"... Life and death are not all and nothing, but stages in a process, episodes on an infinite river to which one trusts oneself and all other phenomena. So it is that Indian music reflects Indian life, having no predetermined beginning or end but flowing without interruption..." (Maestro Yehudi Menuhin's thoughts on Indian Classical Music, from his autobiography, Unfinished Journey.) For thousands of years life and music have been flowing “uninterrupted” in India evolving over the ages. There are several theories about the origins of Indian Classical Music. Some attribute it to the divine, the veena of Saraswati (the Hindu Goddess learning and music), others have traced its origins to the Vedas, the Sama Veda in particular, and there are others who believe that it all began with the simple songs that men and women sung at social gatherings.
 While it is hard to reconstruct the beginnings of Indian music, what transcends all these explanations is that it is an unbroken tradition that has lived beyond any modern conception of time. Yet, there have been major changes in the format, particularly the effect of Persian and Arabic influence from the 12th century A.D. through the northern, eastern and western parts, which saw the creation of two distinct styles, Hindustani in the areas mentioned above and Carnatic music, in the southern parts. Both styles are (in contrast to Western Classical Music) geared towards solo vocal music. Both are based on the key concepts of raga (some define it as a melodic scale, yet there is much more to it than that. A scale is to a raga what a skeletal system is to a complete human being, a framework for something recognizable, with a mind and a flow of its own, capable of creating a surge of emotions in a listener) and tala (essentially a rhythmic pattern. Indian music has some of the most complex rhythmic patterns seen in the world today.) While there are several differences between the two musical forms, the most obvious one can be seen in the language of poetry (Hindustani largely uses Hindi and its various dialects, Urdu and Sanskrit while Carnatic traditions see a prevalence of Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam in the more recent times). There are also differences in the concert format with various Hindustani classical traditions (oh yes… Hindustani is not one homogenous whole, it has the more popular Khyal, the more ancient Dhrupad, the rasa laden Thumri, and a plethora of other forms like Dadra, Tappa etc) largely focusing on improvising one raga and a single composition for longer periods of time. Carnatic concerts encompass a wide variety of compositions with improvisational scope within each of them.
Carnatic Classical Music
This form of Indian classical music that developed in the southern parts of India, like its north Indian counterpart went thorough several changes before acquiring its modern day format. Sri Purandara Dasa (1480-1564), easily the most famous of Karnataka’s saint-composers known as the Haridasas, is credited with having codified the system and creating those basic exercises which all beginning students learn even today. Besides this he enriched Carnatic music with his devotion filled compositions which form a key part of concerts and are also sung for their sheer devotional content. The period between 1650 A.D and 1850 A.D. has been referred to as the “golden age of Carnatic Music. Venkatamakhin in the text Chaturdandi Prakashika written around 1635 A.D formulated the melakartha system that postulated that the thousands of ragas in vogue could be traced back to 72 parent ragas. This was followed by the advent of the trio, trinity or Mummurthigal of Carnatic Music, Thyagaraja (1767 – 1847) , Muthuswami Dikshitar(1776-1835) and Syama Shastri (1762-1827) whose compositions were largely based on Hindu deities and devotional themes popular in Thanjavur at that time (and even today!). The other composers of note have been Annamacharya (1454-1503), Swathi Thirunal(1813-1846), Gopalakrishna Bharathi (1811-1896), Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiya, Papanasam Sivan (1890-1973) and others. Thyagaraja (1767 – 1847)
Musician, composer, saint, poet are all facets of the phenomenon that has towered over Carnatic music since the late 1700s. Thyagaraja (the prince of renunciation), named after the presiding deity of Thiruvarur was born to Ramabramham and Seethamma, from the Telugu Brahmin community, (that probably explains his preference for the language in his compositions) in the year 1767 (some say 1759) A.D. He had his principal musical training from Sonti Venkataramanaiya and his music was seeped in Bhakti or devotion, largely composed in praise of Lord Rama, with dedications to other deities as well. His poetry usually carried the term “Thyagaraja”. His contribution to Carnatic music has been so immense that Caratic music lovers world over honor him by organizing festivals dedicated to his memory even today. The principal among these is the festival in Thiruvaiyaru where musicians and music lovers gather together to sing his Pancharathna Krithis and other compositions. Muthuswami Dikshitar (1776 – 1835)The youngest of the Trinity, Muthuswami Dikshitar was well versed in the Vedas, Agamas, Astronomy, Astrology and Medicine besides being proficient in playing the Veena. His music was an incorporation of all this knowledge and the poetry was largely in Sanskrit, which was considered the language of the learned. Dikshitar’s continuous travelling which took him as far as the northern Indian city of Banaras (where he composed in a number of Hindustani classical ragas) was rich with descriptions of presiding deities of a number of temples, the general geography and history of the places where these temples were located. He too was predominantly concerned with bringing out the Bhakti bhava and his compositions carried the stamp “Guruguha”. Balagopala, in the ragam Bhairavi, Chaturdasha Ragamalika Sri Vishwanatham Bhajeham in 14 ragams and a host of other gems form a part of his repertoire. Shyama Shastri (1762-1827)A lifelong devotee of Bangaru Kamakshi, Shyama Shastri was well versed in both Telugu and Sanskrit and composed in both languages (sources indicate he had composed in Tamil as well). He is said to have brought the Swarajathi, largely restricted to dance performances, into musical concerts. His music portrays a keen sense of devotion to his Goddess, yet incorporating complex rhythmic patterns indicative of his virtuosity in the Tala. There’s a marked preference for the Mishra Chapu Thalam (3 + 4 = 7 beats, also known as Rupak in the Hindustani Khyal tradition) and the ragam Anandabhairavi, the beauty of which he brings out extensively in five long compositions. He too left his mark “Shyama, Shyama Krishna, Shyama Krishna Sahodari” in his compositions. Some Interesting Music Linkshttp://www.carnatic.com/carnatic/ragalist.htm Composers and their identifiersThe following list contains the names of a few composers and the identifiers used by them. The names are in no particular order.
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