In reality the totality of Indian music is a cumulative result of six musical categories functioning for centuries and enjoying an impressive distribution in India a country of subcontinental expanse!
The six categories are identifiable as primitive, folk, religious, art, popular and confluence. Each category enjoys a unique cultural hinterland though in larger contexts the categories inevitably overlap! Consequently they raise interesting questions about space-time location, produce multiple nuances of interpretation and create exciting possibilities of developing a wide understanding of the pervasive importance of music. Awareness of multiple Indian musical streams is indeed essential if music is also to contribute towards a bettering of the human condition. The reach, role and effect of music as an ameliorative force can only be appreciated when music is placed in the progressively expanding perspectives of art, culture and life.
In a series of essays the author attempts to examine Indian music in dimensions offered by varied disciplines such as education, history, religion, yoga, popular culture, mass media, philosophy, musicology and studies of regional contribution to the overall Indian achievement. Information, knowledge and insight make their presence felt in these well- reasoned and widely based presentations.
Some of these essays have been published in national and international journals but all of them have been rewritten to enable inclusion of new data and tightening of presentation.
Sangeetacharya Ashok Da. Ranade (1937- 2011) was an internationally renowned vocalist (Hindustani Classical), composer, musicologist, enthnomusicologist, voice-culturist and a teacher with degrees in literature, law and music. He was the author of a number of authoritative books on Hindustani music and enthnomusicology.
During the modern period, the combined work of the two Vishnus provided a firm foundation to the credo that learning or performing music is not contradictory to thinking and theorising about it. Their work almost seems to argue that if music is great then it cannot merely be performed. In fact from Bharata to Bhatkhande, performers have been the main theorisers in Indian music.
Since 1948, when I began learning music, I have experienced the truth of their faith and the depth of their monumental work. Music needs to be 'heard' from many angles, appreciated from multiple aspects, and understood from varying perspectives if we wish to realise its full glory, grace, and significance. Information, knowledge, skills, and insights, all combine to make music what it is.
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