Music Criticism: Principles and Practice - R Satyanarayana

I have been following the south Indian Carnatic classical music for a while. For the past 7-8 years, I am attempting to writer some of my concert experiences in a blog, more as a reference than being a critical review. Because I have no formal training in the music, all that I could do was to cover the superficial aspect of the concert from a 'rasika's point of view, than to do an in depth critical and analytical view of the music that was presented to the public. I had a correspondence with one of the leading artist in Bangalore, around 6 months back, and while discussing on the subject of concert review, he said, this form of  hasn't been explored to the fullest with the current generation of writers and press. We were to discuss this aspect at length, but it hadn't been materialised until now. In the meanwhile, this book was recommended to read.

R Satyanarayana, a leading musicologist with a number of highly acclaimed books and lectures under his name, is also a musician, a Veena exponent. His articles on various aspect of music has been very popular. He has been awarded by the Sangeetha Nataka Academy in 2009 among various other recognition. His scholarly research and publications are largely on the aspect of creativity in music and the interpretation of various schools of music and his study of umpteen manuscripts. However, in this book, he decided to look at the aspect of music criticism for a detailed study.

The book, as the title says, is divided into two parts ( or three with a study of a composition at length). the initial part looks the music criticism in its principles and the key aspects of music criticism. The second part is largely a collection of critical essays on music by some of the stalwarts in the scene, which provide the testimony of the theoretical aspect that was discussed in part one. The second part ends with a critical analysis of a composition ( SrI subrahmaNyAya namastE in kAmbOji by Muddusvami Dikshita').

Art Experience

"The primary concern of the music critic is understanding and explaining, interpreting or commenting upon musical experience".  Experience for a grown up person a complex and multilayered, says Satyanarayana. It is dynamic to multiple factors. It has both conscious and subconscious state or the describable and undescribable content.  The  knowledge or awareness element is derived from sensory sources. These are then structured into definite patterns shaping their awareness. All conscious experiences are referential, its either external or internal. This experience is objective..from 'object to sensory organs, to the mind and to the soul is the progress of the perceptive experience. However, art experience if non-referential. Art experience results form 'contemplation' ( charvana) of the imaginative situation created by the artist.  Artist contribute his power of creative activity. The listener ( connoisseur ) offers his share of imaginative contemplation , sympathetic understanding and feeling which are akin to the artist  ( sa-hrdaya) and reproduces the art product within himself, before sharing his experience with the rest of the world.

Sri Satyanarayana, uses a vast of references from the ancient texts and scriptures and establish the connection of art experience and aesthetic value associated with art. He compares the tradition both in the Indian context and western context. While the western form of aesthetics are largely taken as beauty, the Indians use a much more complex word ' rasa' to describe the same. Aesthetic experience is conditioned by both objective and subjective elements. Moreover, aesthetic elements focusses on the feelings and emotion rather than reasoning and intellection.

The most important responsibility and duty of the art critic is to develop, propagate and sustain good taste in the arts in the members of his society. Taste may be defined as a faculty of mind by which it perceive beauty. While taste can widely differ from person to person, it may be possible to enunciate some fundamental criteria for good taste for the art in general. The ideal of art experience that the artist's practice of the art and the connoisseur's response to it.

Art Criticism

Criticism can be defined as a skill involved in evaluating , reviewing or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work which includes the implicit and explicit interpretation of the meaning and value of such art form.  There fore aesthetics, art philosophy and art criticism together constitutes one single system of thought. A critic can improve the scope and quality of his criticism by exposing himself continuously to the aesthetic experience of his choice.It helps him to develop insight into the nature of the art as well as to the working mind of the artist. A work of art is significant in many ways, it is a reflection of aesthetic ideals, concepts and imaginations of its author, the representation of the cultural milieu of its time and the social demand and aspirations of the society. Art criticism is always contemporary and relevant. Art criticism ( for that matter the art form itself) can not escape from the 'cultivated' versus 'mass' conflict.

History of art and Music criticism in the West and India

Moving on from here, he discusses the aspects of music criticism in the West and in India. The music criticism in the Europe begun with the raise of new world of creative composers, in the 17th century. Germany, once the breeding ground for composers were again lead the way in the musical criticism. Germany produced numerous journals on music in the last quarter of 18th century, which not only published the new compositions of Mozart, Haydn and Beethovan, but also the first criticism on them. In the later centuries, the field of music criticism improved over the years shifting from the romanticism to the aesthetics and creative techniques. This period also produced the "composer - critics" in the field. Composers like Wagner, who wrote critical essays mostly for boosting or defending his own compositions. Tchaikovsky was the music critique for Gazette of Moscow. As is the case today, there were conflicts between the critic versus the artist /composor. For eg comments like' the immoral profession of music criticism should be abolished" ( by Wagner himself) were regular against the critics. Many literary bigwigs of Europe were also noted for their music criticism. Play Wright  George Bernard Shaw produced some excellent , often witty, critical essays on music.. Anatole France and Roman Roland were few other writers who contributed to the music criticism scene. In the US, this was caught up in the second half of the 19th century and for now, they surpass the Europe and other parts of the world as the centre of musicological and historiographical scholarship.

In India, the art criticism can be linked to as early as the time of Bharatamuni. He is the earliest known authority on the model of art criticism. His writing ( naatyashaastra) covered all aspects of the performing art and was the pioneering effort in this aspect. On the subject of music, the first known writing is the 'Sangeetha Ratnakara (AD 1230) of Shaarangadeva, describing the qualities of the composer, the performer and the percussion artists. Various other writings in Sanskrit and other Indian Languages covers various aspects of the music, dance and craft forms over the years.

Musical Forms

Musical form is central to all music activities - composition, performance and experience. The process of musical criticism there for consists of analysis of the musical form and its structure.  Art is created when form emerge out of symbols signifying beauty under trained and rational workman. Indian music by and large are textual , comprising of word ( pada), tone(swara)  and duration (taala). They are lyrical or poetic based compositions. Few forms like mallari, jatiswara and rare cases thillana are without meaningful words ( they use unintelligent syllable for rhythmic pattern).   As a consequence there are very few instrumental compositions in Carnatic music. In the recent past a few instrumental performers are trying to experiment with this aspect, creating compositions suiting their style while adherence to the grammar of the raaga or scale ( the western styled notes popularised by Madurai Mani Iyer, the 'raagapravaaham' seen in the concerts of violin duo Ganesh and Kumaresh are few examples, apart from the mallari usually played by Nagaswaram vidwans).

The music forms of Carnatic music can be summarised into 16 style : geetham, swarajathi, jatiswara ( without saahitya) , varnam, kriti, devarnama, ugabhoga-vachana,padam, javali, pallavi, ashtapadi, daru, tarangam,tillana,raagamalika and shlOka.  In this the kriti, which typically written and performed in 'pallavi', 'anupallavi' and  'charanam' (PAC) format contributes to the majority part of the concert.  From the musical form we move to the presentation form as the artist choose to align and structure his repertoire to be presented to the audience within the stipulated ( stated or assumed) time.

The Music critic

The criticism is the process of translating and grading the aesthetic experience, in line with its impact it created in the critics mind. The musicians task is to create with music and the critics role is to re-create the same experience with words. Critic means to judge, but in the real sense he functions in the role of an interpreter.

He continue to describe the role of a critic and the need to be truthful to the music and not the performer. A music critic faces many a problem as the art form unlike painting, sculpture or architecture are not fixed in time or space.  A music that is delivered ( especially to Indian music) can not be repeated exactly. While we can record and listen the same again, it can not reproduce the same ambience, same state of mind and same cohesion of all that contributed to the experience in the same way. Hence memory plays an important part in the perception and appreciation of the performance.  There for the concept, principle and rules of aesthetics vary for music over other forms of art. There is also this subjective-objective dilemma. While criticism is largely subjective ( based on the aesthetic experience), under the guiding principle, it is important to have a balance of subjective and objective element.

Sri Satyanarayana says ( in detail)  the moral obligation of the critic should be, first and foremost, to the music itself, followed by the listener, the composer and then the performer. He also list down the qualification of a music critic.

• he should possess a knowledge of technical and theoretical principles of music
• knowledge of history of music and music scholarship
• general education coverving as many subjects as possible as cognate with music
• able to think clearly and write lucidly
• an insight into the workings of creative imagination
• have an integrated philosophy of life of his own.
• an endless curiosity and willingness to learn
• should know his own limitations and limitations of his profession
• a mythical superman ( who combines in himself at the same time the qualities of total absorption, yet distance, consonance with musician yet critical acumen)
• avoid being a cultural broker, a mere translator, or a public relation agent
• evolve an aesthetical theory of musical experience.
• should not fall prey to temptations of money, influence and power.
• insight into the creative states and mood of pre-expressional and expressional phases of the performer
• more than livelihood, it must be a way of living, a commitment , a dedication
• sensitive to the artistic values of the medium
• must have a command of language adequate to express his ideas

The second part of the book looks at the practice of music criticism in India, largely on the carnatic musical arena. Indian Musical criticism developed into the current state largely during the mid 20th century. The newspapers , as can be imagined, lead the way by publishing brave, venturesome critical reviews with little or no encouragement from the public or music fraternity. From the nascent stage of musical reviews , this has now grew multi folds with regular reviews in almost all the leading dailies and few limited musical journals ( shruthi magazine, for example). These reviews included portraits of the musician, critics on music criticism, views of the artist on music critic, reviews of the performance itself ( both live and recorded) and reviews of music books.

The rest of the pages is filled with notable reviews from the established critics in South India ( and a few from West as well, in which the essays of George Bernard Shaw were awesome) - Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra- appeared in various publications.

Critical essays of E Krishna Iyer, N R Bhuvarahan, BRC Iyengar and concert reviews of SVK, Subbudu, Ranee Kumar, S V Seshadri and Interviews of artist and critics 'Gowri Ramnarayanan', of artists T N Seshagopalan ( who was very critical on the critics) , K S Mahadevan a book criticism by Sulochana Pattabhiraman , On a music sabha (  Mysore V Subramanya on Chowdiah Memorial Hall) were few notable inclusion. The section concluded with a brilliant study of the music of Gangubhai Hangal by Sri R Satyanarayana himself.

The last chapter is spent on the critical analysis of a musical composition. While we see lesser study in this aspect, with most of the musicians prefer to perform the well established compositions, I was wondering why wasn't there any serious study done in this aspect of the music criticism. The only critical, usually with admiration and praise, study of the new composers and their compositions are limited to the lecture demonstration by one of the performer, who uses this to sing and introduce the creative aspect ( historical background) of the composition, rather than the creative merits and demerits of the product. Sri Satyanarayana chose a well known composition of Muddusvai Dikshita, in kAmbOji ( Sri Subramanyaya Namaste) to introduce this aspect of critical stud

A first of its kind book, dedicated to musical criticism is treasure for the likes of me. The highly informative and deep understanding of the aspect of art and music in the initial part is not only scholarly, but a very well thought out presentation. The second part is not as dense and elegant, but it provided ( some of them at least) a better understanding of the subject that was discussed in the part one. Despite the abundant use of Sanskrit words ( with English equivalent), inevitable due to the references to the ancient texts,  this was very readable and easy to understand. The structure, the language used, the examples and references were appropriate. A few spelling errors that crept in could have been avoided.

A great reference to creative writers and those writing about arts in general and on carnatic music in particular. I am expected to do a better job with my writing armored with new understanding of this genre of writing.

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Music Criticism: Principles and Practice (2006 )

R Satyanarayana

Vidwan R K Srikantan Trust

277 Pages
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The Hindu,

An Incurable Romantic - Lakshmi Devnath

As an avid listener of Carnatic classical music, one can not but admire the virtuosity and the talent of some of the doyens of the last generation of musicians. The post independent India and the next 50 years thence, can be considered the golden era of Carnatic music. The art form saw unprecedented growth and popularity on one side, and a consolidation and structural optimisation on the other side, which later formed as the basis for the new generation of artists to expand. Numerous stalwarts, who made a mark in the art form enthralled the audience with their music and intellect both in vocal and instruments in this era. The later generations continue the tradition to lift the music to greater heights, giving the credit to the yesteryear musicians for paving the way. Though, vocal concert  dominate the musical field, and violin being the integral part of the vocal concert providing much needed support, be it in aligning the notes, or by filling up the silences or lifting the overall experience of the concert with apt interludes and meticulous following of the main artist. However, under the vocal concert arena, it always been a supporting instrument, and the violinist were accompanying artist limiting their ability to the main artist of the evening. It remain largely so, even in these times. There are, however, many violin concerts, giving the instrument an independent identity, in recent times, thanks to some of the hard work and "demand" put in by the earlier vidwans, especially Lalgudi, MSG andTNK , the three names that stood out from the rest in the fields. Having listened to numerous recordings of their accompanying the yesteryear stalwart, one always remained in awe of their virtuosity and their dedication. However, I always had a bias towards the accompaniment of Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman. It is this admiration of the artist, that prompted me to buy the book on the life and music of Lalgudi Jayaraman. Having read through the book, the respect has not diminished a bit, but have only increased. I haven't had the luck of listening to him accompanying any vocalist, and had only a couple of instance of listening to his violin concert live. But Lalgudi, always remain high in my musical listening experience.

Laksmi Devnath's book, does justice to the man in discussion. Written on the suggestion and request by the family members of the musician, she seems to have done adequate research on her 'subject' and the awe and admiration which one carry while talking about someone of his stature, is evident in the book. As in a typical biographical book, it starts with his forefathers and the lineage both musical ( from Thyagaraja ) and parental.  From Lalgudi Rama Iyer, great grandfather and a direct disciple of Thyagaraja to Valadi Radhakrishna Iyer ( one of the first in the field of Violin accompaniment in Carnatic Music ) to his father Lalgudi Gopala Iyer the direct connection to the trinity of Carnatic music is established. Lakshmi Devnath spends enough pages on these individuals and on the musical lineage who directly and indirectly shaped the musician in order to set the base to person and musician in Lalgudi jayaraman. Under the strict ( as one expect in the old Gurukula style of teaching) guidance and tutelage of his father and guru Pallavi Gopala Iyer, Jayaraman's learning was fast and meticulous. There was no place for silly games or other entertainment in the pursuit of perfection. Gopala Iyer continue to "fine tune" the music of his son, even after he has made a name for himself as one of the bright future in the carnatic music field.

Jayaraman, now started knowing under the prefix Lalgudi, had his god fatherly support from the Superstar of Carnatic Music, non other than GNB. GNB was partly responsible for his growth into a complete musician at a very young age. He had the privilege of accompanying most of the leading singers of the era, only to receive supporting gesture as well as the admiration of the public. A new star in the arena of carnatic music is arrived.  Lakshmi Devnath, spends a lot of time on specific incidents and anecdotes to support her findings before she moved on to the personal side of the musician. His wedding, the relation between the father and son ( Gopala Iyer continue to be the guiding force in his life) and his relations with his siblings ( as a guru as well as the musical pair on stage) were discussed in detail.

As one expect in any biography, it did touch upon the many controversies around Lalgudi. The famous "Sangitha Kalanidhi" episode, the somewhat strained relationship with Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the tussle with the music critic Subbudu various allegation about him overshadowing the main vocalist ( in his quest to perfection) , many many so called misunderstanding among musicians, the cold relation with Music Academy were discussed in detail, mostly in line with what is already known to the music world. Interestingly, there was no official version from Lalgudi in any of these topics.

While the book does a great job of consolidating and documenting what is already available, in did not in real terms give any larger perspective of  the musician. However, the study of his compositions, his various works as music director and composer for dace drama and musicals, the compositions specially tuned and written on the request by dancers are the exception. This to me is the meaty part of the book and that made my day. The writing in general was aimed at a music lover and those familiar with Carnatic music. There is abundant use of Tamil words , which often distract the smooth flow of the reading. Being a non-Tamilian, the early chapters were very annoying at times.  She does provide the meaning of these terms both musical and Tamil in the annexure, but at many places, these Tamil words did have proper substitutes.

Biographies are very tricky genre of writing. Its like peeping into someone else life, the private personality of a public figure. It is expected to give a new insight to the person, thus enhancing your own perspective of the world. In most of the cases, one see the writer is overpowered by the persona, intimidated by the charisma of the' subject', the voice and words gets carried away under this influence, hampering the objective approach to the life of the person. This book too suffer from the same. Patrick French's biography of V S Naipaul, was an exception.

Very well presented book, help you to reiterate your admiration of one of the most versatile artist,composer, guru and performer of Carnatic Music. The added bonus was the CD of his select recordings.

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An Incurable romantic - The Musical Journey of Lalgudi Jayaraman ( 2013 )

Lakshmi Devnath

Harper Collins

435 Pages
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Indian Express , Lalgudi Official Page

The Music Room - Namita Devidayal

History of Indian Music is very interesting and laden with stories, legends and myths. Little do we know about the hardship and the dedication of those who fight it out to come into the limelight. Be it the Hindustani style or the Carnatic style, the story is the same and often mis-represented. The eccentricities, the infights, the never ending egos , the selfish patrons , connoisseurs takes away the major part of their lives. These classical arts demand a life time of dedication and practice, often without any financial returns. A vast majority of once popular practitioners, end up living under poverty without anyone to look after them.

While a few fight it out in the commercial world, a large number of them does not get the recognition they deserve, who are as talented and as dedicated to the music. Mainly because of the lack of supporting systems such as patrons and weighty sponsors and many times because of their unwillingness to compromise on their believes.

Reading Namita Devidayals's absorbing book "The music Room", gives us the inside view of the life and times of the legends of Hindustani Music and their ways. As a ten year old girl, Namita was taken to one of the icons of the Jaipur Gharana , Dhondutai Kulkarni for her music lessons. Dhondutai , a living under sub par conditions, disciple of the famous and often controversial Kesarbai Kerkar, sees the glimpses of young Kesar in the young girl and accepts the girl under her tutelage. The long association of learning and admiration begins, which continues for almost three decades.

Namita Devidayal, takes the readers through the history of Jaipur Gharana and hindustani music in general over the period of 100 years with Dhondutai Kulkarni. The history covers the legendary Alladiya Khan and his musician family, Kesarbai Kerkar , the finest singers of the Jaipur Gharana and the life of Dhondutai Kulkarni.

The book looks at the life and times of the charismatic Alladiya Khan, the founder of the Jaipur Gharana, famous for their repertoire of rare ragas and krithis and their fast paced Taans. Though a Muslim, he and his family used to do sing every morning at the temples in Kolhapur and is still wear the thread across his chest like Brahmins.

Kesarbai Kerkar , considered as the most powerful hindustani singers of the 20th Century , learned from Alladiya , pioneered and preserved the Jaipur Gharana's tradition, and passed on to the young Dhondutai who joined her as a disciple and was with her until her death in 1977. There are enough examples and stories of the famous indian school of Guru-Shishya parampara and their often all submissive relationships. We also witness the steady deterioration of their financial wealth as well as their tradition as there are lesser and lesser listeners for this music and even lesser takers for learning. They lead a life so away from the mainstream and so detached from the worldly life spending most of the times in their small rooms with the gods and demi-gods in company.

Though this is biographical in nature, and not having most of the fictional qualities, Namita Devidayal uses the method of writing, which is a combination of both styles, retaining the admiration of the art and the gurus as you often observe in biographies, as well as the use of language as in fiction writings. At no point of time she is away form the events and the stories, always retains her ( and the readers) interest in the stories and anecdotes. A very well written book and great value to someone like me who has near zero knowledge of the Hindustani Music and its heroes.

Hindustan Times has set up a nice site on this book which can be accessed here

Here are the links to few reviews about this book.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/09/23/stories/2007092350120500.htm

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070928/asp/opinion/story_8367570.asp

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The Music Room

Written By : Namita Devidayal

Random House Publications

316 Pages

Rs 395

This Is Your Brain on Music - Daniel J Levitin

I haven't learnt music. These days I am deeply attracted to Carnatic music and with my limited exposure, I'm amused at my ability to identify a mohanam , a kharaharapriya or a thodi. I have always thought, of how am I able to do this. Unlike people who have learnt music where they can construct - de-construct the lines to swaras and associate the arohana-avarohana pattern to the appropriate ragam, I can not do that. But I can identify most of the ragams, and how is it possible. It is possible only by referring to my earlier listening and successful comparison to a similar krithi / song stored somewhere within me....

Here is a book that can help you to find some answers to these. It had given me direction on some of the stupid ( not really ) doubts I had..

Daniel Levitin, a neuro-scientist, talks about the way our mind understand music and how the brain processes or participate in processing these information. This book is not entirely on music. It is more on the science of music ( neuro science to be precise). Levitin, before becoming a scientist, was a musician, a sound engineer and a record producer.

The book starts with the basic music theory and explanation of the key concepts and words in the music arena. What is Tone, Scale, Rhythm, Timber , pitch , tempo etc. I found this very useful and informative as a layman on timber. I had always wondered on how does different instrument sound differently, even though they play the same NOTEs and have tuned to the same pitch. I knew that it had to be something to do with the harmonics. It is only now that I found a proper answer that satisfies my doubts. According to him, timbre itself has 3 dimension .. the Attack phase ( when the energy is introduced to the instrument - by bowing, plucking or striking) , the steady state and the flux. If the attack phase is editted out of the instrument ( or the music) , most of the instrument sound similar..!! This also explains to me the principle of "Synthesizers", or the artificially ( electronically) produced sound.

The next chapter is on the Rhythm. Again, the key words are tempo , meter , beats and one can draw parallel to our on "thaLa" systems in carnatic music. The corresponding pictures and charts are as complex as some of the charts given in the concert reviews by my friend Ram.

Interesting observation is on the loudness. Loudness is a psychological phenomenon, or loudness doesn't exist in the world, it exists only in the mind. By increasing the volume of your stereo systems, you are increasing the amplitude of vibration of the molecules, which in turn interpreted as loudness by brain. Why do people like loud music , most of the rock shows are played loud to the thrill and excitement of the crowd. Part of the reason, he says, could be that loud music saturates the auditory systems, causing neurons to fire at maximum rate.

To sum it up, there are 7 major elements into music, which are understood and acted upon by the brain. Pitch, Timber, Key , Harmony , Loudness , rhythm, meter and tempo. The subsequent chapters discussed how does each of these are processed within brain. I don't intend to get into the technical aspect of neurons firing upon listening to the music and which part of brain understand what aspect of music. These are very technical and I haven't studied neuro-science to decipher this fully. However, let me tell you some interesting observation and questions out of these reading..

a) Our brain has powers in processing these information and store them. Brain form predictive opinion about what is expected to come next, and any surprise to this will make us to distinguish the music from others ( and appreciate).. The preconceived idea of what is coming next could be genetics, early listening, similarity with what is already heard ( familiarity , exposure to the style etc). When you go for a rock concert you know what to expect vis a vis a carnatic classical concert. These information are already stored within us and are re-produced at will. Which is why some of the music is ever lasting and one wants to hear them again and again ( they never cease to surprise this part of the brain ?).

b) The concept of pitch , rhythm and scales are alive in every human being. Even if you can't sing with correct pitch and scale you are able to remember the song ( humming to yourself) with absolute clarity on these aspect. Try singing "Happy birthday to you" to inside and see..!!

c) Brain identifies the tonal quality of different instruments and people , if experienced already. Which is why you are able to identify the person on the other side of the phone ( without seeing them), even when he/she is suffering by a bad throat.

d) Brain also stores the associated events in memory along with the music. This is why we can recollect certain events of our life while listening to your favorite music. Same song, repeatedly brings those memories back to you.

e) Though not proven convincingly ( to me at least), there are certain elements of genetics in your music ability. Apart from the ambience , culture and exposure, this is also a reason on why some people are better musically , and other ( like me) are not. Child prodigies are partly natural , hard work notwithstanding..

f) As discussed, different aspect of music triggers different parts of the brain. Unlike the perception, music appeals to both left and right brains similarly. ( I used to joke as other musicians appeal to the right half of the brain and TNS appeals to the left !! ) .

In his chapter "What makes a Musician" he examines how do people become expert musicians ? Musical expertise hasd always been defined as technical achievements - mastery of instruments / vocal. How does this explain the word "talent" ? Is the high levels of musical achievement are based on innate brain structures ( is this talent ?) or are they the result of training and practice ? It is evident that 'talented' person acquire skills faster than a normal person. Different people have different 'talents' or different brain structure. Some people have a biological predisposition towards particular instruments, or towards singing. He says, there may be a cluster of genes that work together to create the component skills that one must have to become a successful musician.

Also, why are some musicians are superior to others when it comes to emotional ( versus technical) dimension of music ? no one knows for sure. So called "bhava" in music being discussed elsewhere is coming to my mind. Stevie Wonder says, he gets himself into the same frame of mind when he wrote the song; he tries to capture the same feeling and sentiment.

Why is that some singing are very likable ? In spite of their technical and other errors, why do people prefer to listen to certain singers ? Why is that whenever, M S Subbalakshmi , KVN , Yesudas ( and many others) have always an attraction ? Notwithstanding their ability and technical knowledge , they also have sweet voice. It is true even on conversation. Some people have voices which are very "phonogenic" ( as Levitin calls it).

Physical gestures: Studies are also shown that non-musician listeners are exquisitely sensitive to the physical gestures of the musicians. By watching musical performance with the sound turned off, and attending to things like the musicians arm, shoulder and torso movements, ordinary listeners can detect a great deal of expressive intent of the musician. See , now you understand the gestures of T M Krishna and Sanjay ( as though they are driving an old Leyland truck through Western Ghats) during their concerts.

The aspect of chunking is also an interesting point. Chunking is the process of tying together units of information into groups and remembering the group instead of the individual pieces. for example STD codes. Musicians also use chunking in several ways ? Does the 'karvais' at the end of the swara singing in carnatic, can be classified under this ?

The book is full of results experiments and the analysis to support the topics discussed. Being brain, we have very little information on how does it behave and all the scientist are able to do is to observe the changes of various parts of brains with the measurements using EEG. This added to the experiments can lead us to a better understanding of the functions of brain musically.

An extremely interesting books for people who wants to know about the aspects of music , both scientific and conceptual. Though this book is more on the scientific in nature, it has written in a manner ( with case studies, anecdotes, history , examples) that even layman can understand.

Few questions remain.. Scientifically, how have we evolved musically ? Leave alone the technical innovations and invention of newer musical instruments, does the human brain understand and appreciate music better over generations ?

This Is Your Brain on Music - The Science of a Human Obsession
Written by Daniel J Levitin
Dutton
313 Pages
$24.95

Added on 05-Feb-08

Guru has read the book and have his thoughts here.

Added on 08-Feb 08

BERNARD HOLLAND Writes in NYTimes about the mannerisms of the musicians on stage..

It’s another reason classical music is not reaching more young people: not because of how it sounds, but because of how it looks. Even worse, lugubrious gymnastics like these advertise the feelings of performers, not of Beethoven or Schumann. Music is asked to stand in line and wait its turn.

Read the article here

Voices within - Smt Bombay Jayashri , Sri T M Krishna with Mythili Chandrasekhar

There are many books on the carnatic form of classical music. Many in the technical or educational form and many in biographical or memoirs. The last book , if I remember correct, was on M S Subbalakshmi , which created lot of interest in the music lovers. Here is the latest on the carnatic music arena. However, with a lot difference.

Two prominent artists from the carnatic music scene have joined to bring out an amazing book called "Voices Within". They would like to call it as the first coffee table book on classical music
This book reflects upon 7 stalwarts of carnatic music, who not only stood out by exceptional talent , but by their contribution in changing or shaping the carnatic form of classical music to its present state.

What is impressive about the whole book is its simplicity. No detailed biographical incidents, no typical carnatic jargons , no interviews by peers or 'shishya' and no unwanted glorification. They are able to bring out the distinctive personality of each individual in those few lines. One caricature essay, an incident here and there , few rare photographs and few recollections. That's all you find here. By the end of your reading , you have the picture of the person in your mind, etched permanently.

It was indeed an easy reading , with lot of insights to the individuals who to many are the visionaries of music from the yesteryears.

There was enough curiosity among the music lovers about this release and it had ample positive reviews and talks on the press even before the formal launch. Few interviews with Krishna and Bombay Jayashri were also been published. They have done justice to the task taken upon themselves. This indeed is a positive step and surprisingly, it is not been brought out by the music historians but by the practitioners themselves.

It is also nice to see the book has come out in a very pleasant styling, printing and quality of paper.

you can visit : http://www.matrka.org/voiceswithin/index.html

Voices within

Authors : Smt Bombay Jayashri , Sri T M Krishna with Mythili Chandrasekhar.

Published by : Matrka

Price : Dont ask me !!