A STUDY OF MUTHUSWAMI DIKSHITAR'S EXPERTISE ON VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF MUSICOLOGY REFLECTED THROUGH HIS COMPOSITIONS (original) (raw)
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Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, 2018
Studies in the scientific aspect of Music are very less and which are available have studied Music through modern scientific inspection through the science of sound. The study through the science of sound which mainly developed in the west causes the non inclusion of oriental studies especially those in the native languages. The modern studies in Hindustani Classical Music lack the orientation towards Musical Treaties which contains large data on Music. The treaties and Granthas on Hindustani Classical Music which were written in time explain the details of their contemporary music to a minute level in the form of Sanskrit shlokas. The neglecting of these treaties can lead to their disappearance and further the inclination of musical studies towards modern scientific approach. The study is comprised of the analysis of Grantha 'Sangeet Ratnakar' to find out the shlokas quoting the scientific aspect of music and the properties of sound (pitch, intensity and timbre). Through this study it is found that, Sangeet Ratnakar describes the music of its time through the properties of sound. Although the terminology is different but the concepts used are scientific.
Rāgamālā : An Unpublished Source of Indian Music
The tradition of composing musicological texts and treaties is undoubtedly a glorious part of India's cultural heritage. At the very beginning the oldest documents of Indian literature, the Vedas, convey the first written information on Indian music. It is seen that, since the early days a set of specific rules have been adopted by the scholars and performers to maintain clarity in certain distinct forms of chanting, singing, dancing, instrument playing and other allied activities in the field of performance. 1 This system leads to originate the textual tradition of Indian performing art. The creative diversity became more prominent later on with the establishment of the heterogeneous system of Rāga-Rāgiṇī classification in Indian music. A large number of texts written in ancient and medieval India paid quite a little attention to Rāga-Rāgiṇī classification system. Doctrines of Hanumān, Śiva or Brahma or Someśvara, Bharata, Kallinātha, Indraprastha, Gaṇesa and many such scholars came up in this context. The vivid picture of Rāga-Rāgiṇī classification with explanation is undoubtedly helpful for understanding the origin, development and importance of this cultural practice in respect of the broader canvas of Indian music. A host of eminent scholars have been successful to unfold the profound mysteries embedded in the concept of Rāga-Rāgiṇī classification with the help of available textual documents. However, the work is still far from completion due to lack of available information. A good number of texts on Indian musicology are still lying confined in manuscript form. Rāgamālā, a descriptive work on Indian Rāga-Rāgiṇīs by Kṣemakarṇa is one such unnoticed treasury of medieval India. The work under discussion interestingly represents the existence of the age old concept of Rāga-Rāgiṇī classification system. The present paper is therefore sincerely aimed at tracing out the significance of the said text in researching the unrevealed elements of Indian music. History of musical activities is nothing but a part of human's cultural evolutions. Records of the history collected from different sources of information are helpful to understand how people lived and worked from the earliest times to the present day. The various sources of history are like the many pieces of a puzzle. These sources can be broadly classified into two groups – archaeological and literary. Among the literary sources manuscripts are major components. Handwritten records of the past in the form of books are known as manuscripts.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BHARAT MUNI'S NATYASHASHTRA
The Indian Classical Music, as we all know, has been categorised into two roots, namely, the Hindustani Classical Music of North India and the Carnatic Music of South India. However, in this article our main focus will be remaining on Hindustani Classical Music, about which several theories and debates were put forth in relation to its origination. A vivid number of sources will be mentioning about the origination of the Hindustani Classical Music from the era of the Sultanate , but the question that we seek to answer is that whether there was any notion of Classical Music prevalent in ancient India before the advent of Sultans and Mughals or in pre-Islamic India. For this, the ancient treatise on drama and play ,named Natyashastra by Bharat Muni was critically analyzed and lately strong conclusions were fetched.
Sacred Music and Hindu Religious Experience: From Ancient Roots to the Modern Classical Tradition
Religions, 2019
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10020085\. While music plays a significant role in many of the world’s religions, it is in the Hindu religion that one finds one of the closest bonds between music and religious experience extending for millennia. The recitation of the syllable OM and the chanting of Sanskrit Mantras and hymns from the Vedas formed the core of ancient fire sacrifices. The Upanishads articulated OM as Śabda-Brahman, the Sound-Absolute that became the object of meditation in Yoga. First described by Bharata in the Nātya-Śāstra as a sacred art with reference to Rasa (emotional states), ancient music or Sangīta was a vehicle of liberation (Mokṣa) founded in the worship of deities such as Brahmā, Vishnu, Śiva, and Goddess Sarasvatī. Medieval Tantra and music texts introduced the concept of Nāda-Brahman as the source of sacred music that was understood in terms of Rāgas, melodic formulas, and Tālas, rhythms, forming the basis of Indian music today. Nearly all genres of Indian music, whether the classical Dhrupad and Khayal, or the devotional Bhajan and Kīrtan, share a common theoretical and practical understanding, and are bound together in a mystical spirituality based on the experience of sacred sound. Drawing upon ancient and medieval texts and Bhakti traditions, this article describes how music enables Hindu religious experience in fundamental ways. By citing several examples from the modern Hindustani classical vocal tradition of Khayal, including text and audio/video weblinks, it is revealed how the classical songs contain the wisdom of Hinduism and provide a deeper appreciation of the many musical styles that currently permeate the Hindu and Yoga landscapes of the West.
Unity in Diversity, Antiquity in Contemporary Practice? South Indian Music Reconsidered
Music – Politics – Identity (Universitätsverlag Göttingen), 2016
The “classical” music of South India is an amalgam of regional traditions and practices. Increasingly codified in the past five centuries, it is now known as Carnatic or Karnatak music. Like the Sanskrit term Karnâtaka Sangîtam, these Anglicisms denote “traditional” music besides distinguishing South Indian music from its northern (Hindustani) counterpart. Progressive scholars have long espoused the common goal of making teaching more effective for both idioms while safeguarding “authentity”. It may therefore seem odd that detailed notation has not been embraced by practitioners. This paper probes the resilience of oral transmission in the face of modernity. It looks into the concerns shared by musicians who, while belonging to different cultures and periods, have much in common as far as performing practice is concerned: close integration of vocal and instrumental music. The role of manuscripts in Minnesang, as described by McMahon, also applies to Carnatic music: “songs were handed down in an oral tradition [and] the manuscripts were not intended to be used by performers.” (The Music of Early Minnesang Columbia SC, 1990.) It will be argued that this fact is not just a question of some musicians’ conservatism, ignorance or irrationality; nor would it put the continuity of a living tradition at risk. On the contrary, Carnatic music reaches global audiences today while “ancient” roots are claimed even by those who cherish its association with musicians from other cultures throughout the 20th century.
Interlocking dimensions in Hindustani music: texts of caitī, kajrī, and jhūlā
Interlocking dimensions of Hindustani music: texts of caitī, kajrī, and jhūlā, 2022
The PhD dissertation investigates the so-defined ‘intermediate sphere’ of Hindustani music as characterised by a variety of heterogeneous forms and focuses on texts as a privileged ground for observation. The research is based on an interdisciplinary approach drawing from multiple domains within the main Indological field, including literary studies, ethnomusicology, and linguistics. I integrated this outlook with extended participant observation, being myself a student of Hindustani music within the traditional guru-śiṣya-paramparā (master-disciple knowledge transmission) system with proponents of the Banāras gharānā (music school). The dissertation outlines the ‘intermediate’ and ‘semi-classical’ music genres of Hindustani music as a result of constant interaction between complex dimensions: vernacular and Sanskritic tradition, bhakti and courtly literature, art and folk music. Furthermore, special attention has been devoted to the implications of applying the terminology and concepts drawn from Western categories of thoughts to the Indian milieu, informed by multi-layered interlocking contexts. Three among intermediate, ṭhumrī-related forms–namely caitī, kajrī, and jhūlā–have been studied in their origins, idiosyncrasies, and within their performative settings. Song texts featuring different idioms–such as Hindi, Bhojpuri, Braj bhāṣā, Awadhi, and Sādhukkarī bhāṣā—have been translated and analysed from structural, linguistic, and stylistic points of view. Imagery, motifs, intra-textual and contextual references have been examined as enactments of interweaving aspects embracing, among others, literary, social, ritual, and religious meanings. Elements related to bhakti and courtly models have been considered in the influences they exerted on formal features, contents, and performative contexts. The dissertation is completed with reference tools—such as a table of the main characters and key motifs of the genres analysed, a chart of synonymic expressions found in the texts, and a glossary of technical terms. This work aims at shedding light on music forms rather neglected by scholarly attention by suggesting new interpretative and critical perspectives. Musical expressions reveal some fundamental cultural and social dynamics and are paradigmatic of the fluidity of certain categories and conceptualisations in the Indic context.
This is a draft of an essay which explores the history of philosophical thinking about music in India, from ancient times to more recent eras. It touches on many of the thinkers and practitioners of music in India over the centuries.
Review of Music and Musicians: The Hindu
The Hindu, 2024
's latest book is an invaluable addition to the few on Indian music. The book is not only an evidence of her scholarship and intensive research in a subject that many do not know about, but is also a riveting page turner. Her evocative bring alive the world of music in that era. Confining herself to the period between 1748 and 1848, "one of the most significant periods of change for Hindustani music", Katherine rues that the period has not been "properly mapped". The reason, "a pervasive belief" that the musicians were illiterate. The 2000-year-old tradition of writing sangita shastras stopped during this period, and Musicians from the Mughal era who shaped Hindustani music Katherine Butler Schofield's Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India presents a well-researched slice of music history.