This is an unedited version of a piece that was published in the DNA, July 1, 2006
The need to articulate musical concepts related to technique, repertoire and more, has been an ongoing pursuit for many scholars of Hindustani music. The introduction of the print medium in India, enabled scholars, other intellectuals and musicians to communicate music-related material to the music loving public since the nineteenth century. But there has been a palpable divide between the scholastic and performing streams of Hindustani music with practitioners of both viewing each other with suspicion and antagonism.
In such an atmosphere, the contribution of eminent scholar-musician Dr. Ashok Ranade assumes special significance, as he has successfully brought together the two streams through his writings in English and Marathi, and through related work spanning over three decades. He has maintained consistently that performers have always theorized, but that they must now articulate these concepts, particularly so if they believe others do a shoddy job of it!
His own training in vocal music with learned musicians belonging to diverse styles, and his research in folk and other forms of music have made him a proud inheritor of a rich and large body of knowledge. This strong foundation and his incessant inquiry into the nuances of the performing and scholastic traditions, has led Dr. Ranade to make one of the most seminal contributions to the world of Indian music in the form of his latest publication Music-contexts: A Concise Dictionary of Hindustani Music. The work defines and records a host of technical terms related to repertoire, performance practice, and specific occasions that occur in the musicians’ milieu. It also provides the reader with etymological details. But above all, it demystifies North Indian music by moving away from the conventional adjectival approach that most other endeavours of this nature have adopted in the past.
Addressing the heterogeneous nature of Indian music, Dr. Ranade has always spoken in favour of breaking down preconceived hierarchies and barriers within musical categories and genres. His writings on folk music, theatre music and Hindi film music substantiate his claim and his forthcoming publication entitled Hindi Film Song: Music without Boundaries promises to be a real treat for music lovers in this context.
A staunch believer in the inseparable relationship between the practice and theory of music, Dr. Ranade has not restricted himself to writing on music and theatre. He has lent his expertise to composition for film, theatre, and art music. His thematic concerts, workshops and lectures are a sheer treat to students of music and theatre and performers like me. The incisive interviews he conducted with many notable musicians during the days of black and white television are still fresh in my memory.
One of India’s pioneer ethnomusicologists, Dr. Ranade’s perceptive vision has given definite shape to several important institutions in the country, which have in turn benefited students of music in a major way. Feted by several prestigious non-government organizations in India and abroad, Dr. Ranade continues to work tirelessly to disseminate information related to Hindustani music in all its splendour.
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link
http://blog.aneeshpradhan.com/2006/07/confluence-of-musical-streams/trackback/
August 10, 2006 at 10:09 pm
harekrishanji
Great article about Dr.Ashok Ranade.
I fully agree that Dr. Ranade continues to work tirelessly to disseminate information related to Hindustani music in all its splendour. I have heard few of his lectures and his performances and always enjoyed it.
August 11, 2006 at 12:01 am
Aneesh
Thanks for the compliment. Since you are interested in Dr. Ranade’s work and his lectures, it would not be out of place to mention here that Dr. Ranade will be delivering a talk entitled, “They Also Serve . . .” at the Karnatak Sangh Hall, on Sept. 3, 2006, at 10 a.m. This is part of a listening session that will feature extracts from concert recordings of Jaipur-Atrauli gharana vocalist Kausalya Manjeshwar. These recordings are also available on a new release on Underscore Records. You can check out an audio sample on http://www.UnderscoreRecords.com
Regards,
Aneesh
September 23, 2006 at 1:07 am
Irfan
Aneesh ji, there is absolutely no doubt about the fact that Prof. Ranade has always shown the way and led the field of high-quality academic work in the field of music for over 3 decades now.
Both his publications - the dictionary of concepts as well as the book on the hindi film song - have come at a very good time. You describe the approach of writings on music as being “adjectival” I couldn’t agree with you more! The great theoretician and semiologist Roland Barthes wrote an incisive piece about writing on music and said that music is inevitably something which is reduced to the adjective and goes on to say that the adjective is probably the weakest part of language being approximate and vague. Prof. Ranade comes as a breath of fresh air in such a situation with clear, cogent and precise writing which always succeeds in pinning down the issue he wises to talk about.
September 23, 2006 at 1:21 am
Aneesh
Hi Irfan. Just for your information, Dr. Ranade conducted a series of interviews on Mumbai Doordarshan way back in the 70s in the programme entitled Pratibha Ani Pratima. This was the first time that I had an opportunity to listen to him and hear his incisive comments. I hope Mumbai Doordarshan will oblige music lovers by releasing this series on DVD at the earliest.
October 23, 2007 at 3:26 pm
vijal
hi aneesh ji….
this article is amazing…. i like a lot….i m very much interested in doing this kind of a wrk…. i read some articles on the news paper that there was a seminar kind of a thing held in ahamdabad on fusion music….. sir i want to knw more about this…. if that kind of a programme held in mumbai do let me knw sir… and one more thing i want to ask is there in membership for that group….??????
vijal
October 24, 2007 at 12:11 am
Aneesh
Dear Vijal,
The seminar/workshop you mention, was held by Underscore Records at City Pulse in Gandhinagar, and was attended by a small group of musicians, composers and musicologists from India and abroad. The proceedings of this three-day have been recorded on video and will be made available with due permissions.
We also hope to hold these seminars on a regular basis.
October 24, 2007 at 10:24 am
vijal
sir ,
thnks for replying on my comment…if u hv any forum for this subject then i would love to take membership for that….
thnks u
vijal
October 24, 2007 at 10:46 am
Aneesh
I am afraid there is no such forum, but we are hoping that the seminars will act as a forum for this and related issues.
October 24, 2007 at 2:53 pm
vijal
thnk u sir…
actully my interest is doing some research in fusion music… iwud not say fusion music…. but indian fusion music… so for that only i hv ask u this question….. plz do let me knw about this in future… my e-mail id is vijalrahee@gmail.com
thnk u
vijal
October 25, 2007 at 12:23 am
Aneesh
I will definitely keep you informed.
Regards,
Aneesh
December 18, 2007 at 9:23 pm
vijal
sir,
i want to talk to u sir. i m planning to do some project on fusion music.could u plz give me ur email id.it would be great plesure for me sir.
vijal
March 17, 2008 at 12:16 am
sjsheth
Re: Who is Instrumental?
For those that are interested in issues that surround instrument making, the following article illustrates a similar state of affairs that we find in India. I’m sure if an inter-country study was done on the reasons for why quality instrument makers are in decline, many similarities would surface. This article was sent to me by Marc Pearlman, a scholar who has worked in Indonesia.
———-
International Herald Tribune
Is Indonesia’s native music fading?
By Peter Gelling
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
BOGOR, Indonesia: It is here, in one of Indonesia’s last remaining gamelan workshops, that the complex, layered tones of the country’s traditional music are shaped, fine-tuned and shipped around the world.
This family-run enterprise in its smoke-filled, tin-roofed shack has been turning out the xylophones, gongs, drums and strings that make up a gamelan orchestra for nearly 200 years. All its employees are descendants of the laborers hired when it opened in 1811.
Every day, a dozen of these grizzled men, shirtless, shoeless, clove cigarettes dangling from their lips, hover over a pit of fire and wait for a nascent gong to glow red. Then, almost musically, with sparks flying, they take turns pounding it into shape with the crudest of hammers.
The workshop in Bogor, 48 kilometers, or 30 miles, south of Jakarta and known simply as the Gong Factory, has been one of the main suppliers of gamelan instruments in Java since the 1970s, when three of its competitors shut their doors because of a lack of demand.
But over the last decade, its owner says, orders here too have been steadily decreasing. (For the rest, click below)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/asia/gamelan.php