Western Classical Music in Mumbai: Global Music, Local Meanings
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Western Classical Music in Mumbai: Global Music, Local Meanings Hannah Marsden Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Ethnomusicology Department of Music Royal Holloway University of London June 2018 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Hannah Marsden, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Hannah Marsden 6th July 2018 2 Abstract This thesis is an ethnographic and historical investigation into the roles and meanings of Western classical music Mumbai and Goa, India. My core argument is that the values and ideologies held by those involved in Western classical musicking in Mumbai do not always correspond with local values and ideologies prevalent in the city. Tensions are thus created, as a transnational music historically rooted in European high art cultures meets local values in a post- colonial site. Chapters one and two present a historical account of Western classical music in Mumbai. Drawing on extensive archival research as well as on oral histories, I outline how Western classical music was established in the city, and what it meant to the communities involved in it. The rest of the thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in Mumbai in 2014 and 2015. In chapter three I take three case studies, a local music competition, an amateur orchestra and a Catholic choir, to explore various ways in which Western classical music can be employed as signifier of, and can participate in the construction of, multi-layered and nuanced identities. I show how practitioners of Western classical music in Mumbai are subject to questioning from within the locale and from international audiences regarding their identities as Indian Western classical musicians. Chapter four focuses on the Symphony Orchestra of India. In the first section of this chapter I place the orchestra within local discourses about social status and class. In the second half, I unpack the role of the orchestra within cultural diplomacy, and question its significance an internationally recognised marker of soft power (Nye 1990). Chapter five focuses on the role of Western classical music within social development projects. I suggest that ideologies and values underpinning notions of music being an agent for social change do not always correspond with local ideologies and values. I question the ethics and effectiveness of three socially focused music projects in Mumbai and Goa. In chapter six I examine music education praxis in Mumbai. Taking Lucy Green's argument that education participates in the construction and perpetuation of ideologies about musical value as my starting point (Green, 2002), I suggest that music schools and music curricula within local International schools legitimise Western classical music as an academic discipline, and have the capacity to influence local ideologies about the value of Western classical music. 3 Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................7 Notes on the text...................................................................................................................................9 List of illustrations..............................................................................................................................10 Introduction......................................................................................................................................11 Background.........................................................................................................................................11 Literature on Western music in India.................................................................................................17 Western classical music: a critical frame of reference.......................................................................25 Western classical music as a universal language...............................................................................27 Western classical music as an autonomous art form..........................................................................35 Research methodology.......................................................................................................................40 Notes on the field................................................................................................................................48 Thesis structure overview...................................................................................................................54 Chapter 1. The History of Western classical music in Mumbai, part 1: 1869 – 1947...............56 1.1 The Bombay Philharmonic Society..............................................................................................57 1.2 Edward Behr and the first Bombay Symphony Orchestra...........................................................63 1.3 Walter Kaufmann and the Bombay Chamber Music Society......................................................74 1.4 Jules Craen and The Bombay Symphony Orchestra....................................................................76 1.5 Mehli Mehta.................................................................................................................................83 1.6 Cecil Mendoza and the Bombay Choral and Philharmonic Society............................................85 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................89 Chapter 2. The History of Western classical music in Mumbai, part 2: 1947 – present..........90 2.1 The Orchestra continues...............................................................................................................92 2.1.1 The Bombay City Orchestra..........................................................................................92 2.1.2 The Bombay Chamber Orchestra..................................................................................95 2.1.3 The B.P Salon Orchestra..............................................................................................101 2.1.4 Josic Menzie and the Pops Symphony Orchestra........................................................103 2.1.5 The Symphony Orchestra of India...............................................................................105 2.2 Choirs.........................................................................................................................................105 4 2.2.1 The Paranjoti Chorus...................................................................................................106 2.2.2 The Stop Gaps Cultural Academy...............................................................................111 2.2.3 The Living Voices Choir.............................................................................................114 2.3 Societies......................................................................................................................................115 2.3.1 The Bombay Madrigal Singers Organisation (BMSO)...............................................116 2.3.2 The Time and Talents Club.........................................................................................119 2.4 The role of foreign embassies.....................................................................................................122 2.5 Festivals and competitions.........................................................................................................127 2.5.1 Sangat..........................................................................................................................128 2.5.2 Con Brio.......................................................................................................................129 2.5.3 Arties Festival..............................................................................................................131 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................132 Chapter 3. Locals, Nationals and Cosmopolitans: Western classical music and identity in Mumbai...........................................................................................................................................133 3.1 Music and National Identity.......................................................................................................136 3.2 The Zonals: Local competition, global sound............................................................................139 3.3 The Bombay Chamber Orchestra: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism and Patriotism...................148 3.3.1 The BCO: A local orchestra...........................................................................................150 3.3.2 The BCO: Betwixt and between a national identity and a cosmopolitan ideology.......153 3.3.3.The BCO: Cosmopolitan Patriots?.................................................................................158 3.4 The Cadenza Kantori: Creating Indian sounds...........................................................................160 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................168