I chanced to read an article on music, published in a national daily a few weeks ago in which the learned author attributed a peculiar style of vocalisation practised by a clan of contemporary Pakistani classical vocalists, which the vocalists themselves never claimed to have followed.
Making an unsubstantiated claim that: "this was the generation of singers, who believed in 'Sudh (pure) gaeky (style of singing) and strict adherence to grammar. They would not deviate from Samagana method of singing Vedic music or Shastria Sangeet".
It was such a unheard of claim that even die-hard Hindu protagonists of Vedic (Shastria) music in India would not have dared to make in this Space Age.
The expression Sudh gaeky, I submit, is ambiguous. Did the learned author of the article refer to a particular style of singing? Or, did he mean the correct intonation of motes? I wondered.
Clearly the claim made by the author of the article was not backed by any historical evidence and also seemed far-fetched.
In support of my argument, I submit that the Vedic music practised some 4,000 years ago has undergone such a radical change that no specimen of the melodies of those times are available anywhere in the world. This is not my personal opinion, but is the outcome of research conducted by many a musicologist of whom I quote a few.
Dr Curt Sach, the renowned American musicologist in his excellent book, "The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, East and West" (page 158) has written about the Sama Veda, and the recitals of its Ashlokas called Vedic chants.
"The Vedic ritual", he wrote, "culminated in the solemn Soma drink offering, which was assisted by four priests, each with one of the Vedas: the high priest, who conducted the ceremony with Atharva-Veda, the Adhvaryu, who murmured incantations from the Yajur Veda, the Udgatar, who sang from the Sama Veda, and the Hotar, who performed from the Rig Veda in a style that might be equally well described as reciting and chanting...Each recitation probably used only two notes."
Thakur Nawab Ali in his "Ma'arful Naghmat" (page 34) had this to say about ancient music of the Sam Veda (which the learned author has named Samagana):
"In India, a highly developed system of music was in vogue for over 3000 years. The Sam Veda is one of the four holy books of the Hindus the Ashlokas from which were recited by the priests. The vicissitudes of history and the erosion of time have changed everything - the lifestyles, languages, culture, customs and habits of the people. The ancient music could not escape from their impact. Therefore, it will be wrong to believe that the old Vedic music has survived the erosion of time. It has metamorphosed so much that even the musical notes used in chanting Samagana are not the same on which our current system of music is based".
Professor Nazir A. Jairazbhoy, the Indian musicologist of international repute and a former professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Southern California, in his book, "The Ragas of North Indian Music", has conclusively stated that:
"Modern North Indian classical music has in its roots in ancient Indian music, but appears to have acquired its present form after the 14th and 15th century A.D. Indian musical theory is expounded in considerable detail in the Natyasastra ... Some of the technical terms in present day musical theory show that the music system of ancient India as described in Natyasastra differed considerably from that of today."
The Samagana to which the learned author dates back even when sage Bharta, the author Natyasastra propounded his theory. I have written this piece in an attempt to dissipate the hazy maze created after the publication of the referenced article, and also to enlighten the readers about the current system of music that is the vogue in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Northern India.