OBSOLESCENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS : SOME PERSPECTIVES
Uday Shankar Hall, Sangeet Bhavan
Emerald Bower Campus, Rabindra Bharati University, 56A B.T. Road, Kolkata700050
On February 01 2010
Program schedule
- 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. : Registration
- 12 p.m.: Inauguration
- Inauguration by Professor Karuna Sindhu Das, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Rabindra Bharati University
Distinguished Presence:
- Sri Anup Motilal, Director, Department of Culture, Government of West Bengal
- Professor Amita Dutt, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Rabindra Bharati University
The Session
- Professor Philip V. Bohlman, Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor, The University of Chicago, Chicago [USA]
- Dr. Lars-Christian Koch, Director, Phonogram Archiv, Statlische museen zu Berlin, Berlin-Dahlem [Germany]
- Dr. Adrian McNeil, Department of Media, Media & Cultural Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney [Australia]
- Also, Debashis Haldar, the promising Sarangi player and amateur Sarangi maker.
Paper Abstracts
- Prof. Philip V. Bohlman
Be-Reshit – On the Being and Beginning of Musical Instruments in the Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Philip V. Bohlman, FBA, Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of the Humanities and of Music, The University of Chicago/USA
Musical instruments appear in sacred scriptures in some of their earliest forms, revealing the importance of musical instruments in understanding the fundamental relations of human beings to creation and to sacred beings. Musical instruments appear in many forms as “vessels for the sacred,” transforming and mediating words so that they are understandable to humans as they seek identity among themselves and in the universe.
In my presentation I focus on the ways in which musical instruments first appear in the sacred writings of the Abrahamic religions. Already in the earliest scriptures, there are myths about the creation of instruments. The symbolic unity of the Prophet Abraham, for example, grows in part because of his decision not to engage in human sacrifice, but instead to create a musical instrument from the horn of a sacrificed ram. Musical instruments grow in number as the history of Abrahamic religions changes, especially distinguishing between song and instrumental music. And yet, that difference remains crucial to understanding sacred music today, for example in the most popular Jewish music that is essentially instrumental, klezmer music, in which the human being is still the vessel (Hebrew: “kleh”) for sacred voice (Hebrew: “zemer”).
Throughout the talk I wish to make suggestive comparisons with the ideas of music and musical instruments that are crucial for understanding creation and beginning in the Rg Veda. I am hopeful that our discussion will lead us to think about the ways the sacred in music is expressed through musical instruments, thus becoming a common way of understanding universal attributes in both music and religion in broad terms.
Dr. L.C. Koch
Musicarcheology and Musical Instruments
Dr. Lars-Christian Koch, Director, Phonogram Archiv, Statlische museen zu Berlin, Berlin-Dahlem [Germany]
This lecture will focus on the interdisciplinary subject Musicarchaeology, its role in reconstructing archaeological musical instruments and the possibility of evaluating ancient music cultures. A further perspective in this regard will be the scope of including this research in a museum setting in the perspective of exhibitions as well as educational events.
Dr. Adrian McNeil
Musical instruments and human agency: some thoughts on the Sursringar
Adrian McNeil, Macquarie University, Sydney [Australia]
Musical instruments do not evolve through their own anthropomorphic desire. Human agency is of course central to any such process. While material culture is open to objective documentation, in contrast the element of human agency is far more resistant and problematic. When both are taken together however, the historical trajectory of a musical instrument becomes potentially far richer. This short presentation, which is really a series of open questions, explores this idea through the relatively short life of the Sursringar.
Debashis Haldar
Outlines of Sarangi Making and Discussions on Some Subtle Issues
Debashis Haldar, Sarangi Player and Amateur Sarangi Maker
My presentation will focus on the outlines of Sarangi making and certain subtle issues. I shall discuss about the materials used, the way it goes with the primary design, how the carvings go, how the leather cover is used, how the sarangi can change by doing minor adjustments on the bridge and the tar-gahan. This will be based on my experiences as an amateur Sarangi maker.
After a brief talk I shall play a bit of Sarangi for the audience. Sri Angshubha Banerjee will provide me tabla support.
