Question

What is the difference between the musical forms - Varnam and Tillana?

Hint:

Compare the two on purpose, structure and where each sits in a concert.

Answer 1

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Varnam and Tillana are two musical forms. The marking scheme asks for the difference in a few sentences (1 + 1 marks).

Step 2: Varnam:
A varnam is a long composition with a pallavi, anupallavi, muktayi swaras (chittaswaras) and a charanam. It has both words (sahitya) and swara passages.
It brings out the full shape of a raga. It is often sung at the start of a concert as a warm-up, and in dance it is the main item. Two types are the tana varnam and the pada varnam.

Step 3: Tillana:
A tillana is a lively, rhythmic piece. Most of it is made of rhythmic syllables such as 'dheem' and 'tana'. It has a pallavi, anupallavi and charanam, and only a few lines of words in the charanam.
It is usually sung or danced near the end of a concert, and it is full of jathis that make it fit for percussion.

Step 4: Difference:
Varnam: raga centred, with long words and swara passages, sung early in the concert.
Tillana: rhythm centred, with syllables and few words, sung late in the concert.

Final Answer:
Varnam is a raga-centred opening piece with words and swaras. Tillana is a rhythm-centred closing piece of syllables. \[ \boxed{\text{Varnam vs Tillana}} \]