SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF INDIAN MUSIC

There is in India a vast reservoir called "devotional music" which serves to convey traditional values; it pervades every part of the society. Devotional songs from the quintessential element in traditional congregational worship. Rituals consists entirely of songs in which both tonal and rhythmic musical instruments play an important accompanying role. Religious rituals, comprised of symbolic acts, music and dance, are joyous celebration in which the personalized deity is lovingly feted and entertained.

This book The Spiritual Aspects of Indian Music in concerned with the study of bhakti religious music and ritual called bhajana as a key component of South Indian society. It is also concerned with identifying those elements that distinctively charecterize the music and its role within the musical and religious traditions. A further and no less important consideration is the synthesization and codification of the liturgy and music of bhakti congregational worship. The book is an outcome of the indefatigable research of Dr. Simon, which is a richly illustrated impressive work and which projects an indepth, authentic account of the spiritual aspects of the bhakti ritual music of India. The work is the result of thirteen months of field work in Tamilnadu, India between October 1971 and November 1972. The boo k is of great value to the students of Indian Music, who cannot afford to miss this volume.

About the Author:

Professor (Dr.) Robert Leopold Simon in one of those few scholars who have been working persistently and consistently on the spiritual aspects of Indian music especially to study the bhakti religious music and ritual called bhajana as a key component of South Indian society. Trained by his mentor Prof. Peter Crossley-Holland Prof.Simon was awarded Ph.D. degree by the University of California, Los Angeles. His passion for Indian music was so intense that he made two trips to India in 1971-72 and 1978 to work with Indian scholars, like Dr. V. Raghavan, Vidwan B. Krishnamurthy and Manohar Narayan Sabnis to study Karnatak vocal music. This resulted in the publication of two of his articles on Indian music in the reputed Journals like Grove's Dictionary of Musicians and Selected Reports. At present, Dr. Simon is a Professor of Ethnomusicology, Department of Music, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California.

CHAPTER I
Introduction

CHAPTER II
The Antecedents of Bhajana:
Sanskrit and Tamil Literature

CHAPTER III
The Poet-Singers: A Continuing Tradition

CHAPTER IV
The Ritual Sequence

CHAPTER V
The Song Texts

CHAPTER VI
Musical Form and Rhythm

CHAPTER VII
The Nature of Bhajana Melody

CHAPTER VIII
Conclusion

Appendix A
Appendix B
Bibliography
Index