Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study c5: Prelude
Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study c5
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Prelude
c5.1
FROM the dawn of history, ever since mankind started on its journey along the path of progress and civilization, music has had a very special charm for the human mind. It can very well be called the magic of sound, and it has always been a very important element in the culture of all civilized tribes and races. We know very well that the different moods and temperaments of different tribes and races have been very largely moulded by the physical surroundings and climatic conditions of the regions, inhabited by them. The phlegmatic and stolid inhabitants of cold and bleak regions, the gay and light-hearted children of the sunny south of Europe, the fiery tribes of the deserts with their fierce love and hate, the splendour-loving people of the gorgeous tropics are all, literally speaking, children of the soil they inhabit. Their moods and temperaments are reflected in their music in which their heightened emotions try to find an outlet. Almost unutterable woe and grief, the deep and tranquil happiness of sacred life, the ordinary pleasures and pains, love and hatred, martial ardour, call to duty, are all sought to be given expression to in the music of different tribes and races in different ways and according to their character and temperaments.
c5.2
Thus, we find, diversity in the music of different peoples of the world. But it seems very probable that beneath the diversity, there is an under-current of unity. The Vedānta philosophy says that the soul of humanity is one though seemingly different in different bodies. An analytical as well as comparative study of the Indian music will therefore be a useful step in that direction. It can at least be hoped that such a study will lead us to music which will appeal to all nations and tribes of the Aryan stock. To Indian musicians it is also necessary to preserve the continuity of progress and evolution.
c5.3
There is a vast scope for improvement of Indian music through the adaptation of the Western technique of harmony, specially in orchestration. Many types of rāgas may find their fuller realization and attain greater richness in the Western orchestration. One can see a glimmer on the horizon of the dawn of an era of such synthesis of the Western and Eastern systems of music. But the composers of such synthetic music must have a clear perception of the spirit of the Oriental music, so that their composition may also retain its Oriental character and glamour.