Research Proposal: The Harmonium – Despised Yet Loved
Almost every other family in South Asia houses a harmonium. My generation has seen this instrument permeate across all genres of music and cultures in this sub-continent. Yet, the truth is, as Matt Rahaim (2011: 658) observes, “The harmonium has attracted more elite contempt than any other instrument in the history of Indian music.” It was considered as an instance of cultural hegemony at a time when the sub-continent was fighting the British colony. The Indian classical music is differentiated from the Western music because of its semi-tones in contrast to the discreet, or staccato patterns of the latter. Interestingly, even British song-writers in the early twentieth century considered this instrument as a ‘menace’.
The popularization of the harmonium over the years, despite these criticisms, intrigues me. Having played this instrument even before learning to write, I feel a strong connection to my harmonium. I concede that I am pretty oblivious to its short-comings, and I doubt whether it deserves all of the elite contempt it receives. After all, 9 out of 10 gurus today will use the harmonium to train a novice. The notes of the harmonium, although unmatched with the veena or tanpura, sustains a longer flow than other keyboards. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who has gained a wide exposure to both Indian and European music, has scripted almost all of his songs in the harmonium notation, despite being vocal about the ineptitude of the instrument to portray Indian music.
How and why has the harmonium been widely accepted (or has it?) in this territory? I hope to investigate into this conundrum and discover the deficiencies of the harmonium that I may not have noticed all this while.
Bibliography
RAHAIM, MATT. "That Ban(e) of Indian Music: Hearing Politics in The Harmonium." The Journal of Asian Studies 70, no. 3 (2011): 657-82.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41302388.
GELLERMAN, Robert F. (1928) “THE AMERICAN REED ORGAN and the Harmonium.” The Vestal Press, Ltd. (1996).