Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande ( born August 10, 1860 in Mumbai, † September 19, 1936 ibid ) was the most influential music theorist of his time and a patron of the North Indian classical music within which the end of the 19th century on the Indian tradition of professional end anti-colonial national movement. From him to use today classification of ragas comes to a system of ten thatas (scales).

Career

Training as a lawyer

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was born the second of five children in a Maratha Brahmin family in Mumbai. He had two brothers and two sisters. His father was a bank clerk and played in his spare time Swarmandal, his younger brother was playing Dilruba. During the school year at the Elphinstone High School of Gajanan called young people first learned flute, sitar and later gave at events as singer of bhajans concerts. After graduating in 1880 he studied law at the Elphinstone College, where he graduated in 1885 with a BA.

Initially, without the knowledge or against the will of his parents he took during the college time evening sitar lessons with Vallabhdas, a renowned sitar player. In two other musicians he learned dhrupad and khyal singing. Music lessons and concerts were organized by wealthy Parsis and Gujarati. The Parsi Gayan organization Uttejak Mandali ( Society for the Promotion of Music ) for interested music students organized one of the first music clubs and concerts. Teachers were recognized musician who taught for money. Because the British had resolved some of the small princely states whose court musician who lost their jobs without their patrons and come to Mumbai to earn a living here. From 1884 Bhatkhande was a member of this organization.

1887 Bhatkhande began his career as a lawyer, specializing in criminal law. For a short time he was employed in Karachi at the Supreme Court. His family life was only a few years, since his wife and only daughter died young. 1910 was Bhatkhande to the lawyers profession to devote himself standing alone and financially frugal exclusively to the study of Indian music.

Musicological studies

Up to this time Bhatkhande was repeatedly traveled to study in libraries major south Indian cities in Gujarat and Bengal writings on Indian music theory and to seek contact with recognized masters of music ( Ustad ). It was him musically formative phase, when he noted the subject taught knowledge. This, together with the ancient Sanskrit texts to music, such as the Natya Shastra, which was written at about the time of Christ and first published in the 1890s in a complete translation, or the Sangita Ratnakara from the 13th century, the basis for his own works. He had several Indian languages ​​appropriated in addition to English and read books and inaccessible manuscripts on music. Were written in a regional language he did not understand this, he hired a translator. The first trip took him in 1896 to Gujarat, 1904, he traveled to South India in 1907 by the central India Hyderabad to Kolkata. The last great expedition he undertook in 1908 to Allahabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Agra and Mathura.

Bhatkhande was for 15 years in the music club Gayan Mandali Uttejak in Mumbai. Here he met many musicians know, including Raojibuwa Belbaugkar who taught him about 300 dhrupad ragas. From Ali Hussain Khan, a singer from Jaipur, he collected many Khyals. His most important teacher was Muhammad Ali Khan of Jaipur. From him and his two sons Ashiq Ali and Ahmed Ali he learned 1900-1907 compositions of Manrang Gharana and took over 300 pieces of music on tape on. At this time the phonograph in India was still little known; Musicians feared that if they allowed recordings to lose some of their own, or at least of their income, because nobody would then attend their concerts. This helped the recognized scholarship and Brahmanical origin Bhatkhande to gain authority with which he managed in the end to get audio recordings of many rare and difficult ragas.

In December 1904 Bhatkhande met in South India a well-known pioneer of music research, Subbarama Diksitar ( 1839-1906 ), who in 1859 in a book of songs of the South Indian composer Tyagaraja ( 1767-1847 ) had recorded in musical notation, and in 1904 the standard work Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini ( " representation of the musical tradition " ) published. This was one of the first note written compilations Carnatic compositions. Several collected on this trip ancient manuscripts, he published later in Mumbai.

In Kolkata Bhatkhandes encounter with Saurindra Mohan Tagore (1840-1914) in November 1907 emphasized. The rich zamindar ( landowner ) was at one time an authority in Hindustani music, author and editor of many books on music.

The biggest influence on his musical theories had his stay in the small princely state of Rampur, a former center of the northern Indian music. Bhatkhande met the famous court musician of the Nawab, the Vina player Wazir Khan ( a Binakara ), the Rubab player Muhammad Ali Khan and the singer Kale Nazir Khan. Nawab Ali Khan was himself a respected musician and disciple of Wazir Khan. The Nawab was trustee of extremely valuable compositions going back to Tansen. Bhatkhande could be introduced at the Nawab to get access to Wazir Khan over him. Since this could not refuse the request of the Nawab, Bhatkhande was accepted as a student learned a lesson in the important compositions of Rampur Gharana as Dhrupad, Khyal or Dhamar know. Binakars generally sheltered their musical knowledge as a family treasure and gave it further only to students who came from the own Gharana. Wazir Khan also taught Allauddin Khan, the teacher of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar.

Music Education

Bhatkhande contributed hundreds of compositions in various styles together, studied the performance techniques of famous musicians, but missed by many musicians an underlying musical grammar. There were already notations for ragas been developed in Baroda and Kolkata, but the grading system developed by Bhatkhande spread rapidly. It was first introduced as educational material on Gayan Mandali Uttejak when he began to teach there. His first release was a 1909 booklet published by the Mandali Swar Mallika, a collection of basic melodic structures in his development of the notation given in swaras ( musical notes) and talas ( time division, rhythm). With the help of two student he translated the two ancient musical treatises Sangeet Ratnakar and Sangeet Darpan into Gujarati. They appeared 1911.

In 1916 he began in Mumbai on the basis of a newly developed lesson plan in music theory and performance practice, along with an assistant to teach a class of its own. Before he began vocal training ( based on the instrumental music ), he explained theoretically each raga. Many later well-known singer who received lessons from him. The system has been applied in other music schools and soon according to his goal of a mass musical education in urban elementary schools in Mumbai. In the same year Bhatkhande presented the Baroda State Music School to his curriculum, which was with some well-known teachers as the starting point for the Music College at the University of Baroda. With the backing of the Maharaja Sayaji Rao of Baroda succeeded Bhatkhande, despite their positions and biases often contradictory to organize one of the first major conferences of musicians and musicologists. The President of the Assembly was none other than Raja Nawab Ali Khan from Lucknow, an admirer Bhatkhandes who later published his ideas summarized in the book Marif -ul- naghmat in Urdu. Later he established the Madhav Music College in Gwalior and the music department at the Banaras Hindu University and at the Poona Women's University. 1926 saw the establishment of the Morris College of Music in Lucknow, which had been a year earlier planned on the fifth All India Music Conference in this city. To Bhatkhandes remembrance it was later renamed Bhatkhande Music College.

The first of these All India Music Conferences, called the Bhatkhande 1916 in Baroda in life, was a revolutionary idea since it was first concerts in the members from different Gharanas brought together. Although it was difficult for Bhatkhande to raise the necessary funds in advance of the event under the patronage of Nawab of Baroda was a great success, as musicologists from all over India came together and gave lectures. It was about the right tone (sa) and the number of Mikroton intervals ( Shrutis ) to tone pa questions, which were interpreted by the professionals according to the ancient Sanskrit texts and controversial. Bhatkhande was wearing a paper before the title A Short Historical Survey of the Music of Upper India, where a historical derivation of the theory of music was performed by the writings on music from the 16th and 17th centuries for the first time. He rejected it until then usual raga - ragini classification ( system of six male and six female ragas, which possessed valid from the 14th to the 19th century) and confirmed the early 19th century to the basic scale for North Indian classical music explained Raga Bilaval. A permanent working group called the All India Music Conference was established with Bhatkhande as its Secretary General, who should organize future meetings.

The second conference was held in 1917 in Delhi, in which the music masters of various Gharanas should agree on their different interpretation of disputed ragas in a second attempt. The consensus was achieved while Bhatkhande included in the order in his music theory. Between 1920 and 1937, published Bhatkhande the results of his studies under the title Kramik Pustak Malika in six volumes. This includes over 1000 compositions. First, each one interpreting the musician is listed, followed Bhatkhandes own view and classification. There is also a list of musicians included, with residence and naming their Gharana. When drafting the work Ganapati Buwa Milbarikar helped (1882-1927), a well known singer who had a large collection of music of various Gharanas and the Bhatkhande undertook to teach at the Gayan - Uttejak - Mandali School of Music.

This was followed by Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, a penned in Marathi work in four volumes, with approximately 2500 pages describing 150 North Indian ragas. Besides numerous other own works he gave some musicological writings of other authors out, including the Südinders Ramamathya ( Swara Mela Kalanidhi ) which the principle of some South Indian ragas and raga classification (assignment to melas, the South Indian counterpart of thats ) describes Raga Tatva Vibodh of Shriniwas and Sanskrit textbooks by pundarika Vitthala from the 16th century. The following, organized a total of five of Bhatkhande music conferences where also met the famous musician took place in Varanasi ( 1918), Delhi (1922 ) and Lucknow ( 1924).

Last years

Since 1933, Bhatkhande suffered from paralysis and was confined for a femur fracture to the bed. He died on September 19, 1936, the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, a holiday that is celebrated in honor of the birthday of the Hindu God Ganesh particularly in Maharashtra with processions. As just such a twist of fate, his birthday is seen, which coincided with Janmashtami, the festival for Krishna's birthday. On Janmashtami 1961 India Post issued a commemorative stamp with Bhatkhandes portrait.

Music Theory

An idea of ​​Bhatkhandes fundamental theoretical objectives arises from the held as MoU points in the first All-India Music Conference. In summary: The Indian music should be strengthened at the national level; an easy -to-learn instruction program, which is easier (especially North Indian ) ragas and talas, is to be introduced; the North and South Indian system is to be brought together by a common notation; Conservation and protection of old masterpieces; this is a central library to be set up, in the collected works of these and students will be provided; Investigate and establish the microtones ( Shrutis ); Establishment of a National Academy of Music, and publish a monthly magazine. In sum, there was a program for revival of classical Indian music, which was to reinsure their ancient roots.

Since the Vedic period, at least since Panini, music was written on sketchy way by specifying a finger for a corresponding note. So that the music was not understandable and valuable compositions were lost when they were no longer preserved by oral tradition. Important alone was the practical aspect in music, listening and copying by the Guru and the oral statement of the learned over generations. Learning by sitting in front of the master is called guru parampara shishiya. It was only in the 13th century ( in Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva ) designations for individual parts of the Ragas and various types of melodic ornamentation ( GAMAK ) were introduced, but which changed due to the Muslim influence musical forms could not be expressed. The need to introduce a general notation for Bhatkhande was obvious. It was about the preservation of theoretical knowledge and at the same time to the spiritual element of music. Unlike many of his countrymen, he had little time for stories of revered sages and accepted theories do not simply because they were very old.

He understood it as a Herculean task to free the music from their state of decadence and stagnation, which was caused by ignorance of the ancient texts. In his time dominated five or six Gharanas the music scene, in which the unconditional surrender was demanded among the teachers of the students, but no theoretical foundations were communicated. To this he sat down opposite the only valid method for him to learn a Ragakomposition about the notation. Only after the theoretical understanding of the vocal should be implemented. That tonal nuances and vocal expression are not fixed in writing, Bhatakhande admitted, held the new technical possibility of recording to document all the more necessary. In his time some notation systems were developed, all of which are basically more or less strongly to the European system. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1931) had invented a notation that was quite complicated because of the variety of characters. Beginning of the 20th century Rabindranath Thakur wrote the few hundred songs composed by him in a separate notation ( Akar Matrik Swaralipi ) down, until today become aware of their Rabindra Sangeet ( song Type Thakur ) will be used. Bhatkhandes system had the advantage of being easier to learn. A student can grasp the basic structure of the composition in a few minutes, but a full appropriation of the raga can not be done with it.

Social environment

In the 19th century decreased by the demise of the princely states, the number of supporters of classical music, only partially the cultural function of the old ruler was replaced by zamindars and urban merchants. The new upper class was less ostentatious, but culture -free. The decline of the music is explained as a parallel development, the transition from the proud aristocracy to an enterprising merchant class ( " The Music Room " ) made ​​in Satyajit Ray's film Jalsaghar vividly.

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Digambar Paluskar, who fought with missionary zeal against the depreciation of the music through the old conservative bourgeoisie and against the foreclosure of professional musicians in their circles, were the most influential representatives of Indian music theory. Both worked for the revival of the classical tradition in contrast to Rabindranath Thakur, who tried to establish a new kind of music from western and Indian elements. The intellectual environment of the three was the anti-colonial nationalist movement of the traditionalists ( revivalists ) towards the end of the 19th century, the political and apart from the music was also expressed in other cultural areas such as architecture. Within this movement there were significant differences when it came to questions of interpretation, application or restatement of the old writings.

Paluskar and Bhatkhande were similar only as traditionalists and in the safe conviction of their own cause, otherwise they represented opposite positions: one was radically religious, the other championed scientific and secular goals. In addition, both were arrested in the patriarchal structure of Indian society, in which women had no place in music.

Criticism of the theory of music

Especially the young Omkarnath Thakur (1897-1967) and Dilip Chandra Vedi (1901-1992) criticized Bhatkhandes own system of classifying ragas in ten large scale ( thatas ) are divide during their view, the ragas in murchanas and jatis. Murchanas represent the ragas by transposition with each other, they have to say after the tradition of Bharata's Natyashastra (Treatise on the arts, at the time around ) the same intervals, but go by a different root. Jati refers to the equally old division of the raga according to the up-and descending tone. Thakur and Vedi showed that many of Bhatkhandes notations were incorrect and his explanations of the ragas too superficial. It is enough if tones falsely strong ( Vadi ) rather weak ( DURBAL svar ) can be specified to make you lose the clear picture of the raga students. Even in old age threw Dilip Chandra Vedi the music theorist before to have been indeed taught, but to have had no practical knowledge of music.

Many of Bhatkhandes interviewees complained his Brahman - elitist demeanor and felt themselves to be victims of the initially gentle and gradually increasingly aggressive Ausfragungen, which often ended with the fact that he, the theoretical ignorance of his opponent ( he interviewed no women ) just presented. With its limitation to the male world of music and the search for pure, classical past him escaped accompanied by Sarangis singing styles of women.

Bhatkhande refused to return the music theory and practice directly to the Natyashastra or the highly regarded Sangitaratnakara of the 13th century, but only saw a music theory Konituität from 16-17. Century, giving him why the Orthodox side earned criticism. He also had to admit that classical music has stood the Mughal period in the guilt of the Muslims, against whom he harbored prejudices and their dominance in the music he complained otherwise. In an interview with his rival Paluskar his difficult relationship with the ancient Hindu tradition in music became apparent. It was about the question of why Bhatkhande in Sanskrit writing, in a language which, while enjoying a high reputation, but is poorly understood and would be contrary to its democratic- egalitarian interests. According Bhatkhande classical music needs a classical language. What was not due to Sanskrit texts, would not be accepted by the people. The only way to convince the population of new musical rules, was a book on Sanskrit.

The classification of ragas could often only be achieved through standardization. To this end, he left at the All India Music Conference in 1916 any singer perform his version of a particular ragas and urged those present in case of deviations, to agree on the majority version as the default. These changes favor the unification earned him the chagrin of some musicians. If his theory of microtones ( Shrutis ) is now widely rejected and the classification of ragas thatas has a number of gross errors in ten remains Bhatkhandes theoretical oeuvre in terms of the music theory gloomy time in which he was remarkable.

Works

• Lakshya sangeet. 1910
• Lakshangitas. 1912 collection of his own compositions
• Kramik Pustak Malika. Abbreviated KPM. In Hindi. 6 vols 1919-1937. Manual describes over 1000 Ragakompositionen
• Hindi Hindustani Sangeet Padhati. Abbreviated HSP. 4 vols, first 3 volumes published from 1910 to 1914, Vol 4 released in 1932. In Marathi, later translated in Hindi
• Lakshangit Sangrah. 3 parts, about Ragakompositionen
• Sreemallaksya Sangitam. A treatise written in shlokas in Sanskrit, describes the important Ragas
• Abhinava Raga Manjari. In Sanskrit
• A Short Historical Survey of the Music of Upper India. 1916th essay presented at the All India Music Conference in Baroda
• A Comparative Study of some of the Leading Systems of Music in the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries.