1. Over what period of time(When and how long) did the type of music develop?

2.Is the music practiced today? If so, by whom and in which situations?

3. Who are the some of the main performers of this style, who are the main composers? Name some of the well-known pieces.

4. What instuments are used,what textures, and what are the essential,musical characteristics and instruments?

5.Are performances of this music formal or casual, considered classical,folk, or popular?

-- Reshma Narayan (Swetincnt12@aol.com), January 07, 2003

Answers

Sounds like an exam you're cheating on ;)

1 - check a good history of Carnatic, such as here http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/carnatic_sangeet.html

2 - yes, by many many people in India and now around the world! In concerts, in combination with other types of music, and even in films.

3 - You can check www.sangeetham.com for more info on this

4 - main instruments - violin, tambura, mridangam, plus ghatam, morsing, kanjira, as accompaniment. as main instruments: violin, flute, veena, nadaswaram, saxophone, guitar, mandolin, and more.

5 - formal and classical, though there are instances when elements of casual, folk, and popular music are incorporated into concerts.

rani http://www.karnatik.com

-- rani (promise@geocities.com), March 10, 2003.