Towards harmony of Indian and western classical music in ‘Raga Harmony’ by L Subramaniam

The wonderful new book by violin maestro L Subramaniam may be titled ‘Raga Harmony: Harmonic Structures and Tonalities in Indian Classical Music’, but it is as much about the differences between western and Indian classical music. The most prominent difference is the lack of harmony — created by the successive combination of notes, known as chords — in the Indian system.

The book’s context is Carnatic, but Subramaniam’s theory of integrating “the melodic ideas of Indian classical music with the harmonic structure of western classical music” applies to North Indian (Hindustani) music too.

Based on his doctoral research, it is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of music and its evolution to its current forms, western as well as Indian. Aimed at explaining his theory of using raga in western orchestras to practising instrumentalists, the book is equally relevant to any music lover.

The first chapter traces the evolution of western classical music — from single-note church music to the elaborate orchestras of the 19th century. Subramaniam, a Padma Bhushan recipient, touches upon the influence of Indian music on western composers and says it is believed that Beethoven had a copy of the ‘Vedas’ and ‘Upanishads’.

Indian influence is visible in operas like ‘Lakme’ (1883). Later, Alan Hovhaness composed ‘Madras Sonata’, ‘Vishnu Symphony’ and ‘Arjuna’. While in India in 1959-60, he learnt to play the veena too. ‘Satyagraha’ by American composer Phillip Glass is another example. It is interesting to note that like western classical music, Indian classical music too originated in worship, in temples.

The second chapter traces the evolution of Indian music. It is fascinating to see how many texts on music were written over the centuries, starting around 2,000 years ago. Subramaniam painstakingly takes the reader through the various stages of evolution. As he writes: “…it is difficult to imagine a theoretical concept being developed before the practical application in any art form”. Indeed, “music was given the most important position amongst the sixty-four arts in ancient India”.

Chapter three goes into greater detail on the system of raga classification, the concept of ‘moorchana’, which is a distinctly Indian theory. The detail in which a raga is discussed as early as in the 12th century ‘Sangeeta Makaranda’ by Narada is awe-inspiring. We get to know that the listing in a raga even includes the predominant note (amsha swara), the starting note (graha), the final note (nyasa swara) and the rarely used note (alpatva)! The book even mentions three types of ragas based on their nature — ‘purusha’ (male), ‘stree’ (female) and ‘napunsaka’ (genderless). At what time they were to be performed was also important.

The history of the currently used Melakarta system of raga classification in Carnatic music shows how the concept of ‘rasa’ or nature of the raga was eliminated in the system. Subramaniam suggests a simplification of the Melakarta ragas into 36 scales, which can be turned into ragas. This, he says, will permit inclusion of some ragas (Basant Bahar, Bihag, Lalit, Hameer and Sham Kalyan), in which both the ‘madhyams’ are given equal importance and cannot be correctly classified currently.

The fourth chapter explains how limitless compositions can be created by using the western concept of taking each semi-tone as the tonic (the main note, Sa). Each of the 5,184 scales of Indian music can be expanded into 62,208 scales. Subramaniam concludes his theory thus: “… [it] expands the existing possibilities of harmony in accordance with the western classical system, while at the same time introducing the concept of harmony legitimately into the concept of Indian classical music”.