Composers and Musical Forms
Forms you must distinguish
- Gitam: the simplest, swara and sahitya together, typically in Malahari for beginners.
- Svarajati: swara passages with jati syllables; Syama Sastri's three are in Todi, Bhairavi and Yadukulakambhoji.
- Varnam: pallavi, anupallavi, muktayi swaras, charana, chittaswaras. A tana varnam (for example Viriboni, Bhairavi, Adi tala, Adiyappayya) is pure music; a pada varnam gives sahitya to its swara sections and serves dance.
- Kriti: pallavi, anupallavi, charana, often with chittaswaras and swarasahitya.
- Also tillana, javali, padam, daru and ragamalika.
The composers
- Purandara Dasa (1484-1564), Sangita Pitamaha, fixed Mayamalavagowla for elementary lessons.
- Tyagaraja (1767-1847): the Pancharatna in the five ghana ragas Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Sri; signs simply as Tyagaraja.
- Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835): mudra Guruguha, Navagraha and Navavarana kritis, slow and grand in gait.
- Syama Sastri (1762-1827): the three swarajatis, mudra Syama Krishna.
Worked example
A piece has pallavi, anupallavi, muktayi swaras, charana and chittaswaras, and is sung in two speeds with no sahitya under the swara passages. Reasoning: muktayi swaras rule out a kriti, and the absence of sahitya under the swaras rules out a pada varnam, so it is a tana varnam.
Traps that cost marks
- Giving the Guruguha mudra to Tyagaraja.
- Saying the Pancharatna are in five melakartas rather than five ghana ragas.
- Treating javali as a temple form; it is a light, often love-themed concert piece.