On Friday 4th October, Cranleigh Music welcomed renowned violinist, Dr Jyotsna Srikanth MBE, to present a workshop for our music award holders, followed by an evening concert titled ‘Carnatic Nomad’.
‘Carnatic’ music is the music of southern India: one of the oldest living systems of classical music in the world. Some of the compositions featured by Dr Srikanth were around 500 years old, and the mix of traditional and contemporary compositions opened our eyes and ears to new scales (raga) derived from the ‘Mēḷakartā’ system, rhythmic cycles (tala) and the interaction between ‘fixed’ composition and improvisation. The music was underpinned by the percussive accompaniment of a double-headed drum (mridangam), percussive vocalisations (a sort of Carnatic beat-boxing), and a single drone note (produced by a tanpura), creating cohesion throughout the programme.
It was refreshing for our award holders to explore such an unfamiliar stylistic framework, and for our string players to have a breather from the technical stipulations of western classical music in order to practically explore Indian techniques, such as approaches to sliding between notes (glissando), and new scale patterns which are the basis for Dr Srikanth’s melodic improvisation. All the musicians present were in awe of the seemingly effortless virtuosity demonstrated by this duo, and the vibrancy and colourful expressive scope of Carnatic music.
By Mr Kevin Weaver, Head of Strings
