Back of the Book
This book is perhaps the first comprehensive guide to understanding all the aspects and finer nuances of Hindustani classical music. It is aimed at the serious listener, that is, someone who may not have had any formal lessons himself in this performing art, but who, nevertheless, has picked up an initial interest in listening to classical music, and is, therefore, seeking to know more about its underlying structure, system and traditions. By explaining in a straightforward and extremely readable style, the basic features of Indian music, how time and melody are structured, the main principles of raga delineation and development and the various genres and styles of vocal as well as instrumental performances, the book aims to enhance the serious listener's understanding of Hindustani music, and heighten his appreciation of this art form.
This book includes a glossary of musical terms, a select discography and a select bibliography.
About the Author
Sandeep Bagchee studied in Delhi & Dehra Dun and Delhi, and Joined the Indian Administrative Service on 1973. He has contributed articles to the Economic and political weekly, and has also published a few short stories and middles. Besides music, his other loves include horses, books and the mountains.
Preface
This book has evolved out of my own needs. As a lover of Hindustani classical music, with no formal musical training, I wanted to not only enjoy this art form, but also gain some insight into its nuances and technical aspects in order to appreciate it better. In an attempt to improve my understanding, I went through a number of books but did not, in all these explorations, come across a cogent and easily comprehensible guide that would explain the technical aspects of Hindustani music required for a basic understanding that I had gained in this endeavor, could be put down and transformed into a book.
There is, therefore, nothing original in what is contained in the pages that follow - this book is a mere synthesis of what I have read. It is not possible to acknowledge the debt I owe to several authors on the subject, from each of whom I have culled something. The important books consulted have been listed in the 'Select Bibliography'. For a basic understanding, I relied largely on Pandit Bhatkhande's various works- Bhatkhande Sangit Shashtra - Hindustani Sangit Paddhati (BSS) and Hindustani Sangit Paddhati - Kramik Pustak Mallika (HSP). For raga grammar, I have relied to some extent on Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan's Raga Vignyan (RV) and Pandit Manikbua Thakurdas Raga Darshan (RD). As these books are either in Hindi or Marathi, they are not accessible to all music lovers, and further, the pedagogical method adopted in them is not wholly suitable for a beginner. In view of this, I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing the material and reorganizing it within a more systematic structure, beginning with the most basic concepts and building on them so that each topic flows into the next.
Further, although Pandit Bhatkhande's works provide the most extensive material on Hindustani classical music, there were areas where the concepts were not clear or relied on the theoretical position laid down in the old texts or those prevailing at the turn of this century.
These portions have been modified keeping in mind the present position. To resolve such difficulties, I have taken recourse to musicologists who have written more recently, and in English.
There are both advantage and disadvantages in this reliance on Western musicologists who have studied various aspects of Hindustani classical music out of their interest in ethno-musicology. The advantage is that their grounding in Western musical systems allows them to relate Indian concepts and terms to Western terminology, and to provide conceptual clarity and placement within a wider context. On the other hand, most of these studies are academic in their presentation and do not deal with the subject at a level required by the interested listener.
However, in the absence of comparable works by Indian authors, there was no alternative but to refer to these studies in order to clarify doubts. In this context, Slawek's observations in his book, Sitar Techniques in the Nibaddha Form are pertinent:
'One may ask why Indian musicians and musicologists have neglected to develop an analytical approach to music structure. Part of the answer is that music theorists and musicologists in India have persistently avoided to examine the contemporary music of their own times in its own right. Instead, they usually summarized the concepts embodied in previous literature, and then proceeded to mold existent music practices into these concepts, instead of molding the concepts to contemporary music. As a result, one finds an abundance of literature dealing with concepts but no analyses of actual examples of music. On the other hand, musicians talk a lot about music (after all, it is an oral tradition), but rarely write anything about it and never attempt to transcribe a performance for the purpose of analysis (to my knowledge).
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