THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 8
Looks, attire and mannerisms may fool a few but the public are discerning enough to reject these off-tune vocalists from their presence. Music has nothing to do with good looks or affectations or even deliberate fast rendition of taans. It concerns the ear, the aesthetic element in the being. The raga must slowly unfold, revealing its character even as a meandering river graces the banks, caressing them in its course towards its destiny, the union with its source in the ocean. The colour, the mood must reflect in the rendition and express the inner intent of the raga. The composition must seep through the inner recesses of the heart. Only then is music rendered whole.
But for all this a prolonged period of tutelage under an adept musician (Guru) is necessary. This is called 'taalim'. And, not all are qualified to be musicians in the highest sense of the term, that is, everyone is not born with the gift of music in the heart (pransen), in the ear (kaansen) and in the voice (tansen). One must be blessed with the gift of God in the form of a refined musical sensibility, a depth of being and plain musical talent to be able to qualify as a platform artiste at the end of a period of protracted training. Unfortunately, nowadays, every pretender attempts to be an artiste and comes to grief soon. Then follows the usual cribbing that he / she has been let down by competitors and organisers through unfair politics. But this is truly not the case. The bright one still shines but only the bright one does. The rest create their bubble impressions on untrained listeners and then fizzle out, never to be heard anymore.
The problem, however, is this. Each time a pretender performs, a prospective artiste is denied the occasion to present his / her skills. Also, some performers have a good enough voice and have undergone rigorous training to get some command over taankari (swift movement of notes) but are simply not fit to be classical artistes for they lack the refined aesthetic sense that makes for a true representative of this ancient musical art-form. Today, what is going on in the world of Hindustani classical music --- and this has been the trend for quite some decades now and intensifying with every passing year --- is a caricature of what it is essentially meant to be. The stage is being hijacked by all sorts of amateurs having no ability but having the audacity and the foolishness at that to proclaim themselves as artistes of calibre, pulling organisational strings hither and thither to get programmes, interviews and even awards. This is an alarming trend even as it is ominous of the impending death of Hindustani classical music.
It baffles one to contemplate how a platform artiste with decades of training cannot hold her 'sur' for even a moment and, yet, keeps on putting up pretentious performances before the public and expects them to applaud her 'efforts'? If they do not --- which they do ---, then everyone but she is culpable for such heinous offence at disregarding such obvious 'talent'! Music, have thou come to this, today?
Renowned artistes are making a mockery of music, what to speak of these titbits that keep lowering ever the standard of what earlier used to be known as culture! Now, classical music, barring rare exceptions, is pop-culture, so, you can imagine where pop-culture itself is headed. All tall talk seeking public adulation, miserable beggary of the musicians self-blazoning their talents in words, not in tune, and on websites galore that one hangs one's head in shame when these offenders to our pristine musical tradition degrade national repute overseas. The hard work done by men of genius such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan is being cashed on well by this class of musical mediocrity and the exquisite experience of sublime rendition as in the days of yore is a memory fading fast. It is a death-trend that has set in the world of Hindustani classical music as in every other phase of social and cultural life and does not augur well for the future of our grand civilisation.
When Alamgir Aurangzeb came to power in the year 1658 after imprisoning his ailing father, Shah Jahan, he imposed an immediate ban on all music in his empire following the dictate of the Islamic Sharia. It had meant that music would die soon for want of free expression, lack of royal patronage and plain persecution of those that dared to disobey and carry on with their pursuit of 'sur-taal-laya'. Music did suffer a setback but it survived the rigours of the times as the death of Auranzeb in 1707 gave a fresh lease of life to Hindustani classical music in the Mughal courts following the lifting of the ban by Aurangzeb's heirs. The day the ban had been imposed, Hindus had chanted 'Ram naam satya hai', so the legend goes. Is it then time for another such chant? I pray not.
Written by Sugata Bose
Looks, attire and mannerisms may fool a few but the public are discerning enough to reject these off-tune vocalists from their presence. Music has nothing to do with good looks or affectations or even deliberate fast rendition of taans. It concerns the ear, the aesthetic element in the being. The raga must slowly unfold, revealing its character even as a meandering river graces the banks, caressing them in its course towards its destiny, the union with its source in the ocean. The colour, the mood must reflect in the rendition and express the inner intent of the raga. The composition must seep through the inner recesses of the heart. Only then is music rendered whole.
But for all this a prolonged period of tutelage under an adept musician (Guru) is necessary. This is called 'taalim'. And, not all are qualified to be musicians in the highest sense of the term, that is, everyone is not born with the gift of music in the heart (pransen), in the ear (kaansen) and in the voice (tansen). One must be blessed with the gift of God in the form of a refined musical sensibility, a depth of being and plain musical talent to be able to qualify as a platform artiste at the end of a period of protracted training. Unfortunately, nowadays, every pretender attempts to be an artiste and comes to grief soon. Then follows the usual cribbing that he / she has been let down by competitors and organisers through unfair politics. But this is truly not the case. The bright one still shines but only the bright one does. The rest create their bubble impressions on untrained listeners and then fizzle out, never to be heard anymore.
The problem, however, is this. Each time a pretender performs, a prospective artiste is denied the occasion to present his / her skills. Also, some performers have a good enough voice and have undergone rigorous training to get some command over taankari (swift movement of notes) but are simply not fit to be classical artistes for they lack the refined aesthetic sense that makes for a true representative of this ancient musical art-form. Today, what is going on in the world of Hindustani classical music --- and this has been the trend for quite some decades now and intensifying with every passing year --- is a caricature of what it is essentially meant to be. The stage is being hijacked by all sorts of amateurs having no ability but having the audacity and the foolishness at that to proclaim themselves as artistes of calibre, pulling organisational strings hither and thither to get programmes, interviews and even awards. This is an alarming trend even as it is ominous of the impending death of Hindustani classical music.
It baffles one to contemplate how a platform artiste with decades of training cannot hold her 'sur' for even a moment and, yet, keeps on putting up pretentious performances before the public and expects them to applaud her 'efforts'? If they do not --- which they do ---, then everyone but she is culpable for such heinous offence at disregarding such obvious 'talent'! Music, have thou come to this, today?
Renowned artistes are making a mockery of music, what to speak of these titbits that keep lowering ever the standard of what earlier used to be known as culture! Now, classical music, barring rare exceptions, is pop-culture, so, you can imagine where pop-culture itself is headed. All tall talk seeking public adulation, miserable beggary of the musicians self-blazoning their talents in words, not in tune, and on websites galore that one hangs one's head in shame when these offenders to our pristine musical tradition degrade national repute overseas. The hard work done by men of genius such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan is being cashed on well by this class of musical mediocrity and the exquisite experience of sublime rendition as in the days of yore is a memory fading fast. It is a death-trend that has set in the world of Hindustani classical music as in every other phase of social and cultural life and does not augur well for the future of our grand civilisation.
When Alamgir Aurangzeb came to power in the year 1658 after imprisoning his ailing father, Shah Jahan, he imposed an immediate ban on all music in his empire following the dictate of the Islamic Sharia. It had meant that music would die soon for want of free expression, lack of royal patronage and plain persecution of those that dared to disobey and carry on with their pursuit of 'sur-taal-laya'. Music did suffer a setback but it survived the rigours of the times as the death of Auranzeb in 1707 gave a fresh lease of life to Hindustani classical music in the Mughal courts following the lifting of the ban by Aurangzeb's heirs. The day the ban had been imposed, Hindus had chanted 'Ram naam satya hai', so the legend goes. Is it then time for another such chant? I pray not.
Written by Sugata Bose
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