Brhaddhvani

Principal Investigator: Dr. Karaikudi S. Subramanian

Brhaddhvani is a non-profit organization based in Chennai, a research and training centre for musics of the world. It combines the best of the Indian traditional Gurukula system of music learning, and a well structured Institutional system contemporizing learning methods in South Indian Carnatic Music.

This project combined the expertise of two organisations involved in different kinds of artistic work. What brought Brhaddhvani and Dharani together is a common interest in Sopanam – a musical form native to Kerala, which predates Carnatic music and survives today in a few temples and as an accompaniment to Kathakali.

This grant supported a collaborative research towards the identification, documentation and notation of ragas and talas in Sopanam music. The project, through an audio and video documentation of the Sopanam artistes and their music, aimed to render this near extinct form of temple singing more accessible to musicians, dancers and other performing artists.

Dr. Karaikudi Subramanian, founder of Brhaddhvani, was interested in documenting Sopanam music not only for its possible archival value, but also because he was keen to notate Sopanam using a particular method of musical transcription developed at Brhaddhvani. This notation system is part of a holistic methodology for music education, called Correlated Objective Music Education and Training (COMET), and it enables the transcription of different musical styles in a manner that facilitates teaching and learning.

Dharani, a school of performing arts in Kochi, was interested in the possibilities of Sopanam for the musical repertoire of Mohinattam. Dharani, led by Ms. Shyamala Surendran, identified and located the surviving Sopanam musicians and assisted Brhaddhvani in the audio and video documentation of their music. The musicians at Dharani eventually were taught Sopanam music through the Brhaddhvani methodology.

The collaborators held a seminar mid-way through the project for discussion on both the documentation of the music and the Brhadddhvani method of notation. While this project did not concern itself with larger questions such as change and continuity within a musical tradition, the focus on documentation of the repertoire as it exists today, has undoubtedly created interest among musicians and possibly, dancers. It has made Sopanam accessible to many more musicians than it would otherwise have been available to. As a result of the project, there are now 5 DV tapes, 75 audio tapes, 5 mini discs and 1 VHS tape and over 100 slides and almost 500 photographs of Sopanam music.