Our nadaswaram man Y Gopal reminds us that
for a month we have strayed from the theme of the blog, i.e. Indian Classical.
No, we were merely beating about the bush, nursing all these hours, days, weeks
an old concern of ours, the endurance of our Classical, its eternal existence
as a vibrant, virtuous system…that should hopefully offer solace, delight, and
excitement to a steady stream or torrent of a spanking new set of young
listeners….what are the conditions for the fulfillment of this wish....?
What makes a Music great? Here is what we
speculated in the entry dated 13.07.2013, on the subject ‘There’s Hope for
Boring Ragas’:
Musical consummation apparently comes
from four variables, that is features of a composition: Contents (say vyakhya or vistara of the raga
in our context), Technique, Emotional
Content and an Unknown, an ‘x’-factor related in the main to
the artiste, not occurring universally...The most important attribute
according to IK is emotion...hence the sway held by Pt.
Bhimsen or Lata or, Jesudas or KL Saigal or Ilayaraja...
Missus was quite excited when she found partial vindication of this
theory in Pta. Kishori Amonkar’s book “Swarartharamani”.
Tai-
to avoid repeating the whole name- too believes that the supreme test of Music
lies in the emotion it engenders. Only, she believes that the emotion is
generated by an interplay of the swara
and the raga, and that poetry results basically from this
interplay. This to us is an utterly abstract and subjective assertion. The
proof of the pudding lies in the eating. You must listen to awachita parimalu by Pta. Kishori Amonkar and Lata Mangeshkar, in
the same sequence:
Even the tone-deaf can tell which of the two versions Dnyaneshwar
Mauli really meant! According to the humble ear of YT or our readers like
Arvind Pradhan, one can only express anguish at the disconnect between the
Academics part and the sheer Thrill part of our music. That’s why we reckoned Emotion
to be a primary or independent variable, rather than dependent upon technicals.
Suppose you ‘want’ to suffuse your composition with emotion. Can you do so
consciously? Can you work on raga+swara to reach there? Is it simply a matter of choosing 'right' sequences from the 5040 (7! or 7 factorial) long merukhand inventory? Take an analogy
from the stage. Suppose a scene demands tears in the character’s eyes. Some
actors like Nutan or Madhubala get it spontaneously, while many have to use
glycerine. That’s the equivalent of relying
on some third parties to generate emotion in your composition. The twin factors
named by Tai are both subsumed under ‘Content’ in the IK paradigm.
Of course no one can challenge Tai, and for the present excuse ourselves
with de gustibus non est disputandum-may be a matter of taste...after
all she’s a Padmavibhushan ! Soo many movies on Youtube...!? Our Muse Pta Malini Rajurkar left her PR to
audiences and could not log even a Padmashri, whereas Senior Tai has
the ishtyle!....panduranga..asu de- for Malinitai couldn't care less -for her genius, a Padmashri
is little more than a bauble and Padmavibhushan little more than a
trinklet!
‘Swarartharamani’ (not 'swaartharamani I sayyyy...) is
Tai’s book on music appreciation, which could have been eminently
readable had she not received good-natured assistance from the editorial staff
of Rajhans Prakashans. Whattdyu make of this:
निखळ
स्वरविश्व
हे
शब्दविश्व
आणि
काल (लय ) विश्वाला
सालंकृत, सार्थ
करत
असले, तर
ते
प्रत्यक्षात
किती
सुंदर, किती
अर्थवाही, किती
रम्य
असेल
हा
विचार
काही
केल्या
मनातून
जायीना …
There are volumes to be written on the aesthetics of Classical Vocal,
but let’s begin today with a simple point of departure: Tai’s views on
the importance of the Word- you may say Ganesa vis-a-vis
Saraswati! We take up only this single aspect of the emotional appeal of a
vocal composition: the contribution of the Word. The House believes that
in arrogantly repulsing the eminence of the Lyric in the classical vocal scheme
of things, riding rough-shod over the spoken word, we are not aiding the
survival of our Classical, or are we …?
Here go relevant extracts from the said book, duly translated:
स्वर भाषा ही एक निखळ कला आहे. त्यात जेन्ह्वा शब्दांचे सहाय्य घेतले जाते तेन्ह्वा या कलेच्या निखळतेला धक्का पोचत नाही का?: The swara-bhasha is unalloyed Art. Does the helping
hand received from the Word not dent this Purity?
शब्द किंवा मात्रांचा अधिक वापर असलेले संगीत शेवटी लौकिक, भौतिक पातळीवर असते। ....Music rooted in the Word or the Matra (beat) is
after all Physical (rather than Spiritual)
Does this mean that Pt.
Bhimsen Joshi delivered whole ragas on the vehicle of an abhang because his
swara+raga was found wanting? Given the contempt Tai regularly
heaps on Lata Mangeshkar or that great craftsman of words Pt Jasraj (kasturi tilakam- fantastic Multani), one seriously suspects all is not well, of
late, between Ganesa and Saraswati…!
The place of lyrics in bandishes has always been
a matter of animated debate. The late Dr. Sobhana Nayar’s description of the
phenomenon in ‘Bhatkhande’s Contribution to Music’ (1989) can be taken as a fair summary. She notes three
historical watersheds that govern the fate of the Word. The first is the advent
of Mughals and development of the Dhruvpad traditions, presumably under
Raja Man Singh Tomar (15th Century). Before this dateline, the words
were as per the Prabandha Geeti, a highly sanskritised and lyrical
genre.
According to Dr. Giovanna Milanesi, “ The
name dhruva indicated a kind of music that was composed with a fixed
combination of swara, tãla and pada. The name also signifies that
the music was 'made to fit a particular dramatic situation at a defined time,
with specific structure and specific rhythm, and it could not be changed'. The dhruva
songs had a strong metrical arrangement based on the number of syllables that
constituted each verse, in the way that the metrical structure was based on the
phrase. In the lyrics of dhrupad, we can find in some use of
figures of speech like anuprasa, alliteration, obtained by repeating the
same consonant sounds in a close succession of words: e.g. Mohan Jago
Manohar Madhusudan, MadanMohan Madhi Mukund Man...” (Punyaswar, Pune University, 2011). Subject to these conditions,
the traditions of Prabandha were maintained. The second watershed,
advent of khayal led to momentous changes. Most of the khayal bandishes
or songs were written by Adarang and
Sadarang.
In the words of Dr. Nayar: “The beauty of these compositions was in the
words embedded into notes and typically expressive of the raga form,…
indicating movements, catch notes and rest notes…The rhythm part of these
traditional compositions was intricate and intelligent, giving enough scope for
pauses, which provided opportunities for extempore elaborations”. Raghava Menon
has also devoted some effort to document this ‘spaces’ theme (Punyaswar). In shayari-speak you are saying that, in order to balance the radeef with the qafia, you will pad the qafia with taans. It is really this phase that agrees with Tai’s
beliefs and wherein she has locked herself and cast away the keys. Naturally..
if your gharana is known for convoluted murkis, this theory suits
you belief (incidentally Missus is now learning Jaipur-Atrauli taans
from a disciple of Pta ABD, who rocks..). But how off-putting to potential
listeners would be the para-dropping of silly phrases like ‘sun payegi mori
saas nanadiya’ in the midst a most sombre and spirituality redolent,
life-and-death exposition of Bhimpalasi! It is certainly bad publicity
for Classical...it is almost as if for some obscure reason we were consciously
choosing ugliness over beauty of expression...but whyyy!? The ordinary listener
can’t be expected to share the wave-length of the greatest vocalist. She’d
better start singing to herself I sayyy!
The third watershed is the appearance of Pt. Bhatkhande on the scene. He was the person who swept the Augean stables and performed the Herculean task of reorganising the body of knowledge on Classical in a manner that would breathe new life into our waning legacy. Our Classical was most fortunate in having the right apostle at the right time...His whirlwind tours aimed at gathering learning from the most reluctant sources are the stuff of legend. It was he who adapted the Caranatic’s scientific melkarta classification to Hindustani. His views on the importance of words therefore deserve attention.
The third watershed is the appearance of Pt. Bhatkhande on the scene. He was the person who swept the Augean stables and performed the Herculean task of reorganising the body of knowledge on Classical in a manner that would breathe new life into our waning legacy. Our Classical was most fortunate in having the right apostle at the right time...His whirlwind tours aimed at gathering learning from the most reluctant sources are the stuff of legend. It was he who adapted the Caranatic’s scientific melkarta classification to Hindustani. His views on the importance of words therefore deserve attention.
There are really three user-categories or ‘interests’
when it comes to the attitude towards poetry in the khayal. One is the
class of well-wishers and do-gooders like Chatur Pandit Bhatkhande, you
and me, who would like to see reform and delight. The second category is of the traditionalists or
no-changers, that is purists. The third is the fakkad practitioner who
cares two hoots about what the purist would say, and in the process changes
practices with the times- people like Pt. BSJ who were self proclaimed
eclectics with scant regard for a gharana culture- imagine- in an
interview to Pt. Ashok Ranade, he reveals that his booming taans are a
learning from none else than Kesarbai Kerkar of amcho Goa!
Lest this sound idle speculation or effrontery, let’s make mention of
the authority on which we speak : it’s: the persuasive Pt
Bhatkhande’s Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati and Kramik Pustak Malika,
‘A Treatise on the Music of Hindoostan’ by Capt. N. Augustus Willard (1834), the well-known treatise ‘Bhatkhande’s
Contribution to Music’ by Dr. Sobhana Nayar already quoted (1989), and most of
all, the ethereal music that flows from the vocal chords of say Pt. Bhimsen
Joshi or Pt. Jasraj etc.. Capt. Willard’s book was the second book written on
Indian Classical (in 1834) by a Britisher, an enthusiast who became a classical
vocalist out of passion. It is, incidentally, interesting to note that Willard
found Indian Classical more profound than contemporary Western Classical. He
says about Western Music: “Indeed, perhaps all the most
beautiful successions of tones which constitute agreeable melody are exhausted,
and this is the reason of the poorness of our (Western) modern melody, and the
abundant use of harmony.”
Someone who denies the power of the spoken word and
stays aloof of the দারুন- daroon-frighteningly
emotional amalgam of word and swara, aiming simply at technical
completeness can never be in possession of our
x-factor, and will never create the magical séance of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
singing Anuraniya Thokada or Tirtha Vitthala. He’ll be a Pope but
not a Saint..Fortunately, Tai’s book, read between the lines, does offer
a little Union Territory to the ‘Word’ called ‘Sugamistan’, which we
shall inshallah elaborate…
This is what our ancient connoisseur Capt. Willard
said about the cold-shouldering of the
word: “When we come to examine the sentiment which has been delivered in so
delicate a strain, and which we fancy will be in accordance with the beauty of
the melody, we find ourselves sadly disappointed for they contain odd sentences
awkwardly expressed..”
To quote Dr. Nayar, in the khayal dominant
phase, “driven by the idea that …literary aspect of the song was less important
than the melodic structure, the musicians of the 19th century and
early 20th century neglected the poetic part of the classical
songs.” (and hilariously) “the illiteracy of musicians no less contributed to
such criminal neglect”
In his ‘Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati” Pt
Bhatkhande says “we have seen singers who do not know the meaning of
compositions they sing….how can then they have the key to the emotion…?”
Pt. Bhatkhande made hundreds of compositions of his
own and added to that the ones he compiled, cajoling the greatest maverick masters
of the day, Ustad Aziz Khan and Ustad Wazir Khan- they make up bulk of the 4
volumes of Malika. We’ll illustrate his philosophy with one
example. The following is an old bandish in teen taal for raga Darbari:
Madhuwa bhar laye meet more, hamse de lukai, ham tum
bhar bhar peewen, make de lukai kahun lan na janen, jo jo det madhuwa hamra, to
ham tum bhar bhar peewen.
Roughly translated the braj words mean: get
me some wine my consort, and we shall drink to our heart’s content. Does it support the Darbari mood? It’s
like commissioning a cartoonist to draw a portrait of Urwashi! Pt Bhatkhande made his own bandish to
be sung identically (i.e. teen taal) yesssir…equipped with pegs to hang
your taans and alankars upon:
Sumiran kar man pavitra nirgun par brahma, phir
pachtayega to gani vrutha abhimaan..: this leads to a philosophical mood of renunciation.
Must your words go against the grain of the raga just to ensure that there are pegs to hang your vocal wizardry upon? Does the listener have - whaddyusay- a locus standi in the whole affair. It all boils down to your manners I sayyy...Ustad Amir Khan of all persons set much store by the poetry. He abandoned some of the older saas-nanad stereotypes, calling them 'vulgar' and substituted them with chaste wordings. In this process he brought out the excellence contained in the seemingly meaningless and garbled tarana -'junk' words as our kids say. It was as if what we considered trinklets turned out to be precious antique jewellery after being burnished at the hands of the Ustad. Of course this is of little import to vocalists on the look out for pegs where to hang their virtuosity! See this for a flavour of the sufiana mijaz of our paak Indori soul:
To come to the last and final link in the above train
of thought, in http://www.indrayanikaathi.com/2014/03/being-pandita-malinitai.html
we had speculated upon the Pt. BSJ’s penchant for delivering bandishes
in the form of abhangas. Saas-bahu
ki naseehat se bagawat, we had called it. Just listen to anuraniya
thokada in Malkauns, hailed
as one of his greatest Malkaunses...
Panditji devotes at least 20% space to alaaps without displacing a single syllable from Tukaram’s words- the pegs to hang complex taans are in-built by the author!. In fact in the beginning, for a couple of minutes, you hear Panditji deliver the essence of Malkauns in taans like Sa ga ma ga sa (kauns) ga ni sa ni dha pa and uttarang sa ni ni ga sa (all swaras save ma are komal in Malkauns)
Of course Tai loves great poetry, but she has
reserved it for her sugam, and she doesn’t rank sugam with
classical when it comes to sublimeness. Panditji had no such hang-ups.
More Tai’s views later…most interesting being
her matrix of the relation of emotions inspired by individual swaras and ragas, in the context of the navrasaas..
the matrix can assist artistes to choose appropriate lyrics for their
composition…!
Disclaimer: The extreme and startling views expressed about Pta Dr Kishori Amonkar above are the personal views of the writer and not necessarily the official views of the Blog...Classical Music remains a mysterious, unexplored forest, and the possibility was always there of her being the lost prophet of an ancient faith- it was not as if what she said was untrue, or that there was an error on the part of the modern listener, but simply that the route which she chose to reveal to others had lost relevance or comprehensibility...(quoted from Phaedrus).
Afterthoughts:
Years of listening, that is tonnes of processing feeble gold ore, has yielded one gold nugget: Kesarbai Kerkar...to the ears of YT, that is the ideal KA thinks about: that voice leaves only the holy imprint of the raga on your faculties...it does not make a difference whether she is crooning as in a lullaby, or croaking the swaras...what matters is only Madam and the swara..
Afterthoughts:
Years of listening, that is tonnes of processing feeble gold ore, has yielded one gold nugget: Kesarbai Kerkar...to the ears of YT, that is the ideal KA thinks about: that voice leaves only the holy imprint of the raga on your faculties...it does not make a difference whether she is crooning as in a lullaby, or croaking the swaras...what matters is only Madam and the swara..
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