PAUL
POOVATHINKAL
Chethana
Music College, Thrissur
Paper
Title. “Karnatic Music and Christianity: An
Ethnomusicological Approach”
Abstract
The
history of Christian music in India is extremely complex and diverse due to
various independent ethnic Christian subcultures, which are spread all over the
country. So also, each Christian subculture has evolved and developed in a
unique manner and differently from one another. The cultural dilemma, in
general, of Indian Christians and their musical identity in particular lead the
scholars to dive deep into the relationship between these two traditions and to
find out to what extent the Christian music has been influenced by Karnatic
music in India placing both against the background of inculturation or indigenization
of Christian music.
Ethnomusicological
approach towards Christian music in India has revealed that Christian music in
India, had a strong interaction with the traditional classical music of South
India, i.e., Karnatic music. Protestant
Churches in India had tried to adapt native music tradition into their music
even before Second Vatican Council whereas Syro-Malabar and Latin Churches in
India made serious attempts for inculturation only after the Council.
Present
paper focuses on the ethnomusicological perspective of the Christian music in
India and the multicultural, multireligious interaction of Karnatic music with
respect to its adaptability and universality. It also deals with the structural
and melodic analysis of the compositions of the leading Christian Karnatic
composers of the past and the present, and the analysis of Karnatic musical
forms and musical genres available in the Christian musical subcultures of
South India.
Dr Paul
Poovathingal, a CMI priest, popularly known as singing priest of India, is the
first Christian priest in the world to have a PhD in Karnatic music. He is a
worldwide performer and ambassador of Karnatic music and indigenous Christian
music of India. Being the first Vocologist in India, he is currently the
principal of Chetana Music College, Thrissur, Kerala, India.