🌟 Composers & Legends
Tansen, Ravi Shankar, Beethoven and global masters.
🌟 The Giants Who Shaped Music
Indian and Western music both have towering figures whose contributions defined entire eras and traditions.
Indian classical — ancient foundational figures:
• Bharata Muni (~200 BCE) — Natya Shastra — codified music, dance, drama theory
• Matanga Muni (~9th cent) — Brihaddeshi — first to use the word "raga"
• Amir Khusrow (1253-1325) — invented/developed sitar, tabla, khayal, tarana, qawwali
• Tansen (1506-1589) — greatest singer at Akbar's court. Could light lamps with Deepak raga, summon rain with Megh Malhar.
• Swami Haridas (1512-1607) — guru of Tansen
• Tyagaraja (1767-1847) — composed 700+ Carnatic kritis
Indian classical — modern masters (20th century):
• Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) — classified ragas into 10 thaats, standardized notation
• Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1931) — took classical music to the masses, Gandharva Mahavidyalaya
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) — Baroque. Counterpoint master. Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) — Classical period. Child prodigy. 41 symphonies, operas. Symphony No.40.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) — Beethoven bridged Classical and Romantic. Deaf in later life. 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy).
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) — Lieder (art songs), symphonies.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) — Piano poet. Nocturnes, Etudes.
Bharat Ratna (music): MS Subbulakshmi (1998), Ravi Shankar (1999), Lata Mangeshkar (2001), Bismillah Khan (2001), Bhimsen Joshi (2009).
Grammy Awards (Indian musicians): Ravi Shankar (multiple), Zakir Hussain (2024 — Best Global Music Performance).
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship — highest honour by India's national academy.
Padma Vibhushan — Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan, Girija Devi, Shivkumar Sharma.
Nobel in music? No Nobel Prize for music — but Bob Dylan won Nobel in Literature (2016) for song lyrics.
Legends of Music — Click Each
AnimationBeethoven composed his greatest works — including the 9th Symphony — after becoming completely deaf.
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InteractiveBackground:
• Born in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh). Real name Ramtanu Pandey.
• Student of Swami Haridas (great Bhakti saint-musician) and Mohammad Ghaus.
• Became one of the Navaratnas (9 gems) at Emperor Akbar's court.
Contributions:
• Created several new ragas: Darbari Kanada, Miyan ki Todi, Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Sarang.
• These "Miyan ki" (of the master) ragas are among the most important in Hindustani music.
• Pioneered the Dhrupad style of singing.
• Founded the Senia gharana (named after him: Tansen = his honorific, Sena = his original surname).
Legends about him:
• Raga Deepak: could light oil lamps by singing this raga — his body overheated, required Raga Megh Malhar to cool down.
• Raga Megh Malhar: could summon rain clouds by singing this raga.
• These legends may be metaphorical — indicating such mastery that his music felt supernatural to listeners.
Legacy:
• Tansen Samaroh — annual classical music festival at his tomb in Gwalior.
• His six children continued the musical tradition — gharana system spread through his lineage.
• Darbari Kanada — his most famous creation — is considered the "king of ragas" and is performed only late at night.
1. Medieval (500-1400 CE)
Gregorian chant — monophonic (single melody). Church music dominant. Hildegard von Bingen.
2. Renaissance (1400-1600)
Polyphony (multiple voices). Giovanni Palestrina, Thomas Tallis. Madrigals and motets.
3. Baroque (1600-1750)
Ornate, complex. Counterpoint (multiple independent melodies). J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi.
Key works: Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
4. Classical (1750-1820)
Clarity, balance, elegance. Sonata form. Haydn, Mozart, early Beethoven.
Key works: Mozart's Symphony No.40, Haydn's Surprise Symphony.
5. Romantic (1820-1900)
Emotional expression, nationalism. Beethoven (late), Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schubert.
Key works: Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Chopin's Nocturnes, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
6. Modern/20th Century (1900-present)
Experimentation — Impressionism (Debussy), Expressionism (Schoenberg), Minimalism (Philip Glass), Film music (John Williams), Jazz (Miles Davis).
Indian parallel: Indian classical music similarly evolved from Vedic chanting → Sanskrit classical → Hindustani/Carnatic split (~12th century) → modern era.