City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research John Jay College of Criminal Justice 1990 Legitimate and Illegitimate Variation in Raga Interpretations Peter L. Manuel CUNY Graduate Center How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_pubs/313 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Legitimate and Illegitimate Variation in Rdga Interpretation PETER MANUEL he necessityof maintaining raga differentiation is one of the basic operational axioms of Indian classicalmusics, both Hindustani and Carnatic.One cannot perform Indian art music without accepting- ,on some level, the premise that each raga has a distinct and individual character, and that this character must be respectedin the processof elaboration and interpretation. In this century, as in previous times, performershave introduced new instruments,stylistic features, and even ragas, but the principle of adhering to some sort of distinctions between ragas has continued to be taken for granted as intrinsic to the variety and integrity of the musical system. At the same time, all those who are involved in the study of Indian music-and perhaps especially Hindustani music-are aware that raga interpretationis far from being entirely standardized.Arguments between musicians,pointed commentsby journalist critics, and occasionalpolemics in descriptive literature all reflect the lack of absolute uniformity in raga interpretation,and the constantneed to renegotiateor reiteratethe often subtledetails by which rdgasare distinguished.This absenceof consensusin the realm of interpretation, indeed, is the source of much vitality and versatility within Indian music, but it also posesprofound problems of description which concer* not only scholarly explications,but also the practical choicesand attitudes of performing musiciansthemselves. The crux of the problem may be said to be the need to distinguishlegitimate variantsof a raga (e.g., as performed by membersof two establishedand respectedgharanas) from impermissible or illegitimafe versions of. a raga deriving from the ignoranceor wilful indifferenceof the artist. In some cases, as we shall suggest,such distinctions between acceptableand unacceptablevariants can be articulatedin wayswhich would satisfymost establishedmusicians (and musicologists);but in many casesthe distinc- tions are highly ambiguousand may even call into questionour ability to discussa particular raga interpretation as correct or incorrect. This problemmay havedifferent sorts of relevancefor differentgroups of people.It may have an immediatepractical significance for a musicianwho has learned different versions of a rdga from two teachers, or who SangeetNafatrNo. 96 : April-June 1990 20 PETERMANUEL q.€fl he has not perform a tdga which for whatever reason' as an 3m,i undertakes, -to *11:,T' resards $ffi: learned thoroughly. For I ioyna11t,;;;;"Yt".g a more e$0 unorthodoxperformanceofatdga'orforanlndianmusicologiitcompilingoi uutiant versions presents ery ;;^;#nt" to order' a rdgaencyclopaedi;; io' unyont attempting empirical problem And -;;g' seil inteflectualand iir of mustcat describe the system tf ltre of a I understand, or pedagogy'-::ni"*tthe absence innovation' M evolution, individuai -""-d,1";"1;?ilt",.t;i musical evolution' regaroing ii';;; $m definitive 'agu il" of a definitive "on'"n"'i'= u'nd.l"u"l'"t^p"O^LtgV' ?O:"Y is il individual innovation' a fundamentalissue which rcgardingr agadifferentiati.;;".;; u :',ficonsensus music' i'fis s ,,:tr3ffi,:;:l J:':#il"i:ili T,:lt" or"ni to promote atr m i [";:,.;lTfl solutions K not my placeto "uuinir,i. my intent in this short codificatron"d;;;;";;"i.rig"t of. rdgaaistinctio|l:^ilil to Hindustanr f,: ordered of theTsso"*itt''t"tlt:n:" articleis to ctarity';;;-;p".ts bv Indians(and music,in the t'tp"-it'"iii rnlv q"Hil;"ulii"tt"o andrefinement l t"l:1"^:lT'ittp'p!tp""::i"'t il Pakistanis)wtro arl themselves or both' Given the u, ,nori"iunr, s"holar", !.1 of the tradition, whether uuoot r aeainterpretation which [#t;t"* ma1 i occasionailypot"*'i'.J';;;; out my own-slatus'which s oftenassume, it maybe appropriate.tJpoint As a performer be describeou,.i,.]ioJ,-oiilio|,,",.p;i;;i;ant-observer'1. to choose between t of Hindust".i rtg""'d;#iiobliged different ustads;and d '";";"i"'tt* l,h"d #it"?ft;;t ft variantversions oi ragaswhich challengeoi uu" u"""'it,rTiJJ uf tn9 abstract asan ethno*uri.otog'i.i,I t North lndian musrc and.rlri1,^"t"i i"ttesion of x articulatingthe inielriry in some respects' int"rnut'tiiJititv u"a, t while also recognizlngits contradictions' fi I Raga lnterpretgtigns, a genera' I Kindsof Variant rEgasrhoasis sovelnTdsoverneoby ot'ffi;J'N;i,h Indian variantvet' I Interpretation pr"oiiiiiZri. NJ'"rtheless' conseniussharedOi'iriiar,ri "i arewidell of tu-iul"uni sfignitve".;:;;';;';"'': "^fij,andas legitimate Ii sions, both fidit to"u" accepted rh;';;;"#t of established acknowledg"o. in the p;is;;t;i traditions are those;;iila The Agra ghar^n| alternates instances.t; til"lt;;tiants' sharanas.Thereu'" ascent re sa ma dhan -version '"u"'utio, the :: of.ragal"ii"i""rii, "*urnpt" "; pa'nisa' Se"niyagharani re ga ma an< sarather than the #;il;;ntional :a rtr"iira) includetivra m6 (".g.,';h; i"* n"Jttr." vr"if" Sarodplayers ot rffi''^yl]1":^1::t^;t""*f'"H3; shuddhniin their'"t'oitiot" laga rffi:rffi 'ffin;*:tJff t#f H,;:ffi #?['i"""*iii""i''rn' . VARIATION IN RAGA INTERPRETATION 2T i not versions of.ragaParaj as recordedby kesar Bai, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, $an and Faiyyaz Khan are all somewhatdistinct. The differencesbetween the riling versionsof Megh Malhar and Madhumdd Sarang (whhich share the same more ascendingand descendingscales) as taught to me by *y teachers and a rder, explained in pedagogicalliterature were all so contradictory that I have rsical simply despaired of playing these rdgas (much to my regret). :ofa Learned readersmay well be able to enumerateseveral more instancesof rtion, such inconsistencies.It has been my experiencethat aficionadosas well as ritive practicing musicianstend to recognize such distinct versions as legitimate ich is and acceptable;that is, Faiyyaz Khan's practice of singing Jaijaivanti in an unorthodox version is regarded not as an illustrations of his ignorance, but ,itis as the legitimate tradition of a venerable ghardna-.Conversely, audiences )te an need not question the sincerity and authority of an artiste like Amjad Ali short Khan when he announcesthat he is going to play "Lalita Gauri-in the rstani style of my ghardn|". (and The legitimacy of such variants may be contrasted with the obvious ment unacceptability of the innocent doodlings of a beginning student who has r the not learned raga at all, and doesnot professto be educatedin suchmatters. ,ation Gross prevarications-such as singing Yaman and, for whatever reason, l may insisting that it is Mdlkauns-may also be unanimously discounted by all )nneI those with any musical education. Unfortunately, the majority of variants ween and inconsistenciesfall in between these two unambiguousextremes-and ;; and it is the evaluation of theseinconsistencies that posesessential problems for rgeol Indian music theory and practice. music This category of potentially controversialvariant versionswould include )ects, all the idiosyncratic or licentious'irregularities which, although performed by recogn2ed artistes, are nevertheless faulted by some critics and musiciansas incorrect. Theseirregularities may themselvesbe grouped in a number otcategories. First, one may speak of iiconsistenciesthat arise in )netal the case.of artistes who, while agreeingon the general features of a given t ver- raga, uphold different degreesof concern or punctiliousnessin respect to ddely details of interpretation. Is the passagere ga ma in rdga'Iilak Kamod imate absolutely inadmissible, or acceptableonly in the form of a quick passing lished ornament, or can it be used freely?3Is the ascentsa rc ga inherently out of ardni character in raga Yaman, or can it be used judiciously to good effect? lha n' Regarding these and other similar details, the absence of complete arani unanimity on the part of respectedmusicians may often derive lessfrom the itr anc rliscrete traditions of different ghardnds,or from the ignorance of certain sing i performers, than from the individual's temperamentwhich conditionshis or ction: her attitude toward attention to fine detail. That. is, certain artistes may i. Tht prefer a strict, narrow, highly structured approach to rdga interpretation, 22 PETERMANUEL whereasothers may feel more at easeadopting a somewhatliberal attitude frm toward detail, coniident that they can accurately present the image of a illM given ragawtriteadhering in a sligirtly lessdogmatic manner to conventions re articulated by Purists. ry A second, and related, category of controversial irregularities would be ,tu those in which the artiste *"ll aware of the establishednorms of a gpvenraga, but may choose-uy1" io violate them in the hope that his (or her) thm audiencewill toleraie mild prevarications.The desireto overcometechnical Th difficulties may provid" ott" impetus to introducing such inconsistencies' sitarists, for eiample, may discoverthat when playrnqf1s! tensin Shri raga, ffi it is considerablyeasier to play the technicallyinadmissible pa md ga md ga 6d re saindescent rather than the correct pa md ga rc sa (ot pa md ga rc ga re tuil sa).I have witnessed one prominent Sitarist, after playing,a cortect alap, ,m repeatedly play such u puisuge in tan, evidently in the that.most -hop" of ffi niembersbf nis auOiettc"*oold not notice his violation of the integrity @ the raga. In other cases, a knowledgeable artiste may depart from the dry custoriary version of a rdga out of lazinessor indifference' Perhaps,most typically, a musician muy 6" led to stretch the rules of a given ragabecause ,im{ the of ttir desire to find nbvel and original-sounding phrases; indeed, ffir for p"r*it"O ptessureto sound distinctive and individual certainly accounts d sorts much evolution-or devolution-in Indian music.