Śuddha Sāvēri is an upāṅga janyai of the 29th mēḷakartaii Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇa. It is an auḍavaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivatav. Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S R2 M1 P D2 Ṡ – Ṡ D2 P M1 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 D C.
It is a mūrchanakāraka janya rāgaviii. It gives rise to four other rāgas through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic. The four rāgas are Śuddha Dhanyāsi from riṣabha, Mōhana from madhyama, Madhyamāvati from pañcama and Hindōḷa from dhaivata.
Śuddha Sāvēri is a rāga which has existed since olden times. It is equivalent to the rāga Dēvakriya of the Dīkśitar traditionix. The closest equivalent of this rāga in Hindustani music is Durga. This scale is found in the music traditions of many countries.
Riṣabha and dhaivata are rāgachāyā svarasx. Riṣabha, pañcama and dhaivata are nyāsa svarasxi. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ri-da, ri-pa are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxii like vīra (valour) and adbhuta (wonder) very effectively.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
D Ṡ D, P, – P M D P, M R S R, – R M P, M P D, P D Ṙ Ṡ D, P, – D P M P D, – D Ṙ, D Ṡ, – DṠDD PDPP MPMM RMRR S, – S R M P D Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ṙ, Ṡ, – D Ṡ Ṙ Ṙ, – Ṙ, Ṁ Ṗ, Ṁ Ṙ, Ṡ, – D Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ṡ Ṙ Ṗ Ṁ Ṙ, Ṡ, – Ṡ,ṘṠ D,ṠD P,DP M,PM R M R M P, M P M P D, P D Ṙ Ṡ D, P, – M D P M R, – Ḍ S R M P M R M S R, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Ānalēkara (gītam)
Kālaharaṇamēlara
Tyāgarāja
Dārini telusukoṇṭi
Tyāgarāja
Lakṣaṇamulu
Tyāgarāja
Śrī guruguha
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Sāmaja varada
Rāmanāthapuram Śrīnivāsa Iyengar
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
Jayanthi Kumaresh gives a superb unamplified demonstration of her Saraswati veena, playing the intricate Raga Karnataka Shuddha Saveri.
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