BDB Bertsolaritzaren datu-basea

Short songs in dialects of Hindi are the basis for improvisation in khyāl, the principal genre of contemporary North Indian classical vocal music. khyāl songs are not defined by written representations, but are transmitted orally, committed to memory and re-created through performance. During the twentieth century several collections of khyāl songs were published for pedagogical and archival purposes. This development was largely catalysed by the Independence movement and the widespread perception of a need to reclaim and consolidate India's cultural identity. Songs which had been the closely guarded property of hereditary musicians were brought into the public domain. The written word and graphic representation gave a stamp of alleged authenticity to song compositions, despite their often being carelessly transcribed, shifting the locus of musical authority. Literate Hindu musicians have largely replaced the hereditary, predominantly Muslim, musicians who were the custodians of Hindustani music for centuries. Together with the linguist and Hindi scholar Lalita du Perron, the author is currently working on an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, transcribing and analysing some four-hundred-and-seventy khyāl songs culled from classic gramophone recordings from the period 1902-75. The present paper looks at some of the cultural history of transcription in North India, and addresses some of the musical issues arising from this ongoing effort to accurately and accessibly transcribe khyāl songs.