When Indian classical musicians play the santoor, their hands hammer, pluck, or glide across the instrument at exhilarating speed, navigating the 100 strings with adroit precision to produce the resonant, reverberating melodies. However, this virtuosic spectacle is presented in a strikingly humble context: traditional Indian classical music concerts are played in baithak style, meaning the performers play their instruments while sitting down. Far removed from the staging and opulence of traditional Western classical music concerts, the baithak style implies an accessible and intimate environment between the audience and performers.
On Sunday, May 18, the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth will offer an intimate setting for an Indian classical music concert, as the student group presents a performance of Hindustani Indian music, that which originated in northern India.
“A lot of the Indian concerts are played sitting on the floor, where the artist sits for two or three hours without even moving their legs,” the organization’s publicity director Vijayaraghavan Bashyam said. “That is very alarming to people, like, “˜Oh my god, I don’t know how they’re able to sit on the floor for three hours.'”
The instrument showcased at the concert is the santoor, essentially an Indian version of a hammered dulcimer, with a trapezoid base and strings. Accompanying Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya’s santoor performance will be the rhythms of the tabla, Indian classical music’s most common percussion instrument, played by Abhishek Basu. First-year ethnomusicology student Manali Sheth explains the intricacies of playing the santoor.
“The most difficult part would have to be precision, because there’s (approximately) a hundred strings,” Sheth said, “And you still have to be quick and precise and clear.”
Though the term “classical” may bring a different image to mind, improvisation plays a large role in Hindustani music. The santoor performer will introduce a raga, or melody, and then spontaneously play themes and variations of the raga, while the tabla player grounds the performance with the rhythm.
“(Improvisation) shows your mastery of music, which people say you never master. So to improv and do it well, it says a lot about how much you have dedicated of your life to music. It shows your level of musicianship,” Sheth said.
Reinforcing the intimate setting of the performance, a lecture and discussion about Indian classical music will precede the performance, in order to educate students on both the aspects of traditional Indian music and traditional Indian culture and heritage. The speakers will explain how the artist goes through training and how he actually learns, giving the basics of Indian classical music and contrasting it with Western styles.
“They’ll play something and try to maybe try to correlate Western music with Indian music. I think that helps with raising the awareness of Indian music. Obviously you can’t teach someone everything about Indian music in a one-hour session, but I think this does a lot more than listening to a concert or a CD,” Bashyam said.
One aspect to Indian culture is the role of music as a tool for meditation and self-realization. According to the third Veda, which called the Samaveda in core Hindu scripture, Indian music has its origins in these tools.
“Indian classical music in general, you do have to be at a level of self-realization to play and to really get fulfillment out of it,” Sheth said. “It brings you to another level. It doesn’t happen every time, but sometimes when I sit down and practice, you’ll be practicing for so long that you’ll kind of be oblivious to everything around you. And you’re improving and it sounds right.”
Self-realization or no, Indian classical music is being investigated as a form of music therapy.
“Some research is going on the beneficial effects of music in therapy and rehabilitation and curing diseases. There’s the usage of music for purely meditative reasons, to bring about so-called peace or something like that,” Bashyam said.
The society will utilize these lessons to educate students in a close, interactive environment. The primary goal of the group is to impart the lessons that students can gain from listening to the performance and from discussing Indian music and tradition.
“So just coming in, looking at it, listening to the concert itself, listening to the melody of the santoor will be a new experience for people around UCLA,” Bashyam said.
“You get to actually see the santoor in an unamplified setting, you get to get a feel of how it really sounds. So all this plays a huge role in how people can understand the culture and the music better.”