Dr. M.B. Vedavalli took her M.A. degree in Music, from Madras University in the year 1962. She was awarded Doctoral degree for her thesis on "Mysore as a seat of Music" in the year 1983 and D.Litt. degree in the year 2004 for her Thesis on Ragam Tanam Pallavi.
She has handled both Theory of Music and Practial classes for both under-graduate and post-graduate courses for about 33 years in various institutions imparting music education.
She was a Lecturer in Stella Maris College, Madras for seven years, Head of the Department of Indian Music in Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College, Trichy, for six years and in the Department of Indian Music, University of Madras for 20 years and retired as Professor and Head in the year 1995.
Her training under Pallavi exponents and her vast experience as Lecturer in colleges and university has enabled her to write an elaborate work dealing with the evolution, structure and procedure followed in singing Ragam, Tanam and Pallavi for which she was awarded D.Litt. degree.
She has authored several books on music and has presented research papers and Lecture-demonstrations in many seminars organized by universities and sabhas.
Music, like any other fine art has flourished under the enlightened patronage extended to it by the rulers of the various kingdoms and principalities. Next to them, the rich Zamindars have shouldered the responsibility of nurturing this art. Although most of the royal houses have extended their benevolent patronage to music and fine arts, the arts have thrived and prospered only during certain periods in certain regions.
Thus for about two centuries from 1350 A.D., Vijayanagar was the cultural centre of the Southern India. With the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, it was shifted to Tanjore. During the 17th, 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, Tanjore was the principal seat of music. Thereafter in the 19th and 20th centuries, Mysore emerged as the centre of musical learning.
This book deals with the contribution of the kings of Mysore to Music and the various measures adopted by them for the preservation and promotion of the art of music which was responsible for making Mysore an important centre of musical learning during the 19th and 20 centuries.
A comprehensive study of the various factors which were responsible for making Mysore an important seat of music during 19th and 20th centuries has been made here. Regarding the study of the 20th century, the period has been restricted upto 1950 only. i.e., in all a study of a period of one and a half centuries from 1800 A.D. to 1950 A.D. Even prior to this period the various dynasties which ruled over Mysore had patronised Music. But it was during this period that the art received the maximum support and encouragement from the Wodeyar rulers and Mysore achieved fame as a centre of Music.
The last four Wodeyar rulers, Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (Krishnaraja Wodeyar III), Chamaraja Wodeyar X, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyer (Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV) and Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, ruled over Mysore from 1799 to 1950.
With the establishment of the Republican form of Government in 1950, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar was made the Rajapramukh and his powers were restricted. Later the office of the Rajapramukh was converted to that of a Governor and Jayachamaraja Wodeyar became the first Governor of Mysore. Later with the abolition of privy purse, the kings who maintained the vidwans of the palace had to cut down their expenditure and thus the financial assistance provided to musicians by the royal family dwindled. With the emergence of a democratic form of government, music had to depend solely on the State and Central Governments for its patronage.
Besides, with the reorganisation of States in 1956 on linguistic basis, ten more districts were added to the nine districts of old Mysore State. So the Mysore ruled by the Wodeyars, retains its geographical identity only upto 1956. (See page No.xii for the map of old Mysore State). Bearing these facts in mind the area of study has been restricted to the old Mysore State.
The aim of this work is ultimately to make an assessment of the contribution of Mysore to the development of classical music during the last one and a half centuries of Wodeyar rule. A few articles and books which provide some information on the composers and musicians of this period are available. As for the lakshana granthas of this period, very few articles are in print which deal with them and moreover, their scope is limited to specific topics. So far, no comprehensive study has been made of the contribution of Mysore to music, both in its theoretical and practical aspects, in the period under consideration. The information already available had to be amplified by unearthing hitherto unknown facts in order to get a complete picture of the musical activity that took place during this period. This study has revealed the existence of many composers and musicians hitherto not known and there are others whose names are known, but whose exact contribution to music has not been identified.
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