Abstract
Deadline: N/A
Event
Date & Location:
2/7 - 2/9/2003, India International Centre
Information:
The variety of music performed in the length and breadth
of the nation is still staggeringly large. From the thousands
of years old chanting of the Sanskrit mantras of the four
Vedas to the latest film hits, equally well preserved are
the tribal and ritual songs of marriage, birth, naming,
clothing, bathing, leaving home and death etc., in nearly
34 languages and 600 dialects across the subcontinent. The
classical traditions of Hindustani and Karnataka genres
are moving closer in a healthy interchange. After the independence
of India from British occupation in 1947, for three decades
classical music has been a major source of encouraging national
identity at home and abroad.
In
spite of its very archaic features Indian music has adapted
with ease to the modern technical innovations from the microphone
to the microchip without altering any of its content adversely.
The technological revolution has actually helped its spread
within India and over the world to influence the music of
many nations. The process of notating and printing the lyrics,
so far handed down only orally, began early in the early
twentieth century. This was followed by taking the folk
and classical performer to the modern concert hall and the
radio. Artists were recorded for the gramophone as early
as in the West. Indian film industry, which also found its
feet very early, consolidated the immense variety of music
from all parts of India and transmitted it to the global
listener. Through films, it is a major influence on the
countries like Iran, Iraq, Turkey, the Gulf, and states
of Central Asia. In spite of the emergence of global pop,
it has succeeded in maintaining its very distinct identity
and independence from Western music. Its classical performers
have taken it alive to all corners of the world and it abounds
increasingly in commercial and private collections.
Is
it possible that such a dynamic music is merely a product
of random historical events, or is it a force born of deep-seated
philosophical and cultural notions that have sustained it
over the millennia? The present symposium aims to discover
the growth of these philosophical perceptions that have
worked within Indian music and the various genres of classical
and folk kinds that it has developed for the realization
of these aims. It also wishes to ponder over method of passing
this understanding to the young in schools and colleges.
Each
paper reader or performer shall be given half-hour for presentation,
which shall immediately be followed by a 30-45 minute discussion,
initiated by the pre-arranged discussants and members from
the audience.
Submission
Guidelines / Information:
See contact information below.
Registration
/ Information:
Foreign participants are encouraged to use their own
institutional sources.
Contact:
For additional information, please contact:
Bharat Gupt
Associate Professor, Delhi University,
Conference Director
Trustee and Founding Member
INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR INDIA'S HERITAGE
B 37, Sector One, NOIDA, 201 301.
home phones :91+11+724 1490, fax/TEL 741-5658,
email: bharatgupt@vsnl.com / homepage: http://personal.vsnl.com/bharatgupt
