The dissertation studies the stylistic school Kirana gharana, the circumstances of its emergence within the historical-cultural backdrop of the region, the specifics of its functioning in the context of the North Indian professional oral music tradition, the professional lifestyles of its representatives and range of their repertoire. For the first time in Ukrainian ethnomusicology, this dissertation examines the Kirana gharana as a holistic phenomenon, specifically it determines the basic principles of the creation and transmission of this tradition as well as its relationship to the main canons of Hindustani musical culture. The original contribution of the research is determined by the characterization of the activity of historical figures and modern representatives of the Kirana school as part of the system of different categories of professional performers in North Indian musical culture. Based on the systematic study of personally transcribed newly acquired materials during the field-work in India (New-Delhi, Kolkata: ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Gurgaon, Kairana, 2009) as well as archival and published sources, the most significant aspects of the Kirana performers’ repertoire – khayal and thumri – are characterized as traditional areas of “high” and “light” classical music of India. The motivations of the interpretation’s diversity of the “gharana” concept are revealed, namely: the long formation’s period in the culture of North India, the performer’s need for social and professional adaptation through different types of unions (family, territorial), and the preservation of the canons of professional music making in the Hindustani oral tradition, which are transmitted through the music profession by a special system of training called “guru-shyshya parampara”. The hierarchical system of Hindustani professional oral musical culture, which promotes soloists-singers on the apex is described. In this system, the musical dynasty (khandan) Kirana, whose prominent features include its durability, continuity, professional diversity and heritage. The “list” of its representatives consist of both soloists (singers and instrumentalists) and accompanists. The greatest achievements, which were inherited from the founders of the Kirana dynasty, contributed to their practice of having the modern singers of two generations. Among them one of the best and most active representative is ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, who as the guru of ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, is transmitting knowledge of his musical family to the youngest generation – singers of 21st century. The repertoire of Kirana school’s singers embraces different areas of professional performers of oral tradition of Northern India. Among them are two main spheres – “high” and “light” classics. These two areas closely co-exist and mutually enrich each other. Khayal – the genre of “high” classical music, which was developed through the interaction of Hinduism and Islam – for Kirana school singers is a way of presenting the certain raga in its different meanings (as a sound scale and a type of certain emotional state). In this sense, Kirana performers follow one of the direct meanings of the term “khayal” – “thought” (Farsi). Thumri – a kind of light classic in the repertoire of Kirana singers – developed in the process of interaction of the high classical canons (the genres dhrupad and khayal) on the one hand, while regional traditional singing features that existed in the area of birth place and activity of prominent members of Kirana family – on the other. The high period of the genre is associated with the performing art of the founders and the best singers of Kirana gharana – Abdul Karim Khan Sahib, Begum Akhtar, Fayaz Khan. Today’s Kirana singers continue to develop this tradition. In the creation of both genres are involved soloist-singer, who accompanies himself on the lute tanpura or harp svaramandal, and plays a central role in the creation of the image of the composition, as well as instrumentalists-accompanists performing melodic (on sarangi or harmonium or both), and rhythmic (tabla drum) accompaniment, supporting the singer. The studied issues in the dissertation provide the reason to consider Kirana gharana as unique and at the same time an exemplary phenomenon in traditional musical culture of India, which not only has preserved the basic features of its style for centuries, but has revealed a remarkable ability to adapt to increasingly variable socio-cultural conditions. By this it affirms the originality and universality of Indian culture in the globalized world.
