Music Education in Kerala

                                        -- KC. Sankaranarayanan IAS

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  (1) The contribution of Kerala to the Music of India has been considerable, both by way of musicians and composers as well as accompanying artistes in the various musical instruments. The question before us today is whether this contribution would continue in an increasing measure or would decline. The answer for this would depend on two factors. They are (a) the state of education for a professional career in music and allied arts, and (b) the opportunities open for such a career in Kerala and India.

  (2) Dealing with the second question first as it is a definite factor; we could confidently say that opportunities for fairly successful and useful careers in Music and its allied arts have opened up a clear vista. Time was when musicians, composers and other artistes had to depend upon such fickle support as Royal patronage and the wealthy few. Income was intermittent and most biographies of musicians show that they had to put up with a lot of suffering in an effort to make a decent living. The love of their art was the only sustaining force which made these persons continues in their career despite its difficulties. Musical education was also a lengthy, costly, disorganised matter, with the result only very few persons took to it. Today the position has changed drastically. Appreciation of Music and its allied arts is fairly widespread to the extent of threatening to affect the high standards. Patronage by Royalty and wealth has been replaced by the willingness of the general public and the State to pay for Music at fairly reasonable rates and by providing frequent regular programmes for musical performances through the Sangeetha Sabhas and the All India Radio. The replacement of Gurukula system by the Musical training institutions and the general classes in the schools has itself led to the creation of employment opportunities. The development of the Radio and Cinema has also led to the encouragement of several practitioners of music and the allied arts. The introduction of Television in this country, although on a limited scale, is also likely to further these developments. Modern mass media of communications and instruments like the tape recorder, have resulted in a vast increase in the number of persons who know and appreciate Music and for whom concerts and other performances are a vital need for self expression and development. Thus there need be no anxiety so far as opportunities are concerned. There is really no limit to the level of affluence or popularity that a really talented musician could rise to in these days. Though every one may not rise to such heights, the majority could make a comfortable living, the percentage of failures being limited to the normal level that may be expected to persist in any artistic calling.

  (3) The state of present day education for a musical and allied artistic career as a profession, is however a different matter. The Gurukula system, what ever be its merits and defects, is no longer E likely to be in general vogue for practical reasons like convenience, cost and the very limited number that could be trained in that manner. Therefore, specialised institutions like, for example, the Swathi Thirunal Academy of Music, Trivandrum, the Central College of Carnatic Music, Madras and the Morris College of Music, Lucknow, were started all over India to replace the Gurukulams. In an effort to popularise Music as an educational discipline and to create general musical appreciation almost all States in India started music classes in regular schools. While this effort provided an alternative to the Gurukulams and also developed the clientele, it has not been able to provide a really satisfactory professional training of high standards and 1 efficiency, which could stand up to the requirements of the present period of popular patronage, without losing the values and the prestige gained in the past.

  (4) Music education in Kerala is _ attended to by various bodies. Initial training is given in normal schools under the Director of Public Instruction during _music periods which is a regular item in the time table. In a few schools, known as diversified schools, kathakali is taught as a special subject The R. L. V. Fine Arts, School, Tripunithura, teaches kathakali and Bharata Natyam along with other arts. The Kerala Kala Mandalam, an autonomous institution, teaches kathakali, Bharata Natyam, Mohini Aattam and Ottam Thullal along with the appropriate music. The Collegiate Education Department runs the Swathi Tirunal College of Music, conducting two title courses in vocal and instrumental music and  Bharata Natyam. The two Music Academies in Palghat and Tripunnithura, conducting the lower title course in Music, vocal and instrumental, are also under the same Department. The Universities of Kerala and Calicut, have Fine Arts Faculties. They concern themselves with music only. The Women's College, Trivandrum and the Government College, Chittur, have B. A. and M. A. courses, in which Music is the main subject for the degree course, under Part III along with other subsidiary subjects. From the above account, it may be seen that the present arrangements are rather meagre and sketchy. The effort has been too diluted with the result that the students in these courses and the employers of these artistes in various fields are not satisfied with the quality and quantity of the education. The students in the Music Institutions actually went on strike in 1969 with this as a major demand.

  (5) Fine Arts are a field in which it is very difficult to achieve mastery. Geniuses are rarer than in other fields. A greater degree of inborn ability is needed, more than azquired ability. Therefore, in any situation at a given moment, music schools can produce only a few artistes of eminence and a fairly large number of others, who may be guite good in their line, but not likely to achieve fame and top leadership in their profession. This is a basic fact which has to be recognised. The number of artists in a Society, depends upon the economic development achieved by that Society. In a poor country like ours, a proliferation of art educational institutions will not do, nor should we provide unrestricted admission The avenues open to them in a poor economy are likely to be limited. Very few of them would probably achieve fame and affluence even then. In many cases, such artists my seek alternative employment in order to find their livelihood and in- I dulge in their artistic capabilities only as a spare time work or amateur hobby. Such being the realities, we should ensure that education in Music; leading to a professional status is given only after a basic - general education has been completed.

  (6) Taking the circumstance of Kerala such a general education should at least be necessarily of the S. SL. C. standard. Substantial and professional education should be given only at the post S. S. L. C. stage. Fine Arts and Music Institutions should start at the undergraduate level. The faculties of Fine Arts in the Universities should take the full responsibility for laying down the curriculum and syllabus. They should seriously consider the steps to be taken to make musical education really responsive to the needs of the modern society and make our students able to take up professional work of a high standard in the new careers open to them in such a society. The students of the three specialised institutions have been demanding that their institutions should be affiliated to the Universities concerned and their course reorganised scientifically to make it richer in content and better in status. These demands have to be conceded as they are very reasonable, The position in the special institutions is very different from the one prevailing in the Colleges now under the University. The Gana Bhooshanam and Gana Praveena titles have to be replaced by the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, taking 5 years and 7 years after the SSLC respectively

  (7) At present the students in the title courses, get a good grounding in vocal and instrumental music, with some idea of the theory and science of Indian Music. But their course does not give them enough information about European and other musical systems, the practice and theory of notations and musicology adopted in the west and the physics of sound on which music is based An unsatisfactory attempt has been made to teach them some Sanskrit and Telugu. But Kannada and Tamil also contains a vast repertoire of krithis. Today's performances call for multilingual proficiency and rendering of North Indian Music along with Carnatic Music. In my view, the addition of comparative study of the musical systems of the world, orchestration and harmony as well as melodic practices, the physics of sound, acoustics and voice reproduction, recording and amplification, then systematic study of Sanskrit, Telugu, Hindi and other languages etc, would definitely need a five year course leading to a basic degree in Music. Further specialisation can be provided in the 2 year course for a Post Graduate degree in Music.

  (8) A proposal based on the above lines is pending consideration before the Universities of Kerala and Calicut. Following the students' strike in 1969, similar proposals are also pending before the Government of Kerala. It is only necessary for the Universities and the Government to come to an understanding and agreement about these proposals, for their acceptance and implementation. As all these institutions are Government owned and operated, the Universities do not have to meet any financial burden in reorganising them. It is enough if the faculties give their attention to the reform of the curriculum and syllabus. The cost of reorganising according to the stand- ards specified by the University bodies, will not be very much, as very little by way of additional buildings or lands need to be provided. The expenditure for Government would be mainly by way of library facilities, musical instruments and sound equipment to be provided. There is a problem of finding suitable staff for teaching the reorganised and upgraded courses and to safeguard the position of the existing staff, who may be unqualified to teach under the new system. The pay scales for the new and qualified staff may have to be equated with that of the teaching staff in the Government Colleges. This would increase the operating expenses slightly. The existing staff who may not be qualified, will also have to be continued as such and replaced by qualified persons on retirement or other such occasions. This is not a very serious problem. Given the will to carry out these very necessary changes, the means for doing so would be forthcoming rea- dily and the changes can be effected with- in two to three years. Time is the essence of the matter and already more than a year has passed since demands were made. Do we have the reqired will?

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* This article published in souvenir named “Sri Swathi Thirunal Sangita Sabha” in 1970