A Subtle Novelty: Repetition, transmission and the valorisation of innovation within North Indian Classical Music

John James Napier
2006 Critical Studies in Improvisation  
He did not play his tans the way his teacher taught him." "If Madhav Gudi sings in a mehfil and gets dad [applause], to whom does the dad belong? To Bhimsen! [Gudi's teacher]" 1 The two quotations above, which I will revisit later in the paper, encapsulate something of a conundrum in North Indian classical performance, a conundrum which may also apply in other musical styles. The first criticises a performer who has not executed a series of fast notes, tans, in such a way as to be identifiable
more » ... s those taught by his teacher. He is understood by the commentator to have, in some sense, failed. The author of the second statement is similarly critical of a performer who, in the context of potentially the most highly critical performance environment, the private concert or mehfil, has gained applause by reproducing the singing of his teacher, with no readily discernable element of individualism. It is important to note that these views do not necessarily represent succinct summaries of the critical stances of diametrically opposed musical minds; it is conceivable that a listener might be equally perturbed by a lack of reference to inherited tradition and an absence of individuality in performance. In this paper, I will attempt to investigate and reconcile these seemingly contradictory criticisms by problematizing the role of 'improvisation' in North Indian classical music with specific focus on the melodic structure of the vocal genre known as khayal. 2
doi:10.21083/csieci.v1i3.55 fatcat:zogv2cpiq5dr7csxdhrams5jgu