Music in Vijayanagara developed under the patronage of various rulers and kings. Musical works have outlived the musical culture of their age. Necessarily, the aesthetic presence of individual works is bound to intervene in any account of the past. More is said of the composers. The picture that one gets of early Tamilakam up to the advent of Vijayanagara hegemony can be termed as `ritual music`. With the advent of the Vijayanagara pontifs, `court music` becomes a part of the ceremonial pomp that served to further the fame of the ruler and the self-image of court society. The composers were not prevented from displaying their individuality. In the category of `good taste`, aesthetic and social elements merge. Judgement in art not only exists as a separate entity but also serves as a means of social demarcation. `Taste`, it is necessary to remember, is not determined by an individual, but by a group convention.

Art represents a piece of ideology or bad faith, one of those phantasms of the human brain that distort our view of the material world and that the aesthetic- autonomy in which modern art believes itself to be thriving in a delusion that must be exploded. Music in Tamilakam has been an ally and illuminator of religion. The spiritual and musical are two departments of the cultural life of the people where a vital mutual relationship had developed.

Raga-pann identification had been undertaken as early as the Kollam era 917. A plethora of literature on music filled the peninsula when the Vijayalaya Chola Empire flourished. Basas, Vibasas and Anthrabasas came into existence. The number of these seems to be optional, not fixed by any rule. The Janaka, Grama and Uparaga group remain uninterrupted and unused. The total number of ragas known remains approximately 150. Musical compositions of the period between the ninth and fifteenth centuries have not survived. Sangita Ratnakara of Sarangadeva (thirteenth century AD) makes mention of Tevara Vardhani and a number of panns used in Tevaram. In the fifteenth century the composer Arunagirinathar enriched Tamil music by a new form - Tiruppukazh based on chantam. He ushered in intricate rhythmic patterns.

Since the sixteenth century, attempts were made to evolve a scientific method. Pundarika Vittala is considered the pioneer of this reorientation (AD 1590). He lived in the court of Burhan Khan (AD 1570 to AD 1600) at Anandavalli in Khandesh. His work Ragamanjari praised Akbar under whom the princes of Kachchab vamsa (Madhava Simha and Manava Simha) served. In Ragamanjari he gives 15 Parasika-ragas as a result of which the Melapaddathi gains importance. Lochana, Hrudayanarayana and others like Srinivasa attempt to give scientific orientation.

In the Deccan, the rulers of Vijayanagara made similar attempts (AD 1550). The Melapaddathi comes into vogue. Sangita Ratnakara had served as an authority on music for nearly two centuries. Now there arose a need to shield the art of music against corrupt methodologies. Ramamatya, the author of Svaramelakalanidhi in the introduction to the work gives us a picture of the prevailing atmosphere. Ramamatya is the contemporary of Rama Raya of Vijayanagara. This work Svaramelakalanidhi is seen as a turning point in Karnatak music history.

A practical musician, Ramamatya attempts to reconcile the theory and practice of music. He discusses about 70 ragas under 20 principal scales of melas. Strictly speaking his melas number only 15. The dividing line in melas is so thin that it is difficult to identify individuality when handled. He restates many techniques found in Sangita Ratnakara. Venkatamakin (AD 1620) who comes later severely criticizes Ramamatya.

Despite the criticism of Venkatamakin, Svaramela Kalanidhi deserves praise for the introduction of an entirely new system of theory and practise suggested by the work of Sarangadeva (Ratnakara) and the commentary on it by Kallinatha. The work gives a detailed account of vina as a standard musical instrument for purposes of demonstration and for playing music. Thus Ramamatya is said to have safeguarded Carnatic music from Persian influence.

Scientific developments pre-suppose progress in the practise of music and theoretical treatises are indices of scientific development. During the reign of Krishnadevaraya, Lakshminarayan produced the treatise Sangita Suryodaya. The work of Ramamatya was followed by other treatises like Sangita Darpanam of Chathura Damodara Pandita; Ragatarangini of Lochana; Ragavibodha of Somanatha and Sangita Sudha of Govinda Dikshita. Dikshitar is spoken of as `One of the Trio of theoreticians` of the modern period; the others being Ramamatya and Somanatha. Dikshitar too leans heavily on Sarangadeva.

The Nayakas brought with them the glorious cultural traditions of their country to the fertile regions of the Kaveri. The cultural fragrance of the court of Vijayanagara could be experienced in the Tanjore court during the period of Ragunatha Nayaka (AD 1600-33) and Vijayaraghava Nayaka (AD 1633-1673). Sevappa Nayak (AD 1532-60) the founder brought with him the cultural traditions of the Vijayanagara court (Bhuvana Vijaya). The Tanjore court was known as `Indira Mandira`. Besides Govinda Dikshitar whom Sevappa made his minister, composers, eminent poets and Vedic scholars migrated to Tanjore. The Nayaka patronage begins with Achyuthappa Nayak (AD 1560-1600). He gifted an entire village to 500 Brahmin families for fostering art and learning. Other fertile villages were encouraged to become seats of music and learning as the Nayakas gifted them to Telugu families. Muwanallur Tepperumanallur, Sulamangalam, Uthukkadu and Saliyamangalam can be cited as examples.