The Music of Hindostan c11.83

c11.83

But it must not be thought that every melody necessarily contains the typical phrase of the Rāg. In India, as in Europe, the rules are ‘the obedient humble servants’ of the composer; he obeys them, of course, but in the spirit, not the letter, just as the best sculptor’s work approximates most nearly to, but never exactly coincides with, the nine-unit or ten-unit or other system which the case may require; or, as we ourselves should maintain, while a given chord has its typical resolution, yet that music is chiefly to be prized which in obeying this ‘rule’ manages still to say something new that, when closely examined, really disobeys it.