Sāma is an upāṅga janyai of the 28th mēḷakartaii Harikāmbhōji. It is an auḍava-ṣāḍavaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata. In addition, antara gāndhāra occurs in descentv. Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S R2 M1 P D2 Ṡ – Ṡ D2 P M1 G3 R2 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C D F G A C – C A G F E D C.
It is equivalent to the paṇṇviii Andalikkuriñji.
It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously.
Madhyama, dhaivata, gāndhara are rāgachāyā svarasix. Riṣabha and pañcama are nyāsa svarasx. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ri-da, ri-pa are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxi like śānta (tranquil) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
Ḍ S R M M, – M G G R S, R G, R R, – S R Ḍ, – S R M, P D Ṡ D, P, – P M D, Ṡ, – M D Ṙ Ṡ D P, M, – M, P D, M P, M M G G R S, R R, – S R M P D, – D Ṡ D Ṡ D P M D, Ṡ, – D Ṡ Ṙ Ṙ, – Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ Ṙ Ġ, Ṙ Ṙ, – D Ṡ Ṙ Ṗ Ṁ, – Ṁ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ, Ṙ Ġ, Ṡ Ṙ, – D Ṙ Ṡ Ṡ D P M, – M P D Ṡ D P M, – D P P M M G G R R S – R G, R R, – Ḍ S Ḍ P Ṃ Ḍ, – R Ḍ, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Annapūrṇē Viśālākṣi
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Śāntamulēka
Tyāgarāja
Eṭulaina bhakti
Tyāgarāja
Maravakave
Paṭṇam Subramanya Iyer
Mānasa sañcharare
Sadāśiva Brahmēndra
Varuvāro
Gōpālakṛṣṇa Bhārati
Bibliography
Hariharan, M. and Kuppuswamy, Gowri. 2011. Comparative Music- Fundamentals of Western Music. Nagercoil: CBH Publications
Keshavamurthy, R.R. 1964. Rāgalakṣaṇa mattu Rāgakōśa. Bengaluru: Gāna Viśārada Biḍāram Kṛṣṇappa Smāraka Saṅgīta Vidyālaya
Rajarao, Mysore L. 2003. Saṅgīta Śāstra Chandrike. Bengaluru: Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy
Rao, B. Subba. 1980. Raganidhi. Madras: The Music Academy
Sambamoorthy, P. 2018 (reprint of eighth edition published in 1998). South Indian Music (Volumes 1 to 6). Chennai: The Indian Music Publishing House
Web Links
- Ramana Balachandhran (veena)
- Ranjani and Gayatri (vocal)
Sanjay Subrahmanyum presents a composition by Tyagarajah, in Raga Sama.
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