{"id":6913,"date":"2019-12-09T10:22:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T09:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.auxsons.com\/?post_type=focus&p=6913"},"modified":"2020-09-16T12:30:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T10:30:25","slug":"the-avatars-of-indian-music","status":"publish","type":"focus","link":"https:\/\/www.auxsons.com\/en\/focus\/the-avatars-of-indian-music\/","title":{"rendered":"The avatars of Indian music"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Indians, music goes back to the very origin of the world. Over the centuries, it has developed a strong identity that has allowed it to welcome countless foreign influences without losing anything of its remarkable essence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In Indian mythology, the \u201caum\u201d sound vibration is said to have preceded life itself and given rise to the gods. The Hindu pantheon is filled with musicians: to the beat of a drum, Shiva brings the universe to life with his dance; Saraswati, daughter and wife of Brahma and goddess of artists, plays the veena, the ancestor of Indian chordophones; Krishna, a human avatar of Vishnu, seduces the faithful and young women with the sound of his flute. \u201cNada Brahma\u201d, the sound is divine and the music has a sacred essence.<\/p>\n

The first music identified in India came in the form of devotional songs that appeared in the sacred Veda texts between 1500 and 800 BCE<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Many popular forms of singing, in which the mystical dimension was often present, subsequently developed and a sophisticated musical system was put in place.<\/p>\n

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Jasraj Meera Bhajan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Classical music \u2013 Hindustani in the north and Carnatic in the south \u2013 is monodic music that uses neither chords nor overlapping notes, but takes advantage of the intervals between two tones. They share a common ancient foundation based on the use of a sound halo obtained by drone instruments and the raga principle. A raga is a framework through which the musician can express themselves while respecting precise notes, intentions and directions.<\/p>\n

What separates these two forms of music are the contributions provided by the Muslim civilisation through Arab, Turkish and Persian conquests in the north of the country. During the period of the Mughal Empire (1527\u20131707), North India experienced a cultural and artistic golden age. New sources of inspiration and instruments appeared, such as the tabla, pakhavaj, sarod and sitar.<\/p>\n

In the 19th century, European colonisation, by the British in particular, introduced new instruments to the Indian musical landscape. Brass bands were formed in a number of regions, the violin found its place in Carnatic music and the harmonium was adopted to support forms of devotional song, such as Qawwali and Bhajan. In 1940, the Hawaiian musician Tau Moe introduced the slide guitar into North India, where some soloists chose it as an instrument.<\/p>\n

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