Indian Music in the Choral Classroom

Abstract

The choral world is in the midst of a process of reckoning with, and attempting to integrate, world musics beyond the Euro-American “canon.” As part of this unfolding process, a good amount of choral music purporting to be Indian or Indian-influenced has appeared in the choral repertoire in recent decades. This document brings together relevant information for the use of the choral conductor on Indian musical aesthetics, currently-existing Indian-influenced choral repertoire, and best practices for teaching Indian-influenced music in a stylistically appropriate manner. This study also considers many critical differences between the bedrock aesthetics of Western music and Indian music that make translation and adaptation difficult. Western musicians can also benefit from implementing some of the teaching and learning techniques that are standard in Indian music settings, regardless of the repertoire under study. Therefore, this study also makes suggestions for the use of Indian pedagogical techniques in the choral classroom.