MITHAS presents a unique duet concert featuring Carnatic and Dhrupad genres of Indian Classical music. Ace virtuoso Carnatic vocalists Malladi Sreeramprasad and Malladi Ravikumar will share musical notes with Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha in what promises to be an evening of rare musical treat. They will be accompanied by HN Bhaskar on the violin, Neyveli Narayanan on the Mridangam and Akilesh Gundecha on the Pakhavaj.

Two distinct music systems just a node apart.
 
Indian music is one of the oldest musical systems with references in the Vedas. The Samaveda talk about the tonal structures with seven notes and the Vedic chanting has distinct meters, tempo and a musical structure. However, Baratha’s Natya Sastra, a magnum opus of a treatise on Indian music and dance, written somewhere between 200 BC and 200 AD gives us explicit details about musical structure and its complexity. In addition to the seven notes Baratha talks about the scale, described in terms of 22 microtones, which can be combined in clusters of 4, 3, or two to form an octave. One already sees the word “raga” being used by Baratha but the context might be vary a bit. In Natya Sastra there was no distinction between Carnatic and Hindustani genres of music and that definitive distinction can be found in the 13th century treatise of Sharngadeva, the Sangita Ratnakara. However in Sangita Ratnakara, there is no mention of the Dhrupad style, which is though to have evolved around the 15th century. All the three musical systems have since evolved, yet maintaining traditional roots and framework. Evolution or changes is such age old system is not easy, especially when the system opposes changes aligning itself with tradition, much like Le Chatelier's principle.

After the divergence of the Hindustani and the Carnatic system of music, there has been tremendous give-and-take from one system on the other. For example, one might see Carnatic ragas in Hindustani music such as Hamsadwani and Charukesi and Hindustani ragas in Carnatic performance such as HamirKalyani and Behag. Dhrupad music, as performed today shares many complementary features to Carnatic music, such as comparable improvisational modes, percussion accopmaniments (mridangam vs pakhavaj), and extended lyrical content in compositions. The similarity in using rhythmic pulses during melodic improvisation, be it nom-tom alaap in Dhrupad or tanam in Carnatic is also striking. In addition, duet singing is common in both traditions as opposed to the khyal style of Hindustani music. Carnatic composers have incorporated aspects of the Dhrupad style in their compositions; Neerajakski Kamakshi by Dikshitar is classic example.

Gundecha Brothers are the prime torchbearers of the Dagar family and have carved a class for themselves in the world of Dhrupad. As a remarkable example of music reigning over communal divides, the Dagar family has housed some of the foremost practioners of Dhrupad repertoire, with significant Hindu devotional content. Gundecha Brothers in our upcoming concert will be joined by Malladi Brothers, Malladi Sreeramprasad and Malladi Ravikumar, an illustrious Carnatic duo who had their training from maestros such as Sripada Pinakapani, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy and Voleti Venkatesvarulu.

This unique musical spectacle, a blend and shared euphony of two distinct genres of music promises a rare treat to the music connoisseurs of the greater Boston area. This concert kicks off the MITHAS fall series and we look forward to your participation.  It is also our fundraiser, which enables us to continue to present quality programs and lectures throughout the year. We look forward to your support.

MITHAS would like to encourage the students of the greater Boston community to learn and benefit from this concert, hence we have decided to offer them free admission for the event. We have also arranged for an interactive session for the students with the artists, after the concert. We hope the students will take advantage of this opportunity More details about this is available at MITHAS’s website (www.mithas.org)

The concert will take place on September 11th 2001, 4pm at the Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA. For tickets please visit the MITHAS website at www.mithas.org or the Lokvani website at http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/cal.php?stage=1&event_id=8561.

For addition information please contact us at mithastimes@gmail.com.

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