Womans Work in Music | Page 2

Sarisvati, goddess of speech and oratory,
brought music to man, incidentally giving the Hindoos their finest
musical instrument, the vina. The demigod Nared became the protector
of the art, but Maheda Chrishna performed a more material service by
allowing five keys, or modes, to spring from his head, in the shape of
nymphs, while his wife, Parbuti, produced one more. Then Brahma
helped the cause along by adding thirty lesser keys, or modes, all of
them in the form of nymphs also.
These modes varied in character, some of them being too fiery to be
attempted by mortals. It is related that Akbar, the emperor, once
ordered the famous singer, Naik Gobaul, to sing the Raagni, or
improvisation, of the mode of fire. The poor singer entreated for a less
dangerous task, but in vain. Then he plunged up to his neck in the
waters of the river Jumna, and began. Before he had finished half of the
song, the water around him began to boil. He paused, but, finding the
emperor's curiosity relentless, continued the strain, until at the close his
body burst into flames and was consumed. Another melody caused the
formation of clouds and the fall of rain, and a female singer is said once
to have saved Bengal from drought and famine by means of this lay.
Many other refrains had a similar power over the forces of nature; one
could make the sun disappear and bring on night at midday, while
others could change winter to spring, or rain to sunshine.
In all Indian legends, the charm of music is described as of immense
potency. All animate and inanimate nature is represented as listening
with ecstasy to the singing of Chrishna and Parbuti.[2] When Chrishna
was on earth, in the form of a shepherd, there were sixteen thousand
pastoral nymphs, or shepherdesses, who fell in love with him. They all
tried to win his heart by the power of music, and each one sang to him
in a different manner. Hence arose the sixteen thousand different keys
which were said to have existed at one time in India.
The Hindoo musical system of to-day is likewise ascribed largely to
female sources. The scale consists of seven chief tones, which are
represented by as many heavenly sisters. The names of the tones (sa, ri,

ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, corresponding to our do, re, mi, etc.) are merely
abbreviations of the names of the nymphs who preside over them. The
tones of the scale are divided into quarters, and the number of quarters
in the diatonic scale intervals is four, three, two, four, four, three, and
two. Thus the number of possible modes is vastly greater than in our
own scale, which has only semitones. There are six chief modes,
represented by six genii, while each one is married to five of the thirty
nymphs who typify the lesser modes. Each one of the genii has eight
sons, and these are wedded to a nymph apiece, making forty-eight in all.
Every member of this prolific musical family presides over something,
if it is only one of the quarter tones that form the scale.
To illustrate the method of naming, the four quarters of the fifth scale
tone (pa, or Panchama) belong to the nymphs Malina, Chapala, Lola,
and Serveretna. The next full tone (dha) is owned by Santa and her
sisters. If the higher tone, dha, should be flatted, giving it the same
pitch as the upper quarter of the lower tone, pa, the Hindoo musician
would not speak of dha as being flat, but would say instead,
"Serveretna has been introduced to the family of Santa and her sisters."
The Hindoo music of to-day is not as potent as in mythical times. The
people themselves acknowledge the decline of their art, and admit that
even in the last century or two it has deteriorated. As for the
miracle-working Ragas, or improvised songs, the people in Bengal will
say that they can probably be heard in Cashmere, while the inhabitants
of Cashmere will send the inquirer back to Bengal. Woman, too, has a
less important position than of old. "When the ancient sages made our
musical system," says an eminent Brahmin in an interview at San
Francisco, "there were many women among them; but now not one can
accomplish anything in the art."
In the traditions of ancient Egypt, music is entirely under the patronage
of male gods. Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, invented the lyre by striking
the tendons of a dead tortoise, which had dried and stretched in the
shell. Osiris, too, the chief of the Egyptian gods, protected the art,
although Strabo says music was not allowed in his temple at Abydos.
While travelling in Ethiopia, the story runs, Osiris met a troupe of

revelling satyrs,