6 Responses

1. Nemesis

   January 6th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

   1

   I’m having to assume — there being no direct evidence to the contrary — that the ‘we’ you refer to somehow denotes the citizenry of the North American Continent, so I thought it might be useful to do a little probe into the prevalence of music societies etc directly related to Indian classical music in the US. Not to make things too unmanageable, I also restricted my investigation to just one strain of Indian classical music, the Carnatic of South India. Filtering the result for duplications and some false positives, I came to more than 3,500 music societies, teachers and schools devoted to Carnatic classical music alone, across the contiguous continental USA, not including Canada, out of 13,500 returns overall which had at least some direct connection to that art form’s institutions.
   That doesn’t suggest to me an art form that is in peril, or in tremendous need of ‘a revival’. Given that these figures concern just one strain of Indian classical music (out of dozens), from a single investigative query, the scale of involvement in some form or other of all strains of Indian classical music in the US is likely exponentially greater indeed. In fact, it’s not outside the realm of the possible, that the final statistics might well exceed or at least come close to those of active, well attended Western classical music societies in the same geographic region. Like that of Mark Twain, the death of Indian classical music in the US looks somewhat exaggerated, you might say…
   To actively render it ‘popular’, as the second part of your Q put forward, would likely be the worst thing imaginable, if what making Western classical music ‘popular’ has brought forth in the past three or four decades is anything to go by. Insipid, mass-produced ‘cross-over’ gunk is hardly the lighting example I could recommend anyone to follow in pursuit of so-called mass appeal. The very nature of classical art forms is unlikely to make them a matter of mass appeal and it was ever thus, from the very outset. It makes them what they are, in effect. Not everyone is besotted with Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’, or Sartre’s and Genet’s stage plays, but it’s hard to imagine how any form of ‘popularising’ these would ever make these more or less acceptable to a mass audience. Art just doesn’t tend to work that way, and classical art even less so.
   Which leaves the very word ‘classical’ itself and the bizarrely antagonistic & proprietorial response its use applied to non-Western art forms seems to provoke in some. As though we were actually dealing with Classical® Music® (wholly owned, and jealously guarded, in perpetuity by Western Culture Inc). Sometimes it’s really worthwhile to go back to a good general dictionary and get a coalface response to the simple question what ‘classical’ actually means in the context of music:
   “Of, relating to, or denoting any music, or its period of composition marked by stability of form, intellectualism and restraint.”
   Sometimes the words simply speak for themselves. All we need to do is just let them do precisely that. Their applicability is both global and universal. It really isn’t that hard at all.

2. petr b

   January 6th, 2010 at 9:40 pm

   2

   I must correct those who say or think this question has nothing to do with classical music. Indeed, the question does not include music from the western-European classical tradition.
   However, and a very big however at that, is the particular Y/A category says only ‘Classical:’ it does not specifically name only Western Classical Art Music. To think the category excludes all other art music is a presumption on the part of the reader.
   I do wish there were a proper category for non-western classical music: it is an enormous body of refined and sophisticated art music which requires as much discipline, training, technical expertise and sophisticated musicianship as do the western art musics.
   There is antique Chinese music, traditional, with a literature including one piece attributed to Confucius (Elegant Orchid). This puts this particular very refined (notated) piece as composed no later than 479 b.c.e.
   As the saying goes, in the pre-Christian era of about 2000 b.c.e, the Chinese were raising pigs while their European counterparts were living like pigs.
   Until such time as Y/A sets a category for non-Western classical music, I think it prudent to aknowlege its existence and validity. If it is an area Y/A classical contributors knows nothing of, they should be knowing enough to not comment on it one way or the other.
   I think it almost impossible to deny one can learn something from all refined art music, regardless of the culture to which it belongs.
   Any westerner has free choice whether or not to consume or appreciate non-western classical musics, but I do believe it a basic obligation of any true music lover or musician to at least acknowlege the existence of the great art music tradition of other cultures.
   best regards, petr b.

3. Malcolm D

   January 6th, 2010 at 10:22 pm

   3

   How does Indian music ever get classified as Classical? It is not. Classical music has no connection to traditional Indian music. It is a specialist artform that has no connection with the European classical music tradition.
   Few people know much about it. Few have the interest. Any more that say traditional Japanese music or Australian aboriginal music. It is not classical in any way.

4. Douche-B

   January 6th, 2010 at 11:26 pm

   4

   Sorry,But you can’t.
   The reason i am saying that classical music can’t be revived is because..Indians love cinemas,And in how many movies do we use classical music?Even if you use classical music in Indian cinemas i doubt whether you cant even sell a single audio CD.Our traditions,Cultures are all being robbed by the Italian gandhi family..With the head of the country himself being controlled by a foreigner like Sonia gandhi how can you revive Indian music?
   So here is my suggestion.
   Revive the country to its former glory(The days when mahatma gandhi imagined a “Rama Rajya” for India and the politicians were still young and were actually working for the country),You will revive Indian music automatically..Sounds impossible.right?

5. Jack Herring

   January 7th, 2010 at 12:04 am

   5

   What is this WE stuff? I think if YOU want to revive classical indian music, you need to go out and promote it. Do you play the Sitar? or any of the other classical indian instruments?
   I think here in the United States, you would only generate a very small following at best, unless Paul McCartney decides to pick it up again. Is Ravi Shankar still living?

6. Digna

   January 7th, 2010 at 2:02 am

   6

   u kno what contact Hollywood studio in LA if not then contact Bollywood they will know how to revive those