conf on music feb 03

[Guest guest]

General Invitation

 

PHILOSOPHY OF INDIAN MUSIC

AND VALUE EDUCATION

A SYMPOSIUM BY

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH

And

INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR INDIA'S HERITAGE

India International Centre (Annex)

February 7, 8, 9, 2003 (9:30 am- 5: 30 pm).

 

 

Namaskar.

 

On behalf of the Professor Kireet Joshi, Chairperson ICPR,

and the Trustees and Members of IFIH, it is a matter of

great delight for me to invite the list members to participate

in the three-day symposium.

 

Those interested in attending and reading papers may contact me directly.

 

Providing international fares is beyond our means, foreign participants

are encouraged to use their own institutional sources.

 

Theme and Probings

 

The variety of music performed in the length and breadth of the nation is

still staggeringly large. From the thousands of years old chanting of the

Sanskrit mantras of the four Vedas to the latest film hits, equally well

preserved are the tribal and ritual songs of marriage, birth, naming,

clothing, bathing, leaving home and death etc., in nearly 34 languages and

600 dialects across the subcontinent. The classical traditions of

Hindustani and Karnataka genres are moving closer in a healthy interchange.

After the independence of India from British occupation in 1947, for three

decades classical music has been a major source of encouraging national

identity at home and abroad.

 

In spite of its very archaic features Indian music has adapted with

ease

to the modern technical innovations from the microphone to the microchip

without altering any of its content adversely. The technological revolution

has actually helped its spread within India and over the world to influence

the music of many nations. The process of notating and printing the lyrics,

so far handed down only orally, began early in the early twentieth century.

This was followed by taking the folk and classical performer to the modern

concert hall and the radio. Artists were recorded for the gramophone as

early as in the West. Indian film industry, which also found its feet very

early, consolidated the immense variety of music from all parts of India

and transmitted it to the global listener. Through films, it is a major

influence on the countries like Iran, Iraq, Turkey, the Gulf, and states of

Central Asia. In spite of the emergence of global pop, it has succeeded in

maintaining its very distinct identity and independence from Western music.

Its classical performers have taken it alive to all corners of the world

and it abounds increasingly in commercial and private collections.

 

Is it possible that such a dynamic music is merely a product of

random

historical events, or is it a force born of deep-seated philosophical and

cultural notions that have sustained it over the millennia? The present

symposium aims to discover the growth of these philosophical perceptions

that have worked within Indian music and the various genres of classical

and folk kinds that it has developed for the realization of these aims. It

also wishes to ponder over method of passing this understanding to the

young in schools and colleges.

 

The six sessions of the conference shall be divided into the following

areas in which the following questions and issues shall be discussed. The

paper readers and the discussants shall be asked to focus on these:

 

Srishti (Scales, Systems and Historical Growth)

1. What is the historical reality behind the belief that secular music

or

Gaandharva originated from Saama Gaana?

2. Can the ancient Shadja and Madhyama Gramas be decoded today?

3. How can the concept of svara-rasa relationship be revived? Is there

any

utility for modern usage?

4. Was there a connection of ancient Gaandharva with Greece and other

ancient Mediterranean, Egyptian or Mesopotamian cultures? Did the dialogue

continue into medieval times?

5. Was there a use of drone in ancient music?

6. Do Jatis help us in any way today?

7. Why did the Grama Murcchanaa system undergo alteration into the

That-Mela? Was it because of the Maqaam system or for other reasons?

8. What was the impact of Turkish invasion and Islamic attitude to

music on

the social, religious and cultural institutions that nourished music?

9. Was the decline of temple complexes, classical theatre, and

courtesan

houses detrimental to music?

10. Was Indian music always a unity of svara, tala, pada supporting

abhinaya, nritta and nritya? Are modern trends in music and dance a break

from this unity?

 

Aaswaada (Enjoyment, Style, Individual and Social)

 

11. Is there a specific kind of pleasure in Indian music distinct from

the

kind given by other music?

12. Did music lose more than it gained from the Bhakti Movement?

13. Why do performers emphasize more of aalapa and taanas today than

they

did in the past?

14. Does instrumental music dominate the scene now and why if so?

 

Prayoga (Development of Genres and Forms)

15. Dhruvapada to Khayal, is it a story from Bhakti to Riti?

16. Why the major impact of sphota,naada and yogic philosophies on

musical

genres.

17. Was there a confluence of Sufi and Bhakti philosophy in music and

the

consequent rise of genres like qaul and ghazal? What is the spiritual

content of these genres now?.

18. How to go beyond, the traditional genres of Khayal, Kriti, and

Dhruvapada and evolve more contemporary art forms?

 

Saadhanaa (Pedagogy and Purpose)

19. How do we communicate the essential qualities of our music to the

young? Have the strategies like the visits of celebrities to schools and

colleges worked?

20. How do we resolve the conflict between guru-shishya method and the

modern university system of teaching?

21. Why was music eliminated from the Macaulay's education system,

while it

was valued in the western pedagogy?

22. Why did independent India not bridge the gap between the shaastrii

and

kalaakaar.

 

Samvaada (Presentation and Propagation).

23. Do gharanaas and sampradaayas have a place after the electronic

revolution?

24. Can artists be their own culture managers or are bureaucrats a

necessary evil?

25. Was the Western Colonial attitude to music serious at all? If not

why

so?

26. Did music play a significant role in the Freedom Movement?

27. Why did the impact of Indian music come so late on Western Europe

and

American Continent? Is it a live force today or only a commercial venture?

28. What does Globalization mean for Indian music? Will it result in

erosion, or revitalization?

29. Has Indian music help to create any new forms and genres of Western

music.

30. Can there be a fresh location of patronage resources other than the

radio, TV, disc makers?

 

Each paper reader or performer shall be given half-hour for presentation,

which shall immediately be followed by a 30-45 minute discussion, initiated

by the pre-arranged discussants and members from the audience.

 

best regards,

Bharat Gupt

Associate Professor, Delhi University,

Conference Director

Trustee and Founding Member

INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR INDIA'S HERITAGE

B 37, Sector One, NOIDA, 201 301.

home phones :91+11+724 1490, fax/TEL 741-5658,

email: bharatgupt / homepage: http://personal.vsnl.com/bharatgupt