Dhrupad: Tradition and Performance in Indian Music

422 Pages·2023·145.946 MB·English

by  Ritwik Sanyal, Richard Widdess

DHRUPAD
Dhrupad is believed to be the oldest style of classical vocal music performed
today in North India. This detailed study ofthe genre considers the relationship
between the oral tradition, its transmission from generation to generation,
and its re-creation in performance. There is an overview of the historical
development of the dhrupad tradition and its performance style from the
sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and of the musical lineages that carried
it forward into the twentieth century, followed by analyses of performance
techniques, processes and styles. The authors examine the relationship between
the structures provided by tradition and their realization by the performer to
throw light on the nature of tradition and creativity in Indian music; and the
book ends with an account of the 'revival' movement of the late twentieth
century that re-established the genre in new contexts. Augmented with an
analytical transcription of a complete dhrupad performance, this is the first
book-length study of an Indian vocal genre to be co-authored by an Indian
practitioner and a Western musicologist.
Ritwik Sanyal is a retired professor of the Department of Vocal Music,
Banaras Hindu University. A disciple of the late Zia Mohiuddin and Zia
Fariduddin Dagar, and a leading exponent of the Dagar dhrupad tradition,
he performs and teaches dhrupad internationally, and is a composer of new
dhrupad compositions, with many CD recordings to his credit. He holds a PhD
in musicology and is the author of Philosophy ofMusic (1987) and Dhrupad
Panchashika (2015). In 2013 he received the prestigious Sangeet Natak
Akademi National Award (New Delhi) for Hindustani Classical Vocal Music.
Richard Widdess is Emeritus Professor of Musicology in the Department of
Music, School ofArts, SOAS University ofLondon, and a Fellow ofthe British
Academy. He specialises in the musicology of South Asia, with reference to
the history, theory and analysis of vocal music traditions in North India and
Nepal. He is the author of The Ragas ofEarly Indian Music ( 1995) and Dapha:
Sacred Singing in a South Asian City (2013).
SOAS STUDIES IN MUSIC
Series Editors:
Rachel Harris, SOAS, University ofLondon, UK
Rowan Pease, SOAS, University ofLondon, UK
Board Members:
Angela Jmpey (SOAS, University ofLondon)
Henry Spiller (University California)
Kwasi Ampene (University ofMichigan)
Linda Barwick (University ofSydney)
Martin Stokes (Kings College London)
Moshe Morad (Tel Aviv University)
Noriko Manabe (Temple University)
Richard Widdess (SOAS, University ofLondon)
Suzel Reily (Universidade Estadual de Campinas)
Travis A. Jackson (University ofChicago)
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repertories and performance practice, critical issues in ethnomusicology, sound
studies, historical and analytical approaches to music across the globe. We
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DHRUPAD
Tradition and Performance in Indian music
Ritwik Sanyal and Richard Widdess
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NEW YORK AND LONDON
Designed cover image: R. Widdess
First published 2004 by Ashgate
Reprint published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2004 Ritwik Sanyal and Richard Widdess
The right of Ritwik Sanyal and Richard Widdess to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-38917-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-38916-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-34745-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003347453
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Due to how the book has been scanned we’re not able to offer the same features as other eBooks .
This is a photographic reprint of the original edition published in 2004. The audio examples that
accompanied the book can now be accessed online at the following address:
www.routledge.com/9781032389165
DHRUPAD
Dedicated to our ustii.ds and gurus:
tUstad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar
Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar
tDr Premlata Sharma
Dr Laurence E. R. Picken
Dhrupad
Tradition and Performance in Indian Music
RITWIK SANYAL
and
RICHARD WIDDESS
SOAS Musicology Series
ASHGATE

Contents
List ofFigures ix
List ofMusic Examples X
List ofTables and Maps xii
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xix
A Note on Notations and Spellings xxi
1 What is Dhrupad? 1
A View from the Audience 1
A View from the Platform 3
A Problem ofDefinition 4
The Structure ofPerformance 5
Melody 6
Rag 6
Melodic Style 7
Intonation 7
Rhythm and Metre 8
Alap 8
Tai and Time-keeping 9
Melodic Rhythm 10
Laykari 12
Text 13
The Dhrupad Repertory 13
Cautal Dhrupad 14
Dhamar 16
Sadra 17
Fast Dhrupads 17
Other Items 18
The Talwan9i Gharana Repertory 19
Instruments 20
Accompaniment and Ensemble 20
Pakhavaj 21
RudraVi1.1a 24
Other Instruments 26
Singers 26
The Seniya Tradition 27
Regional Dhrupad Traditions 28
Dhrupad Ideology 38
V