Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition.[1][2] It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from dhruva (ध्रुव, immovable, permanent) and pada (पद, verse). The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra (~200 BCE – 200 CE),[3][4] and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the Bhagavata Purana (~800–1000 CE), where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized.[4]
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The term denotes both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung.[5] It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination.[6][7] Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu deities) to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance.
A Dhrupad has at least four stanza, called Sthayi (or Asthayi), Antara, Sanchari and Abhoga. The Sthayi part is a melody that uses the middle octave's first tetrachord and the lower octave notes.[7] The Antara part uses the middle octave's second tetrachord and the higher octave notes.[7] The Sanchari part is the development phase, which holistically builds using parts of Sthayi and Antara already played, and it uses melodic material built with all the three octave notes.[7] The Abhoga is the concluding section, that brings the listener back to the familiar starting point of Sthayi, albeit with rhythmic variations, with diminished notes like a gentle goodbye, that are ideally mathematical fractions such as dagun (half), tigun (third) or caugun (fourth).[8] Sometimes a fifth stanza called Bhoga is included. Though usually related to philosophical or Bhakti (emotional devotion to a god or goddess) themes, some Dhrupads were composed to praise kings.[6][8]
The tradition of Dhrupad is recorded back to saints of Braj (Mathura) namely Swami Haridas, Surdas, Govind Swami, Asht Sakha of Haveli Sangeet and followed by Tansen and Baiju Bawara. When Dhrupad composition are based on Bhagwan Shri Vishnu or his incarnations thereof, is called Vishnupad.
- ^ T.M. Krishna (2013). A Southern Music: Exploring the Karnatik Tradition. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 151. ISBN 978-93-5029-822-0.
- ^ Peter Fletcher; Laurence Picken (2004). World Musics in Context: A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Major Musical Cultures. Oxford University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-19-517507-3.
- ^ Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 81–82.
- ^ a b Guy L. Beck (2012). Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 241–242. ISBN 978-1-61117-108-2.
- ^ Dhrupad Archived 2010-04-18 at the Wayback Machine SPIC MACAY
- ^ a b Caudhurī 2000, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b c d Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 80–81.
- ^ a b Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 80–82.