Tappa

Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is its rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious, sweet and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly by songstresses, known as Baigees, in royal courts.

History

Tappa originated from the folk songs of the camel riders of Punjab, the Tappa style of music was refined and introduced to the imperial court of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. And later on by Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori or Shori Mian, a court singer of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, Nawab of Awadh.

In Bengal, Ramnidhi Gupta composed Bengali tappe and they are called as Nidhu Babu's Tappa. Tappa gayaki took new shape and over decades became puratani, a semi-classical form of Bengali songs.

Tappa, as a significant genre in Bengali musical styles, reached levels of excellence in lyrics and rendition (gayaki), arguably unmatched in other parts of India. Hugely popular in the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Tappa was the genre of choice of the wealthy elite as well as the classes with more modest means. An evolved format of the tappa was the "baithaki" style, which evolved under the direct patronage of the landed elites of the zamindari classes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in their baithak-khanas (literally, baithak - assembly, khana - halls or salons) and jalsaghar (literally, halls for entertainment, mujra or nautch halls)

Nidhu Babu

Ramnidhi Gupta (Bengali: রামনিধি গুপ্ত) (1741–1839), commonly known as Nidhu Babu, is one of the great reformers of Bengali tappā music.

Nidhu Babu was born in Kumartuli in northern Calcutta, where he grew up learning Persian and some English. Little is known about his upbringing, but by 1776 he had become a clerk in the office of the Chhapra Collectorate.

In Chhapra, Nidhu Babu found a Muslim ustad to train him in the techniques of a formal gharana, or school of musical thought. However, he soon became fed up with his method of teaching, and decided to independently translate Hindi music into Bengali.

In 1794, Nidhu Babu left his job in Chhapra and returned to Calcutta with a savings of ten thousand rupees.

In 1805-06, Nidhu Babu organized an akhrai troupe, an akhra being a fraternal society for studying and practicing classical Indian music. It was for his refinement and composition of akhrai songs that he initially became notable. However, his tappā were the songs that brought him lasting fame.

Girija Devi

Girija Devi (born May 8, 1929) is an Indian classical singer of the Banaras gharana. She performs classical and light classical music and has helped elevate the profile of thumri.

Early life

Girija Devi was born in Varanasi, on May 8, 1929, to Ramdeo Rai, a Bhumihar Brahmin zamindar. Her father played the harmonium and taught music, and had Devi take lessons in singing khyal and tappa from vocalist and sarangi player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five. She starred in the movie Yaad rahe aged nine and continued her studies under Sri Chand Misra in a variety of styles.

Performing career

Devi made her public debut 1949 on All India Radio Allahabad, after getting married to a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother, because it was traditionally believed that no upper class woman should perform publicly. Devi agreed not to perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951. She studied with Sri Chand Misra until he died in the early 1960s, worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage. Devi often toured and continues to perform in 2009.

Composition

Composition or Compositions may refer to:

Arts

Computer science

Lyric

Lyric may refer to: