T. V. KARTASHOVA

Candidate of Art History

Associate Professor of the Saratov State Conservatory named after L. V. Sobinov

Key words: up-shastriya, thumri, North india, khayal, bol banao

Among the huge variety of styles, types and forms that have developed in the course of the centuries-old evolution of the musical culture of North India (Hindustani), such a phenomenon as the vocal genre of thumri stands out, which is one of the examples of the extensive up-shastriya layer characteristic of the musical art of South Asia, which is also called "music of a reduced tradition" or "light" classics. This category of music is translated into English by the Indians themselves as " semi-classical music "("semi-classical music"), or "light classical" ("light classic"). It is significant that the "lite" classical music that actually exists in many musical cultures, but has not received an official status in them, is recognized as independent in the Indian tradition and has a separate cultural niche.

"Up-shastriya" is characterized by a more relaxed expression compared to classical genres, accessible poetic content, the absence of strict restrictions in terms of rhythmic and melodic organization of the musical text, and free borrowing of elements from traditional types of music.

It should be noted that the layer of "semi-classical" music is the most layered and in modern India is considered the "main" type of musical culture. This includes "multicolored" film music, music for theatrical performances, radio and TV programs, etc.

The basic representative of " up-shastriya "("semi-classics") is the vocal genre of thumri. According to the Indians themselves, this is a charming love song, poetically sublime and tremulously exciting, revealing the diverse facets of the most subtle nuances of moods and emotional emotions.

To understand the essence of this music, let's turn to the curious description of thumri singing by the Indian scholar Govindrao Tembe: "Once upon a time the great Mozzuddin Khan * sang"...My beloved Raja, open the door: raindrops are falling." The beloved is standing on the veranda of the bedroom, and the beloved has playfully closed the door. Suddenly it started to rain. She asks to open the door as it is dripping. And he wants to see her completely soaked and doesn't open the door. She repeats the request more firmly, then with mock anger, then flatteringly, now with indignation, then with a smile, now menacingly, then lovingly, then desperately. Mouzuddin presented all these and many other shades of feeling with the appropriate pronunciation of words, the appropriate "flow" from tone to tone, and the coordinated musical embellishments of each sound. This is how the amazing world of real thumri was revealed to me."¹

This genre is located at the intersection of various layers of culture - Indian classical vocal music with its leading genres of dhrupad² and khayal³, which paved the way for the emergence and flourishing of thumri, and traditional regional song forms that exist in various parts of Uttar Pradesh.

In modern India, thumri has become the stylistic and structural basis of a large number of samples of music of the "lite" type, the most important component of complex artistic phenomena.-

* Mouzuddin Khan (1875 -?) - famous singer, founder of the Benares style of thumri, one of the first performers to make a gramophone record of "semi - classical" music.

such as theater and dance performances, cinematography, and pop music.

AT THE ORIGINS OF THE GENRE

As an original and unique tradition of a very large geographical region of Northern India, Thumri has been known for at least four centuries. Its invention was attributed to the ruler of Awadha, Wajid Ali Shah, who ruled in Lucknow from 1847 to 1856, or to the musicians of his court (in particular, Sadiq Ali Khan*). However, there is evidence that allows us to talk about more distant "predecessors" of the genre.

Even classical Sanskrit drama, along with traditional songs, contained more "light" forms, which are functionally and stylistically similar to the modern form of thumri. These are erotic songs of chatuspadi, panika, Nadavati, dombika and charchari, performed by women in regional dialects, in a lyrical and sentimental style as an accompaniment to improvised dances.

During the Indo-Muslim Middle Ages, erotic dancing with song remained a natural specialty of" public " women. Until the 17th century, Thumri was popularized by courtesans as a regional model of the Braja territory. In the following century, the word "thumri" was used to refer to "semi-classical" dance songs, which were also performed by courtesans.

Beginning in the last third of the 18th century, Thumri, having experienced the effect of "awakening" at the end of Mughal culture, developed as a full-fledged musical genre. Professional male musicians began to take an interest in thumri singing and incorporate it into their performances, finding the style very fresh and vital in contrast to the strict classical dhrupad genre that was declining along with the Mughal Empire and the nobility. Thumri becomes the dominant" semi-classical " genre of the elite.

Next to it was a wide layer of bandit thumri, common among city dwellers who are inclined to play music at home , a kind of salon type of leisure.

In Lucknow,** according to the expert and eyewitness A. Sharar, the spread of bandit thumri was so rapid that it could compete in popularity "only with the Lucknow melons" ⁵.

THUMRI YESTERDAY AND TODAY

At the beginning of the 20th century, due to the spread of mass media, transport links, the development of the recording industry, and an increase in the general level of literacy of the population, the composition of performers and the nature of musical patronage changed: a new class appeared on the political scene - the urban bourgeoisie, oriented towards Western education, with a growing sense of national identity. Resilient, flexible, and amenable to a variety of transformations, Thumri was of interest to them as an important part of India's cultural heritage. There were several trends within the genre itself: professional khayala singers began to perform thumri, which increased and strengthened its "semi-classical" status.

After the fall of Lucknow, with the arrival of the British, the growing chant of bol banao spread widely.-

Sadiq Ali Khan (1800-1910) - the greatest singer of the Lucknow Thumri school.

** Lucknow in the 18th century was the capital of the independent state of Awadh, now Uttar Pradesh.

moose in the cultural arena of Benares (Varanasi) - the new cultural center of the eastern state of Uttar Pradesh, taking the Lucknow bandit Thumri back in time. It is interesting to note that Professor S. Choube * refers to Lucknow as the mother of Thumri and Benares as his beloved⁶. The 1920s and 1960s can be regarded as the culmination of Thumri's heyday: the performance of Abdul Karim Khan Saheb, Fayyaz Khan, Begum Akhtar, and singers Razulan Bai, Siddheshwari Devi, and Bari Moti Bai.

By the 1940s, a third branch of Thumri appeared - Punjabi, represented by outstanding masters-the brothers Bade Ghulam Ali and Barkat Ali Khans. The style of singing of this school is closely related to the song forms of regional traditional music, using specific Punjabi ornamentation and virtuoso passages that require the performer to master the entire technical arsenal of classical singing.

In the last third of the 20th century, there was a tendency to reduce the status of thumri: its use as a short, light "dessert", completing the concert program. During this period, the genre once again showed its diversity. An important stage in its development was the widespread use of instrumental compositions created on its basis; it gradually "migrated" to the cinema in the form of lyrical and sentimental songs; thumri can also be found as a form of theatrical music.

In 21st-century India, thumri continues to evolve in a variety of stylistic guises and a variety of local genre types. Experienced Indian vocal performers try to preserve and transmit, in contrast to the inevitable processes of "renewal", those elements of the tradition that contribute to its stabilization. In some music schools in Uttar Pradesh, thumri is introduced as the leading genre in the category of "semi-classical" music. Modern thumri, constantly updated and adapting to various conditions of social life and concert practice, strives for new expressive heights and emotional depth, while remaining a popular, original, vital and dynamic art form of musical art in Northern India.

Even 30 years ago, S. Choube noted: "Thumri has a future"⁷. Perhaps the current generation of artists with their new fresh tastes and bright talents will infuse another youth into the" life " of Thumri and restore its status as the most important vocal genre of "semi-classical" music in Northern India.

^{Tembe G.} 1 Majha Sangita Vyasanga. - Bombay: Popular book depot, 1972, p. 149.

² Dhrupad is the first classical vocal genre of Hindustani, which flourished in the 15th century. This is strict singing, excluding any decorations and virtuoso elements, with a characteristic rhythmic variation. It is performed at a slow pace, restrained and majestic. The texts are written in a religious spirit.

³ Hialeah is a classic vocal genre with romantic content. The term "khayal" is of Persian origin and in translation means "imagination"," obsession","obsession". This genre is a product of the Indo-Muslim cultural synthesis, and has been "classical" since the 18th century. The content of the khayal is wide-ranging: from praise of the gods to love lyrics. Currently, it is the most popular vocal genre in Northern India.

⁴ It should be noted that in Indian musicology the term "genre" is not used, being replaced by the concepts of style or form. In the Hindustani tradition, "often the same term denotes both a musical form, a special style, and a manner of performance..." - cit. by: Deva B. C. Indian music. Moscow, Muzyka. 1980, p. 101.

^{Sharar A.} 5 The Lucknow Omnibus: Lucknow the Last Phase of an Oriental Culture: The Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow / Translated and edited by E.S. Harcourt and Fakhir Hussein. - Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1975, p. 138.

^{Chaube S.} 6 Indian music today. New Delhi: Motilala Banarsidass, 1945, p. 130.

^{Chaube S.} 7 Sangit ki Charcha. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Hindu Granth Akademi, 1977, p. 220.

* Sushil Kumar Choube ( deceased) - musicologist, vocal performer. His works - some of the first on Indian music - were published in the 1940s.

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