The Fostering of Western Science by Chandrasoma Rajapakse Real World’

Wednesday 10th September 2008 A genuine ‘Silk Sri Lankan Road of identity the sea’ Page II Page III by Satyajith Andradi musical life, musical instru- in comparison to the ments, songs and liturgies is ancient civilizations of ivilization is defined as “an available. Further, actual speci- Mesopotamia, Egypt and advanced stage or system of mens of musical instruments China. Further, it was Chuman social have been found. Secular music directly influenced by the development”(Concise Oxford existed side by side with religious Egyptian and Mesopotamian English Dictionary). Needless to music. The social standing of civilizations in numerous say, art music, as opposed to the court musicians was high. fields including music. music of primitive man or even Unfortunately, it is not known However, whilst the musics of folk music, presupposes an how the music of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia, Egypt and China advanced stage of human social would have actually sounded. identified themselves with the development, i.e. civilization. For It is believed that the idea of cosmos and the supernatural, instance, art music calls for ‘Music of the Sphere’ origi- that of ancient Greece and Rome sophisticated musical instru- nated in Mesopotamia and sought to glorify man. Art music ments, a developed theory of was subsequently intro- emphasized the rational, ethical music, established composition / duced to Greece by Greek and humanistic dimensions performance techniques, philosopher Pythagoras. instead of the mystical element. advanced musical thinking and This was in line with the general highly organized musical institu- Egypt spirit of Hellenic classicism. tions (orchestras, choirs, etc) etc. As in the case of Slavery provided the socio-eco- After all, could a Beethoven Mesopotamia, music nomic basis of the Graeco-Roman conceive a Ninth Symphony with- played a prominent role civilization. The slave-owning out the advanced musical instru- in the religious and wealthy class essentially cultivat- ments, complex musical theory, secular life of the ed Art music. The civilization of the symphony orchestra and the ancient Egyptian Greece preceded that of imperial complex philosophical notions of civilization. Rome. Generally speaking, the his time? Art music becomes a The harp Greek civilization epitomized the possibility only when society was known spiritual and the creative whilst achieves a certain level of materi- in the Land the Roman civilization, which al, social, spiritual and intellectu- of the was materially more advanced, al development. Pharaohs as represented the practical genius The world has seen many great far back as of its people. Music played a sig- human civilizations such as those the 26th nificant role in the Graeco- of Mesopotamia, China, India, century, Roman civilization. The writings Egypt, Greece and Central during the of Plato recognized the impor- America. Some of them, such as time of the China tance of music in education. the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, 4th dynasty. Music was inseparably linked Nero’s craze for musical glory is Music was to religion, philosophy and state- well known. However, the musical craft in ancient China. It has creations of this civilization have been observed that, “The views not come down to us, unlike in on music held by the Chinese in the case of its literature, architec- antiquity were remarkable in ture and sculpture. Mankind will that its essence was conceived to forever be ignorant of the music be not sound but a transcend of the classical world, which pro- power. To a considerable extent duced the immortal works of this view of the nature of music Homer, Euripides and Phidias! survives even to this day” (ibid). The Graeco-Roman civilization It is further noted that, “China is perished with the collapse of the perhaps unique in the extent to Roman empire in the 5th century which ritual music came to be AD. Its demise was caused by regarded as an effective regulator internal decay as well as by the of the harmony of the universe invasion by hordes of barbarian in general and of the state in par- tribes such as Goths, Huns and ticular so that the first duty of Visigoths. the Ruler was to look to the per- fect maintenance of tradition in Arab Islamic civilization the execution of the music and With the collapse of the ritual of the state”(ibid). In this Roman Empire, Western Europe relation, it is interesting to note plunged into the Dark Age. that more than two thousand Whilst the West Europeans were years ago, the Imperial Bureau of still in the Dark Age, a vibrant Music was established by the and brilliant civilization sprang Hann emperor Wundih (141 – 87 up in Arabia and spread rapidly Mayan, the Indus Valley and the of utmost B.C.). across Asia and northern Africa. Graeco- Roman civilizations have importance in The ancient Chinese had a sys- Its territories stretched from long since been dead. Some civi- the solemn tem- tem of musical notation. A manu- India to Spain. The architects of lizations such as the Indian, ple service. script belonging to the Tarng this new civilization were Arabs. Chinese and the Arab – Islamic The social dynasty (618 –907 AD) has been Islam was its spiritual force. live on in some form or the other. standing of found in the famous Thousand There have always been power- The Western civilization of court musi- Buddha Caves, which has not ful groups of mainstream Islamic course has dominated the world cians was been deciphered (ibid). Music scholars opposed to music as since the beginning of the nine- high. It is played a central role in reli- something sinful. Accordingly, teenth century. How did these said that, gion – Confucianism, music has not played an impor- civilizations relate to their “Music was Buddhism and tant role in the religious life of respective art music? thought to Taoism. Numerous the Arab Islamic world, unlike in belong to ancient hymns are the case of many other great civi- Mesopotamia things that still being sung. It lizations. However, this has not The Mesopotamian civilization were anterior to is quite possible prevented the Arab Islamic civi- is arguably the earliest of the experience. As a that contemporary lization from producing a bril- great civilizations of Mankind. It result of this belief, Chinese performances liant secular musical tradition. reached an advanced stage of each note of music are closely related to Meanwhile, some Islamic minori- development in the 4th millenni- not only had a par- ancient ones. Apart ty sects such as the Sufis actively um BC. Art music was closely ticular cosmic value, from religious music, supported music as an aid or linked to religion and the gods. but a magic potency, China also developed approach to religion. It is noted For instance, “one of the most which almost a strong secular music that, “Sufi disciples, such as the ancient of the gods, Ea, the ruler implies the existence tradition, which Persian Al-Hujwiri (eleventh cen- of the deep, had his name written of modal included opera, as tury) and Al- Chazali (d. 1111), with a sign which stood for the formulas”(ibid).Much epitomized by the divided people influenced by drum (balag), the dread sounds of information is avail- Peking Opera. music into two classes – those which was the personification of able on musical life and who hear the material sound, and his essence” (New Oxford History musical instruments. Graeco – those who apprehend its spiritual of Music. Vol. 1. Ancient and However, the actual Roman classical meaning” (ibid). Such ideas Oriental Music). Music played a music that was sung or civilization would have certainly facilitated central role in the elaborate tem- played has not come The Graeco-Roman the growth of music in the ple service. A considerable down to us. classical civilization is a Islamic world. amount of information on the relatively recent phenomenon Continued on page IV The fostering of Western science by Chandrasoma Rajapakse real world’. An implied corollary is rialism. The Buddha himself found We do see this extreme position in tions of this subtle doctrine. Suffice belief in ‘God the Artificer’ made that, since the real world is dis- it expedient to counter these views Vinnanavada Buddhism where it to note how naïve Mr RMBS and possible the wondrous scientific It is widely believed that missed as an illusion, there cannot which prevailed at a time when reality (or the world) is seen as a his friends are when they airily dis- achievements of the West. This is (Western) Science failed to take be the kind of science pioneered by devotional forms of worship were ‘turbulence’ or ‘froth’ in a basic miss ‘Eastern religions’ as having plain hogwash. For over a thou- root in the East because the peoples Newton and Galileo. less popular than they are today. world-stuff of a mental nature that as their defining characteristic a sand years, Science and learning in that part of the world embraced Indian religions constitute a An undiluted species of dualism is indescribable in predictions or flight from reality.It is useful to lay morbidly fallow due to the religions that replaced the real with very heterogeneous mix. The popu- was advocated by Samkhya – a reli- qualifiers that make sense to us. enter a clarification here – even in oppression of the Christian phantasmagoric visions of an unut- lar ‘Bakthi’ forms of Hinduism that gious philosophy that regards the The word ‘Thathagatha-Garbha’ those instances where the ‘real Church. This wretchedness fol- terable beyond. This rejection of is entrenched in contemporary universe as consisting of two eter- (literally,the Womb of the Buddha) world’ is dismissed as illusory lowed the Golden Age of Greek the mundane and the practical was India, is very close to Christianity.

Load more