| Indian classical music |
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| Concepts |
Sangita (Devanagari:संगीत,IAST:saṃgīta), also spelledSamgita orSangeeta, refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions.[1] According to Guy Beck, the root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome blending, unison" in the context of musical arts.[2]Sangita connotes any form of singing with music, harmonious recitation or chorus singing in particular.[3] In some medieval era literary genre such as thePuranas and poetic texts such asKathasaritsagar, a related termSangita-shastra andSangita-vidya mean the "art, science or knowledge of singing and dancing with music".[3] According to Alison Arnold andBruno Nettl, the modern term music fails to capture the historic sense of "Sanskritsangita and Greekmousike". In the Indian tradition, the termsangita includes melodious singing, rhythmic dancing, instrumental music, classical, provincial, ritual chanting and incidental forms of music-related performance arts.[4][5]
Sound
Nada (intelligible sound) is
the treasure of happiness for the happy,
the distraction of those who suffer,
the winner of the hearts of the hearers,
the first messenger of the god of love...
the fifth approach to the eternal wisdom, the Veda.
Sangita is broadly categorized as consisting of three interrelated knowledges:gīta (vocal music, song),vadya (instrumental music), andnrtya (dance, movement).[7][8][9] These ideas appear in the Vedic literature of Hinduism such as in theAitareya Brahmana, and in early post-Vedic era Sanskrit texts such as theNatya Shastra,Panchatantra,Malvikagnimitra andKathasaritsagara. A stringed instrument is described with proportional lengths inJaiminiya Brahmana andAitareya Aranyaka, and these are compared to poetical meters.[10] It is referred to as "Gandharva Sangita" in the ancient Hindu texts, whose leader is mentioned to be the Vedic sageNarada – the author of seven hymns of theRigveda.[11] The Hindu goddessSaraswati in revered in these texts as the source and patron ofsangita.[11]
Some important Sanskrit manuscripts relating toSangita includeSangita Ratnakara,[12]Sangita Ratnavali,Sangita Ratnamala,Sangita Darpana,Sangita Siromani andSangita Sagara.[3] One of the earliest known Sangita treatise isSangita Meru, authored by Kohala – the student of Bharata Muni ofNatya Shastra fame. The text is lost to history, but its existence is known because it has been quoted and cited in other Indian texts.[13]
The 13th-centurySangita Ratnakara text has been influential to North and South Indian music traditions, and is available in many languages. It states, according to Tarla Mehta, that "Sangita constitutes song, dance and musical instruments".[14] The fusion of experience and concept, states Mehta, established Sangita as an integral component of play production in the Indian tradition.[14]
Other knownSangita-related Hindu texts include, with exceptions as noted:
TheCatalogus Catalogorum published by H. Theodor Aufrecht, and those added by W. Jones, listed 47 Sanskrit treatises onsangita known in the 19th century, along with the author of each Sanskrit text.[28]