Book-review: Sastriya sangita and music culture of Bengal through the ages by Chhaya Chatterjee

9 Pages·1996·2.6 MB·English

BOOK REVIEW
Sastriya Sangita and
Music Culture of Bengal
Through the Ages
Chhaya Chatterjee
Sharada Publishing House,
Delhi,1996
555 pages, Rs 1500
(2 vots, hardbound)
This book in two volumes by Chhaya
Chatterjee studies the history of music in
Bengalfrom theancientperiod up to 1947,
theyearofIndia'sindependence. ,..;."
Fol.lowing theusual socio-political peri
odizationof/ndianhistory,thefirst volume
dlsc~ssesthe politicalhistoryaswellasthe
musical culture of Bengal, in the space of
three chapters. Chapter I deals with the
ableintheRamavana,theHarivamshaand
P~achilla ruga (Ancient Period), dividing
theJatakasand otherBuddhistliteratureto
It.Inthree parts.Part Iofthischapterdeals
reachsome general condMions.followed
WIth the history of Bengal with particular
by a short note on the musical elements
reference tothegeneral socio-politicalsce
foundinKalidasa's works.However,more
narioof Prachyadeshaor 'GreaterBengal'
specificdiscussiononthemusicofBengal
from the earliest period up to the end of
is done next with reference to the
Senarule in Bengal.
Natyashastru of Bharata, the Brihaddeshi
Part" ofthischapterisdevotedtoadis
ofMatanga,theRajataranginiofKalhana,
cussion of the general musical culture of
and Sandhyakarnandin's Ramacharita.
this long period. After constructing from
Referring to thearchaeological evidence
a~sumptions a pictureofthemusic ofpre
found in Paharpur-Lalmai and other area.'
historic Bengal, the author elaborates on
inBengal.theauthorreconstructsthehisto
~edic music and music duringpost-Vedic
ryofmusicandmusicalinstrumentsinthis
urnes.She also briefly discusses the infor
period.
mationaboutmusicand musicallife avail-
SangeetNatak Nos.121-122 July-December1996
50 JAY,\SRIBANERJEE
InPartIII the authordeals with various Bengalandirsgeneralimpactonthesocio
musical styles of the time. After a short economic and cultural life of the region.
noteontheNathagitistheauthordiscusses Part]endswithashortnoteontheprocess
indetailtheCharyagitiswithparticularref .ofshift of power from the Mughals to the
erence to their musical aspects. A chart British.
containingthenamesofthecomposers,the Pan II of this chapter deals with the
numbers ofCharyas, and the names nfthe musical culture of this period. With the
ragas inwhichthey are composed givesa help ofvariousMangala-kavyas, Krishna
helpful overview. While discussing the kirtana.Chaitanya-charitamrita,aswellas
musical aspects of the Gitagovinda the treatises like the Brihaddharma-purana,
author excellently analyses the ragas and theBhaktiratnakara,theSamgitasara-sam
talas used by Jayadeva and shows how graha, the Girachandrodaya of Narahari
Jayadeva created his new style by intro Chakravarti (also known as
ducing "a numberoflong Chandas divisi Ghanashyamadasa, ef. Mihir Karnilya
ble by four matra-ganas" which was dif Chaudhuri's Narahari Chakrabarti:Jibani
ferent fromthe ancientnorms of Sanskrit o Rocha'll/bali, 1981), the Samgita
( p.43). damodara of Shubhankara and others, the
Chapter II deals with the Madhyayuga author provides a detailed description of
(Medieval Period) of Bengal's history. the music and musical stylesofthe period.
Following the above pattern, the author She also refers to such texts as the
deals with Ihe period between A.D. 1200 Gitaprokasba of the Oriya poet
and 1757 in three parts, concentrating on Krishnadasa, the Samgita-saranl of
the political history of Bengal (Part I), its Narayanadasa, and the Ragatarangini of
general musicalculture(Part II),as well as Mithila's Lochanakavias evidences of the
the musical styles ofthe period and three state of music in and musical interaction
relevant texts: the Bn·lladdhanna~pllrana. among various parts of Greater Bengal.
the Sangita-damodara, and the This part ends with a fairly detailed dis
HastamuktabaliofSubhankara (Part III). cussion of Narahari Chakravarti's works.
Part Istarts with the political history of Some moredetailsof the"accountsoffor
Bengal from the year of the invasion of eigners like Ibn Batuta, Ma-huang and
Muhammad-bin-Bakhtiyar Khilji (c. A.D. Kuo-chug-Ii"which,as,hehas herselfsaid
1203) to the Battle ofPlassey (1757).The atpage57.providesomeinformationabout
authorpointsoutthat though the arrivalof "Bengal's prosperity in . . .culturalactivi
the Muslims initially changed the general ties",would have been mostwelcome.
social scenario of Bengal, causing unrest. Pan IIIofthischapterisdevoted tovar
anarchy, loot and arson ( p. 51) which ious musical styles of the period. The
adversely affected the an and culture of authorbeginswith the historicalevolution
this region. events like Sultan Husein of Mangala-giti and Panchali as musical
Sharki's arrival in Bengal and the rise of genres as well as the distinctive traits of
Chaitanya led to a change in its musical Mangala-kavyas as such. Referring to dif
scenarioinapositivesense.Shealsotraces ferent Mangala-kavyas like the Dharma
briefly the development ofMughal rule in mangala of Ruparama, Manikarama and
BOOKREVIEW 51
Mayurabhatta, the Padmapurana of trained groups of kitumtyas. Referring to
Vijayagupta, as well as the Manasa-man thedevelopmentofKirtanaduringthetime
gala of Vipradasa, the Padmapurana of Chaitanyadeva, she discusses in great
Baiskavi, the Chandi-mangata and the detail the historic klrtana mahotsava at
Chaitanya-mangala, the authortraces the KheturiorganizedbyNarortamadasThakur
ragas used in singing these gitis andpro some limeinthe eighties ofthesixteenth
vides a detailed description of musical century.TheauthorthenanalysesrWDvari
instruments available in these texts. The eties of Kirtana-c-Nagara-kirtana/
author separately deals with other man Samkirtana and Lila/Rasa-kirtana along
gala-kavyas such as Manasa-mangala, with abriefreviewofthe Vaishnavatheo
Siva-mango/a(withparticularreferencesto ryofrasa(rasa-Ialtva).Thisisfollowedby
Gajan-gita and Mrigalubdha), Chandi her elaboration of different styles of
mangata, Abhaya-mongala. Annada-man Kirtana:Garanhati,Manoharshahi.Reneti,
gala. Kalika-mangala, Sitala-mangala, Mandarini.Jharkhandi, andthestyleprop
Sashthi-mangala and so on along with a agated by the Mitra Thakur family ofthe
brief review of Bharatchandra's village called Maynadal in the district of
(c.1712- l769) life and works. The notated Birbhum. She next briefly explains Pala
examples of Mangala-giti give the reader kirtana,Uddanda-kirtana,Suchaka-kirtana,
anidea of thisstyle. Dhulot, and Dagiljal-gana. Her discussion
Ina separatesection the authordiscus ofthe procedureandtechniques whichare
ses Badu Chandidas's Shrikrishna-kinana followed in this musical genre is highly
which is the earliest available gitinatyaof commendable.Inthecourseofherdiscus
Bengal. Referring to the controversy relat sion she clearly explicates the different
ed to the date of this text she carefully angatof Kirtana-akhar.katha,doha,IUk,
analyses itsthematiccontent.lyricalcom chut andjhumur/jhumari-and underlines
positions. as well as the ragas andtalas how, due to the growing rigidity in reli
usedinthistext.Herdiscussionoftheiden giousandmusicalnorms,anelaboratesys
tity of different composers bearing the rem of teaching this particular art-form
same name, Cnandidasa, provides useful developed.She alsogivesa lislcontaining
informationinthisregard. the names of some leading gurus of
Kirtana, kirtaniyas, dance experts, and
Inthenextsection.theauthorelaborate
padakanas of the lime. The author con
lydiscussesvariousaspectsofKirtanaasa
eludes her discussion on Kirtana by an
distinctivemusical sytleofBengal. Intrac
extensive analysisof the ragas, talas and
ingitsevolutionthe authorbrieflyanalyses
musicalinstrumentsusedinKinanaaswell
its origin tracing its connection with the
asofthesystemofinstrumental accompa
Charyiipada, Gitagovinda. the padas of
niment.Short lists ofrenowned Kholand
Vidyapati and those of the "poet-com
Kartala players of the lime, pada
posersofearly 15thcenturyA.D.".Shethen
samkalana granthas, the thekas of a few
shows its development from the simple
talas of Kirtanaas well asnotationsofa
forms ofNama-kirtana and Nagara-kirtan•
KirtanacomposedbyJnanadasasettoraga
to more musically complex forms which
Deshare indeedhelpful,
uhimatelygaverise totheneedforforming
52 JAYASRIBANERJEE
Inseparatesections underPart IIIofthe Bengal ... along with others who mat
secondchapter the authorbrieflydiscusses tered" (p. 190 ). While tracing the growth
the lives of Chaitanyadeva, Vidyapati of of Calcuttatheauthormentions theearlier
Mithila, the Bengali padakarta named references to the place-name Kalikata in
Kaviranjana Vidyapati of the later post the Manasa-mangala of Vipradas (A.D.
Chailnaya period, and Narottama Thakur. J5th century). the Chandikavya of
Theauthorthenconcentratesontwopartie KavikankanMukundaram(A.D. 16thcentu
ular formsof Kirtana-Dhap and Bhanga ry), and the Ain-i-Akbari (A.D. 1596) of
kirtana. She elaborates Dhap-kirtana with Abul Fazal, and discusses briefly the role
particular reference to two personalities: of Job Charnock in this process. She then
Rupchand Adhikari (1722-1792) and narrates the political developments in
MadhusudanKinnar(c. 1818--1868).popu Bengal during this period fromthedaysof
larlyknownasMadhu Kan.Itisdifficultto Lord Clive up 10 1947. She ends this part
understand why the author has included witha few linesonthe post-1947 scenario
Madhu Kan in the medieval period; his in Bengal which, being beyond the stated
dateofbirthclearlyplaceshim in themod time-limitofthe chapter, is rather confus
em periodof Bengal'shistory.This is fol ing. It is difficult to understand such sim
lowed by her discussion ofthe three broad plisticstatementsasthefollowing.
categories of Sakta Padabali-Agamani
Bijaya, Shyarna-sarngita and Kali-kirtana. The influx. and unemployment amongst the
Notated song-texts included by the author refugees gave rise to crime, communism and
Naxalite movement,creatinganatmosphere of
help us to understand themusicaldistinc
terrorismandviolence. [p. 199]
tiveness of these styles. The author con
cludesherdiscussionofthemusicalstyles
One appreciates the difficultiesofdeal
of medieval Bengal with short biographies
ingwithsuchacomplex periodinourhis
of Ramprasad Sen and Kamalakanta as
tory, when Bengal first confronted the
well as a brief note on the Baul-gana of
forces of colonialism and, in course of
Bengal. A more detailed discussion of
lime,thoseofmodernity,intheshortspace
Baul-gana would havebeen useful.
permittedbythethemeofthisbook.But,in
Chapter IIIconcentrateson thepolitical
recent years, quite a few excellent studies
and musical history of the Adhunikayuga
have beenmadebyscholarsfrom Indiaand
(Modem Period) of Bengal's history.
abroad in this area. particularly on the
Following thepattern of theprevious two
impactoftheseforceson Bengal'slife and
chapters theauthor. in the first part.briefly
culture. The history of this period as told
narrates the political history of Bengal
here by the present author suffers. I am
from 1757, the date of the Battle of
afraid, from oversimplifications which
Plassey, to 1947, the year ofour indepen
could have been easily avoided had she
dence. At the very outset the author has
consultedstudiespublished after thebooks
clearly stated that she would be dealing in
ofPercival Spear and/or Ramesh Chandra
thischapterwiththose"fITStfewofficersof
Majumdar. mentioned in the bibliography
theEast India Company" who had "played
to thispart.
the key roles" in "shaping the fate of
Part II of this chapter deals with the
BOOKREVIEW 53
musicalculture of Bengalafter 1757. Here of the Pathuriaghata Thakur family, the
the author points out that the important authordeals,ratherbriefly,withthesignif
musical stylesof 18th-centuryBengal were icance of theartistic-musicalactivitiesof
replaced by "more raga-oriented" music Raja Jyotindramohan and Raja
withthe migration of renowned Ustads to SourindramohanTagore.
Bengal after'the decline of Delhi and Thelastsectionofthefirstvolumedeals
Lucknow, the two main centres of music, withgharanas,beginningwithalistofthe
insearchof fresh patronage. After provid vocal and instrumental gharanas which
ing anoverview ofthe musicalscenarioof have considerableinfluence onthe music
the time as well as a brief account of the of Bengal. She then briefly discusses the
development of theatre in Calcutta, the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal with hio
author describes in fair detail twenty graphicalandmusicaldetailsofmusicians
importantcentres ofmusic in Bengal such belongingtothisgharanaaswellasitsdis
as Krishnanagar, Natore, Hishnupur, tinctive traits. Though the author thinks
Calcutta, Gauripur, Murshidabad and so thattheBishnupurgharanabegan"asearly
on.Herdiscussionoftheimportanceofthe as 7thcenturyA.D."( p.248),shehas not
"Metiaburuj music darbar" of Nawab presented any evidencein favour of her
Wajid Ali Shah in the context ofBengal's argument. Bishnupur becoming a seal of
musicalcultureis quiteinteresting,andso music and thebeginningoftheBishnupur
is herdiscussion of the role ofthevarious gltarana, it would be readily agreed, are
badis (houses)ofCalcutta likethoseof the twodifferentmatters,becausegharanaasa
Seths and Basaks, the rajbadi of conceptimpliescertainsocialandmusical
Sobhabazar, tbe Deb family of Shimulia, specificities (cr. Daniel M Neuman, The
the Boral family, the Ghoshes of Life of Music in Nonn India: The
Pathuriaghataandothers.Though,asweall Organization of an Artistic Tradition.
know. there is no exact correspondence 1990; University of Chicago Press,
between a society and its artistic culture, ChicagolLondon). It would have been
there is no denying the necessity of interestinghadsheexaminedwhetherthese
are noticeable in Ibis particular case as
analysing the latter with reference to the
socio-political context of a society at a earlyasthe7thCenturyA.D. However,her
giventime. discussionaboutvariouspersonswhowere
trained indifferent areasofour'classical'
Thenext sectionofthispart beginswith
musicbymusicians belongingtodifferent
a detailed genealogical tree of the
gharanns is quite informative. The "chart
Jcrasanko Thakur family, followed by an
of Guru-Shishya Parampara of Tabla and
account of the Jives andmusicalactivities
Pakhavaj"aswellaslbethekasoftentalas
of its members like Debendranath Thakur,
which were in use specially in Bengal
Dwijendranath Thakur, Salyendranath
would prove helpfulfor studentsof music
Thakur, Hemendranath Thakur,
Jyotirindranath Thakur and others. This is history.
The second volume is entirely pan III
supponed by notated illustrations of the
of the third chapter. This pan deals with
songs composed by many ofthem. In this
various musical styles of Bengal during
manner, beginning with agenealogicallrcc
5-1 JAYASRIBA:-;ERJEE
the period. In section 1 of this part, Gitaprakasha by Krishnadasa Badajena
the author discusses in detail Kavigan, Mahapatra (A.D. 16th century);
Panchali. Tappa, Akhdai, Half-Akhdal, panchamasara-samgraha of Narada (c.
Pakshir-gan, Dhrupad, Khayal, Thumri, A.D. 1570n2-1630/32), SamgitaDamodara
Branrno-sangu, Jatra and Natya by DamodaraSen (late 16th and early 17th
sangit, Rabindrasangit, Kavyasangit, century): Ragatarangini of Lochanakavi
Ragapradhan-gan and Swadeshi-sangit (end-17th and early 18th century); Bhakti
with particular reference to the leading ratnakara, Samgitasara-samgraha and
composers and musicians in these areas. Gitachandradaya by NarahariChakrabarty
Quiteafew notatedmusicalillustrationsof (18th century); Raga-ratnakara by
someoftheseforms supportthediscussion. Narahari Chakrabarty/Ghanashyamadasa;
In section 2 of this part the author sys Annada-mangala by Bharatchandra
tematically tracestheevolutionofnotation Rayagunakara (1752); Sangita-laTallga by
in Bengal. She places the discussion in a Radharnohan Sen Das (1818); Sangita
comparativeframeworkwithparticularref Raga Kalpadrama by Krishnanda Vyasa
erence to the evolution of Indian notation Deva Ragasagara (firstpublished in 1842);
down the ages.A reference in this context Gitasutrasara by Krishnadhan Banerjee
to the ieuers written by Krishnadhan (\885); and Samgita-Praveshika by
Bandyopadhyay 10 Jyotirindranath Tagore Murarimohan Gupta(19thcentury).
in 1897 would have been very interesting. Since this section is included under
However, one should congratulate the Adhunikayuga,the authorshouldhavecon
author for the useful details provided by fined herself to treatises belonging to that
her in thisregard. specific period. The treatises mentioned
Although itis interesting to knowabout above should have been included in the
thePratikS...uralipi(published in 1955)of first volume under Madhyayuga, where
Dr Bimal Roy which she has dealt with in thereisaseparate sectionon treatises.The
fair detail, and about the Major-minor discussionaboutasignificantworklike the
Consonantal System ofNikhil Ghosh(pub Gitasutrasara of Krishnadhan
lished in 1968inhisbookFundamentalsof Bandyopadhyay is rather descriptive.
Raga and Tala-c-with a New System of Publications ofthis period. apart from the
Notation). reference 10 these lakes us few mentioned above, should have been
beyond thetime-framefixed bythe author. critically analysed because they exhibit
The finalsectionof this part deals with some new trends which influenced later
the 'Treatises of Bengal'. After briefly developmentsin music andmusicologyin
mentioning some treatises from the 10th Bengal.
century onwards as evidence ofthe "depth Itisalsodifficultto understandwhythe
of traditional music practised in list of books in this section includes titles
Prachvadesha orGreater Bengal" (p.5(4), publishedafter 1947, the limitofherstudy.
Ihe author gives a list ofbooks with their If the author wanted to include contempo
authorsandtheperiodsinwhich these were rary works, she should have given an
written, She then provides descriptive exhaustive listofbooksofmusicpublished
accounts of the following treatises: in the post-independence years. The pre-
BOOKREVIEW 55
sentlist creates animpression of random nineteenth centuryinthe domainofmusic
selection. isabitsurprising.Nohistoryofnineteenth
Though I have been greatly impressed century Bengal can ignore such a vital
by Shrimati Chhaya Chatterjee's work, I question because in the activities of our
think: it is necessary to point out-a few 'Renaissance heroes'. even inthe fieldof
things which I hope she would consider music. wecanseetheinherentcomradic
while preparing a future edition of this tionsoftheBengalRenaissance.Forexam
book.Firstly,itwould beagreedthatinany pie one suchhero, RajaSourindra Mohun
kind of historical writing, like the present Tagore, whoselifeand contributionshave
study,specific references tosources either been very briefly treated in this book,
in footnotes or endnotes are essential. reflectsthesecontradictionsclearly.Onthe
While going through the book, I have one hand we see him establishing (he
alwaysfeltthe lack ofsuchreferences.For Bengal MusicSchool,the firstof itskind,
example, itwouldhave beeninterestingif inthe ChirpurareaofCalcuttaasearlyas
the authorhadmentionedspecific sources 1881,writingbooksonmusic,patronizing
to reach such conclusions asthatthepre musiciansandmusicscholars.and sending
historicage "stretched from 15000 BC" ( p. large consignments of Indian musical
2),or that the Bengalisasadistinctpeople instrumentsandbooksasginstotherulers
evolved "probably by 15th-16th century and dignitaries of different countries all
Be"( p.3),orthat"theVedaswere written over the world-which is all in keeping
between c. 9500 BCor evenearlier" ( p. 3, withoneface of the BengalRenaissance;
fn.Ia).And therearemanysuch instances. ontheother,weseehisextremeloyaltyto
Secondly, although I do not dum an theBritish rulers-the other face of our
exact correspondence between a society Renaissance. Witness his variouspublica
anditsartisticculture,itisdifficulttoover tions like VictoriaGiriko(Stanhope Press,
looktheimportanceofanalysinganartistic (875), FiftyStanzasinSanskritin Honour
culture in the socio-cultural context in of HRH The Prince of Wales (Stanhope
wruchithas flourished.Take,forexample, Press, 1875),El1glish VersesSettoHindoo
in
the scope of analysing the musical devel Music Honor of H.R.H. The Prince of
opmentofthetimeinrelationtotheBhakti Wales (Presidency Press, J875), and his
movement of sixteenth-century Bengal. book of 1880 called Indian Music's
The study in this area by Professor Address to Lord Lytton. What could be
Ramakanta Chakrabarty (Vaislla,';sm In more telling than the concluding lines of
Bengal: 1486-1900, Sanskrit Pustak his victoriaGitiko:
Bhandar,Calcutta, 1985),whichhasexcel DescendedfromtheTagorefamily
lently analysed the socio-religious back TheSuppliantSounndraMohun
ImploresaIinlesparkofthymercy
groundoftheChaitanya movementaswell
Hardlyattainable,0 thou mercifulEmpressof
as the social implications of the Bhakti
India.
movement. may be mentioned here. The IPublicOpinionsandOjJiciulCommunications
authorhas leftoutthisdiscussion. AboUI the Bengal Music Schoof and lts
Similarly, the author'ssilenceaboutthe President. 1876. Stanhope Press. Calcutta. p.
impact of the Bengal Renaissance of the 16J
S6 JAYASRIBANERJEE
Things become more interesting when ture.Thisinteraction, inlateryears, mould
we considerhis writingson historysuchas ed to a large extent the future course of
Hindu Loyalty (1883), in which he under Bengali music. For example, with the
lines with historical-scriptural references emergence of the Orientalist discourse on
the tradition of loyalty and obedience of Indian 'classical' music, theredeveloped in
Indians totheir kings and rulers. Bengal a musico-literal tradition which,
Itistrue that the appearanceofthis man compared to theearlierprescriptive textual
atacriticaljuncturein OUfhistoryhas gen tradition of this music, was of a different
erated some interest among a few ethno kind. The process started with the publica
musicologists (cf. Charles Capwell, tion of the monograph On the Musical
'Musical Life in Nineteenth-Century ModesoftheHindoos bySirWilliamJones
Calcutta asa Component in the Historyof in 1784. This tradition greatly influenced
a Secondary Urban Centre' in Journal of the first-generation musicologists of
the Societyfor Asian Music, Vol. XVII-I, Bengal like Kshetramohan Goswami, Raja
Fall/Winter, 1986; 'Sourindra Mohun Sourindra Mohun Tagore, Krishnadhan
a
Tagore and the National Anthem Project' Bandyopadhyayandothers. As result,the
in Ethnomusicology, Vol. 31, No.3, Fall historical and theoretical studies taken up
1987, Society for Ethnomusicology, Ann by such musicologists display the imprint
Arbor, Michigan; 'Marginality and of the Orientalist line of thinking.
Musicology in Nineteenth-Century However, all these developments led to
Calcutta: The Case of Sourindra Mohun attempts, for thefirst time, towrite ahisto
Tagore' in Comparative Musicology and ry of Indian' 'classical' music. In the area
the Anthropology of Music: Essays in of theoretical studies of our 'classical'
History and Ethnomusicology, University music, one notices a shift from the earlier
of Chicago Press; Jonathan Katz, 'Raja prescriptive tradition. Indian 'classical'
Sourindra Mohun Tagore (1840-1914)' in music from this time onwards was placed
Popular Music in India, 1988, Manohar, within a comparative framework with the
Delhi; and Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, 'The musics of other cultures like the Western,
Beginnings of Organology: Victor Greek and/or Roman. The period also wit
Mahillon and S.M. Tagore', unpublished nessed the beginning of the application of
manuscript). But there remains ample the analytical tools and methods of the
scope formakingacritical-analyticalstudy Western musical tradition to understand
of Sourindra Mohun, the typical andexplain Indian 'classical' music.
'Renaissance hero' in the field of our Similarly, inthe area of transmission of
music, in whom we can clearly see the musical knowledge, we notice the begin
Janus faceof the Bengal Renaissance. ningofattemptstoteach musicformally,in
Thirdly, another significant omission institutions, outside the traditional gha
which I have noticed in this book is the ranas. The establishment of Sourindra
absence of an analytical discussion of sig Mohun's Bengal Music School inCalcutta
nificant developments in the domain of in 1881, "where vocal music and some of
Bengal's music which occurred asa result the drawing room instruments began tobe
ofitsinteractionwithWesterncolonialcul- taught with the aid of books and according
BOOKREVIEW 57
to asystemof notation" (SourindraMohun marketforcesinthedomainofmusic.One
Tagore, Universal HistoryofMusic, 1896, major work in this area is the The
p.87-1\8),thebeginningof"teaching thee Gramophone Company's First Indian
retical music and Vedic chants" with "the Recordings: 1899-1908 by Michael
sanction of the Government" at Sanskrit Kinnear (Popular Prakashan, Bombay,
College in Calcutta, and the establishment 1994). References may also be made to
of two music schools at Bankura in 1883 suchwritingsas 'A ConciseHistoryofthe
where "elementary music began to be Phonograph Industry in India' by G.N.
taught by means of a manual of vocal JoshiinPapillarMusicinIndia(Manohar,
music..." (ibid,p.85)highlightthistrend. Delhi, 1988) and 'The Saga of Old
Wecannotice anechoof thistrend inthe Gramophone Records' by Vijay Varmain
writings ofsensitiveminds oftheperiod.In Sociology of Oriental Music (ed. O.P.
1885, Krishnadhan Bandyopadhyay criti Joshi, Illustrated Book Publisher, Jaipur,
cized the system of music-leaching in the 1992).
traditional gharanas and underscored the All this is very much part of Bengal's
absenceof ascientificmusic-teaching sys history, so is thehistoryof filmmusic in
tern in our country. In 1928 Rabindranath Bengal.Sincetheauthorintendedto« tend
Tagorecameoutwithhis 'viswavidyalaye her area of study from shastriya sangit to
Samgit Shiksha' ('Music Education at the themusicalcultureofBengalingeneral,as
University', in Bengali. Rabindra becomes clear from the title of the book,
Rachanabali,. Vol. XIV, Government of discussionsoffolkandtribalmusicaswell
WestBengal, 196[,p. 1009-1013). as the popular music of the region would
This period also witnessed a shirr of havebeen inorder.
patronage of music and music education I should however like to conclude by
from individualstothe state. This becomes pointing out that the book adequately
evident with Bengal Music School begin reflectstheauthor'scompetenceinthesub
ning to receive a "grant-in-aid from the jeel and the hard'work sbe has put in to
Government of Bengal" (ibid, p. 88), and mustersucha widerange of information
with the start of broadcasting in Bengal and to gain the insights which we find in
with the establishment of a Radio Club in thisbook.Beingastudentofhistory.aswe
Calcutta in 1923 (P.C. Chatterji, gatherfromtheprologue,shehasbeenable
Broadcasting in India, 1987, Sage touseherskilltoputtogetheralotofvalu
able infonnation on the music history of
Publications,India, 1991,p.39).
Bengal. [ feel that this book would be an
Finally,the establishment oftherecord
importantadditiontothelistofrecentpub
ing industry in Bengal at the beginning of
licationsinmusichistory.
this century, when a branch of the
Gramophone CompanyofEnglandwas set
JAYASKIBANERJEE
upinCalcuttain 190I,markedtheentry of