A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing sitarist Irshad Khan play at Harbourfront.
Like all Indian classical musicians, Khan has spent his entire life practising and playing his instrument – and it showed. His capacity to produce a sweeping range of emotions, moods and tempos was pretty amazing. Also like many Indian musicians, he would often lose himself in the moment, swaying his head and exclaiming out loud.
And occasionally, between refrains of incredible complexity, many of which he was improvising on the spot, he would lean in towards the microphone and say to some audience member “please, no photos”.
Then, as if there was no break, he would resume his intricate playing.
I have a couple of theories of why this stark difference from Western classical exists. They mostly have to do with the musical performance as an event produced within a pre-existing social space – like how famed bansuri player Hariprasad Chaurasia plays down at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh on summer mornings, while people jog past or do yoga or go for a stroll.
More generally, it just feels like it’s a different way of thinking about intense mental work and ‘distraction’. Is the discussion around attention and focus constrained by a (Western) emphasis on solitude and the kind of focus and interiority it could bring? This was the crux of Sven Birkert’s The Gutenberg Elegies, right?
So, are we ignoring the cross-cultural dimensions of attention, and instead focusing only on the historical?
Bonus: I couldn’t write this and now not post some Hariprasad Chaurasia vids. That would be cruel! He’s my favourite classical Indian musician. The first one is the more traditional raga, long and in-depth; the second is a shorter, more accessible piece.
