I came across a curiosity on IMSLP - "The Oriental Miscellany; being a
collection of the most favourite Airs of Hindoostan, compiled and
adapted for the Harpsichord &c. By William Hamilton Bird." (Calcutta,
1789). The '&c' in the title is the guitar! There is a quite lengthy
section of the Airs set for the guitar at the end.
I wondered if these 'Hindoostanni Airs' were simply dreamed up in Covent
Garden by someone who had never set foot in India but a quick search
online reveals that William Hamilton Bird did live and work in India
(and publish this book) - and later died in Dublin. A feature on the
harpsichord player, Jane Chapman, says that " the publication was the
first collection of Indian music transcribed from live performance into
Western notation and adapted for harpsichord."
In the Introduction to the Oriental Miscellany, Bird writes:"The
greatest imperfection, however, in the music of every part of India, is
the total want of accompanyments; a third, or fifth, are additions, the
Compiler, during a residence of nineteen years in this country, and with
the most favorable opportunities, has never heard..." and he says "he
has taken great pains to bring them [the airs] into form as to TIME."
But he does claim to "have adhered to the original compositions."
Sometimes he adds variations - to make the music less 'insipid'. Bird
implies that all these pieces are songs. He does not mention
instrumental music.
There is no mention in the Introduction of the guitar section at the
end. The music in the section for the guitar is all in C (occasionally A
minor) and mostly single lines but with full C major chords every so
often. This must surely be the wire-strung 'English' guitar (guittar).
some of the guittar setting have a low G so a seven-course instrument is
sometimes called for.
I've had a quick go at one of the Airs (It does seems a bit odd!),
Dandera Vakee. In the guitar version it is marked, Con Spirito. The
keyboard version is in A and Vivace. It's a 'Terana' (Bird describes the
Terana as sung only by men). And I think he is saying that the piece
comes from Serodes (?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0UdyOgdjA0
Stuart
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