The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c12.81

c12.81

Preface.—A general view of the plan and contents of the work. Introduction.—Music; its power on the human mind. That of Hindustan. The opinion of the natives with respect to their ancient musicians. How a knowledge of it may be acquired. Not generally liked by Europeans. Reasons assigned for this. Native opinion with regard to its lawfulness. Musical instruments. Relation of music to poetry considered. Progress of music in Hindustan. The manner of life which should be led to ensure eminence in this science. Causes of its depravity. Date of its decline. The similarity which the music of this country seems to bear to that of Egypt and Greece. How a knowledge of the music of Hindustan might conduce to a revival of that of those countries. Comparisons offered. Whether the natives of Greece or Hindustan had made greater progress in music. Comparisons decide in favour of the latter. Hindostanee Music.—What it is termed in the original. The treatises held in the greatest estimation. Native divisions. What, and how many. The arrangement adopted in this work. Of the Gamut.—What it is called; the derivation of the word. The sub-divisions of tones. Resemblance of these to the Greek diesis. Opinions of Dr. Burney and Mr. Moore on the enharmonic genus. Names of the seven notes. Origin of these. The Gamut invented by Guido and Lemaire. Dr. Pepusch. *S'ruti*. *Of Time.*—The various measures used in Europe. Difference between them and those of Hindustan. Their resemblance to the rhythm of the Greeks. Similarity between the Greek and Sanskrit languages. The Hebrew unmusical, likewise the Arabic. Melody and metre considered. Tartini's objections against metre endeavoured to be controverted. The dignified prose in Sanskrit and tongues derived from it. Its superiority to the Oordoo. Probable origin of the modern musical measure. Tartini's deductions of measure from the proportions of the octave and its fifth opposed to the practice of Hindustan. Whether the rhythmical or the musical measure possesses greater advantages. Opinion hazarded thereon. Time table. Characters for expressing time. Their varieties. *Of Harmony and Melody.*—The origin of harmony in Europe. Opinions of several learned men on the subject of harmony with that of the author. Claims of melody. *Of Oriental Melody.*—Not generally susceptible of harmony. Limited to a certain number. Its character. *Of Rags and Ráginis.*—The general acceptation of the terms supposed to be incorrect. Reasons offered why they are limited to season and time. The Ragmála. Absurdity of limiting tunes to seasons. Division of the Rags and Ráginis into classes. Rules for determining the names of the mixed Ráginis. Table of compounded Rags. The Ragmála copiously described. *Of Musical Instruments.*—Their present state susceptible of much improvement. Their classification. Detailed description of the several instruments now in use. *Of the various species of Vocal Compositions of Hindustan.*—Twenty different species described. *Of the peculiarity of Manners and Customs in Hindustan to which allusions are made in their song.*—Its characteristic nature. Reasons assigned for several of them which now no longer exist, and examples produced. Brief account of the most celebrated musicians of Hindustan. Glossary of the most useful musical terms.