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20th September
2005
Eighteen panelists got together
at
The Crossroads held at the ITC Sangeet
Research Academy
auditorium in Kolkata to define and find solutions to what was
termed as
“a crisis” in the present day
Hindustani Raag Sangeet
performance practices. The mood was upbeat in the opening hours when
the seminar started off to a hall packed with well-known musicians,
connoisseurs and media personalities from the city and even from as
far as Mumbai, who were all present despite a public transport
strike on both the days and a nagging downpour through out the week.
In his welcome address, the
executive director, Shri Amit Mukerjee said that over the years the
message that has been looming large on the concert scene is that
despite some very talented and skilled musicians around, after many
a concert the general feeling seems to be
‘woh baat nahi bani’ or in other words the old magic is no more. And here was an
opportunity to find out why. Tradition and change have always been
inseparable aspects of this music and it is also true that some
fifty years ago great maestros broke away from prevalent norms and
yet remained entrenched in tradition, never losing focus of the
classicism of this music. In the process, they not only produced
quality music but also created a special class of audience who would
never tire of hearing music and swarm into the halls to witness
concerts ‘live’.
A century of raag music was
divided into three eras commencing with the
raag sangeet scenario in the first four decades of the century.
The first speaker was the erudite
musicologist from Mumbai, Dr Ashok Ranade who gave a detailed
account of the socio-economic state of the country and predominance
of dhrupad and veena during the period and the gradual
shift to khayal and
thumri.
In continuation of the same
session the noted exponent of Gwalior, Dr. Vidyadhar Vyas spoke on
prominent khayal gharanas of the period.
He said that the possible reason behind khayal’s popularity
was that its form, which was able to incorporate the alaap and bol-bant from dhrupad, taans from
qawali and bandishes at different tempos provided a wider canvas for
the singer to exhibit his creativity and skills. In fact he also
said that the birth of gharanas was primarily due to the
limitations within a gharana and a particular pupil often
trying to supersede these limits evolved new techniques, merged
ideas from other styles and subsequently developed new patterns,
which when passed onto the following generations gave birth to new
gharanas.
The mainstream instruments of the period,
said Shri Buddhadev Das Gupta were definitely a variety of veenas and rababs as also the sarangi followed by the
sitar and sarode. However, very soon the
veenas
and rababs found their way to obscurity making the sarode and the sitar the most widely accepted instruments. The
sarangi as a solo instrument was also becoming gradually extinct
and existed mainly as an accompanying instrument to vocalists. It
was denied even that status with the advent of the harmonium. Both
in sarode and sitar music, the earlier styles were
more packed with right-hand movements compared to the left-hand
work. There was a predominance of complex bols and variety of
jhala patterns compared to long
meends, sustained notes and sapaat taans that were to become the order of the
day during the following decades.
In the post-tea session, Shri Vijay Kichlu and Shri Gajendra Narain Singh discussed important
issues such as birth of music conferences,
and festivals. In the absence of empirical
records, one has to depend on hearsays and versions of old musicians
and a few books that are available. The first so-called music
conference was held in Kolkata in 1867 followed by one in the 1890s.
One at Baroda was held in 1916 followed by the ones in Lucknow and
Allahabad in the 1920s. Since the 1930s, public festivals and
conferences became regular events all over northern India.
Organizers were either musicians of the caliber of Vishnu Digambar
Paluskar and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande or the rajas and
zamindars who were well-trained musicians and connoisseurs,
something that cannot be said about the conference-wallas nowadays.
While during the early
years, teaching raag sangeet was rather confined to family
members of ustads, the doyens of modern khayal, Haddu
and Hassu Khan were both instrumental in passing the Gwalior
tradition of singing onto the Hindu families. The same is true about
Abdul Karim Khan who went as far as opening an institution for the
masses. Very interestingly, two things also came out from the
discussions on
students outside musical
families or gharanas by Ulhas Kashalkar
and Shruti Sadolikar. One, that
gandabandhan
was not such an
important issue as it has been made out to be and two, that the
gurus themselves encouraged their
students to listen to other
contemporary
ustads as well as study under them.
The post-lunch sessions were devoted to the period,
1940 to the late 1960s. Noted Bengali writer, Shri Sankarlal Bhattacharjee gave a vivid
picture of the socio-cultural background of post-independent India. He saw the advent of radio and films as
alternative sources of entertainment as convenient vehicles for the
popularity of raag sangeet. He cited examples of many a
Bengali and Hindi film where raag music has been used extensively
right since Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’
days.
Talking on
the prominent khayal exponents of the period,
Shri Amit Mukerjee explained in detail the unique styles of Bade
Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Hirabai Borodekar, Kesarbai Kerkar and D
V Paluskar among others, all of whom could be called true path
breakers. Moreover, these are the luminaries who have been the
greatest influences on later generations and are still idolized much
in the same way, as they were fifty years ago.
While
speaking on prominent instrumentalists of the same period, Shri Arvind Parikh chose to speak on sitariyas and generally
limited his opinions to his gharana (Imdadkhani) only. He
spoke at length on the contributions of Ustad Vilayat Khan both on
the re-designing of the sitar as also his legendary style of
playing, which undoubtedly brought about a sea change in the
prevalent manner of sitar playing. It was apparent from the
discussions that there was a general preference among all
instrumentalists to depict delicate nuances of vocal music, like
mudkis, kans, gamaks and long glides on their instruments often
resulting in evolving new techniques especially on the left hand.
An important issue like role of media and recording companies was dealt with by the noted music journalist from Mumbai, Shri
Amarendra Dhaneshwar. In the course of discussions it was evident
that what we were really talking of was music reviews and not music
criticism, the latter being a much more vast subject. Usage of
microphones definitely played an important role towards the voice
cultivation of new generation vocalists, who nowadays, do not quite
concentrate on the volume and intensity of the voice relying a great
deal on the public address system. Both the All India Radio and
record companies like HMV, Hindustan and Columbia played an
important role in the passage of raag sangeet to music
lovers. And together with stalwarts, many musicians who were
comparatively less successful in the concert circuit were also
recorded regularly.
Although the credit goes to
both Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar to popularize raag sangeet
in the west, the first musicians who went to perform before Queen
Victoria in the early part of the 20th century were
sarode players Hussain Ali and Enayet Ali followed by Sakhawat
Hussain, who was invited to perform by Adolf Hitler. Speaking on
Exposure to the west – its effect on the
musicians, both the panelists, Buddhadev
Das Gupta and Ashwini Bhide Deshpande said that initially it was
necessary to curtail the length of the concert, edit the alaap portions and emphasize on the rhythmic areas to attract the
uninitiated listener in the west.
The last topic on the first
day was students – their cultural
background, role of institutions etc. HOD
Rabindra Bharati, Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay and Ajoy Chakrabarty
said that initially these colleges were meant to create awareness in
the society, improving audience quality etc. but later on curriculum
were structured on an examination oriented basis as an alternative
to the existing one-to-one gurumukhi system. Prof Banerjee
said that while the music of earlier ustads cannot be called
less cerebral in any way, it is also true that general education
among the students may have made them more inquisitive and the
training system more logical, although the period in question, (1940
–1970), may not be long enough to justify these changes.
21st September 2005
Shri Deepak Raja opened the
proceedings of the second day speaking on the
socio-economic effects on musicians in the last 35
years. He cited the death of Amir Khan as
a turning point in the history of raag music, which according
to him was the official end to the classical era and the advent of
the romantic period. He said that since raag sangeet
musicians and their audiences are products of the same society, it
is no use expecting them (musicians) to act any differently. He said
that with the overall increase in the accepted noise levels in
India, it is only natural that the all the finer elements and
delicate nuances in our music are at a premium. He also mentioned
that the ‘star’ culture has hit the raag sangeet scenario, as
a result of which, the star musician often finds it lucrative to
pursue star-assignments rather than work on his music.
Shri Buddhadev Guha said
that diverse interests and sources of
entertainment have definitely reduced the
general level of awareness and enthusiasm in the audience. He said
that while AIR and Doordarshan initially pioneered the propagation
of raag music in the country, with the advent of cable television
and private radio channels this music is given least priority. None
of the so-called music channels seem to care at all about this great
heritage.
According to Shruti
Sadolikar, as a result of these socio-economic factors, the worst
sufferers seem to be the students who have become most impatient
together with their parents, who often fail to guide their children, being over-ambitious
themselves. While students should not follow their teachers blindly,
it is also necessary to have faith in the experience of the teacher
and remain in focus at least in the training period.
Speaking on the next topic: plethora of CDs and recorded materials, Sankarlal Bhattacharjee said that it is true that a section of the
audience, especially the older generation, may prefer to sit back at
home and listen to recordings of past masters but the current
generation of audience normally looks out for musicians in the
present generation. Music students however need to be careful while
using these recorded materials as guidelines and refrain from
imitating. He also said that it is inevitable for the
gharanas getting mixed up and individual styles getting overlapped in
this situation.
The
post-tea session opened to very relevant problems like quality of
performances of present day musicians. It
was evident from Gajendra Singh’s statements that formerly,
performers would practise and prepare for a concert all right but
leave alone a lot of elements to take their own course during the
performance. With lesser concerts around and probably in an urge to
be an instant hit with the audience, the present generation of
performers rehearses the raag, taal and even tihais
and sawal jawabs to perfection and spontaneity has become
rare quality lately.
Speed and rhythm seem to be the order of
the day said Ashwini Deshpande. Bikram Ghosh tried to justify the
melodic content in the tabla itself or rather in the
bayan. He said that emotional content is not confined to raag and
swaras only but exist pretty much in the same way in
taal and tabla vocabulary too. He was not in agreement with the
accepted hierarchy of raag and then taal in our music
and preferred to give them same importance.
On
music journalism and accountability,
Amarendra Dhaneshwar mentioned that while it is not necessary for a
music critic or a reviewer to be able to perform on stage, it is
imperative that he or she goes through some formal training and
gather experience before being judgmental about anybody’s
performance. It is also necessary to recognize and acknowledge some
positive aspects of a performer before writing him off completely.
He said that newspapers nowadays are in competition with the
electronic media and hence are opting for sensational news and
photos. Reviews and regular articles in the newspapers are a must as
a first step towards preservation and propagation of our music on a
larger scale.
There
were two sides in the discussions of the last session of the
crossroads, which was called towards
solution. The first being, a kind of code
of conduct for current performers to follow. Amit Mukerjee
reiterated the importance of complete attachment to the subject
during the formative years of a musician and cited examples of
research scientists and doctors as comparisons. Buddhadev Das Gupta
explained in detail to use the electronic medium prudently. The
usage of microphones, the tape machine and computer can go a long
way as guidelines for students. He also mentioned that it was in
training schools like SRA, where the students can have access to all
these facilities very early in their lives. Emphasis has to be given
on voice culture, said Shruti Sadolikar. She said that although many
a young performer is skillful, not all are so aware of correct
shrutis of the ragas. The musical impact of the earlier ustads could be attributed to their ability to sing in proper
shrutis and depicting the raag bhav
correctly, something that cannot be said always about the current
performers.
The other side of the above
topic was a code of conduct for the listeners and the promoters of raag sangeet. Ajoyji said that no matter what we perform or
rather how well we perform; most of it would fall on deaf ears if
the audience is not well informed, appreciative and discerning.
While it may be impossible to convert mass audience, it is
worthwhile to at least make a beginning. Dr Vidyadhar Vyas mentioned
a newly opened course on music appreciation and journalism at the
Bhatkhande College, Lucknow. Shri Chakrabarty said not merely the
students but their parents need to be trained first if they are to
guide their children and create the proper ambience at home. Last
but not the least, Deepak Raja concluded by saying that all these
call for a mass movement that can be only handled by the government,
institutions and the media. It was apparent from the discussions
that in the west, classical music has also been through such turmoil
but has always enjoyed a kind of protection from the government and
universities. Shri Arvind Parikh mentioned forming a kind of
‘pressure group’ consisting of 15 recognised musicians both from the
northern and southern parts of India to guide the government
departments to work towards creating an ideal atmosphere for this
rich musical heritage to prosper in the days to come. On that happy
note, the executive director of ITC SRA, Shri Amit Mukerjee thanked
all the participating panelists and members of the audience and
brought an end to the two-day seminar. One hopes that it is in
effect, a beginning to move ahead from
the crossroads that we find
ourselves at.
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