all parts of the hand,

translated as “water jug” The Tambura-fretless, plucked lute

Sangeetha Devathe

Written by Ambujam Krishna (1917-1989) Taught music by Karaikkudi Ganesan and Ganesa

Bhagavatar At a young age, she married her cousin She soon went to Delhi to finish her education and

graduated from the Lady Irwin College with a degree in Home Science.

This piece is a Mayamalawagowla Raga Meant to sooth the listener and evoke a sense of peace Usually played in the morning, but it can be played at

any timehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy4-NmomB4U

John Cage (1912-1992)

Is considered the founder of Avant-garde 20th century music

Is most famously known for his piece 4’33” Studied at Pomona College for a few years and then

went to study music at UCLA While at UCLA, he discovered that what he wanted to

compose was wildly different from anything that had previously been made

He dropped out and soon worked with Merce Cunningham and painter Robert Rauschenberg

Though his music, he wished to show people that music and sound was everywhere, but widely underappreciated

John Cage

A Flower

Composed by John Cage in 1950 Composed for choreography by Louise Lippold Uses a closed piano that is struck with various parts

of the hand and a vocalist Entire vocal part only uses four different pitches and

uses phonemes, no whole words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf8Ub1Fj_dM

Comparison

Similarities:-Principal performer is vocalist-uses percussion and string instruments-both have inconsistent tempos that are dominated more by emotion than a strict beat-both are considered relaxing

Differences:-Cage wanted to provoke listeners into questioning the social concept of music, Krishna wanted to evoke spiritual feelings-Carnatic music is heavily influenced by Hinduism, Cage has no source of religious influence-A Flower uses instruments in unconventional ways, Sangeetha Devanthe uses traditional instruments in traditional ways

Sources

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/john-cage/about-the-composer/471/

http://www.karnatik.com/ http://carnatica.net/origin.htm http://www.shivkumar.org/music/index.html#a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf8Ub1Fj_dM http://www.carnaticindia.com/carnatic_music.html http://www.karnatik.com/co1012.shtml http://sriramv.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/ambujam-

krishna/