SLIDE 1 – INDIAN MUSIC – TODAY

SLIDE 2 – STRUCTURE OF THE SPEECH

 

Introduction

Traditional Indian music has very ancient roots. With an organized and structured beginning in the pre-vedic period i.e.. prior to 3000 B.C., the stream of evolution of music had an even flow through the centuries. In the process, it is believed that the present day musical scale was invented in India anywhere between 500 B.C. – 500 A.D. and according to considered opinions of acknowledged musicologists, the scale was adopted subsequently in the western world.

 

SLIDE 3 – ORIGIN & CULTURAL INFLUENCES

After having developed basically on the edifice of Hinduism upto 1000 A.D., Indian music in the Northern part of the country was influenced by the music of the middle-east when the country faced onslaughts of several invasions by ambitious muslim chieftains, some of whom settled in India and brought with them artists of performing arts. During this period i.e.. 1000 A.D. onwards, it is believed that, the Indian music was divided into two major musical systems viz – Northern Indian or Hindustani music and South-Indian or Karnatak music. Opinions differ regarding quality and beauty of these two systems. North Indian musicians maintain that due to the influence of the middle-eastern muslim culture which was highly decorative and sensuous, the prevalent musical expressions became richer. On the other hand, South Indian musicians believe that their music retains its original purity and sanctity of the Hindu puritanism coloured with spirituality and introspective vision. From the 13th to the 18th century, various muslim rulers who predominantly ruled the northern part of the country except the deep south, enriched the Northern Indian musical system by active and generous state patronage. This period especially from 15th to 18th century is considered to be the Golden period in the history of Northern Indian music. On the other hand, great Saint musicians like Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Samasastri, popularly known as the ‘trinity’ contributed to the phenomenal development of the South Indian musical culture.

 

During the British rule, from 18th century onwards for 150 years, musicians and musicologists were patronised by the rulers of small native states spread all over the country. Great musicians evolved their own individual specialised styles called gharana-s or schools – a process which according to many, enriched the musical system through specialization.

 

After Independence i.e., in the context of contemporary scene, along with half-hearted efforts by the Indian Government for the promotion of music, it was the patronage of the masses which sustained the musical culture. Though, basic deep-rooted musical traditions continued, an element of commercialisation unwittingly seems to have affected the quality and to some extent, the purity of both the Northern and Southern Indian musical systems. This is not to say that our great and respected musicians have fallen a prey to the money-making machine. In fact, several of our elderly and respected musicians, have steadfastly stuck to the norms of our ancient musical culture. It is heartening that in the past few years, they have succeeded in partially changing the basis of mass appreciation – the musical audiences becoming more sensitive and understanding of the deeper values of our music rather than being carried away by superficial gimmicry which the element of commercialization inevitably requires.

 

Over the years a section of the music lovers was inevitably influenced by music of the western world and developed into serious listeners and qualified performers. Many Indians have made names for themselves in the field of Western Music and the name of Zubin Mehta as a leading top-class conductor is known and respected the world over.

 

SUMMERISE SLIDE

It is against this backdrop that we shall now revert to the contemporary scene in the field of Indian classical or traditional music.

 

SLIDE 4 – CLASSIFICATION OF SEGMENTS

We can identify four distinct categories of musical forms, viz. classical, light classical, light and regional or folk music.

 

SLIDE 5 – INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Classical music – This form covers the style of serious music which has evolved over several thousand years culminating into a scientific, researched and highly disciplined system based on the ‘raga’ concept. Therefore, the term classical denotes a highly developed and traditional pure form of music and not music belonging to a particular time period of History, as perhaps in the case of European music. Understandably, classical music in India is presented – through both the vocal and instrumental techniques. Musical expressions are conveyed through distinct stages of development of the ‘raga’ and usually through a gradual unfoldment of the selected notes of the raga on the basis of set-norms. The stages through which the scale of the raga is treated in pre-determined sequence results into a development, usually starting at the slowest tempo and ending at the fastest speed that the musician is capable of.

 

SLIDE 6 – INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC – CHARTER

Except the basic theme or composition, which is the pivot of the raga, the entire performance is improvised. Within the structure of the raga form and its discipline, the musician is free to improvise, guided by his creative ability and training. Thus the Indian classical musician is both a performer and composer at the same time. The emotional content of the performance reveals different kinds of rasa-s or moods – from amongst nine basic rasa-s or emotions five out of which are used in music. Classical musicians strictly adhere to the time theory of Ragas, according to which there are set time periods of the day and night when specific ragas should be performed.

 

SLIDE 7 – INDIAN LIGHT CLASSICAL

• Light classical – The Indian genius had to evolve a form of expression which had a greater flexibility than the traditional classical music. In other words, though classical music has abundant freedom to improvise, the raga discipline has to be strictly adhered to and emotional content or the ‘rasa-bhava’ has to be carefully monitored as per norms both in the content and expression of music. Light classical music form lends itself to still greater flexibility and is based on emotions which are usually romantic, exotic or sensuous (Shringar – rasa) – through two-fold culmination of the “romantic” e. romance ending in joy (Hasya – rasa) and romance ending in a tragedy (Karun – rasa). The discipline of the raga form is not observed with great rigidity and the expression is highly decorative, and light in character. The literary content in vocal style is more prominently used and the lilt in the rhythmic element is increasingly relied upon. Several streams of light classical music are prevalent in India and each stream in turn has several sub-forms.

 

SUMMERISE SLIDE

 

SLIDE 8 – LIGHT (POPULAR) MUSIC

• Light music – No sooner we remove the word ‘classical’ from the term ‘light classical music’, we enter the field of light music. This form covers film music, or as the high-brows of traditional music would describe it – “cheaper” forms of music. Western pop music influence has evidently had an impact on some aspects of this form of music. In addition to the serious aspects of western music practiced in India, a section of the younger people also enjoy pop music or the so called disco music, and similar forms, which according to many, may be termed as “light music”.

 

SLIDE 9 – FOLK REGIONAL MUSIC

• Regional or folk – India is a large country – almost a continent. No wonder therefore that over the period, different parts of the country – different regions of the country have evolved their own forms of expression basically related to folk music. To name a few, we have the joyful innocent folk music of the valley of Kashmir, the sensuous but soul-stirring lyrical folk tunes of Rajasthan, the ‘duha’ or full-throated songs of Gujarat narrating the romance and the bravery of the by-gone days, the sprightly ‘lavni’ and numerous other forms of Maharashtra, the saintly songs – ‘baul’ and Bhatiali of Bengal, the devotional compositions in praise of the Lord prevalent in South-India, etc., are vivid examples of Indian folk music. As all over the world, the folk-tunes have their individual flavours, use limited musical arena of the scale, have the fullest freedom of expression and rely heavily on rhythms.

 

Thus we have referred to four distinct categories of musical expressions of the contemporary scene of Indian music. These have been nurtured and evolved over the past centuries and fortunately have not got inter-mixed – each form retaining its individual identity and character.

 

At this stage, it would be expedient to consider the organised efforts coupled with natural social developments which are relevant to the present and future music scenario in India. These can be divided into three major divisions viz :

• Education
• Promotion
• Preservation

 

SLIDE 10 – EDUCATION IN CLASSICAL MUSIC

• Education
• An age-long established practice of passing on musical knowledge from the teacher to the pupil is termed as ‘Guru-Shishya Parampara’ or the system of imparting knowledge from the teacher to the pupil on a “person to person” basis. Great ‘Ustad-s’ or ‘Pandit-s’ i.e., acknowledged Guru-s or Professors of music have been imparting knowledge to selected students with great affection and care, to ensure that their style or ‘gharana’ continues from generation to generation as an unbroken chain through such students. This long established tradition pre-supposes that the bond between the teacher and pupil is one of a family relationship based on sentiment and accepted individual responsibilities.
• Along with this system of ‘Guru-Shishya Parampara’ which dates back to several thousand years, it was in recent times i.e., last 70/80 years that have witnessed establishment of individual music schools. Presently we have a few hundred such teaching institutions all over the country. Such schools are of great value to aspiring students who do not have the possibilities to fully devote their complete lives to learning music. In modern difficult times, the young generation, have to earn their livelihood along with their musical pursuits. Hence music schools have an important role to play in spreading music education in such situations with constraints of time and money.
• To cater to the requirement of the slightly more affluent students who also have time constraints, a system of giving tuitions or lessons by individual teachers – not necessarily by great masters, has also come into existence (during the last few decades). In cities, such music teachers visit the house of the student on the basis of a monthly salary to give tuitions.
• It is not uncommon that many aspiring students take cue and guidance through the media like radio and television to learn music – Tape recorders and discs are also freely used to support the process of learning. It is however believed that through such processes, one can obtain only a half-baked knowledge. It is truly said that to become a full-fledged performing musician, one has to learn at the feet of the guru with all humility, respect and complete devotion.

 

 

SLIDE 11 – COMMENT FROM THE SLIDE (LIGHT CLASSICAL – EDUCATION)

• Any discussion on the system of musical education in India would be incomplete without a reference to the prevalent activities in the field of research.

 

 

SLIDE 12 – RESEARCH IN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Indians are known to rely heavily on ancient scriptures and treatises to interpret different dimensions of human activity and music is no exception. However, if we concentrate on recent or the current scenario in the field of research, we notice that such activities which started sometime in the beginning of this century, were mainly related to commentaries and interpretations of ancient texts of treatises, including translations from Sanskrit – the ancient Indian language into Hindi, English or prevalent regional languages. It was only a few decades ago, that a scientific approach was introduced with a view to present ancient theories with an analytical approach. However, it was only very recently that a suitable methodology formed the basis of research work which resulted into a growth of inter-disciplinary studies involving the inter-related subjects such as physics, physiology, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, computers, etc. It is heartening to note that as a part of such scientific studies, methodological principles were adopted – viz. framing hypothesis, experimenting, analysis of results of logical interpretation or articulation. Still more recently, attempts are made to undertake research in the rich traditions of folk-music.

 

SLIDE 13 – PROMOTION – THE CONCERT PLATFORM

• Promotion

In respect of promotional efforts to further the cause of music in India, several effective steps have been taken in different directions. Let us have a quick look at these.

 

• Large Festivals in important cities, several hundred individual concerts and mehfils (chamber music type concerts) all over the country are organised in abundant measure. The group of organisers comprise of government institutions, both at central and state levels, cultural organisations, active music circles or centres and individual patrons who support house concerts. Engagement on a graded basis are also offered by television and All India Radio to several thousand musicians. A relatively recent development is to organise music Festivals featuring only young – upcoming musicians. Competitions are also a common feature of musical activities. Modest scholarships are offered both at the level of the government and private institutions to talented students. A very heartening development in the last few years has been the dedicated involvement of a few groups to systematically undertake the exposure of young students and school-going children to different forms of our traditional music. An outstanding work being done in this area, is by an institution called Spic Macay – Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture amongst Youth.
• In addition to promoting concerts and performances, music seminars are increasingly organised all over the country. Apart from educating the audience into a proper channel of music appreciation, such seminars and workshops concentrate on specialised subjects covering technical aspects of music.
• Several recording companies have undertaken production of pre-recorded cassettes on commercial basis. Such cassettes of super-stars and established artistes are available at extremely reasonable prices and have become an important promotional media.
• Unfortunately the impresario system in India has not developed on a systematic basis and hence promotional efforts on a professional basis are still to develop. It is believed that traditional musicians are very reluctant to solicit concerts through the system of impresarios, but it is only a question of time when such a system will make its beginning.

 

SLIDE 14 – COMMENT FROM SLIDE – PROMOTION – MASS MEDIA

 

SLIDE 15 – PRESEVATION – THE TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

• Preservation

So far, we have covered the fields of education and promotion. The third area relates to the preservation of our musical heritage. It is strange that though Indian music has very ancient traditions, unbelievably there are relatively very few books or documentary sources available covering the past 2000 years and more of its evolution. Though there are some very authoritative works available in Sanskrit, Urdu and other regional languages, they are few and far between. Why this is so is quite an enigma. Many believe that several precious treatises and books on music were destroyed or lost between the period 15th to 18th century. Evidence of origins of several instruments and forms of music is difficult to trace and this has resulted into several controversies. For example; Sitar, one of the most popular instruments was believed to have been invented during the 13th century and now it is firmly believed that it was invented in the 18th century. However, this belief is based on a process of deductions rather than on any documentary evidence.

 

SLIDE 16 – PRESERVATION – THE NEED

Hence, preservation has become an activity of utmost importance to ensure that whatever we have in the form of ancient literature, in addition to results of research activities, are all well preserved and protected. Several cultural institutions and academics have therefore established archives and a lot of useful work is being undertaken.

 

If we analyse various areas through which our art of music has been preserved and researched upon, we can enumerate the following:

 

SLIDE 17 – PRESERVATION – THE CHALLENGE

• Guru-Shishya Parampara – or the imparting of the knowledge on a person to person basis from the teacher to the student: Basically this system has been responsible for the passing on, of the art from one generation to another and the contemporary musicians are all products of this system. In fact, had it not been for this system, it is hard to imagine how the ancient traditions based on science and intuition would have lasted over the past centuries.
• More recently, efforts have been made to document compositions of great masters with relevant notations. It is commonly believed that Indian music does not possess any scientific systems of notations. This belief is not completely true. In fact, both in the north and south, we have systems of notations which can be used for documentation of musical compositions as and when necessary.
• In addition, special non-commercial recordings of the performance of great masters have also been undertaken and these are available in listening sessions in some institutions to keen students of music.
• Still more recently, research work has been undertaken through electronics application for the stylistic and content-wise documentations of music. Experiments have been undertaken with reference to voice culture, analysis of raga development and to determine special features of different musical styles, with a view to preserve their individual contributions.

 

Having referred to various dimensions through which preservation activities are undertaken presently, I cannot but mention that there is a relevant shortage of finance to undertake further work, in some areas. It is known that HMV/EMI London have over 14,000 records of Indian music in mint condition i.e., records made by HMV right from the beginning of this century – and these are duly preserved. It would be very useful if taped copies of such recordings are made available to India, both for archival and educational requirements. All India Radio also have hundreds of hours of taped music of great masters who are no more. Such tapes unfortunately are not well preserved due to want of adequate facilities. Urgent efforts should be undertaken, supported by adequate funds, so that such precious material may not be lost by decay and damage.

 

SLIDE 18 – THE FUTURE

FUTURE

We have dealt with the different streams through which Indian music flows. We have described the three major divisions of education, promotion and preservation responsible for protecting our heritage. Before concluding however, I would like to refer to a very important and essential development in the field of music. In addition to various activities, which we have already referred to, an organised effort by the artistes for the promotion of the cause of music was lacking. It was only recently that an organised effort to evolve structured plans and their effective implementation was made. In December 1988 an unusual and fully representative meeting of prominent performing musicians, musicologists, executives of music schools, festival organisers, acknowledged connoisseurs and some dancers was convened by a music institution called Sangeet Research Academy (music research academy) funded by a well known Industrial House – Indian Tobacco Company (ITC). About 200 such representatives assembled in Calcutta and participated in an extremely well-organised seminar (during morning sessions) cum festival (during night sessions). The theme of this 5-day seminar was ‘Heritage and Responsibilities’. The roles of government, media and artistes themselves, to preserve, protect and promote ancient Indian heritage were duly analysed and a professional, well-balanced and comprehensive report covering the recommendations of this representative body was submitted to Government of India in the Department of Culture. Having ascertained that the Government has accepted a substantial portion of these recommendations and having secured full co-operation of the media and the performing artiste, a follow-up 5-day seminar was once again organised at New Delhi in December of 1990, attended by over 200 delegates. The earlier report was reviewed and responsibilities for the follow-up actions were entrusted to separate groups set up by the duly elected executive council (Steering Committee). A nucleus for an organised effort, without any governmental involvement has now been started to effectively promote the cause of fine arts, like music and dance. This is one of the most important developments in the current musical scene in India.

 

Thus, taking an overall review of the current scenario of Indian music, I cannot but assert that the cause of Indian music is in very good hands and the future looks extremely bright. Doubts expressed in this regard during the last decade are gradually but surely giving way to confident optimism. Unfortunately, old masters are gradually disappearing – but then we have an extremely talented and well-trained group of vocalists and instrumentalists to shoulder the responsibility of our ancient and respected heritage and take it to further glory in future.