History of Indian Music (With Particular Reference to Theory and Practice)

Back of the Book This book briefly explains the broad outlines of Indian music as an art, and to test them by the light of Western science. It is a unique book due to its drawing on the writings on the phenomena of Sound by Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and a few other authors.

Preface THE PRESENT MONOGRAPH neither pretends to be an exhaustive analysis nor aims at giving a complete description of Indian music or demonstration of the phenomena of Sound or of the elaborate history and laws of Music. Those who wish to study these subjects thoroughly, whether from their scientific or artistic aspect, must have recourse to special works and specialised studies.

To show briefly the broad outlines of Indian music as an art, and to test them by the light of Western science, has been the aim and scope of this discussion which, it is hoped, will be received with some interest by the public.

If there be anything acceptable to the general reader in this discussion, it is exclusively due to my drawing on the writings on the phenomena of Sound by Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and a few other English authors, which I have been studying for sometime. If there be anything interesting or instructive to the admirer of music, it is wholly due to the characteristics of Indian music itself which I have regularly studied for a long time.

The nomenclature used throughout this discussion, is not pure Sanskrit, but is the popular one among the Indian musicians, and, therefore, no strict rule of spelling is observed.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages