Symposium: Philosophy of Indian Music and Value Education

[Guest guest]

PHILOSOPHY OF INDIAN MUSIC

AND VALUE EDUCATION

A SYMPOSIUM BY

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH

And

INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR INDIA’S HERITAGE

India International Center (Annex),

February 7, 8, 9, 2003 (9:30 am- 5: 30 pm).

` Indian Music is the most dominant form of Asian music. Its influence extends

beyond the subcontinent into China and the Far East on one side and through

Iran, Iraq, and Turkey up to Greece on the other. It still preserves the oldest

tradition of playing the monophonic melodic line untouched by the use of

vertical harmony and tempered scale. It has the most complicated and varied

system of rhythmic cycles and is still based upon the ancient concept that the

human voice is the foremost expression of musical emotion and therefore all

instruments should also be played to imitate and accompany it. Consequently, it

also preserves the lyric and its literary content as a major feature but does

not maintain a system of a written notational score to be followed while

performing. Except for the lyrics, most of the structure and the score of the

music are created by the performer during performance along certain

traditionally accepted norms.

The variety of music performed in the length and breadth of the nation is still

staggeringly large. From the thousands of years old chanting of the Sanskrit

mantras of the four Vedas to the latest film hits, equally well preserved are

the tribal and ritual songs of marriage, birth, naming, clothing, bathing,

leaving home and death etc., in nearly 34 languages and 600 dialects across the

subcontinent. The classical traditions of Hindustani and Karnataka genres are

moving closer in a healthy interchange. After the independence of India from

British occupation in 1947, for three decades classical music has been a major

source of encouraging national identity at home and abroad.

In spite of its very archaic features Indian music has adapted with ease to the

modern technical innovations from the microphone to the microchip without

altering any of its content adversely. The technological revolution has

actually helped its spread within India and over the world to influence the

music of many nations. The process of notating and printing the lyrics, so far

handed down only orally, began early in the early twentieth century. This was

followed by taking the folk and classical performer to the modern concert hall

and the radio. Artists were recorded for the gramophone as early as in the

West. Indian film industry, which also found its feet very early, consolidated

the immense variety of music from all parts of India and transmitted it to the

global listener. Through films, it is a major influence on the countries like

Iran, Iraq, Turkey, the Gulf, and states of Central Asia. In spite of the

emergence of global pop, it has succeeded in maintaining its very distinct

identity and independence from Western music. Its classical performers have

taken it alive to all corners of the world and it abounds increasingly in

commercial and private collections.

Is it possible that such a dynamic music is merely a product of random

historical events, or is it a force born of deep-seated philosophical and

cultural notions that have sustained it over the millennia? The present

symposium aims to discover the growth of these philosophical perceptions that

have worked within Indian music and the various genres of classical and folk

kinds that it has developed for the realization of these aims. It also wishes

to ponder over method of passing this understanding to the young in schools and

colleges.

The six sessions of the conference shall be divided into the following areas in

which the following questions and issues shall be discussed. The paper readers

and the discussants shall be asked to focus on these:

Srishti (Scales, Systems and Historical Growth)

What is the historical reality behind the belief that secular music or

Gaandharva originated from Saama Gaana?

Can the ancient Shadja and Madhyama Gramas be decoded today?

How can the concept of svara-rasa relationship be revived? Is there any utility for modern usage?

Was there a connection of ancient Gaandharva with Greece and other ancient

Mediterranean, Egyptian or Mesopotamian cultures? Did the dialogue continue

into medieval times?

Was there a use of drone in ancient music?

Do Jatis help us in any way today?

Why did the Grama Murcchanaa system undergo alteration into the That-Mela? Was

it because of the Maqaam system or for other reasons?

What was the impact of Turkish invasion and Islamic attitude to music on the

social, religious and cultural institutions that nourished music?

Was the decline of temple complexes, classical theatre, and courtesan houses detrimental to music?

Was Indian music always a unity of svara, tala, pada supporting abhinaya, nritta

and nritya? Are modern trends in music and dance a break from this unity?

Aaswaada (Enjoyment, Style, Individual and Social)

Is there a specific kind of pleasure in Indian music distinct from the kind given by other music?

Did music lose more than it gained from the Bhakti Movement?

Why do performers emphasize more of aalapa and taanas today than they did in the past?

Does instrumental music dominate the scene now and why if so?

Prayoga (Development of Genres and Forms)

Dhruvapada to Khayal, is it a story from Bhakti to Riti?

Why the major impact of sphota,naada and yogic philosophies on musical genres.

Was there a confluence of Sufi and Bhakti philosophy in music and the consequent

rise of genres like qaul and ghazal? What is the spiritual content of these

genres now?.

How to go beyond, the traditional genres of Khayal, Kriti, and Dhruvapada and

evolve more contemporary art forms?

Saadhanaa (Pedagogy and Purpose)

How do we communicate the essential qualities of our music to the young? Have

the strategies like the visits of celebrities to schools and colleges worked?

How do we resolve the conflict between guru-shishya method and the modern

university system of teaching?

Why was music eliminated from the Macaulay’s education system, while it

was valued in the western pedagogy?

Why did independent India not bridge the gap between the shaastrii and kalaakaar.

Samvaada (Presentation and Propagation).

Do gharanaas and sampradaayas have a place after the electronic revolution?

Can artists be their own culture managers or are bureaucrats a necessary evil?

Was the Western Colonial attitude to music serious at all? If not why so?

Did music play a significant role in the Freedom Movement?

Why did the impact of Indian music come so late on Western Europe and American

Continent? Is it a live force today or only a commercial venture?

What does Globalization mean for Indian music? Will it result in erosion, or revitalization?

Has Indian music help to create any new forms and genres of Western music.

Can there be a fresh location of patronage resources other than the radio, TV, disc makers?

Each paper reader or performer shall be given half-hour for presentation, which

shall immediately be followed by a 30-45 minute discussion, initiated by the

pre-arranged discussants and members from the audience. We hope that with your

help this would be a path-making symposium that provides us with sufficient

material for a valuable volume on the present day state of Indian music.

Sincerely yours,

Bharat Gupt

Conference Director, Trustee and Founding Member,

INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR INDIA’S HERITAGE

B 37, Sector One, NOIDA, 201 301. Home phones: 91+11+724 1490, fax/TEL 741-5658,

Email: bharatgupt (AT) vsnl (DOT) com / homepage: http://personal.vsnl.com/bharatgupt