For this musicologist and author, there are good reasons to believe that Carnatic music matters, perhaps more than ever and almost anywhere in the world. So why not perform and teach it in the service of better education for all, for ecological awareness or in order to promote mutual respect in spite of all our differences? And in the process, get “invigorated and better equipped to tackle the larger issues at hand”.
Published by Shankar Ramchandran on behalf of Dhvani Ohio | Read or download the full article (PDF, 800 KB, updated 19 June 2021):
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Voice Culture and Singing by Friedrich Brueckner-Rueggeberg
This course material was originally produced for – and used by – teachers and students at Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts, today known as Rukmini Devi College Of Fine Arts. To enjoy some of the vocal (Flow-) exercises offered for free on the present course site, it is useful to first identify a vocal range which suits your own voice (which may changes in the course in the day as well).
Beyond the lyrics that naturally call for specific moods or feelings (bhava) to be expressed, practical exercises for beginners and advanced learners1 may be compared with western solfège; in our context for the purpose of articulating, appreciating, memorizing or communicating Carnatic raga phrases in characteristic ways (with or with0ut conventional notation); eventually to be combined with rhythmic figures as part of compositions or improvisations in virtually any part of a concert.
Meaningless and uncontrolled singing and exercising are rather harmful since the long-term memory of the brain needs to be supplied with correct impulses which requires immediate recognition of functional disorders and their correction.
Herein lies the great and far-reaching responsibility of the teacher whose full care and control is demanded in order to allow the singer to acquire an automatic and playful sense for the correct usage of his voice. In this manner, he is relieved sufficiently to devote himself fully to content and presentation of his music (described as Bhava in India). […]
Many victims of either wrong techniques of singing or careless teachers keep wandering from teacher to teacher in pursuit of their shattered hopes. This fact lends weight to the concept of voice control from the very beginning before defects can encroach that are so hard to correct later on, if at all.
Quote from page 15 in the printversion | Learn more >>
A two week long voice culture course was offered at the request of its Founder-Director, Rukmini Devi (1904-1986) when introduced to the renowned singer and voice trainer, Friedrich Brueckner-Rueggeberg in 1982.
This project was conceived on the basis of earlier experiences, namely that Indian singers would benefit from time-proven as well as modern methods such as described here, mainly in order to prevent injury caused by mechanical practice (e.g. a lack of awareness that a pupil’s vocal range, breathing and posture should be taken into account).
The method described here is oriented towards “intercultural learning” which explains why it has since been adopted by several voice coaches from all over India, be it for “classical” singing or otherwise.
The Chennai branch of the Goethe Institut (German cultural institute, better known as Max Mueller Bhavan)sponsored Friedrich Brueckner-Rueggeberg and his senior disciple Peter Calatin to conduct the voice training course hosted by Kalakshetra in 1983 for which the present contents was created.
First published by K. Sankara Menon and edited by Shakuntala Ramani in Kalakshetra Quarterly Vol. V, No. 3 (Chennai, 1983).
Co-author, translator and researcher (adaptation to the Indian context including illustration and photography): Ludwig Pesch – the author’s former student at Freiburg Musikhochschule (Germany) – then a student of Kalakshetra College.
Illustration (graphics): Alain Mai
As pointed out by Gouri Dange, learners are well advised to approach their daily practice with the same respect that characterizes the renditions of a revered musician: “Every kind of music has a protocol for ‘beginners’ or ‘learners’. Students must practise paltay, alankaras, scales, études, tonalisation exercises, depending on the kind of music they pursue. […] It is surely a disservice to a raga and to those who lift it to its best potential, and even more so a disservice to the young student, to allow the mental stamping of some ragas as ‘learner material’.” [↩]
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Tips for self-study
For some of the basic lessons your tutor provides pauses to be filled by participants while the accompaniment of cymbals and claps continues. This is followed by yet another repetition by the tutor.
Listen attentively and repeatedly to each lesson. This will heighten the experience of rhythm (laya) required for the realization of “bhava, raga and tala”, i.e. the proverbial unity noted musicians regard as essential to any Carnatic composition figuring in traditional music that has stood the test of time (sampradāya which connotes “continuity” as well as “authenticity”).
“Sampradaya is like a broad river and the bani is a tributary.” – Umayalpuram Sivaraman
“The lakshya [practice-based] sampradaya of music which is passed from guru [teacher] to sishya [student] gets altered when music is performed in a recital. This happens because of the elements of ‘entertainment’, such as indulgence in virtuosity or novelty for its own sake, and playing to the gallery. Because many performers also happen to be teachers, such changes, subtle and not so subtle, that creep into the recitals also influence the teaching, including the course content of contemporary music education.” – N. Ramanathan
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“Rasa is realised in from the combination of the sthāyibhāva (permanent and dominant emotional mood) with the vibhāva-s (the objects of emotions such as the hero and the heroine, and the exciting causes such as the spring, flowers, moonlight and the bower), anubhāva-s (the external manifestations of emotions such as the movement of the eye-brows, glances and smile) and the vyabhicāribhāva-s (accessory moods) which come and go helping in the manifestation of the rasa). Bharata mentions eight dominant emotional moods, or sthāyibāva-s, that may be aroused by a dramatic representation into the state of aesthetic pleasure. These are rati (love), hāsa (laughter), śōka (sorrow), krōdha (anger), utsāha (energy), bhaya (fear), jugupsā (repugnance) and vismaya (wonder); the rasa-s corresponding to these are respectively called śṛṅgāra, hāsya, karuṇa, raudra, vīra, bhayānaka, bībatsa and adbhuta. Later writers accept a nineth rasa called śānta corresponding to the sthāyibāva of nirvēda (detachment). Really the rasa or the aesthetic pleasure derived from literature is one and the same in all cases; the division into various rasa-s is based on the difference in the sthāyibāva-s which contribute to the rasa- s. This rasa is a condition produced in the spectator, is a single feeling and a pleasurable one”. (p.286- 287 Indian Theories of Meaning, by K Kunjunni Raja)
Dr. V Premalatha, Department of Music, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur , “Rasa and Kāla of Rāgas, by V Premalatha,” MusicResearchLibrary, accessed October 22, 2024, http://musicresearchlibrary.net/omeka/items/show/2287.
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