The Concept and Evolution of Raga in Hindustani and Karnatic Music (Bhavan's book university)

Pages: 203

Foreword
Music has been defined as the art of expression in sound, in

melody and harmony, both in composition and execution.
Only to system of music are possible, one in which there

progress by succession of single notes (called the melodic

system) and the other in which the music progresses by groups

of notes called chords. The latter is known as the harmonic

system.
It is the genius of India that contributed to the music world,

the Raga system, which is, the highest peak to which a melodic

system could reach. The outstanding feature of Indian music is

this system, in which Raga is a distinct musical entries by

itself and processes well-defined characteristics. The ideal of

absolute music is realized in the concept of the Raga.
The term Raga first occurs in the "Brhaddesi" of Matanga who

describe it as "that which is beautiful or decorated by the

tonal excellence of svaras and varnas and which gives pleasure

to the mind of the listeners." This verse is quoted by later

writers with slight variations. It is, however, strange that

the word Raga is added to many panns of ancient Tamil music

which are earlier to Matanga e.g. Takka Ragam and Megha Ragam.


Such being the status of Raga in Indian music, it is no

surprise that a voluminous literature has grown around it,

particularly in Sanskrit. No Sanskrit work, however, mentions

the bifurcation of Indian music into the Hindustani and

Karnatic styles till we come to the 20th century. About the

year 1914 Pandit Kashinath Appa Tulasi, a musicologist from

Hyderabad, mentioned it in his Sanskrit work called "Sangita

S