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Dancing with Devtās : drums, power and possession in the music of Garhwal, North India

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/125104

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Title: Dancing with Devtās : drums, power and possession in the music of Garhwal, North India
Related: SOAS musicology series
Publisher: Aldershot : Ashgate Publishing
Date: 2008
FoR/RFCD Code(s): 190400 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Author/Creator: Alter, Andrew
Description: In the Central Himalayan region of Garhwal, the gods (devtas) enjoy dancing and come on to their mediums when musicians play and 'make' them dance. This occurs at many events including shamanistic rituals when musicians use their music teleologically to 'dance the gods'. In other contexts, such as dramatic theatrical renditions of stories of specific deities, actors 'dance' the role of their character having become possessed by the spirit of their character/deity. Through the powerful sounds of their drumming, musicians cause the gods to dance in the bodies of their mediums. Music, and more particularly musical sound, is perceived in Garhwal as a powerful force. Dr Andrew Alter examines music and musical practice in Garhwal from an analytical perspective that explores the nexus between musical sounds and performance events. He provides insight into performance practice, vocal techniques, notions of repertoire classification, instruments, ensembles, performance venues, and dance practice. However, music is not viewed simply as a system of organized sounds such as drum strokes, pitch iterations or repertoire items. Rather, in Garhwal, the music is viewed as a system of knowledge and as a system of beliefs in which meaning and spirituality become articulated through potent sound iterations. Alter's makes a significant contribution to the discipline of ethnomusicology through a detailed documentation of musical practice in the context of ritual events. The book offers a traditionally thorough historical-ethnographic study of a region with the aim of integrating the local field-based case studies of musical practices within the broader Garhwali context. The work contains invaluable oral data, which has been carefully transliterated as well as translated. Alter blends a carefully detailed analysis of drumming in conjunction with the complex ritual and social contexts of this sophisticated and semantically rich musical practice.
Description: Contextualising the study. Sounding the drum : power and meaning in the context of performance ; Dev bh?mi : land of the gods ; Caste groups and instrumentalists ; Performance genres and dance practice ; Musical instruments in Garhwal ; Îhol sågar : the ocean of drumming -- Analysis and description of musical events : musical power in the context of performance. Drumming associated with påñ?aval-lå ; Music in the context of wedding celebrations ; The pawåå of kirthipal and kunjepal.
Description: 277 page(s)
Subject Keyword: 190400 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Subject Keyword: Music
Subject Keyword: dance
Subject Keyword: epic
Subject Keyword: performance
Subject Keyword: wedding
Subject Keyword: Ethnography
Subject Keyword: Pandavalila
Subject Keyword: Shaman
Subject Keyword: Caste
Subject Keyword: Music--India--Garhwāl--History and criticism
Subject Keyword: Drum--Performance--India--Garhwāl
Subject Keyword: Music, Influence of--India--Garhwāl
Subject Keyword: drums
Subject Keyword: Music--Religious aspects--Hinduism
Subject Keyword: Music--Social aspects--India--Garhwāl
Subject Keyword: possession
Subject Keyword: ritual
Subject Keyword: India
Subject Keyword: Garhwal
Subject Keyword: Garhwali
Subject Keyword: Uttarakhand
Subject Keyword: Uttaranchal
Resource Type: book
Organisation: Macquarie University. Dept. of Contemporary Music Studies

Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/125104
Identifier: ISBN:9780754656692
Identifier: mq-rm-2010001598
Language: eng

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