MUSICAL COURIER 8 rendition may be entirely foreign to our accustomed idea. But one soon learns, in the East, that there are many ways of expressing the same old ideas, musical or otherwise. In the case of Indian music, it is simply another language, that is all—something to be studied and mastered intellectually—always realizing that back of all creative effort are the same emotions and ideals. THE MUSIC OF INDIA IV. Rabindranath Tagore and the Rain Festival By LILY STRICKLAND Singer of Hindu Songs—Dancer of Hindu Dances SARAT LAHIRI-—Player upon the Esraj VISHNU NIMBKER—Player upon the Tabla No Broadway imitation of Oriental art this, but the genuine songs and dances of a people who have had time to forget more about melody and rhythm than Europe or America have had time to learn. Available as a Trio or with the assistance of RICHARD HALE, Baritone, singing English song settings of the Tagore poems. Exclusive Direction of CATHARINE A. BAMMAN, 53 West 39th Street, New York City Copyrighted, 1923, by The Musical Courier Company. The stage setting for the festival was perfect—every detail was harmonious and artistically conceived. The background was a flowing drapery of pale saffron against which soft foil the white clad singers stood out like a bas-relief. The color notes were the dull red of the men’s turbans, the yellow borders of their robes, and the red edges of the women’s saris. In the foreground were lovely natural decorations of flowers and fruits symbolizing the life-giving element of the "Rains.” And strange to say, the harmony of the tout-ensemble extended even to Nature herself, for just as the prelude of voices rose in the opening chorus, typifying the longing of the people for the rain, the thunder the Poet Tagore. To them he is the Great Man whose flowing verses are words of wisdom and light, and whose music is the soul of India, idealizing all that is good in her. Music of the Storm. The music of the coming of the storm is expressed in the rapid beat of the drum, the accelerando of voices, the unison singing seeming all the more to accentuate the element of suppressed excitement. One can hear the distant rumble of the thunder growing louder and coming nearer, INTERESTING indeed was the Rain Festival I witnessed in the Madan Theater, Calcutta, organized, conducted and written by Sir Rabindranath Tagore. Dr. Tagore, internationally famous as a poet is, in India, equally weli known as her greatest musician and composer. And this is a fact that is not commonly understood. The unique Music Festival was given under the auspices of the Vishwa Bharati Sanmilani, or University for Universal Culture, which was established by Tagore at Shan-tiniketan, his school for boys at Bolpur. The purpose of this Varshamangal (musical soiree) was in aid of the Shan-tiniketan University. The musical idea of the festival started at the school, where every year at the season of the coming of the Rains, the little boys gather under the trees in the Sal groves, roared and lightning flashed for a brief space, then the rain poured down. No setting could have been more effectively realistic. How can I describe in the hum-drum compass of words the music of the poet and the impression it made on me? Above all it was elusive, vague in strange intervals, fascinating in delicate nuances of coloring and rhythm—in an essence of something that is India’s own. Can the music of any country do more than make the hearer live and feel the thing that it portrays? The music itself was a setting of lyrics taken from Tagore’s Gitanjali, Fruit Gathering, the Crossing and one or two new songs which he composed for the occasion. I have given examples of a few of the melodies used. The chorus was trained by the poet’s nephew, Didendranath Tagore, a jovial, rotund leader, who literally led his choristers vocally, by singing all the songs with much animation and zeal. The Stabilizer. The orchestra, from our point of view, would have been considered very meagre and unsatisfactory; there was the barest suggestion of accompaniment in the thin tones of the esraj and vinas. The background was given by the all important drum. The harmonies in Indian music are merely implied; all instruments play in unison. The tuned drum sometimes gives the tonic and dominant, but usually the drone or tonic note is employed to act as a sort of musical “pitch” stabilizer. There were sixteen songs in all, given in the form of solos choruses for male, female and mixed voices. Alternating with the vocal arrangements were the readings of the poet from his various verses to the “Rains.” His tall, venerable figure, clad in flowing white garments his long white hair and beard, might have made him a per-sonincation of The Law and the Prophets’’ except that he seemed too benign, benevolent and gentle for either His mobile countenance portrayed the phases of emotional’ interpretation of the lines of longing for the rain• and later the joy in its coming. Nature, in bestowing upon Rabindranath Tagore the double mantle of poesy and music conferred a like benefit, through the medium of his inspirations, on the Indian people. His creations have enriched the literature of modern India, and his music has ennobled and broadened the spiritual ideal in the country’s music. [This concludes_ the present series of articles on Indian music by Lily Strickland-Anderson. The author is already preparing a second series, one of which will be on the Devil Dancing of Tibet, which she has personally witnessed, and another on the Nautch Girls, both extensively illustrated____ The Editor.! and can see the great grey wall of approaching rain, breaking on the parched earth and dying vegetation, and turning the desert into a garden. There is gladness and life in the spirit of the music, even though its conception and RABINDRANATH TAGORE, famous Indian poet and composer. garlanded with Rheya, Kadanka and Lotus blossoms, and sing the rain songs of the poet. Sometimes, as they sing, the rain begins to come down, and the boys are delighted and hail the approach of the storm clouds with joy. They, as do all Indians of the plains, love the rain, for it means life itself to millions of people. No wonder then, that from the most ancient times, the Indians have set apart dajs for festival and feast and rejoicing to celebrate the “Rains.” This season has been the subject of work by India’s famous bards from the days of the Rig-Veda on down the line of classic and religious literature. This' particular festival in Calcutta was quite the most delightful musical event of the season, either Indian or European. The spacious new Madan Theater was crowded to the doors by^ a throng of well dressed, eager listeners. The Bengali, if he have the least pretensions to learning, loves THEMES FROM RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S MUSIC FOR THE RAIN FESTIVAL ----h CO The Coming of the Storm JJL m f f * , f ־r־ f— Mf f r f— - L p f 1 _—9 ־־ s> r r =±= KB ■ L 5_____- J From Gitanjali (No.