From an article written by Anil Dharkar ..............
In past interviews, (Zubin) Mehta has gone into the question of why Western classical music hasn’t struck roots in
In the western tradition, a large group of individuals come together to form a cohesive whole….Here individual brilliance….submerges itself in collective excellence……every piece of music is written down, with the composer defining the size of the orchestra, the tempo of movements, even sometimes the emphasis within a section of the piece…….each (brilliant) musician playing a pre-assigned part of an overall design. Most of all, both conductor and orchestra are following a written-down musical score, which for all the flurry of rehearsals and the passion of the conductor from his podium, defines in some strictness what they are going to do
Contrast this to the Indian tradition. When Beethoven wrote a symphony, it wasn’t for a particular time of day: a raga, on the other hand, is for morning and evening…..it echoes the mood and environment. The Indian tradition – Hindustani or Carnatic – lays complete emphasis on individuality. There is no concept of ensemble, of different instruments playing together: instead there’s the soloist alone, with a cast of supporting players. Then there is the huge importance given to improvisation, central to the Indian tradition, but virtually unkown in the western tradition. ……there is no concept of a written score for Indian music (how do you write down an improvisation?)…….the idea of harmony, so essential to western music, is completely unknown in Indian music.
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Fascinating! And when I think about my (very limited) experience with Indian classical music so far, it's so true.... Fascinating stuff.
If Indian classical was so strong then why did it not touch chinese,japanese or even the west. Indian Classical is no way stronger than Western Classical. Indian Classical lacks harmony and counterpoint. Also talking about moods, western composers have been able to produce mood swings in a single piece. I have seen many Indian Classical musicians brag about indian classical music but it shows only there inferior complex.Having been trained in both these forms, I see western classical has a greater influence. One can see that it has clearly touched the popular music more all over the world... including India and Indian Classical is on the verge of extinction. So we need to preserve it.
If Indian classical was so strong then why did it not touch chinese,japanese or even the west. Indian Classical is no way stronger than Western Classical. Indian Classical lacks harmony and counterpoint. Also talking about moods, western composers have been able to produce mood swings in a single piece. I have seen many Indian Classical musicians brag about indian classical music but it shows only there inferior complex.Having been trained in both these forms, I see western classical has a greater influence. One can see that it has clearly touched the popular music more all over the world... including India and Indian Classical is on the verge of extinction. So we need to preserve it.
I would like to amend the statement made by the article writer below:
?)…….the idea of harmony, so essential to western music, is completely unknown in Indian music.
I would not use the words harmony is completely unknown, because the Taanpura does provide some harmony. There are several tanpura tunings each of which produces certain overtones which are used to align notes with. Also the swarmandal is used to provide a backdrop (with the taanpura).
The whole North Indian system of 22 notes per scale called shrutis are found by using a cycle of fifths, fourths, and third (ie DO, MI, FA, and SO in solfa). One reason why Indian classical (epecially the north Indian style), does not use what Western musicians call harmony, is because when these cords are heard very critically, they are not ideally harmonious, and therefore don't actually qualify as harmony from a perfectionist point of view. To understand this, make the following experiment. Take a user scale tunable synthesizer and reduce E by 14 cents and raise G by 2 cents, then play the C Major triad. Remove all vibrato and modulation so that the notes are almost pure sine wave and select a continuous note instrument like the flute or organ (but absolutely no vibrato). Now keep playing this C Major chord continuously for a prolonged period. Notice how peaceful and smooth it sounds. This is the harmony of the Taanpura when perfectly tune to DO and SO (MI emanates as an overtone). Now abrubtly switch back to C Major on the Western Equal tempered scale. If your ears are sensitive enough, you will find the tempered scale distinctly jarring. Perhaps, this excercise should not be recommended to Western Musicians, since being highly pitch sensitive, they will at once here the imperfections and may never again be completely happy with Western Chords once they experience the bliss of the perfect C Major triad. Indian classical music uses prolonged notes during the ALAAP (meditative Phase). This is the time when even a few cycles per second off the correct frequency will produce a beating sound which is considered unmusical from the Indian classical perspective. Western music doesn't excessively prolong notes (at least not to the extent that Indian classical does) so that the Equal Tempered scales with the imperfections are not as noticeable.
So, we do use harmony in Indian classical, but it's only the perfect harmony of a few chords that can only be played in a single scale. This is also why we don't change scales. All our music is in one scale, yet we acheive an almost infinite variety of by using 2000+ raagas. Furthermore, we have glides meend across one of more notes and gammak (fast portmento) to express emotions, which is almost missing in Western music where all the notes sound too plain.
If you love music you wont really call one style better and other not so good etc. .. for these two beautiful worlds and traditions of music are quite different and beyond comparison. Anyway, check out this video where Bach seems to be kindergarten when compared to the musical genius of Ali Akbar Khan and basically Indian Classical .. just an observation ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eedMPj2_d-A
Indian Classical music is based on melody and rhythm . It has its roots in spirituality and the science of ragas dates back to the ancient ages and the tradition lives on .. Read Ravi Shankar's article on Indian Classical music ..
http://www.ravishankar.org/indian_music.html
It don't matter Western or Indian music. Mozart is above All..
With all due respect to all the above mentioned comments , I would like to point out that Indian classical music is like a meditative contemplation for me ,, to be one with raaga means to surrender yourself completely to the Divine and rising above all things worldly for it is not just a musical tradition but it becomes a way of attaining something blissful , something paradisiacal and this to me transcends music in it's entirety ....
Indian classical music has not spread China or Japan because Indians did not go on a conquest spree as the western nations did. China and Japan have their own traditional classical music which is quite enriched. In todays world classical music has lost the audience both in the West and East because of fast music publicity which has no persistence.
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