Charles Haynes wrote: > How much innovation is happening in dance and music? Is it like > western classical music where there are rigorous requirements on how
There's some. Carnatic music is much more hidebound with tradition than western classical music, and yes - years of practice are required to actually express yourself. Nuances, if any, are usually minor. Add to it that there are enough tapes, CDs etc of the old masters still in widespread circulation, with several of them practically OWNING a song thanks to the mastery they have stamped on it, that any variation at all would get a critical reception from a number of people. A lot of new artistes (including established ones like Nithyashree Mahadevan, granddaughter of one of the greats, D.K.Pattammal) sometimes equate interpretation with "crass commercialism" and "fireworks" .. the sort that would draw applause from a crowd but doesn't have much substance behind it Not that Nithyashree doesn't back that showmanship with enormous talent.. just that I hate the fireworks she trots out, and her voice tends to shatter glass at high pitches, so I reach for my earplugs whenever someone tunes into one of her concerts here. > right. On the other hand, there is also both dance and music that, > while it respects classical tradition, is lively and innovative. I'm > thinking of dancers like Mark Morris who have huge respect for > classical music, and classical dance traditions but at the same time Oh yes. A lot of experimentation is in using non-traditional instruments (like composers of the early 1800s first saw violins being used to play western music and then adapted them, right from changing the tuning of the violin to an entirely different playing and bowing technique). Now you have kadiri gopalnath playing sax, u.srinivas on the mandolin and best of all .. "Guitar" Prasanna. Carnatic music on an electric guitar. http://www.guitarprasanna.com / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Prasanna Prasanna is the kind of guy you are looking for if you want to discuss this stuff. If Suraj still reads silklist (which he used to do some years back between hacking code for yahoo and going into full Thomas de Quincey mode on a wide range of substances) then he is probably the guy to tell you a lot more about Prasanna. > Then I'm confused, if patronage has never died out I don't understand > your statements "There is no money in creativity in India. If > creativity brings in the moolah, Patronage is for established artists. Community support for amateurs and journeymen srs
