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Compare and Contrast North Indian Classical music to Western classical music

Western Classical music is renowned for its perceptual grouping processes, basic standard format and easy recognition due to such musical dimensions as pitch, duration, ornamentation and timbre. Western classical music represents a chronological period, in succession to the Baroque period, and we can easily associate certain composers to that era based on their musical style and compositional techniques.

The foremost concept of Indian Classical music is that of the Raag, meaning colour and passion. The focus of these Raags are not of melody and harmony, but of musical ability and the creation of a timbre appropriate to its usage- with the aim of sending its listener into a mesmerised trance. The central idea of the Raag is purity. The musician is tightly constrained within the strict boundaries of rules that ultimately define whether the piece is Classical or not.

Structure is a highly regarded element of Indian Classical music. Every Raag must follow a set pattern, which determines not only the instrumentation at each point, but the regulations to how the instrument is played, the usage of improvisation, accompaniment and the texture.

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Another important component of Western Classical music is the Sonata form, which describes the characteristic structure of a single movement.

Indian Raags are composed for certain events, seasons and times of the day, as well as being anthropomorphisised into femininity and masculinity, such that they are specific for their usage.

Each section should be reminiscent of the themes introduced in the first movement, whilst introducing new material throughout. Whilst Indian music is infamous for improvisation, this must only take place within the strictly defined boundaries, otherwise it may cease to be classified as “Classical”.

Concertos consist of soloists supported by small orchestras, as homophonic melody and accompaniment is the mainstay of the era in order to enhance lyricism. The “Allap” may span several hours dependent on the performers ability. These improvisations are regularly punctuated with the afore mentioned fixed composition. In classical music the ommitance from ornamentation is a key factor when differentiating the progression from the Baroque period. Each note is introduced independently, allowing the listener to appreciate their value.

However in Indian music solo instruments were favoured unaccompanied, to emphasise the element of purity.

The instrumentation in western music of the era favoured orchestral arrangements to enhance the chordal element, produce a wider range of pitch and to add interest, for the audience, to simple melodies. They are played both in “arohana” and “avarohana” forms (ascending/ descending manner) dependent on the section of the Raag. In this section, the main theme is introduced as a “fixed composition”, to be returned to after bursts of improvisation.

Approximate Word count = 971
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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