Book-reviews: Classical musical instruments by Suneera Kasliwal; The musical heritage of India by M.R. Gautam; Listening to Indian music by Chetan Karnani [and] Gadbadjhala, Khelkavya: ek parichay edited by Ashish Ghosh and Manlsh Manoja

12 Pages·2001·3.6 MB·English

BOOK REVIEWS
Classical Musical -~~.~[~~\; ~:i::~n\\:~i~~~~~
Instruments :,~,i;1 ~&.o,-;"f'..i
'4,"
<)~-[f:'_ f~';:~Ji:::1 information about a
SuneeraKasliwal 'l:(.f:"'.'1.: .\·-.-~,.U...~.;..;.J.r,:;.ii.,;...!;~ iwnhstorluemraenngtse.ofIndian
Rupa&Co.,Delhi,2001 J~!a~ ~;o::~~p~~::
vii+309pages,bibliography,index; dcd
Rs395 ~{'~~{~/ ~~~~~:;:~~;;;~~~
Musical instruments have a special place in
everyculture.RegulaBurckhardtQureshiaptly ''''' ~'~'~i~~:~~-- ssion, wind, and
says•••...amusicalinstrumentoffersaspecial Siring. Instruments of Weslern origin arc
kindofmaterialmemory.initsdualcapacityof described inthefourth chapter; thefifth being
a physical body and its embodied acoustic devoted to electronic instruments. The
identity.Asaculturalproductandalsoatoolto infonnationprovided inthe last two chapters
articulate cultural meaning through repeated makesthis bookreallyspecialanduptodate.
sound.aninstrument becomesaprivileged site Allthefivechapters delineate thehistoryand
forretainingculturalmemory:'(Qureshi, 1997, evolutionoftheinstrumentsdealtwith.Agood
4) dealofattentionispaidlhroughouttostructural
InIndia,thecomprehensivetermsangeethas andmanufacturingdetails.aswellasthebasic
beenusedtorefertotheperformingartsofvocal techniquesofsoundproduction.Detailedsket
music,instrumentalmusic,anddance.Thevery chesofinstrumentsaccompanythedescriptions.
definitionofsangeet-"Geetam vodyom tatha Sincethisbookisaimedatanyonewho would
nrityam trayam sangeetam uch)'ote"-implies like to know about Indian music and musical
the interdependenceof these arts. and accepts instruments, it would have been even more
that both voice and instruments cooperate in helpful ifsketches illustrating the correct
perfecting the sound of music. In practice. posturesforholding theinstruments had been
however, there is a definite hierarchy. Vocal added.Thatwouldbeonewayofeducatingour
music is accorded a higher status because the dreadfully ignorant audiences who fail to
voice is god-given andnot acreation ofman. distinguishbetweenaSitar,Sarod.andTanpura!
Even the word 'vadya' (musical instrument) Whileitistruethatthebookcoversawhole
really means 'thatwhichspeaks',orassumes a rangeof Indianinstrumentsandissupposedly
vocalquality-vadariitivadya.IntheSanskritic based on first-hand information-interviews
tradition the metaphorofthe Veena,astringed withartists,instrument-makers,connoisseursof
instrument, is used for the human body,while music. music critics-I see no need for the
theSufitraditionusesthemetaphoroftheflute. publishertomaketheloftyclaim(intheblurb)
Instrumentsofallkinds canbetraced back: that "a book such as this, coveringthe whole
to the Indian subcontinent But for various gamutofIndianmusicalinstruments.ishitherto
reasons, including the indifference of practi unheardof".Asisonlytobeexpected.various
tionersthemselves,thereseemstobealack of previousworkshavebeenreferredtoandquoted
awareness about musical instruments in this inthebook. Toclaim thatthe book isthefirsl
country.The media have done much hann by ofitskind isthusuncharitable toscholars like
misrepresenting instruments in print and on Kurt Sachs.B.C.Deva. andotherscitedhere.
screen. Even museums have done little to Bharata's four-fold classificationof mstru
preserve anddocument thisvaluablepartofour ments-tara (with strings), ghana (solid).
cultural heritage. It is therefore heartening to sushira (wind-filled) and avcmaddha (memb
come across a book, such as the one under rane-coveredl-r-is based on the sound-
&ngertNaJ.aIc Vol.XXXVI,No.2,2001
S2 SUYARNALATA RAO
producingagency ineachinstrument.There is InstrumentssuchastheMridang/Mridangam
one more class that is sometimes mentioned, and Pakhavaj have a very long history.While
vitata, which includes stringed instruments thepresentstudytracestheMridangtoBharata's
which are covered with membrane. Our period,theinstrumentactuallydatesbacktothe
contemporary musical practice is fairly well great epics, the Ramayana and Mohobharoto,
accounted for inthis classification. However. aswellasto the Buddhisttexts, whichreferto
asobservedbyDrKasliwal,someinstruments itasMuing(Ranade,1990.113).IftheMridang
falloutside this typology,mainly instruments is indeed the archetype of the South Indian
created in recenttimes. Such instrumentscan MridangamandtheNorthIndianPakhavaj.and
perhapsbeclassifiedbyidentifying the action isextincttoday,whatis thepointofdiscussing
producing the sound. i.e.,plucking. blowing, itunder aseparate heading?
bowing.or striking. Nonetheless,thesimilaritiesand differences
Rightfromthefirstchapter.agreatdealof between the Pakhavaj and Mridangam are
emphasis has been laid on the history of brought out in a succinct manner. The
instruments.Intheintroductiontoeachchapter. information about the Pakhavaj in temples,as
thereisapainstakingefforttotrace thehistory wellasthedetailsofitsmanufacture,areindeed
ofthe instrumentsdealt with.Thisisnodoubt valuable.
informative, but some of the information is Theetymologyofthe word ',abf.andthe
needlessly repeated while describing the origin,history,as wellas stylistic evolutionof
individualinstruments.Somestatementsshould theTabla,seemtohavereceivedmoreattention
have been substantiated with appropriate here as compared to other aspects of Tabla
references.Onealsowonderswhythepractice music. such as the different styles of Tabla
of using italics (or initialcapitals) for non playing or the repertoire of solo Tabla
Englishwordshasbeendoneawaywith.Aword performance.Whilecomparingtheperformance
suchas'been'(Rudraveena)canbethoroughly techniques of the Tabla with those of the
misunderstoodintheabsenceofanyindication Pakhavaj,the authorstates:
ofitsnon-English origin.
As stated in the first chapter, loaded Thetablaisaninstrumentoffingers,whereas
membranesare indeed a contribution ofIndia pakhavaj is an instrument of open hand
to the world of percussion instruments. (thapi). Therefore the rhythmic patterns,
Historicaldetailsofthispractice as wellas its whichcan be played onlabia with unima
scientific analysis by Sir C.V. Raman are ginablespeed. are impossibletoproducein
presented very wellbytheauthor.(It maynot pakhavaj.Moreoverthepositioningofhands
onthetablaismorenaturallhanonpakhavaj.
beoutofplaceheretoadvisethosereaderswho
Avarietyortonal effectscan beobtainedby
are interested in knowing more about this
varyingthemannerofstrikingasweUasby
subject torefertothefurther work inthisarea
strikingdifferentpans ofboththeheadsof
carriedoutbyscientistsattheSangeetResearch thetabla.
Academy. Kolkata.}
In all.ten instruments are presented in the There is actually no anatomical or
firstchapter.Theseare theMndang,Pakhavaj, physiological basis to the author's conj~
Mridangam,Tabla, Dukkad, Khol, Ghatam, thatthe positioningofthehandsontheTablars
!avil, Khanjeera and Moorchang. The last more "natural" than on the Pakhavaj. What
instrument,notbeingarnembranophone,seems accounts for the difference between Pakhavaj.
tohetheoddoneinthisgroup.Isthisananempt andTabla musicis that the Pakhavaj has been
to categorize instruments on the basis of associatedwiththeDhrupadtradition.whilethe
function?Oris itbecausealloftheseare tala Tablaevolved in connection withKhayal.The
vodyas (rhythminstruments)?
aesthetic demands of Dbrupad and Khayal are
BOOK REVIEWS 53
distinct from each other; accordingly, the kinoftheWesternflute.Wearealsoawarethat
stylistic techniques of the accompanying maestroslikePanditPannalalGhoshandPandit
instrumentshave shaped up differently. HariprasadChaurasiahavepreferredtoidentify
Theinformation on instrumentssuchasthe their instrument as Bansuri and not flute.
Khcl, Dukkad, Tavil. Khanjeera, Moorchang perhapsbecauseofthenon-Indianconnotations
and Ghatam is useful,especially the lastthree of'flute'.Againstthisbackground.theportions
instruments, which are little known to North 00Indianflutesinthisbookpresentatermino
Indian readers.It is indeed intriguing that the logical problem. because here 'flute' and
Tavil and Dukkad, which arestructurally so 'Bansuri' areusedinterchangeably.Thiscanhe
different. accompany two very similar wind confusingforthereader.Arethesenamesindeed
instruments, the Nagaswaram and Shehnai interchangeable?
respectively.However,thelogicofferedfornot Despitethismix-upofnames,therevivalof
using the Tabla as an accompaniment for the present-day horizontal Bansuri and the
Shehnaiseems alittle speculative. remarkable contribution of Pandit Pannalal
Windinstrumentsarediscussedinthesecond Ghoshinpopularizingitasasoloconcertinstru
chapter.This is a relatively smaller section menthavebeenwelldocumentedinthischapter.
dealing with only five instruments. Like It is seldom that we come across such good
percussion instruments, wind instruments also documentation. as given here, pertaining to
havealong history in India. Duringthe Vedic physicalmodificationofaninstrumenttofacili
periodthe prototype ofthe Bansuri, known as tatetheproductionofacertainkind-of music.
TunavaorNadi,was employed inSama-gana, The historicaldata on the little-knownnaubut
the earliest known musico-religious recitation ensemble isequally important. The transfor
inIndia (Ranade, 1990, 99). The Bansuri may mationoftheShehnaifromabrazenpipeofthe
perhapsbe the only instrumentencounteredin outdoornaubatensembletoafull-fledgedsolo
all categories of music-primitive, folk, art, concert instrument in the hands of Ustad
popular, and devotional. As observed in the BismillahKhanofBanarasisalsonoteworthy.
introduction to this chapter, several treatises The stylistic evolution as well as the
suchastheNatyashastra,theNaradiyaShiksha, correspondingphysicaldevelopmentofboththe
theSangeetaratnakara. the Sangeetaparijata, Bansuri and Shehnai are landmarks in the
etc.,discussinstrumentsoflhisclass;theirtones, history of musical instruments in Indiaduring
playingtechniques,manufactureandusageare the twentiethcentury.
dealewithindetail.Althoughclosedatoneend InthesectiondealingwiththeNagaswaram,
like the (Western) flute, the special timbre of citingtheMadras University Tamil Lexicon,it
thepresent-dayBansuricanbeattributedtothe hasbeenS13tOOthatcolloquiallytheinstrument
today isalsocalled 'Nadaswaram'. Further.it
hannonics that areproducedon accountofthe
materialuscd-bamOOo----aswellastheblowing isallegedthat"[tjhiscolloquialismisofrecent
technique. origin and is clearly a corruption wilfully
introduced". Such a statement needs to be
It is surmised in this book that, except for
properlydiscussedandsupportedwithrelevant
theveenaandRabab,allotherinstrumentswere
relegated to the backgroundwhen art musicin information.
The nextchapteristhe largestone.dealing
North Indiapassed into thehands ofTansen's
with sixteen string instruments. Rightly so,
descendJnts.ThustheBansuri tooJaydormant
because at anygivenpointinmusical history,
forabout two hundred years, andonly at the
chordophones have probably outnumbered
beginningofthetwentiethcenturywereefforts
insblUIlentsofeveryothercategory.The place
made for its revival.Theauthorthus seems to
ofchordophones is unique in Indian musico
suggest, quite reasonably, that the Hindusuni
logy,especiallytheirroleinexplainingtheidea
Ilute has evolved from the Bansuri, andis no
SUVAR.'1ALATARAO
of shruti in the ancient period. During the isbothuseful andinstructive.It is alsoencou
medieval period. too, efforts were made to raging to know about new experiments in
determine the positionsofthe twelve tones on makingVeenasusingnon-conventionalmateri
thebasisofstringdivisions . als and methods.
The discussion of the basics of the Horn Unlikeearliertimes.todayaVeena- orSitar
bosrel-Sechs classification here will be useful player is expected to perform before Jarge
10studentsofmusic.TIlethreemainpeculiarities audiences. These instruments have a delicate
ofJndianstringinstrumentshavebeenidentified sound. They need amplificationin order tobe
byPanditLalmaniMisra.Thesefeaturesreflect audible in such Jarge gatherings. especially
the nature ofour music. To meet the require wheresubtleaspectsofmusicianshipareinvol
mentsofamelodicmusic(asagainstharmonic ved. In thiscontext, the author citesthe expe
musk), features such as the wider bridge, a rienceoftheVeenamaestroS. Balachanderand
raised fret-level. and drone strings became advocates the use ofthe contact microphone.
necessary. However. a more convincing case for this
AsobservedbyB.C.Deva,thestringinstru practice needs to bebuilt up than is presented
ments inancient India were mainly harps and bytheauthor.Suchaconclusionasthis-"...
lyres. Placing frets on string instruments was the contact mike has helped overcome this
.therefore a major development in Indian apparent inadequacy"-must besupportedby
organology.Butthehistoryofthisdevelopment sufficient evidence.
isomknownwithanydegreeofprecision.Thus Thefollowingobservation aboutthe origin
it becomes difficult to accept the author's oftheSurbaharisinteresting:••...whoeverthe
statement inthisregard: inventormaybe. theimportantthingistoknow
chat it was by the beenkar gharana that an
Scholars are unanimousthat till the sixth
instrument Iike surbahar was invented, which
centurythe stringinstrumentsthat we gel
laterpavedthe wayforthe developmentofthe
wert norfretted.The writerofBrihaddeshi
modern sitar". However, a good deal of
3fIdtheexponentofthechitravema(chaitric),
discussion isneededbefore concludingthatthe
MatangaMuniiscreditedwiththe Introduc
tioeoffretsintheveena, Surbaharisnotascomplexan instrumentasthe
Been.
Astatement likethisdefinitely needs10be Muchattentionhas beenpaidinthischapter
backed up with appropriate references and a totheoriginandhistoryoftheSitar.Itisindeed
discussion. surprisingthattheoriginofinstrumentssuchas
B.C.Deva,asquoted here.himselfadmits, the Sitar.Sarod.Tabla,etc.•whicharenotmore
"Thehistoricalstudyofthesouth Indianveena than three hundredyears old. is shrouded in
(..'eryoftencalledtheSaraswativeena)oftoday, mystery;hence the subjectcontinuestoattract
isevenmore perplexing. For,thereisnointer theattention ofscholars.Inthiscontext.itneeds
mediatelinkbetweentheprimitivelutesandthe to be noted that even though the Muslim
modem veena." As against this, the author invasionsstartedsometimeintheetghthcenmry
claims. again without any reference:"In fact. thereisdefiniteevidenceto suggestinteraction
thekinnariveenawaschangedandmodifiedinto withthe outside world.especiallyPersia,m~h
rudraveenainthenorthand inthesouth.itwas before thistime.The presenceofsympatheuc
~itiedtoacquireanewappearanceasTanja stringsinsomeofourstringinstrumentsisindeed
un veena," auniquefeature.notfoundinsimilarinsblunenlS
Despitetheflawed historicalaccountofthe elsewhereintheworld.WhentunedtotheDOles
NonhIndianandSouthIndian Veenas.theline to beplayed on the mainstring,thesesui.ngs
me
drawingsofthetwo instrumentsand infor resonateeven withoutplucking.resultingLDa
mation aboutsome well-known Yeena-ptayers rich and roundedsound.
BOOKREVIEWS
55
Although instruments such as the Rabab, aboutexchangesofmusicalideas.resultingin
Sursingar, Esraj, etc.,have goneoutofvogue, therevitalizationofcultures.Fromahistorical
and instruments like the Sarangi, Vichitra perspective,itisnecessarytotakestock.ofthe
veena, Gonuvadyam, etc., are becoming rare. CUJTentscenarioanddocumentthechancesthai
itisimportanttodiscussthemintheinterestof have occurred within ourtraditional musical
documentation.In this regard. the effort made milieu.Inthisrespect.theinformationpresented
inthiswork:shouldbeappreciated.Thereseems inthischapterisindeedvaluable.
to bea discrepancy in the line drawing and Instrumentsliketheharmoniumandviolin
descriptionofthe Sursingar.In thedescription havebeenassimilatedintheNorthand South
itismentioned thatJaffar Khan modifiedthe Indianmusicaltraditionsrespectively.Somuch
Rababbyreplacingtheskincoveringthereson so,that withinaspanofaboutahundredand
atorwuhawoodenplate(amongotherchanges), twenty-fiveyears.theyhavebecomeanintegral
and createdtheSursingar.Thelinedrawing,on part ofouran musicensemble.Ontheother
the other hand, shows "chamara" (hide) hand,aninstrumentliketheclarinethashadits
coveringthe resonatorofthelatterinstrument. dayinIndianfolkandpopularmusic.However,
Despite a good discussion about the ithasn'tbeenabletoestablishitselfinartmusic
structural and stylistic similarities as well as despitethepatronageofAllIndiaRadio.Again.
differencesbetweentheEsrajandDilruba,there thesaxophoneandguitarhavebeenadaptedand
doesn't seem to be enough justification to modified by individualmusicians to suit the
considerthemasdifferentinstruments.Perhaps requirementsofIndianmusic.Thisiscertainly
they may be regional variants of the same creditable. thoughonlytimewilltell whether
instrument The:Sanroor,arecentlyintroduced these instrumentswill survivethemusicians
butpopularinstrumentinourartmusic.hasbeen whohavemodifiedthemandretaintheirnew
discussed adequately. Even an ancillary foundidentityinIndianmusic.
instrumentliketheSwaramandalhasbeengiven Owingthe latterhalfofthe twentiethcen
itsdue. tury.electronicshaspenetratedeveryfield of
Thehistoricalaswellasfunctionalandacou humanendeavour. However,it is only inthe
sticaspects ofthe Tanpura arewellpresented. lasttwo decadesof thecenturythat we have
Itistobe notedthatincomparisonwithstring beenable10feelitsimpactinIndianmusic.The
instrumentsofothercultures,Indianinstruments in-strumentsdiscussedinthe finalchapterof
such as the Tanpura and Sitar havea better thisbook.havegainedaplaceinourmusicnot
harmonic output on account of a special onlybecausetheyareusefulforria:orexercise,
curvatureofthe bridge,resultinginasuperior butalsoinpublicperformance;thisisespecially
quality ofsound. However. it remains to be trueofinstrumentsprovidingthedrone.Despite
addedthaItbe soundqualityisalsoaffectedby initialapprehensionsandmisgivings.musicians
thepositioningoftheinstrumentandthemanner seemtohaveacceptedinstrumentsliketheSur
as well as the pointat whicb thestrings are petiorTalometer,Technologycancertainlybe
plUcked. As pointed out in this work. the harnessed to further the cause of music.
ongoing efforts to make smaller, portable However. forthis purpose.ilisimperative10
undertake fundamental research. Unless and
Tanpurasneedtobeencouragedbymusicians.
untilweacquirea basicunderstandingofthe
A detailedaccountofWesterninstruments
acousticalcharacterofour musicandmusical
which have become a part of mainstream
instruments.wecannothopetousetechnology
Hindustani music is presented in the fourth
toouradvantage.Andifwecan'tcontrol tech
Chapter. Strange as it may seem. music and
musical instrumentshave often travelledwith nology.it will controlandruleoverus!
traders.missionaries.andevenarmies!Itistrue Finally,awordaboutthetitleofthisbook,
"Classical Musical lnsbtlmenlS' doesn't really
thatinteractionsbetweendiversecultures bring
56 SUVARNALATA RAO, S. K.SAXENA
conveythenatureofitscontents.Thebookdeals logical conclusions. Despite these few
with musical instruments that arc currently in limitations, this moderately priced volume is
usc inartmusic inIndia. IntheWest, theword certainly a valuable addition to the existing
'classical' isassociatedwithacertainperiodin literature on Indian musical instruments.
musical history and hence the title can be
misinterpreted. SVVARNALATA RAO
The bibliography and index are well orga
nized. However. some typographical errors, References
especially in the names ofmusicians, seem to Qureshi,RegulaBurckhardt.'TheIndianSarangi:
martheotherwiseneatandaestheticpresentation Sound of Affect. Site and Contest'. Yearbookfor
andlayoutofthebook. Thoughthehookexcels Traditional Music. vol. 29. NewYork. 1997.
interms ofdata collected on the subject, itis Ranade, Ashok D. KeywordsandConcepts
lackinginmethodicalpresentationofreferences Hindustani Classical Music. Delhi: Promilla& Co.•
as well as analytical interpretation to arrive at 1990.
The Musical Heritage The
MusicalHeritage
ofIndia ofIndia
M.R.Gautam
MunshiramManoharlal, Delhi,2001
xiii+209 pages; Rs525
Till'authorofthebookunderreview.Professor
Mudurai Ramaswamy Gautam, is truly a
personage:and Idoubt ifanyoneinthecountry
could be said to excel him in respect of the
variety ofways in which he has distinguished
himselfintheworldofHindustanimusic. He is
avocalistofall-Indiastature;hehasservedsome
leading musk- institutionsofthecountry as a.n
able teacher and administrator, besides takina
.
part III numerous seminars of national and
international importance; and he is the author
ofanotherbook ofnote, EvolutionofRiigaand
Tiila ill Indian Music (199J). However, these
arenot the only reasons WhyIregardhim and
his contribution to music highly. He has had
the privilege of learning music from some of
thegreatestKhayaland Dhrupadsingersofthe
country.andheacknowledgeshisindebtedness
to the maestros with characteristic openness.
Above all, in addition to-c-orbecause of
possessing a very rich repertoire ofauthentic Sanskrit poetics had a highly developed
compositions, he has a genuine feel for the conceptofbeaury,andwordslikesaundar;,'a,
structural and aesthetic values ofHindustani lavanya. and ramaniyata occur frequently.
BOOK REVIEWS
57
The verydefinitionof beautyinSanskrit
andnot merelypopular,ishisabiliry to bring
poetics wouldindicate howdeeplyIndian
outtheaestheticpotentialofaragamaximally.
aestbericlanshadexplored thesubjectof
Thisis,tomymind,perhapsthemostimportant
beauty. (801
factorthatlendsaddedcredence tothepraise
Thedefinitionreferredtoaboveisgivenonly thattheauthorlavishesonUstad FaiyazKhan
asafootnoteontherelevantpage.Itrunsthus: asavocalist"ofsurpassingdistinction",
"That is beauty which appears anew every However,perhapsbecauseofhisenormous
moment," Now, the word 'anew' means: (a) likingforvocalmusic,theauthorhasbeenabit
once more,again;(b)inadifferentway.Ifwe toounkindtoourinstrumentalmusicoftoday.
choosetogo by '3',wewillcommitourselves Jsaysoinviewofthefollowing:
tothe viewthatbeautyisthequalityofappearing
againandagain--everymoment.Ontheother [10respectofthe techniqueofinstrumental
muslc.] Bharata Munimeeuons dhalu,
hand,the secondmeaningwouldrequireusto
vmt...AUthis isafarcryfromthemechani
believe thai thequalityinquestionconsistsin cal.soulless••.gimmickrymarpau forvina
appearingdifferently-every moment Inboth 01"sitarplayingloday. 19]
cases,however,thequalitymusthaveanabiding
locus; otherwise, how would it appear This is. inmy view.a bittoo$wuping a
repeatedly or differently-from moment to remark,anditiscertainlynottrueoftheartof
momen?Now,tobe sure,therearecaseswhere thelateUstadZiaMoinudd.lnDagar(Veena)or
the locus of beauty is abiding. Quite a few Pandit NikhiJ Chakrabarty (Sitar), whose
representations ofgoddess Saraswati in our memoryisstillcherishedby thosewhohave
traditional sculpture may becited as obvious heardthem.Norisitrelevant10theplayingof
instances. A more familiar illustration of the BaddhadevDasGupta(Sarod)orBrijBhushan
pointistheTajMahal.But.ontheotherhand, Kabra(guitar),bothofwhomIhavepersonally
thereisnodearthofobjectsthatareveryoften heard on the occasion of Vishnu Digambar
beautiful,but yetquiteshortlived.By theside JayantiinDelhiinrecentyears.
of a lake or river. one may be struck by the Iagreethatforanyofthethreeinstruments
beauty of "an untumultuousfringe of silver I havejustadvertedto, itisdifficuJt tomatch
foam"(Keats),orofarainbowintheskywhich the virtually seamless structural now of a
may bewitch us like "a portalofgrace across properlypresentedsthayi-antarainterplay.As
theheavens"(Kierkegaard).BUIneirherofthese Ispeakthus,Ihaveinmindnotonlytheauthor's
isstableenoughtorevealitsbeautyrepeatedly dueemphasisonthesurpassingvalueofbandish
ordifferently. Idonor,however.wishtoassert (56).buthisownsinging.But,atthesametime,
that the definition in question is wrong. I am Jcannotbutadmitthatthebestofsthayisinging
only wondering how itcould betrue.It does cannotproducethestarrysparkleofaVilayat
not enlighten anyone if our traditional Khandrut gal.Idoraxatallwishtosuggest
definitionsofart,beauty,oraestheticexperience that.speakinggenerally,instrumentalmusichas
are merely cited, or even simply explained anedge overvocalmusic,whichIpersonally
semantically.Theyhavetobetestedagainstthe considerto be ofgreatvalue.Mypurposeis
actual forms they relate to-without any on!y to protest against a sweeping
presumptionoffinality. undervaluationofcontemporaryinstrumental
BUI.lhasten[0add.theauthor'sownwriting music.Imayaddthatthewords"mechanical,
Onvocalmusicisbynomeansunguarded.Thus, soulless..•gim-mickry" applyatleastasmuch
wherehespeaksofraga,heiscareful10suggest 10 the hectic tayakari which I have seen
thatitsformisonly"apparentlycircumscribed" disfiguring the singing of some of the best
(19,myitalics).Indeed,animportantexcellence knownDhrupadartiststoday,astothegeneral
thatmakesaclassicalvocalist(ofIndia)great. tendencyofSitar-andSarod-playerstoconfuse
58 S.K.SAXENA
atidrut playing with sheer pace without any as anindex ofthe author's own balanced way
vestigeofform. of looking at things. for he is by no means
All these. however. are but minor irritants, indifferent to what (in his view) ailsCamatic
andtheydonotreallybedimtheoverwhelming music today(24).
valueofthe book.Indeed.1thinkits author is Asa studentof music myself, I have been
guiltyofagrossunderstatementwherehesays. impressedbyquiteafewexamples, emphases,
inhisprefaceto thefi~1edition.that"this isa and distinctions thai make the book. enligh
serious book". Serious itundoubtedly is. The tening. In this context, I may pick up the
very opening chapter, a substantial one, is following for special mention: the distinction
devoted to the contribution of Vedie music to betweenfirat and tan (63); a typical firar-rype
the music of India. The one thai follows passage.duly notated, in raga Yarnan(ibid.);
discusses the two best-known basics of OUf the emphasis on ragadari tans (65); and the
music,raga and tala.The ninth chapter is a needful warning that a t3Dshould never look
delightfully comprehensive treatment of the like riyal.ke potte (64). Further. insightful
gbaranas of Hindustani music. not excluding remarkslikethefollowingaboundinthebook:
suchnotverywell-knownonesastheFatehpur "The advent ofthe theka and the marking of
Sikri and Atrauli gharanas. What is more, the tala byanotherindividual,the tablaplayer...
fourth chapter. devoted to the Khayal as the wereverysignificantlandmarksintheevolution
principal classical form in Hindustani music. ofIIindustani music." (114)
provides a truly educative account of the Onthewhole, Iamconvinced thatthisbook
different kinds of tans. But,andthis iswhat I deserves aplace ineverylibrary, and notonly
wish toemphasize.thebook:isveryimeresting in the libraries of music colleges and depart
too.Isaysonotonlybecausethebookcontains ments,for itisavery authenticand interesting
morethanforty black-and-whiteillustrations presentation of an important aspect of our
includingsomerarepicturesofmaestrosofboth cultural heritage.
Hindustani and Camaticmusic-butisenlive A close reading ofthe book impels me to
nedwithquiteafewfascinatinganecdotes.some suggestthat SangeetNatakAkademiwoulddo
ofwhich have a distinctly educative aspectas welltoinviteProfessorGautarn tochoosesome
welt.Additionalinterestisprovidedtothework rare compositions from his vast repertoire and
byChapterV,onaesthetics;ChapterVII.which recordthem initsownstudio;and Iwouldvery
is a short hut comparative study of the much like him to include in his selection the
HindustaniandCamaticmusicsystems;Chapter adbhuta-rasacompositionsthathespeaksofon
VIII.whichstudiestheimpaetofWestemmusic page 91ofthebook..Itisextremely difficult
on our film music; and ChapterX.devotedto perhapseven inarenderingofadbhuta-Kalyan
current trends. which rightlybemoans that(a) -to produce a semblance ofadbhuta rasa
theperformanceofHindustani music has now through a regulated disposition ofwords and
becomeexhibitionistic (174); (h) "theweighty beats, even if some help is taken from the
tanas which cannot beperformed beyond a accordantmeaningofthe text ofthe song; and
particularspeed" are gone forever (177);and the recording I have suggested will therefore
(c) the sthayi and anura ofKhayals are nor trulybeanacquisition for the Akademi.
clearly and completely enunciated in The book is fairly well-produced - I like
performances today. which isdisappointingto itsbinding in particular; and it is reasonably
adiscerninglistener. Above all, thebookends priced.I would besurprised if itdoes not sell
with a very fascinating chapter on M.S. verywell.
Subbulakshmi.This DO( only doesjusticeto a
great artist and a noble personality. but serves S.K. sAXENA
BOOKREVIEWS
59
Listening to Indian Music '.Tr....~I·;;:JJ.ftiJ).nnm~~ tance) have been
a:.~-. :av.~.
ChelanKamani I.f.:y1..."..'?,'.f.'"j.t4,.U¥,~.4't.U'~~-~4.•~ caeuxttohlolre.ds,aAys,raI'Sga.,.atnhye
AmoldAssociates,Delhi,1999 f 'f .~'.,..-.:. 'I_,' melodicsystemwhich
,,.'nwithincertainlimits,
272pages; Rs275
~_.. ever~one discov~rs
1('
:~. " I ..,t'J;;,,".~,~ forhimselfaccording
The author offers, in twenty-eight chapters ; ~.~.66'£Jijt;; ~~:';7:::':
spreadoverfivesections,commentsonavariety
i:
oftopics-s-creanviryinIndianmusic,aesthetics [!J~::"~:,~:~~~-j~; ~. ;:;~.~e;~~;v;~j~S
'::-Sl·;
andmusiccriticism.someHindustanivocalists
andtheirgharanas,Camaticmusic,Hindustani hardlya stale~nl thatcouldenlightena lay
instrumentalists-s-andtwoessaysgroupedunder person (or. forthat matter,a knowledgeable
thetirle 'A Critical Analysis', It is notclear one).Furtheron,inthe chapteronRagamala
whom the book is meant for. Ifit is for the paintings, theauthor says,"By keeping the
uninitiated layman. muchof the contents will paintinginmindtheartistemanagestoconform
make no sense. Ifit is for non-Indians,again. totheacceptedviewofaraga:'(49)Surelythis
theassumptionsmadebytheauthoraboutbasic isanexaggeration-fewmusicianswillconcede
technical familiarity will make the chapters thatthey'keepinmind' thepictorialdepiction
unintelligible. And ifit isfor Indianswho are ofaragainorderto'conform'toitsaccepted
familiarwithclassicalmusic,thenmanyofthe form. Malhar raga may be aseasonalraga
statements will be found contentious. Even associatedwiththemonsoons,butdoartistswho
takenasessaysreflectingpersonaJviewpoints. singMalhar"depicttheseldar!<clouds!bythe
thechapters are full of vague generalizations. incantationofthekeyword'dhoom' ..,asthe
mistakes, and contradictions. authorclaims?Manysatisfyingexpositionsof
Mostofthedrawbacksofthebook, infact. Matharcanberecalledandcited.whichdonoe
becomemanifestwithinthefirstthreechapters. use the word 'dhoom' at all!Take another
Forexample.wereadon page21,"As aresult statement.whichsays,"Indianmusicismelodic
oftheinfluenceofwesternmusic,wenolonger againsta strictly rhythmicbackground." (31)
believethatclassicalmusicisorshouldbestatic. Whatdoesthatmean?Whataboutelementsof
NolongerdoesanyIndianmusicianbelievethat classicalmusicwhicharerhythm-free(which
hisonly role is to faithfully reproduce those Kamani himself exalts inhiscomments on
ragas which he hasbeliinehveedrited:' If Indian a!ap)?
musicianshadindeed thatmusicshould Severaltechnicalrouesreducetbecredibility
bestatic,wewouldneverhavemovedfromthe ofthe comments further. For example, in
Prabandha stage to that of Dhrupad, and Chapter10.the:authorsaysthatBhimsenJoshi
subsequently the Khayal. Likewise, in the uses,"InSudhKaIyan.madhyamandnishadin
South.wewouldneverhaveseentheevolution the ascentthroughmcend",whereasthesetwo
notesarespecificallyforbiddenintheascentand
ofthe Kriti fonn. Exposure to Westernmusic
hadnothingtodowiththesedevelopments.A theirusewouldmeanstrayingintoYamanraga
subsequent statement (38) adds that "Indian Inthesubsequentpages(150-151),bothfaiyaz
Khan and vitayat Khan are mentioned as
musicischaracteristicofIndianculturewhich
composerswhousedthepseudonymfranPiya,
islargelystatic."Thisfliesinthefaceofcomm
entsmadeinthelaterchapters.whereinnovative Isthiscorrect?
InthechapteronIndianandWesternmusic,
developments introduced by musicians (new
then:isthestarement;.....aragaisnotaraga
ragas. new approachesto forms.formats.and
unlessithastemporalsanctityand old asso-
presentation-Kumar Gandharva's, for ins-
60 SAKUNTALANARASiMHAN
ciations."(35)Inasubsequentchapter.however. same", Whyisit surprising?This is akin to a
thereisappreciation.notcondemnation,ofnew foreigner saying, 'How can you play classical
and novel 'spliced' ragas created by some music without sheet scores in front ofyou?',
leading performers of recent years. Ragas andshowsalackofunderstandingofthemusical
concocted by KumarGandharva, forinstance, system dealt with.
have no temporal sanctity or old associations, Thestatementthat"SouthIndian [sic1donot
andyetheispraisedfOThis"creativity", show undue preoccupation with vadi and
Whileeveryauthorisentitledtohispersonal samvadi" can also be contested-these notes
opinionsandpreferences.especiallyinthefield maynotbespecificallyandexplicitlyspeltout,
ofthearts,whatthereaderfindsirritatingisnot but each raga is certainly identified as having
somuchcethrustofthecontentsastheirunsati dominant and underpJayed notes among the
sfacrory and shoddy presentation. Mallikarjun SVQrOJ ittakes. and these detailsare implicitly
Mansur is mentioned as "Mulkerjun" in one imparted by the teacher in the course of
sentenceandas"MullArjun" inanother (both instruction. (For example, gandhara is
on page 135).then as "Mulkarajun" on page emphasized in Sankarabharanam, while
142,as"Mallikjun"onpage218,andas"Mulk rishabha anddhaivataare not.)
Rajun"onpage248,betrayingscantrespectfor Similarly,thestatementthatthemusicofthe
accuracyevenintheuseofthenameofaleading South Indian flute virtuosoT. R. Mahalingam
artist who is now dead. Similarly. Gangubai (Mali, as he was popularly known) was
Hangal becomes "Gangabai" on page 94 and "restless", while PannaJal Ghosh's music was
"Gandubai"onpage83.whilePaluskarbecomes reposeful, shows that Karnanihas not cared to
"Palkushar"(159)!Andwhatdoesonemakeof hearsome of Mali's best presentations which
J.sentence likethis:"Insinging forhimselfhe are just as reposeful and soul-stirring as the
[Amir Khan) sang (or galleries food."? musicofanyotherflutistoftheNorthorSouth.
Repetitionsofsentencesandparagraphsabound Likewise. raga Abhogi is described as "closer
100, throughout. sometimes on thesame page; toSri Ranjani" (266); actually, Abhogi isjust
thechapteronAmir Khanmaybe mentioned plain Abhogi in the Camatic system too--the
asoneexample. raga was borrowed from the South. Chinna
Kamani also betrays a failing, common to Moulana played Chakravakarn, not "Chakam"
manyNorthIndians,ofidentifyingIndianmusic (referred to again on page 222 as "Chakreav
with Hindustani music, and showing scant akram"):andJonHigginssangYamunaka1yani,
mdentandingoftheSouthIndiansystemwhich not Yaman-there is no Yaman in Camatic
sjustasmuchapartofIndianmusic.Whilehe music,Inaddition.statementslike "Innovation
idiculesanotherwriterforgetting thenameof isacomparativelyrarethinginKarnatakmusic"
he composer of the Unfinished Symphony showscantunderst.anding and familiarity with
vrong, he himselfmakes similar mistakes, the system and its intricacies, sharing the
.specially inhisreferences to Camatic music. popular misconception that Camatic music is
taga Simhendramadhyamam becomes all about reproducing Kritis.Thereisfar more
Simhendhra" (35). while a few pages on he toitthanthat.Whycommentonasystemifone
ays,"aKamatakConcertinvariablybeginswith doesn'tknow it well enough?
n invocation to lord Ganapati in Hamsa Alarge partoftheblameforthedrawback>
hwaru",No,notin·variably.Itisonlyapopular of the book go also to the publisher who has
hoice. Many Camatic concertsbegin with a done a very shoddyjob of editing and proof
'amam. or with Kritis in ragas other than reading. There is not a single page that is not
lamsadhwani. Another statement says, ..It is full of spelling mistakes-'shruthis' become
rrprisingthateventhevocalandinstrumental "shruits", 'Hamsadhwani" becomes "Handh
xmterpartsofthesamekriti remain much the wani", and 'Balasubramaniam" becomes