Bhajan, música devocional. Dos arreglos y dos composiciones basadas en la música tradicional del norte de la india con elementos de músicas urbanas occidentales

Abstract

It is impossible to separate man's spiritual practice from music, as long as it is taken into account that music represents the most immaterial aspect that, together with individual and collective imaginaries, generates the musical autonomy of a culture. As the centuries have passed, music has materialized to such an extent that it has its own written language capable of being read by any human being regardless of their language. However, each culture is identified by a kind of music that identifies and differentiates it from others, so we can find, for example, that India is a place where different cultures and traditions converge, born from invasions, colonizations, among others, and identified by religious currents. Despite this, Hinduism is the one that represents the culture of India from its origin. This culture is represented through the Vedas1, whose origin is ancient and its exact date of writing has not yet been determined. Music in this culture is mostly used to praise and please God (Krishna)2. The Vedas were divided into four by the Great Sage Srila Vyasadeva a little more than 5000 years ago, for easy understanding. Of these, there is a Veda from which the Hindu musical system has emerged, its name is Samaveda. Within Hindu music there are two genres that are categorized as `popular and classical, within the popular there is a style known as Bhajan . The Bhajan is defined as a song of a purely religious or devotional nature, its melodic line is of a simple nature, with rhythms rich in percussion instruments. Its handling in the tempo is usually slow or medium, but it tends to accelerate as it progresses. Its lyrics are written sometimes in Sanskrit4, sometimes in Bengali5. They narrate pastimes of Krishna, Vishnu6, and Rama among others, also prayers imploring the blessings of the Supreme Lord. Due to the spiritual nature, these lyrics are known as Mantras. The word Mantra comes from two words Mana and Trayate. Mana refers to the mind and trayate to control or liberation, in this way the definition for mantra is a sound vibration that helps to free and control the mind.