MUSI 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Natya Shastra, Parsi Theatre, Rabindra Sangeet
29 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Roots in the natya shastra, vedic rites. Epic poetry in conjunction with temple performance arts. Sponsored by the kings in the early times. Early operatic performances were written by kalidas and sudraka. There was a massive use of stereotypical character: hero-nayaka, heroine-nayika, villain-pratinayaka, comedic character-buffon. These plays were accompanied by live musicians and singers. Four main sections of instruments they used: strings (lutes and harpes), winds (flutes mainly), drums of various kinds (considered the most important group of instruments), other percussion (cymbals- metallic objects hit together) Musical arts as a creation of the gods. Invocation to god made at the beginning of all music events. To create rapport (dhavani-reverberation) between performances and audience. Some raags were more appropriate to musical situations. These songs were called dhruvas"- song forms on specially composed verses meant to enhance the theatrical effectiveness of the play.
