A contextual perspective on ratings
Musicians select their repertoire for concerts based
on certain contextual considerations. It
therefore makes sense to view the results of this study in that perspective. The
classification attempts to follow contemporary practice (more than any
theoretical construct), and is admittedly debatable.
The rating scores reported here are aggregates for
each of the groups. The classified ratings of the 97 Raga-s are reported in
Table 3.
The early morning group shows a substantially lower
instrumental music score than the vocal music score. This is interesting, as
early morning Raga-s are mostly associated with the devotional sentiment. The
human voice may understandably be perceived in the culture as a more appropriate
expression of this sentiment than an acoustic machine.
The instrumental/vocal music ratio rises steadily after
the early morning segment to reach its peak with the late night group of
Raga-s. The pattern is interesting, though not sufficiently strong to be
considered a phenomenon.
The Thumree group, shown to lead this table, is so
called because the Raga-s in that group are encountered largely, though not
exclusively, in the romanticist genres – Thumree, Dadra, Hori, Tappa etc. Membership
of this group includes Raga-s like Bhairavi, Khamaj, Kafi, Gara, Piloo, Pahadi.
These Raga-s are versatile because of their malleable grammar and melodic
lyricism. This group is rated generously because it covers three components – actual
Thumrees performed by vocalists, instrumental renditions of Thumrees and allied
genres, and classicist presentation of “Thumree” Raga-s by vocalists and
instrumentalists. The emergence of this
group at the top may suggest, that the present-day musical culture relates more
readily to the vivacious flavors of Hindustani music than to its other moods.
Raga groups at the bottom of the ranking – Early
morning and Sunset Raga-s – appear to be telling the same story, though in a
different way. Early morning Raga-s are mainly of the Bhairav and Todi
families, while the Sunset Raga-s are mainly of the Puriya/ Purvi group. Both
periods are earmarked by tradition for religious/ devotional activity, and the
prescribed Raga-s possess melodic features suggestive of piety. Our study
pushes them to the bottom to suggest that the present-day musical culture has
little interest in solemnity.
The moderate-to-high rating in the late evening and
night groups are as expected. A vast majority of concerts are held during these
periods, thus making for a wider spectrum of familiarity amongst audiences. The
choice of Raga-s for performance during these periods is also vast, thus creating
an equitable distribution of audience involvement within the category.
Predictably, the comfort level with Carnatic Raga-s in
their Hindustani manifestations is uneven. The classification of Raga-s within
this group relied on the authority of Raga Nidhi (B. Subbarao, Music Academy,
Madras). Hansadhwani (1782 rating points), Keerwani (874 rating points) and
Charukeshi (448 rating points) appear to have, by now, evolved a convincing
interpretation in Hindustani music. Others, imported more recently, may either take
longer to achieve this, or fade away.
... Continued in Part IV
