Sunday, September 9, 2012

How Nature Inspired the Creation of Musical Notes (according to Pt. Shiv Dayal Batish)

"Like commands from a superior, man received cues and impulses for discovering music from mother nature. Just as beautiful environments, scenes, shadows and perspectives inspired him in discovering the art of painting, and physical shapes and images of stones inspired the creation of sculpture as an art, early humans realized that the sonic environment - waves of the ocean, gentle ripples of rivers and brooks, the chirping of birds and humming of bees, love calls of the peacock, and the infinite variety of fascinating living sounds - was similar to his emotions and sentiments. He started to interpret his hopes, wishes, and his ecstasy and excitement of appreciation, by imitating, repeating and composing phrases from this wide variety of natural sounds. With the advent of time, this process became music."


 An excerpt from Rasik Raga Lakshan Manjari, volume 1, History and Theory of Indian Music, by Pt. Shiv Dayal Batish, Publisher - Batish Publications, 1310 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA. 
Brought to my attention through raganet.com - a valuable resource for westerners interested in Indian music.

I thought this was a nice turn of phrase for a Sunday morning. Pictures are from Honolulu, Oslo, and Honolulu, respectively.