The body as musical archive: Sustaining the embodied knowledge of the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana through translations between sarod, sitar and cello (PhD Thesis) - multi-media content

This collection contains media files comprising the practice-based components of the thesis, The body as musical archive: Sustaining the embodied knowledge of the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana through translations between sarod, sitar and cello, by doctoral candidate Peter Yelding. All works, unless otherwise stated, were created by Peter Yelding. The thesis is linked in the reference field below.AbstractThe Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana is a lineage of musicians who made important contributions to the instrumental form within the tradition of Hindustani music. Sarod player, Ustad Irfan Muhammad Khan is the last remaining hereditary musician of this lineage. This research contributes to sustaining the embodied musical knowledge of the gharana and challenges dominant narratives that have contributed to its marginalisation. The knowledge of the gharana is presented, as it is encountered and refined in the body, through addressing the question of what is retained and what changes as it is translated between the modes of sarod, sitar and cello playing. Instead of centring recordings, a body-centred approach to practice-led music research and archiving musical knowledge is presented. By challenging sound-centric definitions of music, a model is devised, which divides embodied musical knowledge into seven categories: sounding, kinetic, mechanical, temporal, social, spatial and linguistic. Learning the repertoire and performance style of the gharana on sitar and then translating it to the cello is the key process within the method, learning to inhabit. This process led to a new way of playing cello that draws from both sitar and sarod technique. Characteristics specific to the performance style and repertoire of the gharana are revealed, corroborating its importance to deeper understanding of the wider tradition of Hindustani music. The findings of this research reveal the benefits of drawing on somatic perspectives in music research. Exploring the entanglement between the historic threads of the tradition and the practice and positionality of the researcher have led to deeper insight and more refined practice. This research offers an alternative framework for music studies that is less sound-centric and reflects a wayfaring, rather than a culture-bound, view of the world.This PhD was funded by the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership.This collection contains:VideosVideo 4.2 paltasVideo 4.6.1 sitar right-hand strokesVideo 4.7.1 jawari descriptionVideo 4.7.2 meends in the opening of the Chhayanat alāpVideo 4.7.3 opening alāp movement of Miyan Ki MalharVideo 4.7.4 opening alāp movement of Gaud SarangVideo 4.7.5 meends from Raga Jaunpuri alāp 1Video 4.7.6 meend from alāp of Raga KafiVideo 4.7.7 meends from Raga Jaunpuri alāp 2Video 4.7.8 Miyan Ki Malhar alāp phrase with kampan and andolanVideo 4.7.9 phrase from Bilaskhani Todi alāp showing krintansVideo 4.7.10 slight expressive oscillationsVideo 5.1.1 Purbi opening phraseVideo 5.1.2 Basant opening phraseVideo 5.1.3 Paraj opening phraseVideo 5.1.4 Puriya Dhanashri opening phraseVideo 5.1.5 Purbi ma movementsVideo 5.1.6 Basant ma movementsVideo 5.1.7 Paraj ma movementsVideo 5.1.8 Purbi and Puriya Dhanashri descentVideo 5.1.9 Pulling from GaVideo 5.1.10 Raga Bhairav swāras and descending movementVideo 5.2.1 Rageshri alāp on sitar, video courtesy of Zero ClassikalVideo 5.2.2 Ahir Bhairav alāp on celloVideo 5.2.3 mohraVideo 5.2.4 gamaksVideo 5.2.5 sitar jhalla strokes that conclude the alāp — Raga MultaniVideo 5.2.6 double strokes and hammered on swāras on cello — Raga BarwaVideo 5.3.1 Raga Basant asthai and antarāVideo 5.3.2 Raga Bihag asthaiVideo 5.3.3 Lucknow Jhinjhoti drut gatVideo 5.3.4 Lucknow drut gat in Raga GaraVideo 5.3.5 Lucknow drut gat in Raga KafiVideo 5.3.6 Lucknow drut gat in Raga Zila KafiVideo 5.3.7 Lucknow drut gat in Raga PiluVideo 5.3.8 Lucknow drut gat in Raga BhairaviVideo 5.3.9 Shahjahanpur drut gat in Puriya DhanashriVideo 5.3.10 Shahjahanpur drut gat in Raga ParajVideo 5.3.11 Shahjahanpur drut gat in Raga Bilaskhani TodiVideo 5.3.12 Kalpi drut gat in Raga Ahir BhairavVideo 5.3.13 Kalpi drut gat in Raga SuhaVideo 5.3.14 Kalpi drut gat in Raga Gaud SarangVideo 5.4.1 set todas in Raga KedarVideo 5.4.2 ṆSGG RSṆS toda patternVideo 5.4.3 sapāt tānsVideo 5.4.4 Diminishing rhythmic pattern toda on celloVideo 5.4.5 Gara todasVideo 5.4.6 Pilu todasVideo 5.4.7 concluding jhalla strokesThe above content can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this record.The thesis text is available via Bath Spa University's research repository, ResearchSPAce via the 'Thesis text in ResearchSPAce' link at the top of this page.