Ethno-Musicology in Nepal

Prem Bahadur Gurung Bmus. First Semester, First year Kathmandu University, Music Department Bhaktapur. (03/12/2011)

Introduction
Nepal has its most of the cultural values in its original contexts. Last time, I was in a workshop by Irish ethnomusicologist Mr. Simon ODwyer and Maria ODwyer . They were researching on the prehistoric music of Ireland. Particularly, they were here in Nepal to research more about the horn and its music because most of the instruments were similar to the Nepali instruments such as turahi, narsingha, karnal etc. Surprisingly, Mr. Simon said that he was very curious to be here in Nepal and study to Nepali music. Because, most of the European countries has lost their pre-historic culture and there is no one to play those kind of music and instrument because of modernization. But, Nepal has its values and norms in its original context though they may have changed during the time period. But still Nepali people have practices these traditional music and they are functioning in their daily life and making them alive, in the words of, Dr. Carol Tingey heart beat of Nepal.

Beginning of ethnomusicology in Nepal

The history of ethno musicological research in Nepal begun from the arrival of Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold A. Bake in 1931 and again in 1955/56. Before political revolution in Nepal (1951), Nepal was in isolation of Rana rulers. No foreigners were allowed to enter in Nepal. At that time, Arnold was successfully able to record and film various Nepali musical traditions with the help of Rana rulers. He produced a short documentary on carya dance of Newar community, an ethnic group of Kathmandu valley. Before that it was restricted to others by the Bajracharya priests. Arnold Bake has great contribution toward the ethno musicological research and importance not only Nepal through the whole south Asia. He taught about the Nepali Music at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. The collection archive on Nepalese Music by Arnold still preserved safely in School of Oriental and African Studies.

Besides that, first ethno musicological survey was conducted by Terence R. Bech, an American Peace Corps volunteer from 1967-69. Before that, His earlier work in Nepali music recordings from 1964 to 1967 made him to do more research on Nepali music. His great work is astounding collection on Nepali music recordings. From 1970-73, he studied about the ethnographic life history of Nepali musicians. He got the most significant work on ethno musicological research and archive. He studied on Nepalese and Eastern Himalayas border area music traditions. During these researches he collected the 400 reel to reel tapes, 2000 black and white negatives, 1500 color transparencies, 120 musical instruments, 41 life history of ethnographies, 7,500 song texts and 2800 musical transcriptions. Later, in 1978 the whole entire collection had been compiled by Anne Helen Ross and published by the Archives of Traditional Music, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, where the Bech collection has been kept in safe place

Ethnomusicologist from 1970s

The German ethnomusicologist Felix Hoerburger came in Nepal and studied the Newar music in the early 1970s. And he published a book an introduction to Nepalese music in 1975. In 1975-76, the Pirkko Moisala came and studied the Gurung music. Again, she revisited in Nepal and went to Lamjung district and collected the data from three Gurung villages. And she published Cultural Cognition in MusicContinuity and Change in the Gurung Music of Nepal in 1991. She introduced the Nepali music to the rest of the world in the World music and Groove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. In 1985, following the ethnomusicologist Arnold Bake, Dr. Carol Tingey wrote on the The Nepalese Field Work of Dr. Arnold Bake: A Guide to the Sound Recordings, followed in 1988 by The Nepalese Field Work of Dr. Arnold Bake: A Preliminary Catalogue of the Visual Material from London. And, she came to Nepal to complete field research on the Pacai baja of Gorkha and brief surveys of other areas in West and East Nepal for her PhD. thesis and a concurrent fellowship with the Nepal Royal Academy in 1990. She was awarded her Ph. D for her thesis Nepalese Panchai Baja Music: An Auspecious Ensemble in a Changing Society. She next researched mangalini, gaine and jugi traditions for her part in a collaborative Leverhulme Trust project comparing selected Nepalese musical traditions and their counterparts in India.

ECS NEPAL published an article in the issue of may 2004 Gert-Matthias Wegner, the man most responsible for rescuing the Nepali sounds from certain oblivion, insists, The musical traditions of Nepal are as diverse as the various ethnic groups of the country. Arguably the most complex musical culture in the Himalaya is that of the Newari people in the Kathmandu Valley, which in the course of the past 2000 years has absorbed mostly Indian influences shaping a unique musical tradition.

Richest musical repertory of Kathmandu valley by Newar people were documented and archived by Dr. Gert Matthias Wegner. He is working in this project from 1982 (his arrival in Nepal). The research was initially focused on the drumming tradition of Newar people of Bhaktapur. In spite of being a conservative society, he was successfully able to learn and record the Newari music. This resulted in several apprenticeships with local musicians, publications, articles, three documentary films, and a large stock of analog audio and DAT recordings. This project discovered the musical transition between Indian music and Nepali traditional music over the history. His research carried out with two British colleagues Carol Tingey and Richard Widdess. Dr. Wegners copies of recordings are kept in Museum fur Vlkerkunde, BerlinDahlem and at the Kathmandu University Department of Music, Bhaktapur, Nepal. His collection is also currently being deposited at the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology of the American Institute of Indian Studies in India.

Nepali ethnomusicologist
Kishor Gurung is the first Nepali ethnomusicologist. He wrote his master thesis on the ethnic Gurung Enclave of "Yangjakot", near the beautiful Pokhara Valley, where he under took field research on Ghantu, a narrative musical observance in which prepubescent girls go into trance. As the founder and president of the Classical Guitar Society of Nepal, he organized the first Ethnomusicology Seminar and International Guitar Festivals in Nepal that were participated by luthiers, scholars and guitarists from Germany, Japan, USA, Finland, and Thailand. He also participated as Ethno musicological presenter at the conference organized by the Society for Ethnomusicology Seminar, 24-27 Oct. 2002, Denver, USA. and Heidelberg University (South Asian Department), Germany, July 1621, 2004. One of his great contribution is he cited Nepali music in Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (Vol. 5:707).

Currently, Lochan Rijal has started with PhD in Ethnomusicology from Kathmandu University and Massachusetts-Amherst. His recent research is in Transmission of Music In Nepal. He also has been working as a Lecturer of Ethnomusicology at K.U. He had also done research on Gandharva musicians and their musical repertory with other students of Kathmandu University, coordinator Surabhi Pudasaini and assistant researchers Manish Chhetri and Suraj Bista. Kathmandu University, Department of Music. A center for ethno musicological research in Nepal. The Department offers BA and MA courses in ethnomusicology as well as and practical music of Northern Indian Classical and Nepalese local traditions are taught. The Kathmnadu University, Department of Music was conceived by German ethno musicologist Dr. Gert Matthias Wegner. This department is also recognized by School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). This department is working creatively to document and preserve the endangered musical traditions of Nepal.

Finally, the increasing numbers of student in this department shows that keen interest emerging towards ethnography. In recent, most of the students are the young musicians from Kathmandu valley and out of valley too. Despite the fact that, it is very much challenging job for ethnography in Nepal. Most of the research has been done with collaboration or within the financial support of people or institute from abroad.