The Pitfalls in the Study & Translation of the Ancient Tamil Texts (18)
How Abraham Pandithar was wrong in identifying ET
as the vattap pAlai - வட்டப் பாலை?
As a pioneer in the modern period to
explore ancient Tamil texts to discover ancient Tamil music , Abraham Pandhithar(AP) seemed to be first person to apply the
consonant frequency vibrating length ratios ( Sa-Pa 2/3 & Sa –Ma 3/4 ) as
revealed in his book ‘karuNamirtha
sAgaram’ (KS)( Page 512-513). Also unlike Vipulananda Adigal(VA) who undertook the similar calculations and
bypassed the resulting problem, AP identified and discussed it in the above
reference.
Also unlike VA, AP seemed to be following
the developments in Western Music closely, as he was an expert both in western
music and Karnatic music.
We
had seen in the previous post the following points suggesting that VA did not
seem to follow the developments in Western Music, though he was a science
graduate from the University of London.
(1) Like the Karnatic Music
Scholar Prof.P.Sambamoorthy), VA did not seem to be aware (based on ‘yAzh
nhool’) that “in 1939, an international conference recommended that
the A above middle C be tuned to 440 Hz, now known as concert pitch.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music
).
(2) In just Intonation, middle
C shall be tuned to 264Hz, following A = 440Hz. Instead VA had used the tuning
fork frequency 256 Hz (used for Physics-Acoustics experiments) in his
calculations of the frequencies of the pitches of the musical notes.
(3) VA did not seem to be aware
of the corrections involved in calculating the vibrating length of air columns,
as mentioned in the previous post.
Surprisingly
AP was so closely following the developments in the western music, he explored
if Equal Temperament in the Western music would solve the above mentioned
problems he had encountered.
Note
that though the history of the discovery of Equal Temperament started from the
4th century B.C, its world wide adoption replacing Just Intonation started from
the first decade of the 19th century “completing only in the second decade of
the 19th century.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament).
Probably
AP was one of the very few early Indian writers who wrote about Equal
Temperament (ET) in his book published in 1917 and explained the method of
calculating the frequency ratios of the musical notes.
Also
AP was right that ET solved the problems in the calculations he had encountered.
In fact the success of ET over the Just Intonation was due to such advantages
including solving the difficulty with respect to modulation in the Just
Intonation.
Unfortunately
AP was tempted to identifying the Equal Temperament as the vattap pAlai - வட்டப் பாலை of the ancient Tamil Music.
After
explaining the logarithmic calculation of the frequency ratios for the 12
semitones in the middle octave and how it solved the problems with respect to
the consonant relations, he concluded that ET could be identified as the vattap pAlai (Page 833 KS) of the ancient Tamil music.
Unfortunately
AP did not seem to be aware of the short comings of ET briefed below.
Consonant
intervals play a significant role in good music. In ET, except the octave, “not
a single one is in perfect tune” (‘Science & Music’ (1937) by Sir James
Jeans, page 176; ‘Physics of Music’(1944) by Alexander Wood Page 193). Also it was
proved in these references that unlike ET music instruments like Harmonium,
organ, etc, violinists & vocalists always follow Just Intonation. Of course
all these references were published after the life time of AP and hence AP could not be
blamed for not being aware of the above results.
AP
was aware that ET was just an approximation in following the consonant
relations in music. Unfortunately AP concluded that the consonant relations
could not be applied to the ancient Tamil Music. (Page 503 KS). In fact he
called those ratios as ‘mOtta aLavu”
- மோட்டா அளவு (Page 506 KS).But AP was honest to admit that the ancient Tamil
texts insisted that the ancient Tamil music system should follow Sa-Pa &
Sa-Ma methods.(Pages 717-818,KS).
In
fact tuning in ancient Tamil Music was done using the octave, Sa-Pa & Sa-Ma
relations, according to a formula cited in pancha
marapu and it was explained in my doctoral thesis referred in the previous
post.
Those
experienced in tuning the string instruments knew that while tuning for the
fifth above, even minute changes in the tension of the string above or below
the right tension will cause dissonance. It was also proved through the
experiments. (‘Physics of Music’, Pages 157, 164). Hence ET , in view of its
imperfect fifth, could not be used for tuning as explained in pancha marapu.
Also
vattap pAlai explained in chilappathikAram , u.ve.cA - சிலப்பதிகாரம் உ.வெ.சா (232,439,449) ,
was an interesting method, involving the 12 semi tonal points in a circle employing the
cycle of fifth both clock-wise and anti clock-wise for the modulation.
Hence
AP’s identification of ET as the vattap pAlai
could not be justified based on the evidences in the ancient Tamil texts.
Disproving
the research findings of AP & VA could not be viewed as defaming their research.
It needs to be viewed as the progress in research.
Even
in science, the great prestige of the scientists delayed the acceptance of
findings that over ruled earlier ones, as briefed below.
“For
more than 100 years, Newton's corpuscular theory of light was favored over the
wave theory, partly because of Newton's great prestige and partly because not
enough experimental evidence existed to provide an adequate basis of comparison
between the two theories. Finally, important experiments were done on the
diffraction and interference of light by Thomas Young (1801) and A. J. Fresnel
(1814–15) that could only be interpreted in terms of the wave theory. The polarization
of light was still another phenomenon that could only be explained by the wave
theory. Thus, in the 19th cent. the wave theory became the dominant theory of
the nature of light. “(http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/light-the-nature-light.html
)
But
in the light of conclusive evidences, the acceptance of the right findings
became inevitable in science.
One
of the reasons for not taking advantage of the developments in Music
Information technology to develop marketable products related to Indian music
like the innumerable products related to western music, seem to be the ‘great
prestige’ of the personalities and theories preventing open minded scientific
enquiry in music.
Compared
to Hindustani Music and Karnatic Music, Tamil Music seems to be suffering more
from subjective emotional approach, preventing its development, as explained in
‘
Tavaraana Disaiyil Tamizhisai Aarvam’ - தவறான திசையில் தமிழிசை ஆர்வம் (http://www.musicresearch.in/categorydetails.php?imgid=82
).
I had witnessed that the present youth learning
music had started raising boldly controversial questions with respect to the
pitch problems in Karnatic Music. Hence I am optimistic that the constraints preventing open minded
scientific enquiry will die soon to open the gateway to new areas of employment
and business, exploiting the rich
potential of the ancient Indian music.
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