Impact of Music Intervention (Listening to Indian Classical Music) on Mental Wellbeing during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Reports show that mental wellbeing may be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ragas of Indian classical music are believed to have therapeutic effects. This study was done to investigate the impact of an Indian raga on mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: It was a one-group before-after design study. A total of 45 adult subjects of Kolkata, recruited online, using convenience sampling during the lockdown, underwent a pre-test via Google forms using Warwick-Edinburg Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) to evaluate mental wellbeing before the administration of music intervention. After two weeks of music intervention, that consisted of passively listening to raga Hamsadhwani, a post-test using the same scale and the same medium was done. Results: The results showed that the post-test mean of the total score 51.1 (SD = 3.9) of WEMWBS was significantly (p< 0.001) higher than the pre-test mean of the total score 30.9 (SD = 4.6). The same trend was reflected by the mean difference pertaining to all of the components of WEMWBS. Conclusion: It was concluded that raga Hamsadhwani may be effective in improving mental wellbeing in a pandemic situation. There is a need to do more work by improvising the research design employed in the present study. This will help to interpret more accurately and more meaningfully the effects of Indian raga music on mental wellbeing.

Indian Culture and Music as a Source of Inspiration for French Opera Composers

"The current paper strives to discover and reveal the influences of Indian culture and classical Indian music in French operas. At first, the evocation of India was obtained through the subjects of the operas and stunning scenic designs, fulfilling the requirements of exoticism. Gradually, the composers attempted to include in their musical discourses exotic rhythmic and melodic elements, in some instances inspired by Indian classical music, thus aiming to evoke a genuine image of India. At the same time, the use of elements pertaining to Indian music (rāgas, rhythmic patterns, timbres) offered the musicians the possibility to create novel sound discourses. The analysis focuses on several operas, composed between the eighteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, following the evolution of Indian representations in several dimensions: dramatic (libretto), visual (scenic representations, dance), and musical (melody, rhythm, timbre). The present paper investigates the way Indian themes influenced the conception of the libretto, and at the same time the visual dimension of the works (setting, costumes), observing how these visual elements were gradually absorbed into the musical discourse (analysis of the melodic structures), through the incorporation of Indian rāgas in works conceived according to the rules of Western music composition. Keywords: exoticism, orientalism, India, French opera, rāga "

Contribution of Kramik Pustak Malika of Chatur Pandit in the field of Indian Music and its Relevance

Indian Classical Music is the best gift of Indian culture to the world. Indian Classical Music is of two types – उत्तर हिन्दुस्तानी संगीत पद्धति एवं दक्षिण हिन्दुस्तानी संगीत पद्धति. The roots of Indian Music are found in Vedas. Sanskrit is the ancient language and we found it in the Vedas. Many treatises related to music systems are also found in Sanskrit Language. To learn music properly, every learner has to go through two paths – 1. Theoretical music (Ancient treatises) 2. Practical Music (which follows Guru Shishya tradition). Pandit Bhatkhande has given wonderful and helpful notation system to Indian Classical Music. With the help of it he has collected many Bandish from different people and made a large collection. This collection is known as Kramik Pustak Malika. (Parts 1 -6). All these six parts are having theory of 150 ragas divided Thata-wise, with introductory chapter on the general theory of music, besides a short description of every Raga, followed by Svar-vistar. They contain about 1000 traditional compositions including Pandit Bhatkhande’s own compositions which are about 300 in notation. To know the Raga deeply, one can refer the same book and can get many Bandish, Svar-vistar, information about Ragas, their descriptions given in Sanskrit treatises, Thata (थाट), Tala, etc. Therefore, Kramik Pustak Malika of Chatur Pandit is the treasure of Indian Music.

Temporalities of North Indian Classical Listening: How Listeners Use Music to Construct Time

This chapter explores how ethnography with musical listeners can illuminate relationships between music and time. While much existing scholarship equates musical temporalities with qualities of the ‘music itself’, this chapter addresses the need for research that considers the diverse ways listeners use music to engender experiences of time. Alaghband-Zadeh focuses here on rasikas, connoisseurs of North Indian classical music. She shows how rasikas construct and experience North Indian classical performances as sites of leisurely temporality: this is both an ethical practice, aligned with ideas of virtue, and also a means for rasikas to position themselves as set apart from a world they view as increasingly characterized by speed. Alaghband-Zadeh argues that music is a powerful temporal resource: a means through which people cultivate ways of inhabiting time. Moreover, the immediate temporalities of live performances contribute to the production of broader, public temporalities of modernity, changing social formations and imagined histories.

A STUDY OF MUTHUSWAMI DIKSHITAR’S EXPERTISE ON VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF MUSICOLOGY REFLECTED THROUGH HIS COMPOSITIONS

Musicology is the study of scientific and intellectually handling of music. This is a colossal subject of music and inquest into the History and phenomenon of music including; life and works of Composers and performers, music theory like melody, rhythm, harmony, modes, aesthetics, form etc. The Historical evidences of Indian Classical music have been discussed in several ancient texts like Veda’s, Upanishads, epics way back 2000 years ago. The Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda contains ritual hymns and incantations (vedic chants) , praising the specific dieties during the Sacrificial rituals. The South Indian music has a phlegmatic and pedagogic nature when compared with the music of other unconsecrated Hindustani traditions. This paper highlights the proficiency of Dikshitar’s knowledge of Musicology bequeathed from his father Ramaswami Dikshitar, a scholar, musician, learned musicologist, and recipient of many honours and emoluments in the knowledge of music gained sufficient knowledge in musicology who had settled down at Tiruvarur where Dikshitar was born. Tiruvarur then was a seat of learning of Sanskrit and Vedanta. Dikshitar’s compositions reflect his deep and thorough knowledge widely through the interpretation of their literature as seen in famous compositions like ‘Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje’, ‘Amrutavarshini’ and others will be discussed with the various rasas created through the ragas as enunciated in the Natyashastra of Bharat Muni.

Theology of Music and Hindu Religion: From Divine Origins to Classical Songs

As a subfield in the study of religion and music, the theology of music is generally understood in Western terms. Yet to fully encompass the rich heritage of music in world religions, the theology of music must welcome non-Western traditions. After introducing ancient Greek and Biblical narratives regarding the origins of music, including metaphysical concepts, narratives of music as Divine Gift, musical angels, and the sacred origin of the notes and scales, this article explores music in Hindu religion through the lens of theology. We find that Indian music is also ‘given by the gods’ (i.e., Brahmā, Vishnu, and Śiva), associated with ‘musical angels,’ and originally formed from metaphysical principles (i.e., OM and the concept of Nāda-Brahman). What is demonstrated here, representing a long continuity, is how these same ideas are viable in the performance of Indian classical music today. Citing examples of compositions of Dhrupad and Khayal from the standard repertoire, this article reveals how modern-day classical songs contain references to sacred sound principles and the divine origins of music, both in their lyrics and in the unfoldment of musical notes (Svaras) and melodic patterns (Rāgas).