music essay
z Class 4
4.8.19
§ Announcements
§ Go over quiz #1
§ Practice listening quiz
§ Lecture on social organization of Hindustani music
z Announcements
§ Aashish Khan recital on April 28
§ Assignment #1 will be posted this week
§ Summer course on Indian rhythm
z Practice listening quiz
z Terms
§ Socio-musical identity – the connection of social rank to musical status; prevalent throughout musical communities in South and Central Asia
§ Soloist – the lead musical role
§ Accompanist – the supporting musical role(s)
§ Heterophony – style of music in which a melody is closely imitated by another instrument or voice
z Questions to keep in mind
§ What does social class have to do with music performance?
§ How is authority created and controlled?
§ How is it challenged?
§ What is the relationship between soloist and accompanist?
§ How does this affect music performance?
§ What is the relationship between student and teacher?
z Social class and caste in South Asia
§ Societies were stratified in a social hierarchy
§ High caste – rulers, priests, elite
§ Low caste – manual laborers
§ Dalits – “untouchables”
§ Caste specialization of artisan trades common among Muslim communities
§ Carpentry, pastoralism, leather making, jewelry making, and music!
§ The community to which you were born determined your social rank and the opportunities that would be available to you
§ People could ”change” their class through certain strategies
§ Marriage, contesting the hegemony of the upper classes
z Organization of specialist knowledge
§ Music is a practice of specialized communities
§ Music is your life!
§ No word for “musician”
§ Rather, terms denoting the specialty of the performer are used
§ This categorization indicates musical identity (the instrument one performs) as well as that person’s social rank and roles
z Organization of specialist knowledge
§ Dhrupadiya – singer of dhrupad § Gawaiya – vocalist § Binkar – bin (veena) player § Khayalia – singer of khyāl § Sitariya – sitar player § Sarodiya – sarod player § Tabliya – tabla player § Sarangiya – sarangi player § Rubabi – rubab player § Qawwal - singer of Qawwali
z Instrument association
Soloist
Vocal Sitar Rudra veena Sarod Dance Rubab Surbahar Bansuri
Accompanist
Sarangi Tabla Harmonium
z Social roles and ranks
§ Relationship between occupation and social identity is very close
§ Soloists are venerated and have great prestige
§ Accompanists have lower social and musical status
§ They are subservient to soloists in both roles
z Performance structure
§ Soloist (Dhrupad, khyāl, thumri, ghazal § Vocal § Instrumental
§ Accompanist § Melodic
§ Sarangi § Harmonium § Student § Heterophony
§ Rhythmic § Tabla § Dholak
§ Drone § Tanpura
z Social roles and ranks
§ Soloists and accompanists belonged to different social class
§ Never intermarried
§ Cousin marriages
§ Soloist class – kalawant
§ Accompanist classes – mirasi, dhari (dhadhi), qawwal
z Performance structure follows
teaching methods
§ Master leads; students follow
§ Learn through imitation
§ Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar
§ Dhrupad vocalist, Rudra veena player
z Performance structure
§ Soloist in charge of the melodic contours
§ Vocalist sings melodic line, sarangi or harmonium follows
§ Most clearly visible when a maestro performs with a student
§ A music lesson while on stage
§ Ustad Ghulam Hussain (rubab)
z Performance structure
§ In Hindustani music the soloist is in charge § Determines raga § Regulates tuning § Decides rhythmic cycle (tala) § Regulates tempo (how slow to start, when to speed up) § Allocates time for accompanist solo interludes
§ Sarangi and tabla § Determines beginning and end of performance
z Performance structure
§ As well, soloists have social and financial control of the musical setting
§ Sits center stage
§ Can send accompanist (or student) to do errands
§ Controls how much the accompanists get paid
§ “Journey to the West” story
z Class 5 4.12.19
§ Announcements
§ Review of last class
§ Continue lecture on sociology of Hindustani musical culture
z Announcements
§ ISA Cultural show on April 20 – Extra credit
§ Aashish Khan recital on April 28 – Extra credit
§ Extra credit directions posted on canvas
§ Assignment #1 will be posted soon
§ Summer course on Indian rhythm
z Review of last class
§ Practice listening quiz
§ What to listen for
§ Relationship between social structure and musical culture
§ Distinction between soloist and accompanist
§ From different communities
§ Soloist in charge
z Performance structure
§ Social and musical hierarchy is plainly visible in the arrangement and orientation of musical personnel during a performance
§ Soloist sits front and center with accompanists surrounding and facing them
z Performance structure
Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, singing at Hazrat Enayat Khan ‘urs, Nizamuddin
z Performance structure
Tanpura 1 Tanpura 2
Tabla player
Soloist
Harmonium player
Audience
z Performance structure
§ The accompanist assumes a similar a role similar to that of the student
§ Heterophony
§ Amir Khan
§ Most common in vocal music
z Sharing of socio-musical space
§ Sometimes there will be two soloists – Jugalbandi
§ Hierarchical system remains, but adjusts
§ One soloists becomes leader; the other follows
§ Roles switch off
§ Ustad Bismillah Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
§ Shehnai and sarod duet
z Soloist – accompanist tensions
§ When the accompanist begins to encroach on the musical “space” of the soloists, the hierarchy becomes compromised and tensions break out
§ Rekha Surya concert (student of Begum Akhtar)
§ Calls out harmonium player during performance
§ 2:20, 6:08
z Harmonium and sarangi
z Explaining this socio-musical tension
§ Rekha Surya example
§ FEMALE soloist–Rekha Surya
§ MALE accompanist–Zakir Dholpuri (harmonium)
§ Two contradictory hierarchies
§ Patriarchy, on the one hand, that favors the male harmonium player
§ Socio-musical, on the other hand, that favors the female vocalist/soloist
z Politics from the margins
§ Female soloist and male accompanist on harmonium
§ Rekha Surya and Zakir Dholpuri
§ Accompanists (harmonium/sarangi) are usually not named before a performance
§ Transparency and anonymity of accompanist role
§ It is this transparency to which the harmonium player is responding and resisting
z Politics from the margins
§ This encounter comes from a public concert that was part of a large cultural festival being held in New Delhi
§ Rekha Surya is an acclaimed artist with a highly respected musical lineage (Begum Akhtar)
§ Zakir Dholpuri is a younger generation musician from the Delhi school of playing
§ Zakir’s accompaniment abilities pose an encroaching threat to the rarified domain of the soloist’s performance
§ She instructs him to not ”step on her toes” during the performance and gives him many stern glances during the performance (she is also playing harmonium)
z
z Politics from the margins
§ From the stage, what transpires is a form of jostling to visibility
§ The accompanist engages in a politics of mobilization and authority, either trying to gain a share of the spotlight or, depending on the rank and gender of the soloist, to appropriate it
z Break in performance
§ In the beginning of the performance the soloist politely instructs the harmonium player to play in a simpler style of accompaniment as not to overshadow her
§ The performance finds its point of tension at the place of musical climax
§ As the vocalist reaches the upper register melody (antara) the harmonium continues to closely follow her melody
§ The vocalist briefly stops and tells the accompanist to stop what he’s doing and allow her to perform.
§ Change in voice register
z Why does accompanist
carry this burden?
§ Sarangi–previous melodic accompaniment instrument
§ Harmonium becoming increasingly popular
§ Instruments made out of animal skin and gut strings
§ Played with one’s hands
§ Association with dancing girls
§ “Outsider” status; not true descendants of respectable musical communities and heritages
z Different musical castes used to indicate
different musical ranks
Faiyaz Khan
Vocalist, soloist Higher caste background
Bundu Khan Ahmad Jan ThirakwaAccompanists; related subordinate caste background
z Performance structure in dhrupad
§ All soloists were vocalists
§ All instrumentalists were accompanists
§ Veena and Seniya rubab
§ Instrumentalists were often brothers or cousins to soloists
z Dhrupad performance structure
Soloist, vocal
Melodic accompanist Seniya rubab
(related; brothers, cousins)
Rhythmic accompanist Pakhawaj
z In khyāl this all changed
§ Story of brothers, Adarang and Sadarang
§ During court of Emperor Mohammad Shah Rangile (1719-1748)
§ Adarang (soloist) and Sadarang (accompanist, younger brother)
§ Sadarang was tired of being overshadowed by his brother and eager to prove his musical worth
§ He broke with tradition and started to play his instrument in a solo manner that was more lively than dhrupad
z New dhrupad instrumental
performance structure
Soloist, Seniya rubab/veena
Melodic accompanist vacancy caused by Veena/Seniya rubab leaving its traditional role
Pakhawaj
z New performance genre
AND structure: khyal
Vocal soloist
Rhythmic accompaniment Tabla
Melodic accompaniment Vacancy must be filled
z The sarangi filled the vacancy left by the
veena and rubab
Vocal soloist
Rhythmic accompaniment Tabla
Sarangi
From different communities
z The rise of the accompanist classes!
§ The story of Adarang and Sadarang identifies subordinate roles of the accompanist and instrumentalist
§ It also identifies the rise of those previously subordinate positions, which would repeat itself many times in the modern history of Hindustani music
z New pool of musical recruitment
§ The sarangi filled the musical niche vacated by the veena and rubab
§ The importance of this change was not just a matter of different instruments, but it was also a change in the mode of recruitment for musical personnel
§ The soloists and accompanists in khyāl were from different communities
z New pool of musical recruitment
§ Binkar accompanists were recruited from the same families as the vocalists they accompanied
§ Sarangi accompanists were recruited from outside family lines, and from lower social classes/ranks.
§ Why?
z New pool of musical recruitment
§ Before the separation of soloist and accompanist did not have a social correlate
§ The decision of who was to lead and who to follow was a family or personal decision
§ By relegating the subordinate musical function to separate and socially inferior music specialists, the problem of leading and following was resolved through occupational caste specialization
§ Lower-ranked musicians could make breaks with tradition and provide innovations
z Sarangi players
§ Chose to accept their new subordinate socio-musical role because it was a step up from their social status as minstrels, folk musicians, etc.
§ This created a more hierarchical musical and social structure
§ No previous social distinction between soloist and accompanist
§ Allowed space for innovation for those in subordinate social and musical roles–accompanists
§ Most, if not all, the great musicians of the 20th century came from accompanist backgrounds
z Structural tension in the solo-
accompanist dynamic
§ Productive tension
§ Never resolves itself, but always has extremely creative musical solutions and strategies of social mobility
z Class 6 4.15.19
§ Announcements
§ Review of last class
§ Go over quiz
§ Lecture on gharana and khandan
z Ustad Sultan Khan
4.15.40-9.27.11
z Announcements
§ ISA Cultural show on April 20 – Extra credit
§ Aashish Khan recital on April 28 – Extra credit
§ Extra credit directions posted on canvas
§ Assignment #1 posted
§ Summer course on Indian rhythm (second session)
§ Quiz #2
z Last class review
§ Social and musical distinction of soloist and accompanist
§ Authority in musical performance
z Practice listening quiz
z Terms
§ Gharana – (from ghar “house”) a school of playing in Hindustani music, named after the place from which the progenitor of that school was born.
§ Khandan – (from khaneh “house”) a family of musicians in which musical information is passed from one generation to the next
§ Kalawant – soloist (vocalist) class of musicians
§ Mirasi – accompanist class of musicians
§ Dharhi (Dhadhi) – accompanist class of musicians
§ Vani – Dhrupad lineages
z Questions to consider
§ How does one create authority in their craft?
§ How does one preserve authority?
§ How does social structure relate to this?
§ How are these rules broken?
z Gharana and Khandan
§ Socio-musical identities that are based on lineage
§ In Hindustani music, musicians are marked and authenticated by their lineage
§ Pedagogical (their teachers)
§ Hereditarily (their relatives)
z The production of a
socio-musical identity
§ Musicians are introduced by their musical lineage
§ Identity is also marked by the teacher and the musical family (gharana) to which they both belong
z Imdadkhani/Etawah gharana
Ustad Shujaat Khan
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan
Ustad Nishat Khan
z Maihar gharana
Pandit Ravi Shankar
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Baba Allaudin Khan
z The production of a
socio-musical identity
§ Such an introduction marks a musician as both a person and a figure
§ An artist to whom we attribute particular musical features
§ A figure bearing the signs of a musical tradition
z The production of a
socio-musical identity
§ Socio-music identity – an identity based on musical heritage
§ A musician’s identity is defined by the identity of his or her teacher, whose identity is also marked by his or her teacher
§ In 19th century musicians began to place an emphasis on tracing their pedagogical lineage to Mian Tansen
§ Through step son (Bilas Khan) and daughter (Saraswati Devi)
z Three concepts of lineage
§ Vani
§ Old Dhrupad lineages (Gauri, Kandhar, Nauhar, Dagar)
§ Khandan
§ A musical family
§ Musical tradition passed down through successive generations
§ Gharana
§ A musical lineage passed down through at least three successive generations
z Khandani musicians
Ustad Akram Khan, Ustad Hashmat Ali, and Zalgai Khan, Ajrada gharana Salim Chishti Qawwals, Fatehpur Sikri
z Gharana musicians
Pandit Nikhil Banerjee Maihar gharana
Pandit Ravi Shankar Maihar gharana
z Khandan and gharana
§ Three castes of musicians § Kalawant
§ Solo vocalists
§ Stand as primary figures of musical authority
§ Mirasi
§ Accompanist class
§ Can become soloist if they renounce their accompaniment instrument (sarangi)
§ A Mirasi khandan can even achieve the status of gharana
§ BUT a Mirasi khandan will always have a lower status than a Kalawant gharana
§ Lower in prestige and authority
§ Dharhi (Dhadhi)
§ Accompaniment class; replaced by Mirasi
z Gharana
§ ”The concept [of gharana] be said to include, minimally,
§ “a lineage of hereditary musicians,
§ “their disciples,
§ “and the particular musical style they represent” (Neuman, p. 146)
§ Definition entails three elements
§ Descent
§ Learning
§ Marriage
z Gharana requirements entail
three elements
§ Descent: Require three generations of musicians § Implies that there need to be enough distinguished musicians to give it weight
§ Learning: Unique and distinct style
§ Makes a contribution to the development of the musical tradition
§ Marriage § Marriage lines determined structures of inclusion and exclusion to gharana
status
§ Traditionally, gharana-s did not have accompanists in them
§ If ancestors played the sarangi or tabla it discredits their claim to gharana
z Gharana and the politics of pedigree
§ “A gharana identity provides a shorthand notation for a musician’s pedigree, be it biological or a cultural inheritance or both” (Neuman, p. 165)
§ The politics of pedigree revolve around attempts to demonstrate the authenticity, age, and consequent purity of a lineage and the body of knowledge associated with it” (Neuman, p. 167)
z Gharana and the politics of pedigree
§ Therefore to lay a claim to gharana status is to lay claim to a level of authority otherwise not granted
§ Only vocalists could claim gharana status in the 19th and early 20th centuries
§ Instrumentalists and accompanists could not
§ 20th century
§ Solo instrumentalists gain the authority to lay claim to gharana status
§ Accompanists still could not
z Gharana and the politics of pedigree
§ In mid-, late-20th century accompanists gain credibility and recognition to lay claim to gharana status
§ Term bāj (”style”) to identify tabla gharana-s and styles
§ Delhi baj, Lucknow (Purab) baj
z Gharana
§ Gharana-s were, until the 1970s, largely associated only with the vocal traditions, not instrumental or accompanist traditions
§ Vocal–Yes
§ Instrumental–No
§ Gharana-s were, until the early 20th century, associated only with the Kalawant lineages
§ Orthodox soloists who had no accompanists in their genealogical background
§ Kalawant – (caste lineage of soloists) – YES
§ Mirasi – (caste lineage of accompanists) – NO
§ Dharhi – (caste lineage of accompanists) – NO
§ All of this changed as the accompanist class not only assumed the status of gharana but also came to dominate them
z Khandan, gharana, and vani
§ Khandan § Any hereditary lineage of an occupational specialty
§ Music, sculpture, woodworking, etc.
§ In music can be accompanist, vocalist, dhrupad, or khyāl
§ To be khandani then implies the inheritance of musical knowledge and style
§ Gharana § Vocal lineage of khyāl
§ Replaced Vani as central form of socio-musical identity
§ Vani § Dhrupad lineage, descendants of four court musicians of Akbar, including Tansen
§ Lineage identity that preceded gharana
z Gharana
§ This shift also led to a new socio-musical phenomenon, known as gharana “of the house”
§ “Ghar” means house
§ Traditionally gharana was named after a place rather than a person
§ Agra gharana
§ Gwalior gharana
§ More recently it is sometimes attached to an artist’s name
§ Imdadkhani gharana
§ Refers to a stylistic school
§ A musical family, marked by a certain style
§ Denotes a level of authority
z Gharana vs. khandan
§ Gharanas § Emphasized authority and purity of lineage
§ Vocalists, not instrumentalists
§ Soloists, not accompanists
§ Kalawant - vocal soloist caste
§ Mirasi and Dharhi are accompanist caste
§ Khandan § Refers to a lineage and the style of that lineage
§ Can have accompanists as well as soloists
§ Can have Mirasi/Dharhi castes as well as Kalawant
z Difference between
gharana and khandan Gharana Khandan
Lineage Yes Yes
Status of lineage Can be hereditary or non- hereditary
Implies hereditary status
Prestige Higher Lower
Vocalist only Yes No
Instrumental soloists Not until recently Yes
Accompanists Not until recently Yes
Caste Kalawant (until recently) Kalawant/Mirasi/Dharhi
Generations required Three Not specified (can be one)