Some Indian Conceptions of Music Maud Mann Vol 38

Some Indian Conceptions of Music
Author(s): Mrs. Maud Mann (Maud MacCarthy)

Source: Proceedings of the Musical Association, 38th Sess. (1911 - 1912), pp. 41-65
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
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JANUARY I6, 1912.
W. H. CUMMINGS, ESQ., Mus. Doc.,

PRESIDENT,
IN THE CHAIR.
SOME INDIAN CONCEPTIONS OF MUSIC.
BY MRS. MAUD MANN (MAUD MACCARTHY

BEFORE starting on the subject of our study thi
I want to tell you about the instrument upon w
going to play. It is a South Indian vinti, from T
vind is the national instrument of India. It possesses
extraordinary tonal beauty and variety of expression
when properly manipulated. Not having been able to
obtain the right kind of drone instrument, called
tambura, on which to accompany myself to-day, I have tuned
this vtnd like the tambura, doing away with three of its strings.
The effect thus obtained is similar to tambura, but of course it
spoils the vind quality of the instrument. I must also tell
you that there should be a drummer, and a vind- or sdrenghi-
player, as well as the tambura, in order to obtain a good
accompaniment for songs. In the absence of these to-day, it
will be rather like listening to two parts of a quartet!
There is a beautiful custom in India of invoking the
goddess of poetry, eloquence, and music before commencing
any study, public or private. And since I am going to try
to bring something of India to you this afternoon, I want
you for a moment to come with me in imagination to the
shrine of Sarasvati, whilst I sing this Sanskrit hymn in her
honour. The melody is by Mudhusvami Dikshita, a South
Indian composer who lived between 1775 and I835. The
words might roughly be translated thus:
PALLAVI (First part).
O Sarasvati, beautiful and young, with eternal youth,
thou who art seated upon a lotus-flower,* work good
for us !
ANUPALLAVI (Second part).

O thou who art the embodiment of magic speecht-
the embodiment of mother-speech-the destroyer of evil-
whose plait is so sweet that the bees nestle in it-who
holdest vinat in thy hand, work good for us!
* An emblem of eternity.
t Mantras, or words of power.
+ Emblem of melody, or, more strictly speaking, of tone as distinct from
time.
5 Vol. 38
42 Some Indian Conceptions of Music.
CHARANAM (Third part).
Thy form is like the autumnal moonlight, as lovely as
the moon herself, O thou who sporteth in Kashmir !
Great Goddess of speech, at whose lotus feet the gods
are meditating, ever upon the white lotus art thou seated!
O thou who delightest the poet's heart, work good for
us!
[Here followed the hymn.]
I am taking for our study this afternoon a brief survey of

some salient features of Indian music.t Each division of our
subject contains such a mass of material, that it would be
impossible, in taking a general view, to deal fully with any
one part. I can therefore only give you the merest indications,
a brief outline, the several aspects of which I hope at some
future time to be able to expand. My object to-day has also
been to select those portions of our subject which appear to
be of general and immediate value and interest to the
Western musician, rather than to deal with more abstruse
technical matters, which, fascinating though they are, are
more for practical experiment by composers and performers
than for exposition in a paper like this.
There are two lines along which we may study Indian
music, the conventional and the traditional. By conventional
I mean the thing which is done, the thought which is
thought, on the authority simply that somebody else has done
or thought it. By traditional I mean that quality which is
inherent, essential; and which may be studied to a great
extent independently of passing forms and phenomena.
Tradition is discoverable in tendency, not always in result.
It does not compel to action or thought just because somebody
else has done or thought, although these too may be included
in the term. It is stable, conservative, yet ever manifesting
in new ways. It is hard to discover, because it eludes us
like the spirit of things; yet the beauty of a work of art is
measured by its faithfulness to tradition, and hence, if we
would grasp the beauty of Indian music, we must study the
musical traditions of the people. For purposes of vital art-
in fact, for musical purposes-the line of immemorial traditioin,
as it is called in India, is the most fruitful one to pursue; for
* This hymn is in the 31st mode of the Southern Indian system. The
name of the rdga is Kaldvati.
t I use the term Indian instead of " Hindu," to denote the sum total of
musical influences which find their home in the land of modern India.
But Indian musical theory, it must be remembered, is mainly Hindu; for
strong as are Persian influences, coming through Muhammadan sources,
they are not wholly alien to the original Aryan tradition (vide H. H. Wilson's
", Ariana Antiqua," pp. 121-2).
Some Indian Conceptions of Music. 43
by its aid we discover that beneath the dead-letter of
theorists, buried deep beneath superstitious accietions,
plunged in the inertia of age, the stubbornness of ignorance,
the darkness of forgetfulness, a great musical art still persists
in India to-day.
Now the majority of Indian musicians, and the majority of
writers on Indian music, Eastern and Western, are inclined
to study rather the conventional than the traditional aspects
of the art. And convention, as we all know, is a corpse.
Hence, some critics are not wrong, from their point of view,
when, regarding this corpse of Indian music, they say: " The
art may have existed in the past, but it is dead now. What
we find has no practical bearing on modern art production.
India points us backward to her past, but we find no art of
music in her present." I submit, however, that such critics
are unaware of the existence of an Indian musical tradition,
in the sense in which I have here defined the term, and that
the attitude in which they approach the study is not likely to
help them to discover it. From an archaeological point
of view their work is certainly admirable; but we musicians
ask for more than that. We want living art. We cannot
find it in the mere records-however scholarly and, in their
own way, valuable- of dead or dying conventions.
It is perhaps natural that, confronted by the " ocean of
Indian music," as it has been called, most investigators should
not sense the inner life of the art, which, we must remember,
Indians themselves have well-nigh lost. But it is not there-
fore right that we or they should conclude that it does not
exist. Suppose for the moment we admit that a generation
or two ago the Pandits had lost hold on much of their sacred
literary tradition, would this be sufficient to prove that the
inner meaning was not there ? For some time past Western
as well as Eastern Sanskrit scholars have laboured to
establish the contrary. The same may be done in regard
Indian musical tradition also.
At the outset, however, we are faced with a difficulty,
which students of literature and of the other arts scarcely
encounter. The bulk of Indian music, both art and folk, has
been orally transmitted for ages. It is thought over here
that only folk-music can thus be handed down, traditional
oral transmission, applied to music, generally meaning with us
that it is not distinctively "art." But it is otherwise in the
East. Difference of race, difference of temperament, the
peculiar exigencies of Eastern music itself, make its complete
record in notation a fruitless task, excepting for occasional
purposes of study and analysis. Hence there are only a few
scattered systems of notation, which are clumsy and, from our
point of view, inadequate, and we are mainly dependent on
the disciple for an account of his master's work. If the
disciple fails us we lose that work. Take, for instance, the
case of Tyagarajayya. There is little doubt that he was
one of the supreme masters of music, but the modern records
of his compositions, both written and oral, are, ipso facto, not
enough to establish his authority. If disciples and notation
fail us, how then can we establish it ? In a case like this--
and there are many-we can form a pretty clear estimate of
the worth of the composer by working from the criteria
afforded by existing tradition, and by reading the notational
records in the light of our knowledge of musical facts of which
these meagre records will then furnish clear landmarks.
Fortunately, these facts are still to be discovered in modern
India, and traditional conservatism makes our task easier, too.
In Western music, such a method of recovery would be
impossible. If we had the faculty of memory developed to
the degree in which it is found even still in India, and if
Beethoven had not written down his music, how much of it
could we render accurately to-day ? Very little, for the simple
reason that Beethoven used no traditional ragas and tailas-
at any rate not named and recognisable by his fellow-musicians
-to guide us through his labyrinth. You will perhaps be
thinking that Beethoven is in any case more complex than, say,
Tyagarajayya, and that the two systems cannot therefore be
compared. To this I would reply, that if we put aside the
majority even of the current stories of Tyagarajayya, and if
we analyse the mere surviving skeletons of his songs in the
manner which I have just indicated, we still feel ourselves in
the presence of a giant. If added to this we consider the
microtonal:: and rhythmic complexity of modern and
comparatively inferior Indian utterances, we cannot be certain
that his were not in their way as complex as Beethoven's-
as complex, that is, in point for point of Indian traditional
usage, compared point for point with Beethoven's treatment
of Western materials; always bearing in mind that the outlined
record of rdga and tila, apart from the record of subsidiary
matters, is in itself an important clue to the whole of Indian
musical analysis, a matter which it would take me too far
from our subject adequately to deal with here. In judging
the old Indian composers, one thing we can declare with
certainty-that is, that enthusiasm for the study of music has
been until recently on the wane in India, and that most of
the finest works have therefore suffered. Of the productions
of India's greatest saints and composers-men like HaridAs
and Tansena, Str Das and Kabir, and many others, only
the merest outlines remain, and these will always be
incomprehensible so long as Western methods of analysis are
applied to them.
* I have had to coin this word to express the srutis. "Quarter-tone " is
a misnomer, since thirds of tones are found, and perhaps fifths also.
Smze Indian Conceptions of Music. 45
What, then, are the materials by which we may establish

the fact that music is still a living art in India? Not the
conventionalisms, if I may use the term, of the mass of
Indian musicians; not their disputes over the authenticity of
this note or that note of a raga ; not the woeful attempts to
copy brass bands and missionary hymns which we hear in
most Indian schools and households to-day; not the modern
Indian music-schools, wherein the pupils are carefully trained
out of their capacities for natural intonation, and their tonal
ideas are stifled by tempered pitch on screeching harmoniums;
not even the songs of the old composers, if they are taken
only on the evidence, ipso facto, of the remaining records.
We must look for our materials in an analysis of existing
records according to Indiari methods; in the beautiful
utterances of a few rare living artists; above all, in the
traditional beliefs about music which linger with passionate
persistence in the very heart of the people, which influence
all worthy modern developments, and which find occasional
outlet in the all-night musical ecstasies of devotees in the
temples or on the roadways; and in the inexpressibly lovely
songs of the folk, which, by their rhythmitonal complexity,
far in advance of ours-that is a point to note-suggest the
remains of a noble art, rather than the spontaneous expression
of untutored natures. If we have heard these artists, these
devotees, and these folk of India, and heard them at their best,
we must be convinced that the East can speak to us in music, as
it has spoken in philosophy, in poetry, and in religion. But
they are difficult to hear. Only real sympathy will unlock the
barriers between the musicians of the West and the East.
The traditional Indian beliefs about music are not mere
fanciful dreams. They are living, vital, and real. Most
Western investigators, and some modern Indians, have set
them aside as nebulous and without practical value in art.
To do this is totally to misinterpret the Indian viewpoint;
for religious beliefs underly even the technical methods of
the Hindu (which have been adopted, of course, by his
Muhammadan brothers)," reveal the purpose and object of his
works, and explain his otherwise inexplicable peculiarities
and mannerisms. A brief outline of some fundamental
aspects of these beliefs must here suffice.
In the Hindu Trinity, Shiva, the almighty destroyer and
regenerator, is, in one of his aspects, the father of all sound,
the power of the Word. His shakti, or co-equal feminine
nature, Gauri, is, in one of her aspects, the mystic embodi-
ment, the " sound-in-itself," of the Word. The feminine
aspect of Shiva is the universal prototype of tune ; Shiva
himself, of those time-patterns, or forms, which, together
with tune, constitute phrase-sections. Vishnu and his
* See footnote t, p. 42.
consort are, in their musical aspects, stanza and musical

formn generally (unfolding from rhythmic forms), and
melody (unfolding from tune). The goddess Sarasvati,
daughter of Brahma, is the primal embodiment of the Word
in the innermost nature of things: the embodiment of those
primal sound-idioms out of which all subsequent tunes and
melodies are built. Each being, each object, has its own
special inner mystic sound or name, triple in nature. The
totality of these are also exoterically called Sarasvati, the
Word incarnated in things, " the music of the spheres." She
is the personification of sound, the first differentiation of
universal sound, worshipped, by students especially, in the
form of a chaste and beautiful goddess.* The nature of
music reflects the destroying and regenerating nature of
Shiva-Gauri; for music, like Shiva, destroys our lesser
selves, so that from their ashes may arise the greater,
regenerated.t Hence Shiva-Gauri is especiaily regarded as
the supreme object of devotion for the musician. Shiva
becomes, exoterically, basic rhythm, or proportion in music.
The basic numerical values out of which kosmos is built,
(in one aspect the time-values out of which rhythm unfolds), are
given by Brahma, the First Person in order of manifestation
of the Trinity. Shiva creates rhythms by bringing about
the juxtaposition of these values. All life is a dance, a play,
the l1ld, and Shiva is the centre of the play, and is popularly
represented dancing and beating on his little drum called
damaru, else all would be chaos. The original time-iiioms
given by Brahma must be considered as elemental, primal,
simple. When manifested through Shiva, they take form,
complexity. This form or structure is popularly called htila;
but tila in the generic sense is really threefold: it consists
of value, idiom (Brahma); rhythm, the phrase built from
value (Shiva); and stanza, musical structure built from the
juxtaposition of phrases or time-proportions (Vishnu).
The same triplicity occurs in sound, which is popularly
called rdga, in one only of its aspects-tune-but really
consists of tonal idiom; tune (juxtaposition of idioms); and
melody (juxtaposition of theme-sections, &c.). Rdga, in the
general sense just alluded to, is really thought of as being
feminine. Most rdgas are, as a matter of fact, classified as
ra.iini, the
carries thevind,
suffix inti is
which being feminine. The
the instrument par goddess Sarasvati
excellence of tone
as distinguished from time. The pictorial representations of
feminine tone-patterns or ragini are innumerable. And when
we consider that these tone-patterns may be studied and used
* Compare Greek ideas about music in the training of the young.
t This of course is true of music regarded from the modern scientific
standpoint; sound-vibrations, if sufficiently strong, being at once
destructive of the non-harmonious, and harmoniously constructive.
in free improvisation, quite apart from time-patterns, we se

how clearly the Hindu associates rdga with the feminin
aspect of creation. Tdla is strength, and rag (in?) is grace,
and all the complexities of music can only be manifeste
through their union.::
It is chiefly in music, according to Hindu tradition, tha
the sages have revealed their communings with the Divine
Hence to be a true musician is to follow a high calling
Wherever the old belief in the holy mission of the musicia
has waned, music has fallen into disrepute. The rishi NArad
wandered on the banks of Gangaji with his vind, steeped i
the melodies of the seven spheres. The true musician will
follow in his footsteps. No prayer is complete without mus
in one form or another. The child is to be taught through
music; even grammar is learned in chanted poetry-indeed,
ingrained is this feeling, that in the more prosaic modern
surroundings we find Indian youths still endeavouring to
read newspaper sporting columns aloud with a kind of
rhythmic intonation. Amongst the most sacred Hindu books
the GAndhirva Veda is the Veda of those beings whose
special function it is to make music. The heaven regions
abound in nymphs or apsaras, who dance to the music of
the Gandhbrvas. And all these beings mean more than legend
to the Hindu musician, as we shall presently see. Who
could think of the young Sri Krishna without the flute which
wrought miracles whenever He played upon it ? A whole
song-tradition has developed in the Krishna country of
Brija Bhasha about Krishna and RAdha. But 1 must not
stop to sing a beautiful example in rdga Natachaya which
here comes to my mind, or I shall not have time to finish
even this rough general outline of our subject.
The most persistent and widespread of all Indian musical
traditions is perhaps that of the power and entity of raga
(with rdga I of course include rdgini). No true Indian artist
could doubt the miraculous powers of the rdgas. Have they
not cured the sick and brought rain in times of drought, or lit
temple lamps, and tamed wild beasts, and wrought many
wonders beside? Every true musician must have convinced
himself of the power of rdga. The rdga, as you know, is
popularly regarded as simply a tone-form, that is, an arrange-
ment of notes in which improvisations may be cast entirely
irrespective of time; and these tone-forms are numbered, it is
said, by thousands. (We must bear in mind the popular
distinction between " tune" and " melody," a vague reflection
* This musical theology, to which but brief allusion can here be made,
is indicated throughout Hindu mythology and tradition; but, apparently,
without sequence, and without the practical application which, upon
studying it, becomes so clear to the modern analytical musician.
of the triplicity just alluded to. The Indian will always
inquire: " In what tune are you going to sing this melody ?"
just as we might say, " What are going to be the prevailing
harmonies in which you are about to play ? "-his meaning
being: " In what arrangement of tones, considered irrespective
of time, will you perform ? ")
But to the Indian mind the word raga conveys also more
than a mere arrangement of notes. The whole of nature is
alive, ensouled, pulsating with purpose and being; and music,
most living of all, forms a great peopled world of its own in
the inner spheres, for which the musician is simply the
channel to the outer. This is the immediate ground-work on
which the whole Indian technical method is based; and that
method cannot be studied, and will yield no fruit, apart from it.
The rdgas and raginis are not mere names. They are real
beings, living in the subtler worlds, and they cannot manifest
on earth unless they are properly invoked, that is, unless the
arrangements of notes to which they lend their names are duly
performed. Hence the care with which the Indian musician
enunciates its raga before he begins a song, and his displeasure
if he hears someone putting in what is, to him, a wrong note.
Allowing for exaggerations and superstitions of all kinds, we
still find many rdagas which produce distinct and peculiar
psycho-physiological effects.* The principles of raga-and
also, as we shall see, of tdla--may indeed be the "missing
links" for which we have been searching in the latest develop-
ments of programme-music,-and searching, as yet, largely in
vain. To my mind, at least, raga and tcila have the very spirit
and power of "programme" in them, for they convey the
atmosphere which is sought for, but usually lacking, in the
quite modern Western programme-music. I have heard a
well-played rdga produce, with exquisite economy of material
and means, results to which many a tone-poem, with all the
elaboration of modern harmony and of the modern band, can
scarcely attain. Many of the rdgas and talas have an
indefinable but appreciable power, entity, even to Western
ears. They sound, indeed, more " modern" than anything of
that school which one has heard in the West, and one feels,.
moreover, that, handled by Western musicians, they could not
possibly sound alien. And this last would only be natural,
since the basis of our own culture is mainly Aryan. Ragd
and tdla do not express ideas-about-things, as do our classics;
nor extraneous things-in-themselves, as our Strausses and
* Absurd as this statement may sound, I make it in all seriousness, and

go even so far as to claim that for those who are interested in the investiga-
tion of psychic phenomena, the rdga opens up a new field. The superphysical
forms of the rdgas are of course believed in among all Hindus who have not
been too much affected by Western materialism, but patient experiment will
reveal them to anyone who will take the necessary trouble.
Debussys seek to do; but rather musical things-in-themselves:

they are not the musical embodiments of pistol shots,
and ticking clocks, and bleating sheep, and so forth,
but of nature-spirits, fairies, elves, entities, some of whose
habitations are, according to Indian theory and vital belief,
the various forms of music.
I do not, of course, intend to disparage our modern music,
and it is clear that on many points modern India has much to
learn from the West. But I do want to lay before you the
fact that, in spite of some Indians having turned away from
their own finest traditions, material still exists in India which
must influence our compositions-if westudyit sympathetically
-as naturally and as inevitably as Sanskrit literature has
influenced our writings, and that among this material none could
exercise a more inspiring influence on the latest phase of
Western music than the principles of rdga and tdla. For
Indian music is purely " programme," and it has been so for
ages. The Hindu conception of the materials of music, as
having a real and individual existence in the subtler regions
of life, has been developed in his system as far as it will go,
and truly he seems now to have created an inner world of
music, for the perfecting of which the Western outer world
is absolutely necessary. Our chief developments, on the
contrary, have until recently been in other directions; but
there are clear indications that modern musicians are
beginning to touch the East.* The problem of how these tw
worlds will ultimately unite is one which can only be solve
along lines of practical experiment.
Time or tila proves on analysis not to differ essentially, a
would at first appear, from our time. Here again there is
vital point of contact, and the root of the two cultures seem
to be identical. We count by the time-unit, in division
which are all equal to one another; in India the unit, o
mdtrd, also is recognised, and used mainly for analytic
purposes and filling-in stuff for drumming; but it is the
phrase-beat or pulse by which the Indian musician usually
counts. To him each kind of pulse is, as it were, the
reflection of a step in the Great Dance. It must be
dwelt upon and oft repeated, until the ecstasy of the lild
breaks upon the devotee. So important is this last idea, that
rhythmic outlines, each composed of several kinds of pulse,
are developed as an art by themselves-that is, quite apart
from tune. These outlines are provided by the tdlas, of which
there are endless varieties.t Now we must not confuse the
* See for instance an article by Reginald de Koven in the North

American Review, November, 1907, on " The Modern Revolt in Music."
t Needless to say that the idlas are usually allied with tune, but they can
also be studied as a separate art
art of tala with the mere tom-tommings of primitive peoples
and of the lower orders in India; for when we have heard a
really fine Indian drum solo, we cannot any longer feel that
time, as an art by itself, is barbarous. I always used to think
it was, until a Madrasi drummer convinced me of the contrary.
I only wish he were here now, when he would surely convince
you too!
Tdla is indicated by drumming, and by hand-motions. The
percussive art is carried to such perfection that it is not a
mere rapping and beating noise as, to Indian ears, ours
seems to be. It is by turns thuds, and sobs, and insinuating
rhythms, and wild orgies-anything that the artist wishes to
make of it, in fact. It fills up all the gaps in melodies; it
holds the players together; it fights and fumes, or praises and
glories, or prays and aspires, bringing them at last to the
state of consciousness in which ordinary terrestrial values
have no existence. No Indian music, in fact, is complete
without tila, and no tala without the drums.
I will give you some tila outlines-mere outlines-for
to play tabla:* takes lifelong practice.
[Taking up the drums, Mrs. Mann said:]
These drums have, when in order, varieties of tone-colour.
I cannot find anyone in London to put them in order for me,
but still, I will do what I can with them. The nature of the
large one may be described as positive, that of the small one
as negative; in other words, Mr. and Mrs. Drum-that is, of
course, according to the strictly exoteric Eastern idea ! These
instruments are usually described by two names, one masculine
and one feminine, and the names differ in most provinces.
There are several qualities of tone in each-clear, cloudy, and
strident. Mrs. Drum shadows Mr. Drum in all his wanderings.
The result is charming! Indian drums are well worth study
by Western composers, and would provide them with an entirely
new and varied range of tonal colour. The various kinds of
accents, syncopations, and so on, are given by different kinds
of thuds-i.e., the quality of each thud expresses the nature
of the accent, and the different kinds of accents are innumerable.
All this, of course, I cannot demonstrate to you. Even silence
is expressed by a peculiar movement of the whole left hand on
" Mrs. Drum," called khali, the effect of which is thrilling
and absolutely unique. The fingers and palms-not sticks-
are used for playing, and every gradation of force is employed,
from molto pianissimo to fortissimno. There are many varieties
of drum besides these, several of which possess delicious
subtleties of tone, but the tabla are oftenest employed to
accompany singers.
* A variety of Indian drum, consisting of a pair.
Here are several kinds of tala--just the main outlines,

without tonal variety or embellishment,:#
Rudratdla:
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 xo
II 12 13 14 15 x6 17 x8 19 20
I have heard servant-boys beatin

we consider that twenty units form
the complex distribution of the accent
of practice, not mere theory, we c
" barbarous tom-tomming." The leng
sufficient indication of its advan
evolution.
Here is another, a variety of the tala called
Brahma :
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 1o xx 12 13 14 15
Another-
Jhampa Tdla (South Indian):
S2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1o
0 .....0...................
Another form of the same:
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 xo
The melody is sung with this

playing through it.
[Example given, portion o
" Parithanam."]
* Meaning of signs: - strong pulse; - weak pulse. The
numbers refer to the number of mdtrds, or equal divisions of time, in a
"bar." Each of these examples represents one " bar." 0 represents
the "closed," empty, khali effect, which continues to the end of dots
The perpendicular line is another kind of weak accent. When
conducting, the singer usually expresses these accents as follows:
--- right palm clapped (with or without noise) on left. - A finger
of right hand tapped gently on the left palm. He begins by the little
finger, and works on to the first, one finger to each beat; then, if
necessary, back to the little finger. In 7hartta tdla, for instance, at O
the fingering
thrown would
out from be: 4,
the left 3, 2,
palm x, the
into 4, 3-
air.I Khali
Indicates the right
is usually handin
indicated
conducting by a noiseless, persuasive pressure of the right on the
left palm.
One of the most beautiful is a tala with seven mditrs, in a

folk-song in the scale Mdya MAlava Gaula, to the words
Sankara Sambhu Shiva. (Please remember that I am onl
giving you the bare outlines of these tdlas. It would need
expert at drumming to give you the complex details and tonal
variety.) The time-pattern used for this song conveys its
own atmosphere of peace and blessing. [Example given.]
There are hundreds of these time-patterns, and most o
them are beautiful. Each has its special emotional signi-
ficance, and the great point to remember is that most must be
tasted long to be enjoyed. The monotony of tila may of
course be overdone; and here is where Western influences
would act as a corrective. On the other hand, to the Indian
mind our system of ever-changing accents is too restless to
create "atmosphere," excepting perhaps that of struggle.
There is some truth in this, too, if we study our rhythm from
the standpoint of the East. Its beauty is often the beauty
of anguish.
The fact that first drew my attention to the underlying
unity between our ideas of time and the Indian conception of
tdla, was that when analysing the time outlines of Western
compositions I observed that it was usually best done by
means of tala. Some of the most popular and ancient tdlas, in
fact, are carried out beat for beat in our classics; so that the
knowledge of idla may become a genuine key to accent in
Western phrasing. One example must here suffice: the opening
theme of the Adagio from Beethoven's Pianoforte and Violin
Sonata, Op. 30, No. I; but many others are scattered through
our classics. Indeed, if one begins experimenting with the tdlas
in Western time-analysis, one discovers identity of structure
everywhere. The Adagio, as you will remember, is in common
time. In phrasing it according to its tala, we would make
two bars of four beats each into one of eight beats-in other
words, four phrase-sections instead of eight bars. Beethoven,
in fact, has done this, although he has written in the con-
ventional bar-lines for common time. The four sections would
be exactly equivalent to four adi-dilas. I will beat them to you:
T4la adi.
*p Adagio cantabile.
x X x x
rcres.
S! i 0 - x I
S1 ,
cres. cres.
p -1
Even the sforzando, which Beethoven has marked in this

phrase, falls on the climax of the taila called sam. So
complete is the likeness between the phrase-feeling of the
great master and that of ancient India, that even the khali
of this tdla is in strict accord with Beethoven's feeling. If
I had time, I would give you more complex examples. I can
only remark here, in passing, that adi-tdla and rupaka tala
(rupaka is -- - - - ; it should be remembered
that the tdla may begin on any of these beats, thus makin
varieties of pattern in each tala) are most commonly foun
in our classics. More complex talas, equally common in Indi
we do not find so perfectly worked out here, though the
presence may be discovered also. East and West meet,
absolutely and literally, in many of our classics, in every
detail of accent and phrasing.
One question arises out of the study of tdla : since many
tfilas can be shown to be a synthetic enunciation of the prin-
ciples of time-phrasing, were the tailas given--revealed-by the
Rishis and sages of old, as Hindus claim, or were they evolved
in the far past as we have evolved our rhythms? If evolved, then
the artists who made them must have been very great indeed.
The modern world cannot show that it has evolved anything
intrinsically better, for the finest rhythmic things we have done
* x means pulses, both in the idla and in Beethoven's rhythm-main and
subsidiary. V is sam, the chief accent in a phrase or stanza, and an
important part of tdla. A comparison of the following tdla with the
example will show how perfect is the identity. Adi tdla
- __- I lI
are usually vindications of tala principles. True, we have added

our own contributions to these basic Aryan conceptions of
rhythm; but whilst many have remained unelaborated in India,
matty more have remained undiscovered in Europe, and against
our modern experiments in rhythm-I use "modern " in the
sense of the last five-hundred years-we have to place a
theory perfect and complete in smallest detail and as living
in India still, in its entirety, as the example I have just given
is in the work of a modern master. What we ask is, whence
this science ?*
In teaching a musical phrase, the Indian does not bother
about the units of time (mndtrds) which do not fall on its
pulses.f He teaches the pulses first, and lets the pupil
question about the units afterwards, taking advantage of the
inborn sense of rhythmic " swing" or pattern, to impress the
principles of phrasing. This method greatly simplifies
phrasing; for it is much easier to hang a phrase on to a time-
pattern which is already grasped, than to count it out in small,
equal beats, and look for the time-pattern afterwards! And
of course one can always make a new tdla to suit one's need-
as the great poet-musician Rabindranath Tagore has lately
done: so that tala is not rigid, as it may at first appear.
The Indian composer decides-nowadays generally un-
consciously-upon the main accentual swing of his work,
and builds his tdla thereupon. Some object to any departure
from the conventional in tala. But the principle, the living
tradition of tfala, demands no rigid adherence to a stereotyped
pulse. The tradition enjoins only keeping to a pulse when
it is found, and even that, only until its emotional end has
been attained.
It is the teaching of time-patterns instead of metronome ticks
to Indian children which has helped them to gain their
extraordinary control of rhythln. It is a great pity that we
are now trying to tie them down to metronomes and other
machines. British musicians ought to look upon it as an
Imperial duty to war against this kind of thing, and surely
they would if they knew the facts. Musicians of all countries
might surely unite to protest against the modern exploitation
of Eastern cultures by mere commercial enterprise.
The arts of dancing and gesticulation are included under the
general Sanskrit name for music, sangita. Motion is part of
* I cannot agree with Captain Day's statement (" The Music of Southern
India," p. zo) that " the theoretical part of Hindu music when compared with
that of Europe is naturally very simple, as it treats entirely of simple melody
and measure." Anyone who himself tries to produce rdga and tdla
according to Hindu theoretical standards must at once discover the
complexity of the art.
t The pulses fall on the horizontal strokes. There would be three in
adi, and two in rupaka tdlas, and so on.
music, as light of the sun. Every good musician is therefore

expected to be a conductor. He only conducts a few people,
certainly, but he puts into that work. enough art to direct a
band. The art of conducting is, in fact, carried to great
perfection. Force and expressiveness, combined with economy
of movement, are found in the mudras, or hand-postures, by
which various psychological states are definitely symbolized.
This art is not only acquired by singers and nautch-girls. I
have seen amateurs exercising it unconsciously. One asks
oneself how an art of conducting could have become so
ingrained as to be sub-conscious, without ages of practice of
some kind, unless indeed it was given to the people by their
Rishis and teachers, as tradition tells. One would
like to see Western conductors using the mudras, and
teaching modern Indians in turn to put their powers to
wider uses in the orchestra and choir. Why should we not
have some adaptation of the mudras in our conducting, since
Aryan culture, as we know, is not alien to our race ? The
mudras are, in fact, no more alien to our system of conducting
than are the tdlas to our principles of rhythm. It can be
shown that tdla is very modern; why not the ways of
expressing it also ?
Coming now to the modes, we find mode developed instead
of key. Mode being stronger and more atmospheric than
key, it is not changed so often. The Indian artist will play in
the same mode and on the same key-note for hours, until he
and his listeners are fully under its spell.* The mode or
mi&akarta is the complete septenary scale, and as many as
seventy-two me'lakartas are recognised in Southern India.
But, as our knowledge of scale-evolution would lead us to
expect, the milnakarta is found only in comparatively modern
classifications-a matter of convenience for the student of
rtga, rather than of natural musical law. According to the
Southern t.heory, ragas are derived from mrnlakartas, and for
practical purposes this theory works well enough, though we
all know that the-" tune " is the parent of the scale ! Tonic
and dominant are fixed, like ours, in the milas. In the first
* It is true that modern musicians often exaggerate this concentration

and deaden, rather than enthral, their listeners. But before sweeping
aside as monotonous the system which they profess to represent, we have
to ascertain whether monotony is really part of that system, or is due
to inertia and convention. I have not as yet come across any dogmatic
assertion in any authority on Hindu music as to the necessity for remaining
in one rdga until everyone is tired of it. On the contrary, according to the
noblest traditions of the art, the musician is expected always to know the
psychological moment at which to change his rdga, and this I have heard
accomplished on several occasions with fine results. Studied from the
deeper traditional viewpoint, then, rdga becomes as free as key, though
it is inevitable that it should not usually be changed as often as the latter,
since the genius of mode does not demand it.
thirty-six the subdominant is #, and in the last thirty-six

it is . Here is an example of a mi4la and of a raga "derived"
from it :
Mla MAdya Mdlava Gaula (15th Mode. Note the

signature; keynote is C).
~r~v~1 __ j
Rdga Lalita, ' der
XNIZ - --d
-- - --m . .... t i, f
As in the system of tila, so also in rdga we find immense
variety of treatment, in spite of the apparent rigidity of
form. There are hundreds of different ragas : many rdgas
are classified
developed as isunder each
ours in me.la. The
harmony, system
and, is as
like that offully
tala,
susceptible of ever new and fresh treatment.
You will recognise the idioms of the above raga in this kriti
" Sitamma Mayamma," a devotional song by Tyagarajayya
in taila Rupaka.
[Example given.]
It is of the utmost importance to study the outline of a
rdga carefully before singing in it. If we render Indian
songs according to preconceived Western ideas of melodic
outline, we are almost certain to hear nothing in them. We
miss the peculiarities oi the rdga, and so miss all. That is
why it is necessary to write them down, not as translations
into the Western language of music, but exactly as we hear
them. In " Sitamma MAyamma," for example, we would
probably write the first phrase in the key of F minor, in
8 time, with the accents as here given:
--i-
---=---=-_- -
--+: -=-J
icr w.__o ---
Rendered thus, the "atmosphere " of the raga and tala is
destroyed. The idiom of the rdga is completely obliterated.
Most Indian melodies have hitherto been thus mutilated in
our notation. To bring out the peculiarities of the rdga, we
should write or sing it with the accents differently distributed.
Its accents occur off the time-pulse much more frequently than
do ours. The main business of the singer is to look after the
rdga-outline, the scheme of tone as distinct from that of time.
It is the drummer who reminds the listener of the time-outline,
and by this device, simple as it seems, the full beauty of each
is developed to the uttermost, and the total effect is certainly
not one of a primitive art. The tclas and rdgas are, in fact,
much too complex in themselves to be combined in any other
way-with rare exceptions, which are provided for in this
ocean of musical science. The difference of accentual
treatment between the rdga and the tdla is one of the
salient points in the Hindu system, and very apt to be
misunderstood. It lends concentration and strength to even
slender materials.
Returning to the example just given, we would hear this
song, not in the key of F minor, but in a mode built upon the
tonic C, and not in 6 time, but in tala-rupaka (4+ 2), and the
accents in the melody would come like this: *
Imj
Am V dill. *
The finest Wester

rhythmic and me
Studies for the v
India, and tanam in the South, are handed down from
generation to generation. Here is one for rdga Aiman
Kalyan.
[Example given.]
Another for rdga Khamic :
[Example given.]
These are, as it were, the " figured-bass" exercises of the
Indian student.
Instrumental technique is helped by language; the various
instruments and fingerings having their special " dialects " and
* Compare the accents and expression marks in this example with the
outline of the rdga itself, p. 56.
6 Vol. 38
syllables. This is a great help to beginners, who learn

fingering by ear more than by eye, thus getting extra training
for the organ most needed in the pursuit of their art. The
systems of technique by language are very ancient, and
numerous, scattered throughout the country.
[Mrs. Mann here gave some examples of the "language"
of drum-fingering.]
The microtones do not really belong to the scheme of modes
at all. The great antiquity of the vlnd, the arrangement of
the frets of which is in semitones, seems to carry out the
belief held by modern Indian musicians that the srutis, in so
far as they are not the main notes of a mode, have always
been treated as graces, and not as belonging to modes or ragas
proper.* Our ordinary just intonation is what is used in the
modes, with some few exceptions, which, when not due to
pitch-freedom of purely melodic rdgas, are more the result of
convention or ignorance than anything else. The best modern
musicians work in just intonation-with the exceptions
just alluded to-unless the introduction of Western keyed
instruments has ruined their sense of pitch, a musical
devastation which is proceeding rapidly in modern India.
All my own observations go to show, that however far they
may wander from just intonation when singing without
accompaniment, they invariably attain it in concerted music.
Here again the best artists of India and Europe are at one.
Occasionally one may hear a microtone in place of a parent-
or modal-note, where the microtone, which is really only an
embellishment, has been so much dwelt upon as to have
obliterated the memory of its parent-note' altogether. But
generally speaking, microtones are grouped about the notes
of the mode as graces, and after a little ear-training they can
be distinguished as notes subsidiary to the mode.
There are disputes as to the number of microtones. Most
authorities are agreed on twenty-two.t So far as my own
experiments have gone, this seems to agree in the main with the
prevailing intonation. I find that twenty-two srutis work in
with all those songs I have been able to write down, both
Northern and Southern. In these twenty-two are included the
mode-notes themselves, excepting in those intervals between
mode-notes where we can put thirds of tones. When one
wishes to use microtonal embroidery between such intervals,
one discards the semitone for the time being. I will sing you
* Sce, for instance, A. M. Chinnaswami Mudaliyar, " Oriental Music," pp. X2,
XII., 13, 32. "No quarter-tones exist, as such, in the Dravidian scheme of
t~ilas or modes." "Academy of the Divine Art " by the same author.
t In actual musical practice the number is not a matter of importance,
where microtones are used as graces. One more or less here and there
may render the theorist hot in dispute, but is a matter of complete
ndifference to the performer i
these twenty-two microtones, and also a portion of a song

with and without them, so that you may hear how they fill in
the melody.
[Here followed a scale of microtones ascending and
descending and portion of a kirtanamn in Raga Kambodi,
Mela 29, " Koniadina na pai nee."]
Hitherto microtones seem to have taken the place of
harmony in the East; but in India to-day there is a growing
desire for harmony as we conceive of it in the West. There
is no doubt, however, that the wholesale adoption of Western
harmony would be as destructive to Indian music as the
wholesale use of rdga would be to ours. We musicians of the
West should therefore do all we can to prevent the mere
imitation of our methods; for some Indians are already
beginning to look to us for guidance, and the responsibility
will be ours. The best way to convince ourselves of the
futility of applying conventional harmony to Indian music is
to try to harmonize rdgas strictly on Western lines. Yet there
is no reason why the principles of consonance should not be
combined with those of rdiga, for chords are many of them only
synthesised ragas. The feeling for chord can indeed easily
become appreciation of raga, for fundamentally they are not
irreconcilable. That fact opens a vast field to the musician
of the future. Not all ragas, however, could be harmonized,
but some of them suggest exquisite combinations. In Miya
Mllava Gaula, for instance, we get progressions like this,
without taking any notes chromatic to the mode:
Keynote C. (Play over the scale to familiarize yourself with
its intervals.)
-_ _
The subject
with it, and w
in passing, ho
rdga, and tha
should have t
treated chro
would merely
is quite poss
Modulation,
carefully used
rdga, depends
Again, effe
60 Some Indian Conceptions of Mustc.
Western harmonic progressions, become beautiful under raga

treatment, where the traditional sustained bare outlines in
the accompaniment throw the "programme" into stronger
relief. By this I do not mean that we could jangle fifths, for
instance, in mere dull repetition in the pseudo Oriental
way one sometimes hears nowadays in the West, but that
rdga and the subtle timbre of Indian instruments allow of
progressions and treatment which in Western music would be
hideous. Played on the pianofore they are as a rule hideous,
and then we condemn the Eastern art! They must be heard
on vind or sdrenghi, on tambara, tabla and shanai-and in just
intonation, of course.
A mine of information--or rather of suggestion-exists in
the Sanskrit musical treatises, which I regret I cannot read in
the original. Since a great art has been built upon these ancient
theories, might not their revival and study be of some practical
value in our own musical education? It does not matter to
the real enthusiast that he should encounter in many
directions half-heartedness about their own culture, and an
almost general contempt for music as a profession, amongst a
certain class of modern Indians with whom he may come into
contact. If he has had the slightest proof of the existence of
fine music anywhere, however it may appear to differ from
his own, he is bound to labour until he brings it before his
fellow-musicians. There is a real need for expert translations
of Sanskrit treatises, and I plead here for a widening of our
musical horizon, and submit to you that, speaking musically,
not merely archaeologically, it is worth our while.
I will now give you examples of three favourite types of
song-the bhajan, the kirtanam, and the varanam. This
bhajan is from Benares. Briefly, the bhajan is a simple
devotional song in Rondo form.
[Example given: Hindu song, " Bara, BAra."]
The kirtanam is of more elaborate structure, being in
three parts-pallavi, anupallavi, and charanam. We would
probably call the second and third " episodes." The parts
are treated with variation, and a kind of subsidiary episode
is sometimes introduced. This last resembles a tutti passage
in a concerto. In fact, this feeling for tutti comes out clearly
in various forms, and is most interesting, revealing a perfect
mastery of materials. Though often (not always) miniature,
it is in its own way highly evolved, i.e., from the standpoint
of the development of the raga and of rhythms* which have
been already enunciated. The tutti frequently ends by being
joined by the soloist in a glorified recapitulation of the main
* See Shiva and Rhythm, pp. 45, 46. I have analysed these forms in
detail elsewhere.
subject, for all the world like Haydn and Mozart! The way
in which the different idioms of the rdgas are developed in
these episodes proves the songs to be definite artistic
creations, and not mere meanderings in sound, as we may be at
first inclined to imagine.
I will now give an example of a South Indian kirtanam-
' Parithanam Ichchithe Pilinthuv6mo," words and music by
Patnam Subramanya Iyer, tidla hampa, Mishra 4Jti, i.e.,
2+3+2+3= xo. Mila Dhlrasankarabharanam, rdga Bilahari.
The rdga is:
~at~--~E~b~i~ -?e
[Example given.*]
Here is a kirtanam in another raga, without a tutti
passage, by the great Tyagarajayya: Tdla adi (or Triputa),
Chaturushra 7dti, i.e., 4+2+ 2 = 8. Mela Harikambodi, rdga
Mohanam. The rdga is:
1 --
[E
Va
va
sa
in
R
Aft -
[A love-so
T6di, Nattha Bhairavi, and Maya Milava Gauli were
employed, was next given as a fine example of modulation
according to Indian notions. Then a Bengali love-song, by
Rabindranath Tagore, "Hridaya Shoshi," in rdga Aiman
Kalyan, and a religious song, " Thumiri G6ne," by the same
author, as examples of the living tradition in modern times.]
* In most of these examples the outline of the t4la was beaten throughout
on the tabla with the left hand, and the tambura accompaniment or drone
was kept up by the right hand, whatever the tala, in the following time:
_ LL "' Ietc.
India abounds in folk-songs. Here is a vast field almost

unexplored. The characteristic which chiefly distinguishes
the Indian folk utterances from ours is the free employment
of improvisation in rdga. Here we come upon something
quite extraordinarily beautiful: the wandering devotee, the
man returning home at night from the temple, the woman
grinding corn on the doorstep, pour out their souls in bird-
like melody, which utterly eludes us as we try to write it
down. Such improvisation baffles the chronicler, but it is
the soul of Indian music. The people improvise in a
somewhat incoherent way; the trained artist does so in
forms expanded from the examples you have heard this after-
noon, and he is as definite and as conscious as we are when
writing down our ideas.
In earlier times, Muhammadan fanaticism well-nigh
destroyed Hindu music; but the Persian culture which the
Muhammadans helped to diffuse mingled, as years went on,
with that of its Hindu parent,* and both were strengthened
and beautified.
[An example of a Northern thumri in rdga Pile, " Raghubir
thuma ko hai mbri lAj," was given to illustrate this point.]
The Indian artist does not practise six hours a day, unless
he wants to-which he seldom does! He prefers the way of
meditation, and we must admit that he attains to good results.
He goes in for elaborate meditations to gain control of breath,
&c. In this connection we discover a fine tradition hidden
beneath the ugly modern Indian convention of singing
through the nose. In the Kathopanishad the verse occurs:
"'Tis neither by up-breath (nor yet) by down-breath
that any mortal doth live. 'Tis by another men live, on
which both these depend."
This other, or etheric breath (the breath of prana as the
Hindu would term it), is supposed to be found and used by
the Indian singer, and those who have cultivated it say that
it resides in the head. Now this seems perhaps to be a
clumsy way of putting it; and we have of course no ordinary
proof that there exists such a second breath. Yet we
occasionally find men singing on and on with almost no change
of breath, in a state of semi-ecstasy, and producing a
beautiful tone which is scarcely nasal at all. I heard one of
these singers in Benares three years ago. From an ordinary
technical point of view his performance was inexplicable.
Squatting calmly on the floor, and with no apparent effort,
he improvised for some three hours, with sustained, inaudible
breathing such as might have baffled our Wagnerian artists,
and in passage work which would have taxed a fiddler. His
* See S. S. Wilson's " Ariana Antigua," pp. 121-2, 125.
Somie Indian Conceptions of Music. 63
range was immense, some two and a-half octaves; his
command of force, from pianissimo tofortissimo, seemed without
limit; and withal, the main quality of his voice was heavy
baritone! It is of course only a rare artist who can follow
the method of the " head-breath" ; and all the failures, in their
attempts to gain it, get no further than an ugly yawl in their
noses. Thus the convention of nasal singing has probably
arisen, and the masses now follow it, believing it be their
"' immemorial tradition." And we must condemn it, for it is
certainly hideous. But we may also thank the Indian
peoples for the tenacity which has preserved to these days
the landmarks at least by which we are enabled, if we will,
to re-discover their nobler ideals.
I hope I have succeeded in convincing you that the study
of the Indian viewpoint may be of artistic value to Western
musicians. Long as I have spoken, and patiently as you have
listened, it has been impossible to give you more than a mere
glimpse into a vast subject; but from what you have heard
you will perhaps have gathered that our field of harmony
is far from exhausted; that the writer of modern " programme"
music-even if at times it is grotesque-is reaching out
towards musical forms which may lead him suddenly into the
archaic theosophic tradition of the Aryan race; that if we can
teach much to India, India may, in turn, teach us how to
teach; that there may be more things in music than we or our
Eastern brothers have dreamed of-things which will only
come to birth when the peoples of the East and of the West
search for them together; and that our orchestras, to be
complete, may still need the tones of the vind and of the tabla,
and our hearts, to be full, the melodies of the East.
DISCUSSION.
THE CHAIRMAN, in proposing a vote of thanks to M

said: This subject has been presented to us with
skill and capacity that we have been delighted to lis
one feels from what we have heard how disastrous it would be
if our Indian brethren were to try to adopt our English
Anglican, our European, music. It is very desirable indeed
that music in India should remain in its purity, that it should
be conserved as much as possible. It suits the people, the
climate, the place. It is music from heaven just as much as
is our own; and therefore it is very desirable that they should
cultivate it to the fullest extent, preserve it in its integrity;
and we ourselves think we have perfection in music in the
diatonic scale, which we use so thoroughly and so well. We
know that scale is the outcome of practical experiment of
three thousand years; for I believe that Aristotle knew
the diatonic scale and used it. Then it fell into disuse,
and the short scales familiar to us in the Gregorian chant
came into use, only at length to be superseded in turn by the
popular diatonic. Music, of course, is universal; but it has
many dialects. We have heard to-night one of those dialects
in a discourse on Indian music ; and we recognise its beauties,
though perhaps we are not able to appreciate them as we
should.
Dr. SOUTHGATE.-There is little time for much discussion
of a very interesting Paper which, I venture to say, will be
not one of the least worthy to add to our volumes of
" Proceedings." May I remind members that some eighteen
years ago a Paper was read before us on "Indian Music " by
Captain Day, author of that magnificent book, "The Music of
the Deccan." He lost his life in the Boer War in going to
bring in one of his wounded soldiers. Whilst doing this he was
shot and killed; his death was a great loss to music. His
Paper on " Indian Music " was, I think, read at the Royal
Academy of Music, for we were meeting there at that time,
and he had the music played to us by the son of the Chief
Musician of the Gaekwar of Baroda, who was studying in
England then, and played the Vina. I remember we were
captivated by the beautiful and expressive music, so' curious
and new to us. If members, especially those who are
composers, are anxious to see what the Ragas are like, or to
know more about them, they might turn back to that Paper.
They will there find all the Raga scales set out with the
precise intervals, so that one can study them, and if desired
write them down in our own notation and compose according
to their order of intervals. Our lecturer said that she
regretted she was not able to study Indian works of mus
their own language. May I remind her that in his lectu
Captain Day said that a great work on Sanskrit music,
most extraordinary and remarkable work, written before th
birth of Christ, had come into the hands of a French savant
and that it had been translated into modern French, which
could be examined. [The work alluded to is the " BhArata
ShAstra." It has been translated with a commentary on the
Sanskrit text by M. Grosset, of Lyons: "Contribution a
1'Etude de la Musique Hindoue," Paris, Leroux, 1888.] I
have nothing further to add, except to echo our Chairman's
vote of thanks to the lecturer for the interesting music she
has given us. I do not know how it is that, notwithstanding
her Western tonality, yet she could sing these peculiar
intervals; however, she has been able to give us this Indian
music, and doubtless to sing it correctly. But Mrs. Mann
is evidently an enthusiast, and enthusiasm joined with
perseverance generally succeeds. She has presented to us a
remarkably interesting exhibition of Indian music; we thank
her warmly for it.
The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation.
Mrs. MANN.-Thank you very much for your kind
appreciation. Apropos of what our chairman said in regard
to the scales of India, I might remark that the scale we love
so much, the diatonic scale, has been one of the most used
modes of South India for many, many hundreds of years;
indeed, it is said in India that the mode was carried thence
to Greece by Pythagoras. I do not know how true that may
be, but that is the tradition. Thank you !

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Some Indian Conceptions of Music

Author(s): Mrs. Maud Mann (Maud MacCarthy)

W. H. CUMMINGS, ESQ., Mus. Doc.,

SOME INDIAN CONCEPTIONS OF MUSIC.

BY MRS. MAUD MANN (MAUD MACCARTHY

ANUPALLAVI (Second part).

I am taking for our study this afternoon a brief survey of

What, then, are the materials by which we may establish

consort are, in their musical aspects, stanza and musical

in free improvisation, quite apart from time-patterns, we se

* Absurd as this statement may sound, I make it in all seriousness, and

Debussys seek to do; but rather musical things-in-themselves:

* See for instance an article by Reginald de Koven in the North

* A variety of Indian drum, consisting of a pair.

Here are several kinds of tala--just the main outlines,

I have heard servant-boys beatin

The melody is sung with this

One of the most beautiful is a tala with seven mditrs, in a

Even the sforzando, which Beethoven has marked in this

are usually vindications of tala principles. True, we have added

music, as light of the sun. Every good musician is therefore

* It is true that modern musicians often exaggerate this concentration

thirty-six the subdominant is #, and in the last thirty-six

Mla MAdya Mdlava Gaula (15th Mode. Note the

Rdga Lalita, ' der

icr w.__o ---

The finest Wester

syllables. This is a great help to beginners, who learn

these twenty-two microtones, and also a portion of a song

Western harmonic progressions, become beautiful under raga

India abounds in folk-songs. Here is a vast field almost

* See S. S. Wilson's " Ariana Antigua," pp. 121-2, 125.

THE CHAIRMAN, in proposing a vote of thanks to M

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