Hindustani music & modern times

The second half of the last century saw, both in the south and in the north, the emergence of well-educated musicians who could shine not only on the concert platform but also at the lectern, giving lecture demonstrations; they could also write books and journal articles. Deepak S Raja belongs to this distinguished generation of musicians-cum-musicologists. He has excellent academic credentials besides being a disciple of luminaries such as Pulin Deb Burman, Arvind Parikh and Dhondutai Kulkarni. He is a sitarist and surbahar player of repute belonging to the Etawah Gharana. I have had opportunities to hear him at the seminars of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. So I looked forward to reading his book, especially since I had done some writing on the contemporary state of Hindustani music (“Declining Gharanas, Disappearing Ragas”, Sruti, August-September 2010).

The book carries a Foreword by Parikh, who rightly calls Raja a “Deepak – a brilliant light – of our gharana”. In Chapter 1, the author makes a case for considering Hindustani music as art music and not classical music as understood in the West. Chapter 2, “Vehicles of the Raga Experience”, deals with the melodic framework within which the musician performs while exploring manodharma, or improvisation. “Raga Bhairav at Midnight!” is an interesting reflection on the time theory in Hindustani music — the prescription of certain ragas for certain times of the day and, indeed, for seasons. He points out that the Carnatic system has abandoned the time theory although it shares a common heritage with Hindustani music. He calls for a re-examination of the theory, keeping in view conditions in modern times. I would like to highlight the fact that it is in recognition of the time theory that Carnatic music concerts end with a slice of madhyamavati (the equivalent of madhumad sarang in Hindustani music) after Tyagaraja’s kriti in Saurashtram as the last song. Madhyamavati is a sarva dosha nivarani (expiator for all violations of grammar). It is an atonement and wipes off all the sins of commission and omission vis-à-vis the sangeeta sastras, including the non-observance of the time theory (and perhaps the absence of adherence to sruti and laya!), in the concert. Perhaps Hindustani musicians could take liberties with the time theory and conclude their concerts with madhumad sarang.

Chapter 4 is on the evolution of gharanas and describes how stylistic differences are getting increasingly blurred. I only wish that the author had given glimpses into the distinguishing characteristics of different gharanas and how they are getting mixed in the concerts of many musicians. The chapter on dhrupad deals with the rise, fall and rise of this genre of music, the last due to interest in the West. I would like to draw attention to a new trend — the willingness of leading classical musicians, both northern and southern, to provide vocal accompaniment to classical dancers, something that would have been considered infra dig only a few years ago. Khayal vocalism is described along with its gharanas in Chapter 6. Thumree and tappa are dealt with subsequently. Then follows a series of chapters dealing with an entire spectrum of instruments — rudra veena, sitar, surbahar, sarod, Hawaiian slide guitar, santoor, tanpura, swaramandal, sarangi, violin, bansuri, shehnai, pakhawaj, tabla and harmonium.

The editing is imaginative, with catchy subtitles for chapter headings like “The Sarangi: Awaiting a State Funeral” and “The Shehnai: Gasping for Breath”. The book systematically analyses the past, the present and the future of each aspect of Hindustani music in a way that it can reach the lay rasika, for whom the volume is intended. Raja’s observations on the correlation of the fortunes of certain instruments with those of the genres of vocal music, for example, dhrupad and been (rudra veena)/pakhawaj, are perceptive. He notes regretfully that the shehnai shares an impending extinction with the sarangi and the rudra veena — all three being instruments of entirely Indian origin. Music institutions, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi, need to heed the warning and devise measures to revive them. I wish the author had reflected on the influence of Carnatic music on its Hindustani cousin and vice versa in relation to ragas and vocal styles. Abdul Karim Khan once dismissed the swaraprastara, or the use of the sargam notes on a selected line in a song in the Carnatic style, as playing the harmonium on the lips. But after spending some time in Madras (now Chennai) listening to Carnatic maestros, he was graceful enough to change his opinion and started sargam exercises in his khayal exposition. Bade Ghulam went one step further and used them in his thumrees, lifting them to a semi-classical status. Today swara singing is de rigueur for many Hindustani musicians because of its inherent aesthetic appeal to listeners.

Although the book is a primer, some explanation could have been given on raga ornamentation. It is the curvilinearity of our system, both Carnatic and Hindustani, with gamaks and fractional tones that distinguishes it from the linearity of Western music with its plain notes.

HINDUSTANI MUSIC TODAY
Deepak S Raja
D K Printworld
Rs 600; 138 pages