[5] It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination.
[6][7] Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu deities) to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance.
[7] The Abhoga is the concluding section, that brings the listener back to the familiar starting point of Sthayi, albeit with rhythmic variations, with diminished notes like a gentle goodbye, that are ideally mathematical fractions such as dagun (half), tigun (third) or caugun (fourth).
Though usually related to philosophical or Bhakti (emotional devotion to a god or goddess) themes, some Dhrupads were composed to praise kings.
It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination.
The 16th century Bhakti saint and poet-musician Swami Haridas (also in the Nimbarka Sampradaya), was a well known dhrupad singer with songs dedicated to Krishna.
[13] Dhrupad is ancient, and another genre of music called Khyal (Gwalior) (it has two parts Sthayi and Antara) evolved from it.
Traditionally the primary instrument used for dhrupad has been the Rudra Veena, but the surbahar and the sursringar have also long been used for this music.
Like all Indian classical music, dhrupad is modal and monophonic, with a single melodic line and no chord progression.
Dhrupad styles have long elaborate alaps, their slow and deliberate melodic development gradually bringing an accelerating rhythmic pulse.
In most styles of dhrupad singing it can easily last an hour, broadly subdivided into the alap proper (unmetered), the jor (with steady rhythm) and the jhala (accelerating strumming) or nomtom, when syllables are sung at a very rapid pace.
Then the composition is sung to the rhythmic accompaniment: the four lines, in serial order, are termed sthayi, antara, sanchari and aabhog.
Alongside concert performance, the practice of singing dhrupad in temples continues, though only a small number of recordings have been made.
It bears little resemblance to concert dhrupad: there is very little or no alap; percussion such as bells and finger cymbals, not used in the classical setting, are used here, and the drum used is a smaller, older variant called mrdang, quite similar to the mridangam.
Brihaddeshi, a circa eighth-century text attributed to Mataṅga, classifies songs into five stylistic categories (gitis): shuddha, bhinna, gauri, veswara, and sadharani.
[16] Four styles (banis or vanis) of dhrupad singing were popular in the late sixteenth century at Mughal Emperor Akbar's court: gauri, khandar, nauhar, and dagar.
[citation needed] Some of the illustrious Dhrupad exponents and virtuosos are Pandit Gokulotsavji Maharaj, Uday Bhawalkar, Ritwik Sanyal, Nirmalya Dey, Pt.
[21] Prof. Richard Widdess (Head, Department of Music, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK) and Dr. Dadheech, (Indore, India) discussed the origin of Dhrupad at length.