What does music mean to you? Do you like swaying to the beats of EDM or prefer the soothing voice of Kishore Kumar with a piping cup of tea to calm you down? Is it a way to unwind after a tough day at work or your go-to move to get in the vibe before you start anything? Whatever your answer to these questions, there seems to be a divide in the music community and the people about the definition of what music really is.
With K-Pop bands like BTS and Blackpink taking the world by storm and breaking cultural barriers, we try to understand the fundamental style of classical music, as is considered across two broad ideas on the subject – Western Classical Music and Indian Classical Music, to break pre-conceived notions about the two, and the off-shoots they resulted in.
Classical Music – What & Why Not
It feels intuitive now but where did the term ‘Classical Music’ come from? Fascinatingly, it originates from the Latin word classicus, meaning first-class, or artistry of the highest order for the Romans. For a lot of musicians, Classical Music is the purest form of music or the only true form. This explains the elitism that is often associated with the form, across cultures throughout the world, as is seen by the way classical musicians, both Indian and Western, look down upon other forms of music.
Classical Music – What & Why Not
It feels intuitive now but where did the term ‘Classical Music’ come from? Fascinatingly, it originates from the Latin word classicus, meaning first-class, or artistry of the highest order for the Romans. For a lot of musicians, Classical Music is the purest form of music or the only true form. This explains the elitism that is often associated with the form, across cultures throughout the world, as is seen by the way classical musicians, both Indian and Western, look down upon other forms of music.
While the snobbery associated with Classical Music is often considered by some, as a defense mechanism (owing to other forms of music doing much better commercially), it goes without saying that this untoward behavior isn’t specific to these musicians. It’s a two-way street.
People who don’t listen to classical music think of it as boring and archaic – a relic salvaged from the ephemeral past. While the idea of music as purely classical and non-classical isn’t, strictly speaking, accurate, there seems to be a widespread belief that pits the purists against others. But after all is said and done, contemporary music does stem from these fundamental schools, so you can’t exactly remove the ‘Classical’ from music.
Indian Classical Music (Shastriya Sangeet) – Background
Indian Classical Music refers to the tradition of classical music specific to the Indian subcontinent. It is broadly categorized in two – the North Indian or the Hindustani Classical Music and the South Indian or the Carnatic Music. While there are contrasting ideas on the subject, there seems to be an overwhelmingly large consensus by both the Hindustani and the Carnatic schools of Indian Classical music about the definitive text on the subject - Sangita-Ratnakara by Sarangadeva.
People who don’t listen to classical music think of it as boring and archaic – a relic salvaged from the ephemeral past. While the idea of music as purely classical and non-classical isn’t, strictly speaking, accurate, there seems to be a widespread belief that pits the purists against others. But after all is said and done, contemporary music does stem from these fundamental schools, so you can’t exactly remove the ‘Classical’ from music.
Indian Classical Music (Shastriya Sangeet) – Background
Indian Classical Music refers to the tradition of classical music specific to the Indian subcontinent. It is broadly categorized in two – the North Indian or the Hindustani Classical Music and the South Indian or the Carnatic Music. While there are contrasting ideas on the subject, there seems to be an overwhelmingly large consensus by both the Hindustani and the Carnatic schools of Indian Classical music about the definitive text on the subject - Sangita-Ratnakara by Sarangadeva.
While there are several ancient Indian texts – Vedas et al., which delve in the subject of classical Indian music, Sarangadeva’s 13th century Sanskrit text seems to be a comprehensive and holistic take on music like no other, covering a range of topics from structure and reasoning on music theory to even techniques, across its seven chapters - Svaragatadhyaya (sound system), Ragavivekadhyaya (ragas), Prakirnakadhyaya (performing practice), Prabandhadhyaya (poetic meter, compositions), Taladhyaya (talas), Vadyadhyaya (musical instruments), and Nartanadhyaya (dance).
Ragas – The Soul of Indian Classical Music
Despite years of development in music since Sarangadeva’s monumental work, one unshakeable belief persists – ragas, the six musical modes, and talas, the traditional rhythmic pattern, are the two main tenets of the Indian Classical music. This lends itself to the notion that it is homophonic, meaning that within the framework of these ragas, it’s focused on melodies and rhythm constructed by stringing together notes. Since it’s not too big on harmony it makes improvisation during performances relatively simpler and more accessible within the confines of the raga system.
Ragas – The Soul of Indian Classical Music
Despite years of development in music since Sarangadeva’s monumental work, one unshakeable belief persists – ragas, the six musical modes, and talas, the traditional rhythmic pattern, are the two main tenets of the Indian Classical music. This lends itself to the notion that it is homophonic, meaning that within the framework of these ragas, it’s focused on melodies and rhythm constructed by stringing together notes. Since it’s not too big on harmony it makes improvisation during performances relatively simpler and more accessible within the confines of the raga system.
Interestingly, these ragas are associated with the time of the day and season. For instance, Raga Bhairava is associated with dawn, Ragh Megh with the monsoon, Raga Basant with the Vasant Ritu (the Spring), etc. This forms an intimate relationship between Indian Classic Music and nature, lending substance to its therapeutic and spiritual elements.
Indian Classical Musicians – The World Stage
India has produced several gems in the field of classical music. These famous Indian instrumentalists have taken the world by storm and forced international musicians and critiques to sit up and take notice. And this is not a recent phenomenon, either. It was in the 20th century that these floodgates opened, leading to the meteoric rise of these Classical Indian musicians who rose to fame and success and introduced the world to instruments they had never even laid eyes on, let alone have the pleasure of listening to someone play them like second nature, and win them over.
Flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain, Sarod musician Amjad Ali Khan, Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sarangi musician Pandit Ram Narayan, and vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi are amongst the list of many eminent Indian Classical Artists to have left an indelible mark in the world of music. These musicians have paved the way for the future musicians and artists to cross over and still be accepted and recognized, just because they are remotely associated with the legacy left behind by these giants.
What is Western Classical Music?
Western Classical Music or more specifically, European Classical Music, encompasses an extensive range of music styles chronicling over eight centuries. Historically, its development happened on two parallel fronts, influencing each other along the way – the Church or Sacred music, which includes Carols, Chants, Requiems, & Mass, and the Secular music, which includes symphonies, sonatas, opera, and concertos.
What is Western Classical Music?
Western Classical Music or more specifically, European Classical Music, encompasses an extensive range of music styles chronicling over eight centuries. Historically, its development happened on two parallel fronts, influencing each other along the way – the Church or Sacred music, which includes Carols, Chants, Requiems, & Mass, and the Secular music, which includes symphonies, sonatas, opera, and concertos.
The Sacred Music was devotional and performed in ecclesiastical settings. The Secular Music, on the other hand, began as love ballads or epic poems and was either played on the streets for the common folk of medieval Europe by wandering scholars called Goliards or for the rich and the upper class by the Troubadours.
Western Classical Music is polyphonic, meaning it puts great emphasis on harmony and therefore requires more upfront preparation and organized coordination. This makes it difficult to improvise with. This is also why it relies so heavily on written scores and staff notations, a feature absent in the Indian Classical Music tradition.
Confluence of the West and the East
It’s not as if these 2 schools never crossed paths. Several musicians have tried converging the two worlds to create magic. George Harrison of the Beatles introduced several eastern musical instruments in Western pop. In fact, in their 1965 song Norwegian Wood from the album Rubber Soul, Harrison played the sitar, that marked the first appearance of the Indian Classical string instrument on a Western rock recording.
Speaking of iconic sitar playing, before passing away in 2012, sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar composed an opera called Sukanya, based on a tale from Mahabharat. It premiered in 2017 at Curve Theatre in Leicester, UK, and went on to be staged at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and later, at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall in London. 60 musicians from London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) played alongside classical Indian musicians on mridangam, sitar, tabla, and shehnai as soprano Susanna Hurrell — in the titular role — led the operatic voices.
The famous fusion band, Shakti, saw Ustad Zakir Hussain collaborate with Violinist L. Shankar, guitarist John McLaughlin, Mridangam player Ramnad Raghavan, and legendary Ghatam player Vikku Vinayakam, that performed globally and received critical acclaim. Zakir Hussain also won the Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album – Global Drum Project, with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo.
These are just amongst some of the examples of collaborations that paved the way for modern music in a globalized era. This fusion of east and west ensures that the musical legacy left behind is more evolved and nuanced than what it used to be back in the day, connecting the world with a common link. Like literature, music has the potential to be divisive, a way for people to fight against each other about what it really means. The truth is there’s no way for this debate to find a resolution.
Several musicians are waking up to the fact that there’s no point in holding the high ground on the matter of what qualifies as decent music. Jazz pianist and YouTuber Charles Cornell is one such example. As a young musician, he was convinced that jazz is the only true form of music and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more widely recognized. He calls himself ‘reformed’ now and listens and reacts to pop music and musicians and makes an honest effort to appreciate the bits that impressed him and suggest possible alternatives that could have worked better.
Music is subjective. That is why Kerouac calls it ‘the only truth’ and Tolstoy calls it ‘the shorthand of emotion’ and they are both right because it means different things to different people, and that is how it’s best left. Don’t care about what others think about your musical taste. Own it and live it. But more importantly don’t be disrespectful to other people’s tastes either, because it’s part of their subjective journey and the reason why it resonates with them the way it does, can be found in their life experiences and choices.
Western Classical Music is polyphonic, meaning it puts great emphasis on harmony and therefore requires more upfront preparation and organized coordination. This makes it difficult to improvise with. This is also why it relies so heavily on written scores and staff notations, a feature absent in the Indian Classical Music tradition.
Confluence of the West and the East
It’s not as if these 2 schools never crossed paths. Several musicians have tried converging the two worlds to create magic. George Harrison of the Beatles introduced several eastern musical instruments in Western pop. In fact, in their 1965 song Norwegian Wood from the album Rubber Soul, Harrison played the sitar, that marked the first appearance of the Indian Classical string instrument on a Western rock recording.
Speaking of iconic sitar playing, before passing away in 2012, sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar composed an opera called Sukanya, based on a tale from Mahabharat. It premiered in 2017 at Curve Theatre in Leicester, UK, and went on to be staged at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and later, at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall in London. 60 musicians from London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) played alongside classical Indian musicians on mridangam, sitar, tabla, and shehnai as soprano Susanna Hurrell — in the titular role — led the operatic voices.
The famous fusion band, Shakti, saw Ustad Zakir Hussain collaborate with Violinist L. Shankar, guitarist John McLaughlin, Mridangam player Ramnad Raghavan, and legendary Ghatam player Vikku Vinayakam, that performed globally and received critical acclaim. Zakir Hussain also won the Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album – Global Drum Project, with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo.
These are just amongst some of the examples of collaborations that paved the way for modern music in a globalized era. This fusion of east and west ensures that the musical legacy left behind is more evolved and nuanced than what it used to be back in the day, connecting the world with a common link. Like literature, music has the potential to be divisive, a way for people to fight against each other about what it really means. The truth is there’s no way for this debate to find a resolution.
Several musicians are waking up to the fact that there’s no point in holding the high ground on the matter of what qualifies as decent music. Jazz pianist and YouTuber Charles Cornell is one such example. As a young musician, he was convinced that jazz is the only true form of music and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more widely recognized. He calls himself ‘reformed’ now and listens and reacts to pop music and musicians and makes an honest effort to appreciate the bits that impressed him and suggest possible alternatives that could have worked better.
Music is subjective. That is why Kerouac calls it ‘the only truth’ and Tolstoy calls it ‘the shorthand of emotion’ and they are both right because it means different things to different people, and that is how it’s best left. Don’t care about what others think about your musical taste. Own it and live it. But more importantly don’t be disrespectful to other people’s tastes either, because it’s part of their subjective journey and the reason why it resonates with them the way it does, can be found in their life experiences and choices.
Written by - Shivansh Shandilya
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