What should one expect in a typical concert? How does one go about enjoying oneself? What does the musician do in a concert? How does he (or she) cater to the varied tastes of the audience and portray the numerous aspects of Carnatic music? This chapter endeavours to take the reader to the actual scene of action, and answer some of the above questions.
The key words in a Carnatic concert are variety, proportion and totality. A consummate professional tries to include all the aspects in a concert, in pleasing proportions, and strives to create a wholesome effect. There are artistes who meticulously plan the content and presentation of their concerts. They take into consideration:
a. The occasion : For instance, if the concert is dedicated to a specific composer, the artiste may include more of his works; if it is for a specific festival, relevant pieces may be rendered.
b. Likely public expectation : Listeners in certain regions may expect more compositions in languages that they can understand, or prefer composers who share their nativity. Some listeners may lean towards more compositions, some may like alapana, while some others look forward to exciting rhythmic improvisation.
c. The theme intended by the organisers: Sometimes, organisers may like to arrange concerts with specific themes, like ragam-tanam-pallavi, or on specific ragas, which would necessitate a good deal of planning from the artistes’ side.
Then there are artistes who do not plan too much and take the stage more or less with an open mind, performing according to their instinctive judgement of the audience, their own mood and form, the capability of their accompanists, etc. There are also outstanding artistes who have the wherewithal to give free rein to their listeners, and play spontaneously, whatever is requested of them.
Whatever the type of artiste, the typical concert is usually structured as follows:
A varnam, a couple of pleasant, brisk songs to make a cheerful, captivating start (perhaps with a sprinkling of alapana and swaras), a slightly weightier piece (in a more relaxed tempo), and another brisk song in the first phase. The second phase could commence straightaway with the main piece of the evening – it can either be a large composition with all the creative aspects, or it could be a ragam-tanam-pallavi. This is followed by minor pieces that could include musical forms such as padam, javali, tillana and bhajans. The concert concludes with the mangalam – a traditional prayer for world peace and prosperity.
A good artiste would ensure that the ragas rendered contrast with one another; the songs are in different talas and speeds, and of varying duration. A good vocalist also ensures that the compositions are in diverse languages, and different composers are represented during the concert.
It is worthwhile to note that the repertoire is by and large common for both vocalists and instrumentalists. However, instrumentalists normally tend to play compositions already popularised by vocalists, or play those that contain an extra melodic appeal. Of course, there are some songs that may happen to suit certain instruments more. Of late, a few instrumentalists have begun to compose separate pieces for their exclusive use.
Some other features of a Carnatic concert are
Seating : The artistes sit cross-legged on stage and do not use chairs.
Number of performers : Varies between two and ten.
Lead instruments : Flute, violin, chitravina, veena, etc (not to mention the voice).
Accompanying Instruments : Violin, occasionallychitravina, mrdangam, ghatam, kanjira, morsing, and so forth.
The tanpura is a constant feature throughout the concert since this acts as the point of reference to the tonic note.
It is usual to find that most of the concerts are amplified.
It is also not unusual to find that the artistes encourage one another by nodding their heads or exclaim words of appreciation even as they perform!