Untitled - Mariposa Folk Festival

SHARDA:
A unique
by Frank Pausch
IN THE 16th CENTURY THE MOGHULS
invaded northern India. They were lovers of
the arts and it was in their courts and palaces
the Persian, Arabian and lndian cultural
synthesis took place - resulting in a style of
northern Indian music (after almost two
centuries of Moghul rule) that was distinctively
different from that of the south.
The first major court was built in Delhi,
where the roots of bai, the oldest style of
northern Indian music, can be traced.
Lucknow was next to host a Moghul court.
Sharda, one of Mariposa's featured
performers, has his family roots in Benares, a
town to the south and east of Lucknow. Since
they were musicians at the time, Sharda's
ancestors sent representatives of their family
to Lucknow to try and earn a place in the court.
One was a child prodigy on the tabla (lndian
drums), impressed all those who listened and
was much in demand as a performer. As he
grew, he also began to compose virtuoso tabla
works popular to both inside and outside the
courts. He had a special way of playing and of
composing. These unique styles have been
passed on orally from his generation to ours
and are considered the "Benares
As with any instrument, there are many
levels of playing tabla, from the simplest folk
tunes that can be learned in days or even
hours, up to the most complex
style". When
you listen to Sharda's music, listen carefully,
for those melodies, rhythms and instruments
have existed, with little change, from the days
of Moghul court life up until the present.
Sharda's ancestors were not the only ones
to develop their own style based on a master,
During the Moghul rule, families from the
same caste all over India sent artisans to the
courts to try and gain prestige and earn their
living. From this influx of talent rose other
master musicians who also had their own
style. The musicians did their best to please
those who employed them, so styles tended to
be somewhat different from court to court and
from region to region.
Over time and with the demise of the court
system musical influence most styles died out
or merged. The rise of radio and easier
transportation greatly contributed to
dissolving regional differences while the
pressure to incorporate all styles into a
homogenous whole increased as musicians
tried to reach a wtder audience.
There are now six major styles in existence,
The first, as already mentioned, originated in
Delhi. The second style is the Benares style.
The most common, or at least the most
listened to internationally, is the Pun.labi style
which is what Ravi Shankar's son plays. This
style originated in the area now called
Pakistan. The form and function of the music
itself can be compared in some respects, to
Western jazz. In both kinds ot music, there are
major forms and standard ways of performing
them. In tabla music each composition
presents a given amount of material. lt is up to
the performer to present this material in the
most interesting manner possible. Within the
bounds of the piece, the artist can rearrange
portions of it to suit his taste and technical
ability.
22
"classical"
works, comparable perhaps to Liszt's piano
music. When an audience hears Sharda play, it
is the height of Indian classical music they
hear - something that takes a lifetime to
practice and perfect.
One common structure in north Indian tabla
music is similar to our ballad form. A B A' B.
where A can be considered a verse and B is the
refrain.Themes can be introduced in the A
section and in the A'section can be amplified
and extended. The B section is a version of the
theme in A. How the theme is added to and
changed is up to the performer, but there are
strict guidelines to this. In big band jazz, a
Derson can solo for a certain number of bars
and then return to the main body of music. lt is
the same with tabla music - the oerformer
can "spontaneously
compose" (to quote Bob
performance practice is that the player never
crosses hands; the left one always plays the
baya, the right one uses the tabla.
Sharda's concert at Mariposa this year is a
must for aficionados of rhythm and melody.
Do not be intimidated, for there is much in
common with Western music. Although there
is no functional harmony, the beat is strong
and constant, and much of the material is
repeated at some point. A common rhythmic
form to listen for is the taki, which is usually an
ending cadence. lt is a phrase repeated three
times with a gap between each phrase. A good
taki is the mark of a good player, for it always
ends on a downbeat, whtch means it has to be
prepared well in advance of the actual end ot
the piece. So listen and enjoy!
(Special thanks to Bob Becker for his
i nval u able assistance.,)
Becker) on a certain theme for so many beats
before returning to the unaltered theme or
themes can be repeated any number of times,
so that one piece of music can last for qurte a
while. The ability to rearrange the material to
develop a theme, without adding new material,
is a necessary requisite for any competent
tabla player.
Each composition is made up of a certain
beat pattern that is repeated throughout the
piece. This is similar to, say, a twelve-bar blues
which repeats every twelve bars. The
rhythmic/melodic pattern ranges from six to
sixteen beats. These patterns are called tala, or
lal (singular). Tala are used in virtually alltabla
music, with regional or family differences.
The actual tal cycle is fairly slow, even
though rhythmic embellishments can be
amazingly fast. This makes the lahara or
melody very important. lt is normally played
on the sarangi, an Indian strrnged instrument,
or on a violin. For Sharda's concert at
Mariposa, Bob Becker, of Nexus fame, will
play the lahara on harmonium. The lahara is
the exact length of the tal cycle, repeated
without alterations throughout the entire
piece. Although the tabla player is the one to
listen to, the lahara's rise and fall serves as a
reference point by which the audience can
determine where the per{ormers are in the
cycle. The other per{ormer on the stage is the
tamboura player who playes the drone notes
which are unchanging and constant.
The drums themselves can be considered
woi'ks of art, without even being played. The
right hand drum is called the tabla and the leit
hand drum is the baya. These drums are not
like the Western instruments, for they are used
both melodically and rhythmically. Notice the
black oatch on each drum head. This is
actually a small packet with some heavy
material, like iron powder, used to lower the
oitch of the drum and tune the overtones. lt is
permanently attached to the tabla, but on the
baya it is sometimes put in different spots,
depending on the situation. An interesting
I,YASN'T
THAT
A TIIYIE!
FOLK MUSIC MEANS TO ME
people having a good time playing
music together. To me, Mariposa
meant a chance to see singers,
musicians, dancers and craftspeople
who learned their skills from
friends and relatives,
"in
the good old
way." The festival inspired and
encouraged as well as entertained -
so people would want to be where
music was being made for fun, and
maybe even to make some themselves.
So we looked for performers
who reached the heart and mind as
well as the feet. We wanted the best,
old and new, not the most. We
weren't trying for standing ovations;
we were trying to get people to think,
"Maybe
I could play like that," and,
"Boy,
that was fun!" As a performer, I
want listeners to feel what I felt when
I first heard the songs; as an
organizer I want festival-goers to feel
the excitement, magic and inspiration
that I first felt at festivals, 25
years ago. Mariposa did it for me - |
try to pass it on.
by MICHAEL COONEY