Dancing to Different Melodies
ANIL SRINIVASAN

So everyone is talking about China and India. I remember every discussion in business school having both these names mentioned as though they were one phrase, like “salt and pepper”. And that is where the divergence begins to grate on my sensibilities, because no two systems of thought could be more different. Separated by a stretch of mountain, glacial systems and desert, these two neighbours have progressed to the accompaniment of different rhythmic clocks. So much so that our musical systems share very few aspects in common. However, a slightly deeper analysis of the musical structures in authentic Chinese melodies reveals certain amazing coincidences.


The Youlan (by Confucius) is supposed to be the earliest chronicled musical work in Chinese musical literature. Listening to it being rendered with a Yanqin (our “santoor”) and the pipa (a fretless lute) brings forth a certain set of characteristics that hold a common ground. For instance, the prevalence of melody set to a certain rhythm cycle (Chinese music seems to have an abundance of 3, 4 and 7 count cycles– tishram, chatushram and mishram respectively) is similar to classical forms everywhere, particularly ours. The melodic tone used (usually whole tones, avoiding chromatics or sharp notes) reminds me very much of scale-changes on the Carnatic raga “Mohanam”. Shifting the opening note of Raga Mohanam brings forth new ragams – Madhyamavati, Hindolam, Shudda Sarang and so on. All of these ragams (and some more, such as Shudda Saveri) have pentatonic systems. These magical five notes can evoke moods, variations in ambience and a wealth of musical textures. Both the Chinese and the Indian music systems have honed in on these notes and their incumbent variations.

However, at least to a mind untrained to look beyond such superficial resemblances, this is where the bridge collapses. While the Indian classical music systems have traversed great distances into the ocean of sound, I find that Chinese music treats improvisation with less importance than an adherence to form and discipline. There is freedom in the use of form and melodic line in the Indian imagination, which somehow seems a trifle curtailed across the border. This is interesting given where the influences of each of these musical systems (Indian and Chinese) come from. While spiritual antecedents, hymnal chanting and a detailed codification and indigenous grammar characterized South Indian classical music, the North Indian forms gathered influences from foreign incursions, notably from Persia and Central Asia. Some of these Central Asians have influenced the Chinese as well, probably evidenced by the pentatonic melodies common across our borders. However, the entry of the Western musicians (first in the 17th Century in China, and later through much of the Cultural Revolution and the rise of communism) has seen regimentation in Chinese music with respect to form and content. Indeed, most large Chinese cities boast of symphony orchestras of a standard comparable to those in New York or Vienna. However, the emphasis is more on structure.

I am certainly not trying to paint a certain system of musical thought in an inferior light. Indeed, I am ill-equipped to judge another melodic system without a more in-depth analysis of its rudiments and structural character. However, when I think of Yo-Yo Ma (the renowned cellist) or Lang Lang ( a world famous western classical pianist), I see the indelible influence of the West.
Certain structural characteristics of the Western classical form must have appealed to the revolutionary Chinese in the mid-20th century. Collective adherence to form (in the case of ensemble playing or orchestral arrangements) and interpreting music strictly by design (using the composer as the guide, and restricting the scope for individual self-expression) seems to be reflective of a culture that was trying to establish discipline and a common code of cultural discovery. In India, just as in every other sphere of human endeavour, the triumph of multiplicity and individualist notions seems apparent in music as well.

Perhaps the China that is now gearing itself globally in terms of its economics will embrace a more individualist spirit, and these will be exciting times for Indian musicians to collaborate freely and enrich the cultural template of this part of the world, especially material drawn from the folk traditions of the two countries.

For now, I am content keeping the two systems of musical thought separate. Copyright New Sunday Express