Dhrupad

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DHRUPAD

DHRUPAD Dhrupad (Sanskrit, dhruva pada, "fixed words," i.e., "refrain") is a North Indian vocal and instrumental musical genre and one of the oldest documented South Asian mediums of performance. The modern dhrupad probably descends from a form (dhurva) mentioned in the N?tyash?stra that developed in the Gwalior region (central Indo-Gangetic Plain) and probably reached a peak of popularity in the sixteenth century. Most dhrupads are religious in nature, praising Hindu gods (particularly Krishna) although some texts praise kings.

The dhrupad tradition is arguably a consequence of both secular and sacred contexts, playing an important role in the multitude of royal courts in pre-independence India and in sacred traditions such as havel? sang?t, the devotional music of the Vallabhacarya Vaisnavas of north-central and northwestern India. In havel? sang?t, dhrupad still serves as liturgical praise, with its text drawn primarily from the G?t? Govinda. The musicians (often hereditary), who lead the worship, sing each line of the devotional dhrupad(accompanying themselves on the pakh?waj ), and then repeat the line with the congregation. The twentieth century saw a resurgence of interest in dhrupad as a concert feature through performances by members of the Dagar family and artists such as Ustad Asad Ali Khan.

Musical Structure

The performance of dhrupad almost always begins with an introductory, free-time ?l?p, which can range from a brief affirmation of the melodic underpinnings of the performance (in religious contexts) to elaborate note-by-note explorations of the possibilities inherent in the underlying pitch resources of r?ga (melody). The concert dhrupad ?l?p generally has two sections: the first (the ?l?p of the ?l?p) has the usual pattern of a growing pitch ambitus in free tempo, and the second (the nomtom or jor), an unmeasured, but pulsed, presentation of the r?ga.

The metered portion (i.e., involving t?la, cyclical musical time) of the dhrupad begins with the bandish("contrivance," or "plot"), a fixed musical statement generally composed of four sections, although some dhrupads have only the first two parts. The first and most important section is the sth?'? (stable), the phrase to which the composition repeatedly returns and that usually occupies the purvang (lower tetrachord) of the r?ga. As with many Indian musical terms, sth?'? has more than one meaning. Sth?'? is similar to the Karnatak term pallavi.

The second part of the bandish, the antar? (Sanskrit, "intermediate," or "contrast"), complements the sth?'? and often occupies the uttar?ng (upper tetrachord) of the r?ga, ideally stabilizing the upper tonic. In instances where the sth?'? occupies the uttar?ng, the antar? may reside in the purv?ng or subtonic range (mandra).

In a full bandish, the two additional sections parallel and imitate the sth?'? and antar? in form and function. The first, the sañc?r? (Sanskrit, "wandering"), occupies the mandra and is often parallel to or nearly identical with the sth?'?. The second, the ?bhog (Sanskrit, "fullness"), often contains material from the antar? and returns the composition to the sth?'?.

At the completion of the bandish, dhrupadiyas (performers of dhrupad) in a concert setting generally launch into a series of improvisations based on material that they juxtapose with the sth?'?. Many describe this section of improvisation as the bolbanao (Hindustani, bol "syllable" + banna "composed"), mentioning three kinds of improvisation: layk?ri, bol-b?nt, and bol-t?n.

Layk?r? (Hindustani, laya "tempo" or "rhythm" + k?rn? "to do") is an improvisational style in which the performer concentrates on the t?l and on rhythmic figures that complement the listener's rhythmic and metric expectations.

Bol-b?nt (Hindustani, bol "syllable" + b?ntn?, "to distribute" or "to apportion") or bol-ban?o (word making) are variations on the composition involving the partition or distribution of words. Commonly, a performer will present an entire section of the composition as a unit in its given tune (or in other configurations suitable to the r?ga) and then systematically reduce the time values by a half, a third, and a quarter of their original length (dugun lay, tigun lay, and caugun lay).

Bol t?n (Hindustani, bol "syllable" + t?n "exercise") is a melodic embellishment with words from the composition. In this type of variation, the original words of the composition are vehicles for the presentation of phrases showing the r?ga (usually in layk?r? style).

Performance Practice

The accompaniment for dhrupad has some interesting and unique features. In addition to the ubiquitous drone of the tambur? common to almost all classical music, the most characteristic accompaniment for dhrupad is the double-ended, hand-beaten drum, the pakh?waj. Unlike other performance idioms within the Hindust?ni sang?t paddhati, the drummer often plays elaborate passages (usually extended cadences) for much of the metered performance (depending on the repertoire and the tastes of the soloists).

When dhrupad singers look for melodic instrumental accompaniment, they often chose the s?rang? (a bowed, short-necked lute with three gut melody strings and a host of sympathetic strings), although in some cases the bansri (flute) or harmonium appears in the ensemble. The principal method of melodic accompanying is to heterophonically trail the singer in improvisations, to play in unison during the bandish, and to fill in during those times when the singer(s) are silent.

Solo instrumental performances of dhrupad commonly feature the bin (Sanskrit, v?n?, "lute"), a practice that attests to the historic ties of this genre with India's musical heritage. These performances, commonly with pakh?waj accompaniment, parallel vocal performances, substituting a jor section (melodic notes and phrases alternating with strokes on an instrument's drone strings) in place of the nomtom (composed of rhythmic nonlexical syllables) for the pulsed but unmetered exploration of the r?ga.

Gordon Thompson

See also?l?p ; Music ; R?ga ; Vina