Kalapramanam in kritis

Kalapramanan in kritis

Has kalaparamanan for each kriti been set by the vaggeyakara?
This question is pertinent when we notice a particular kriti rendered in different speed by different musicians.


It might have not been so in the case of compositions composed before the advent of sri thyagaraja. They were always set to a metrical movement. But the kirthana form gained prominence during the period of Talapakkam Annamacharya. As SouthIndian music had its roots in bhakti the music was essentially used as a vehicle to sing the glories of god.
It was set to a single octave to help everybody both men and women to sing in groups.
In most cases the structure was simple the lyric running basically as poetry and not necessarily with strict grammar and established components like pallavi anupallavi and charana The changeover came because the trinity were not only competent vaggeyakaras but also competent musicians.

As an illustration compare the kalapramana of the kriti telisiramachinthana in purnachandrika with the kalapramana of upacharamulanu in bhairavi.
The former is often rendered along with solfa syllables in three minutes flat.
On the contrary if we happen to sing the kriti upacharamulanu in an accelerated tempo there is no scope. it is simply not possible.There are kritis which yield to such variations in spped while others have a rigid time measure.

There is an old recording of MD Ramanthan of the varali piece seshachalanayakam in vilambita kalam while in most cases it is confined to madhyamakalam which has popularly been sung by musicians of yesteryears including Sri KV Narayanaswamy.

One of the most important parameters that govern the kalapramanan is the sahithya or the lyrical content. The composer has a message or theme to carry out in the form of music.
Look at the examples from the point of trinity etijanmam(varali),karubaru(mukhari),
Lekanna ninnu(asaveri) the svarajathis beginning with the words kamakshi both in bhairavi and yadhukulakambhoji of ShyamaShastri ,Mayamma(ahiri) and chetasribalakrishnam of dikshathar ,saragunapalimpa(kedaragaula) of poochi srinivasa iyengar.

They are just a few from the vast list of compositions.All these are set to a kalapramanan and cannot be altered. Even if we try it will prove futile.

On the other hand look at these compositions sobillu(jaganmohini),doraguna(bihari),dharini(sudhasaveri),rajuvedala(thodi),biranavaralichi(kalyani).They have a message to be delivered in a relatively swift version.
Also they provide room for creative thinking the introduction of new sangathis which have been done by the maestros of yesteryears.

Some songs are to be presented in a superfat tempo like nenaruncha(malavi),ninnuvina(navarasakanada).such atidruta pieces are hardly seen in the pieces of shyama sastri and muthuswami dikshatar.
One point I would like throw light on is the songs of the modern composer GN Balasubramanian. He has attempted to follow the footsteps of thyagaraja and has composed around 200 compositions.Most of his compositions are in madhyamakala and dhuritha kala. The foreword in the volumes titled ganabhaskara manimalai which is veritably the collection of his compositions says that the songs are in madhyamakala and dhurita kala.Thus the compositions of GNB mainly also reflect the style that he performed.

Kalapramana is based on the tala in which the song is set. Songs set in desadhi(commencing after 3 counts) are easier to compose and render.
Many compositions of Patnam Subramanya iyer are set to this rhythm.
They run in a medium speed which is common.Irendu kalai (each beat reckoned twice),songs in adhi tala commencing after 3counts similarly have a set and a calculated movement ,which is neither too slow nor too fast. They form the core of the content because they provide elaborate room for creativity in the manodharma sangeetham.To list a few evarimata(kambhoji),sankaracharyam(sankarabharanam).

The skill of combining two speeds in a single song is quite unique in the art of composing.In such compositions ,the speed of the charanam is twice that of pallavi.
It is in such compositions that both the rhythm and melody matter.

A majority of Dikshatar kritis have a madhyamakala sahithyawhich is in built and inseparable for example parvatikumaram (nattaikurinji).There are extremely slow paced kritis(ativilambita) which include every feature of classism,feature,melody and bhava.

Obviously expertise and scholarship are required them to bring in creativity.

Experiments in variations of kalapramana are vast in the field of RTP.
Eduppu or commencing point of a composition is of vital importance in the arithmetic of the kalapramanan.
Innumerable talas in science of carnatic music can be used practically in pallavis.
Indulging in trikala interpretation in pallavis is a unique exercise in the usage of time measure.
The duration of a concert has enormous influence on presenting the kritis in a judicious manner. If the concert is of full length the singer can adopt the traditional pattern.If it happens to be short the artist must exercise discretion.
Communication with artists is yet another feature that manipulates the kalapramanam of kritis. It has a positive influence in formatting the concerts with kritis of varied time measure and holistic structure of the concert.

Given above parameters the question arises whether the artist can take liberties with traditional kalapramana of kritis or tinker with traditional set of vaggeyakaras that are in practice
                              PLEASE NOTE

Going forward I will be posting about lec dems and other music sessions I go to with the intention of sharing the details with people who might have missed attending them. While I don't mind such posts being copied and put on other web sites with the intention of sharing it with more people, I would be happy if a link pointing to the original post is also put