Copyright by Jeffrey Michael Grimes 2008
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Copyright by Jeffrey Michael Grimes 2008 The Dissertation Committee for Jeffrey Michael Grimes certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on The North Indian Classical Tradition Committee: ____________________________________ Stephen M. Slawek, Supervisor ____________________________________ Veit Erlmann ____________________________________ Ward Keeler ____________________________________ Robin Moore ____________________________________ Shanti Kumar The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on The North Indian Classical Tradition by Jeffrey Michael Grimes, M.M., B.M. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2008 Acknowledgements I would like to briefly thank a few individuals for making this project possible. The first are my parents, Tom and Kay Grimes, who have supported me emotionally and, as necessary, financially through the dissertation writing process (and earlier, as well). Next, I would like to thank my mentor and dissertation supervisor Dr. Stephen M. Slawek. All that I know of Indian music (even the things he didn’t teach me directly) is due to him, both as my academic adviser and as my long-time sitar Guru. Especially crucial for the current project, though, has been his unwavering moral and intellectual support. Dr. Slawek encouraged me from day one to pursue the work I wanted to pursue, and I cannot be more grateful for this. All of his advisees that he has shepherded through the process of writing a report or dissertation, I am sure, would say the same. Also, I would like to thank all the musicians I spoke with while doing the research for this project. Some had more to say or were more interested in my topic than others, but all of them were uniformly kind, generous, and hospitable. As many others before me have pointed out, this is absolutely one of the best aspects of working in South Asia. I cite every musician and scholar (and musician/scholar) who have contributed any thoughts or ideas to this project at the end of the dissertation. I would like to mention a few particular individuals, though. First, I would to thank Dr. Ram Deshpande of Bombay and Pandit Deepak Choudhury of Calcutta. As I state numerous times in the following, the most profound and important lessons one can learn regarding Hindustani music come on a very personal and intimate basis. While I studied with these two musicians for a relatively short time, I will remain forever grateful for their kindness and iv great musical knowledge, which both demonstrated time and time again on each occasion that I sat with them. Also, I would like to thank Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe in Bombay and Pandit Anindo Chatterjee in Calcutta for putting in touch with these two fine musicians and teachers. Others who were particularly important in helping me to find and contact other musicians as possible interview subjects include Dr. Bhushan Nagdive (of Bombay University), Dr. Neera Grover (of S.N.D.T. college, Bombay), Ishwar Lal Mishra in Benares, Samarth Nagarkar in Calcutta, and Gaurishankar Karmakar in Calcutta. Along the same lines, I would like to thank the American Institute of Indian Studies for their summer Hindi language program and for their nine-month Marathi program, as the former brought me to India for the first time and the latter to Maharashtra for the first time. In particular, I would like to thank the entire staff of the Pune A.I.I.S. office and of the Marathi program while I was there. Mr. Madhav Bhandare, Bagyeshree Bhandare, Manjiri Bhalerao, Mrs. Kalika Mehta, and Gautam Brahmme were all incredibly helpful and friendly; I never during the nine months I stayed in Pune (from 9/2002 to 5/2003) had any doubt that their #1 priority was making sure that I had the best and most edifying experience possible. Similarly, I would like to thank Dr. Vidya Purandare and her son Rahul who were my host family during that first long trip to Pune (and with whom I have stayed on each subsequent visit there). I know that whenever I visit Pune, I will always have friends and a place to stay. I would also like to thank some friends and colleagues in the U.S. There is no better moral support than that provided by the people who have gone through or are going through the same things you are. Deserving of specific mention, though, are v Dennis Rathnaw, Andy Hicken, Ryan McCormack, Ian Eagleson, Sidra Lawrence, Justin Patch, David Diers, Ajay Kalra, Kim Kattari, Javier Leon, Leah Hesla, Molly White, Ramon Versage, Joyce Chueng, Min Jung-Son, Steve Azcona, and, especially, my guru bhaaii Peter Kvetko (and I am sure there are more I am forgetting that I should mention). Outside of the UT ethnomusicology program and school of music I would like to thank my friends Jason Storey, Daniel Sanchez, and Ken Bodden for being my friends all these years and for encouraging me to be me (sometimes in the face of prevailing opinion). Also, I would like to thank my friend and colleague at Indiana University, Bloomington, Aditi Deo, for acting as a valuable sounding board during the writing process. Finally, I would like to thank all my committee members, Dr. Slawek, Ward Keeler, Robin Moore, Shanti Kumar, and Veit Erlmann for actually reading the whole thing. vi The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on The North Indian Classical Tradition Jeffrey Michael Grimes, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2008 Supervisor: Stephen M. Slawek Abstract This dissertation explores the influence of regional cultures and, more specifically, of regionally based and regionally determined aesthetic preferences, on the Hindustani classical music tradition. The period from the late 19th century up through the decades following independence in 1947 saw a great deal of change both in Indian society as a whole and, by extension, within the Hindustani tradition. One of these changes was a transition in the demographic profile of the average Hindustani performer from Muslim, essentially low-caste, and hereditary, to Hindu, middle-class, and largely high caste. The other aspect of this demographic transition, namely that there was also a shift in the regional origins of the average classical musician from those native to North India to those native to the two historical regions of Bengal and Maharashtra, has largely been neglected by scholars, including ethnomusicologists. The primary assumption informing this study, then, is that, as almost every aspect of Indian culture varies markedly from region to region (including language, food habits, etc.), the regional vii cultures of Maharashtra and Bengal must have impacted classical music as it migrated to these regions. I approach this issue in two ways, which I term as the “Inside View” and the “Outside View.” The first represents a combination of the most common approach favored by scholars of Hindustani music, a generally objectivist approach that focuses primarily on biographies of individual musicians and on description and analysis of specifically musical processes, along with the viewpoint of the average Hindustani performer. The answers provided by this approach are partial. I complement this view of modern Hindustani music with the “Outside View,” which examines change in the tradition through the lens of larger social processes, particularly the influence of the tastes or aesthetic preferences of audience members native to these two regions, as well as by other aspects of regional culture, including the impact of semi-classical music genres native to these regions. As such, I not only demonstrate that specifically regional factors have impacted the style of classical music practiced in each of these regions, but also attempt to quantify and describe these changes. viii Table of Contents Chapter: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...….1 1. Possible Objections to the Association of Hindustani Classical Music with Regional Culture(s)…………….…………………………………………….... 37 A. Hindustani music as a National Tradition: Bhatkhande and Paluskar………..38 B. Regionalism as Regressive……………………………………………………58 C. Regionalism vs. Globalism and Homogeneity………………………………..78 Part One : the “Inside View” 2. Gharana in the 21st Century……………...………..……………………………….96 Gharana defined; Current musicians’ views on Gharana; Gharana as musical style 3. Khyal in Maharashtra ……………………………………………………………..123 Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur, & Kirana; Non-Gharana Stalwarts; Typology of Marathi Khyaaliya-s 4. Khyal in Bengal……………………………………………………………………..164 Vishnupur Gharana; Calcutta’s historical legacy as India’s “Marketplace of Music”; Dominance of the Amir Khan/Kirana style; Non-Gharana Stalwarts; Agra Gharana & the ITC-SRA; Influence of Thumri 5. Tabla in the Regional Context……………………….…………………………….194 Specificities of the Gharana concept in relation to tabla; tabla in Maharashtra: Munir Khan tradition; Punjab Gharana in Bombay; Tabla in Bengal: Masit Khan & the Farukhabad Gharana; Some conclusions on modern tabla style: usefulness of the traditional Purab/Pashchim distinction 6. Dominance of Bengal in Modern Instrumental Music…..……………………….256 Part Two: the “Outside View” 7. Regional Music Genres & The Social Nature of Taste……..…………………….327 A. Thumri: the “Classical” Semi-Classical Genre……………………………...332 B. Bourdieu and the Social Nature