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Of mystic charm

THE FLUTE

Type: Wind

Made of: Bamboo

Stream: Carnatic and Hindustani

Exponents: Mali, Ramani, Sikkil Sisters, Chaurasia and Pannalal Ghosh.

The Indian bamboo flute is one of the earliest and simplest instruments. A hollow cylinder made from a single portion of bamboo, its sound even in an age of technically aided sound enhancement depends as much on the qualities of the plant selected to make the flute as on the player’s abilities and, interestingly, the flautist’s throat quality.

Legends of Krishna the cowherd god who charmed all living things with his flute are engraved in the cultural memory of the country.

A favourite of untrained musicians too, the Indian flute got a place in Carnatic and Hindustani music relatively recently in history. In South India, Sarabha Sastri pioneered a technique in the late 19th Century to produce Carnatic music on the flute.

A blind genius who died young, he evolved a fingering system that allowed him to produce all the 12 notes of Indian music as clearly as on a harmonium. He could produce the gamakas (minute tonal variations) too, which meant the character of Carnatic music flowed through his flute.

Sarabha Sastri’s chief disciple, Palladam Sanjiva Rao, made the Carnatic flute a beloved concert instrument and reigned over audience hearts for nearly six decades. Palladam’s disciple H. Ramachandra Sastri continued the line till the 1990s.

Early in the 20th Century, T.R. Mahalingam, who came to be known as ‘Flute’ Mali, or just Mali, brought about a revolution in Carnatic flute playing.

He introduced subtle techniques that allowed him to reproduce all the required gamakas, but also converted his flute playing from a staccato style to a smooth one close to the human voice.

Listeners were swept off their feet, and the Mali’s style influenced all Carnatic flute players subsequently. Very few now perform the style known as the Sarabha Sastri bani.

In Hindustani music, it was Pannalal Ghosh (1911-1960) who adapted the instrument to the requirements of the classical genre.

Ghosh increased the length and bore (diameter) of the bamboo and added a seventh finger hole to enhance its scope. He was the first to use a long flute of over 30 inches.

Through diligent practice, Ghosh introduced to flute playing the vocal style of Khayal, besides Dhrupad, Dadra and Thumri. He also incorporated instrumental techniques like tantrakari and jhala into this woodwind instrument.

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