Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 00:03:49 GMT
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Raga subhalakshmi
References: <[email protected]>
In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (Sriram Devanathan) writes:
Hi. I was listening to a composition of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's, in raga subhalakshmi (which he dedicated to his lovely wife). Taking this as an example, what happens in these cases? Do other people play in this raga, or is it the exclusive 'property' of the composer?
It is a good thing that we do not have the equivalent of intellectual copyright and patenting in Indian music (yet). If the creators of a rAga were the only people allowed to perform it, we would not even know most of the scales that are in vogue today. Anything good will (and should) survive of its own accord.
A few examples from various periods of time should make clear what I mean.
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rAga creator
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ha~saDhvanE rAmasvAme dhEkShethar
ABOgE thyAgarAja
centhAmaNE syAmA SAsthre
amRthavarSheNE muththusvAme dhEkShethar
karNa-ranjjanE muththIyA-BAgavathar
mahathE bAlamuraLekRShNa
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I don't think anyone will doubt the popularity (even the necessity) of ha~sadhvanE or ABOgE, while karNa-ranjjanE and mahathE are being used in concerts and in film songs. In none of these cases, has the rAga been considered the "exclusive property" of the composer. The last thing Indian music needs is people debating the "look and feel" of rAgas, compositions and renditions and drawing boundaries that restrict the practice of music to certain groups. Art is meant to be shared, not kept in closets.
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