Religion in Carnatic Music

Paper Summary:

This paper begins with an explaination of some of the history of Carnatic or Karnatak music and explores how it has evolved. It provides detailed descriptions of the main instruments and song types. The final section provides short biographies of the three most influential Carnatic composers.

From the Paper:

"Music, in general, began in primitive times (hundreds of thousands of years ago). People living during this time period were hunter-gatherers and they used music and dance as a way to express emotion. The oldest songs consisted of words sung using a single pitch and gradually evolved to have a few (two or three) notes (Prajnanananda, 1963, p. 83). These ancient people had few instruments. They had flutes and lutes made from wood, bamboo, or bone as well as clay or wooden drums (Prajnanananda, 1963, p. 85). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dikshitar, S. (2004). Vaggeyakara Caritam (S. Vinjamuri, Trans.). In Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini. (Original work published 1904) Retrieved December 10, 2006, from http://www.ibiblio.org/guruguha/vaggeyakara.pdf
• Lord, M. (2006a). Dikstar, Muttusvami. In Grove Music Online ed. Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from Grove Music database: http://www.grovemusic.com
• Lord, M. (2006b). Tyagaraja. In Grove Music Online ed. Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 9, 2006, from Grove Music database: http://www.grovemusic.com
• Lord, M. (2006c). Sastri, Syama. In Grove Music Online ed. Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from Grove Music database: http://www.grovemusic.com
• Nettl, B., Capwell, C., Bohlman, P. V., Wong, I. K., & Turino, T. (2004). The Music of India. In Excursions in World Music (4th ed., pp. 20-47). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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