Vintage Tabla Repertory (review)

Many foreign students and scholars of South Asian classical music confront the dilemma of how to write about the highly personalized experiences of music instruction in this tradition and the sometimes partisan representations of music related by their teachers. Despite its title, Vintage Tabla Repertory is one response to this dilemma. Rather than offer a standard academic analysis, Gert-Matthias Wegner's work effectively pays homage to Wegner's guru, Pandit Nikhil Ghosh. Since Ghosh was an especially distinctive (and underrepresented) tabla master of the mid-twentieth century, this is an extremely valuable report on the musical thoughts, practices, and compositions of an important musical voice. As Wegner asserts, however, "this is a book for tabla players" (p. xi); he should have written more specifically: "tabla players only." This orientation is reflected in the volume's content and nature.

A brief section (approximately 11 percent of the volume) recapitulates discussions of tabla gharanas (with special attention given to Munir Khan's Laliyana gharana), and subsequently concentrates on Ghosh's lineage and heritage (in the chapters, "Nikhil Ghosh and His Teachers," "Nikhil Ghosh during Talim," and "Nikhil Ghosh's Childhood Stories"). It then defines the forms of the tabla repertoire, devoting a short section to each composition style and practice. The remaining majority of the volume lays out the tabla repertoire as defined and taught to Wegner by Nikhil Ghosh.

One of the keys to an understanding of this volume's perspective is Wegner's assertion that Ghosh, through his training with various gurus, "became the heir of a repertoire unique in content and quality" (p. 8), "having mastered the traditional styles of Delhi, Ajrada, Farukhabad, Lucknow, and Punjab" (p. 14). In addition, the jacket notes argue that the compositions of the Laliyana gharana appear for the first time in the volume. The transcriptions thus offer the trained reader a single master's understanding of most of the prominent styles of tabla performed today, as well as some of the more obscure styles.

Following sections that list tals, thekas, laharas, and theka variations (including a surprising set of instructions on re-tuning while playing)—as well as separate sections on sangat, and mukhdas/mohras—over 250 compositions are listed in tintal. Representative compositions in other tals are also presented. These are identified by gharana of origin and compositional form. Although the volume explains these terms briefly, complete comprehension requires that the reader possess an experiential understanding of their meaning.

The repertory is set out in the idiosyncratic, but quite effective, notational system devised by Ghosh and modified (with Ghosh's approval) by the author. Although Wegner explains the system at length, he offers no explanation of the drum-words (bols) in which the compositions are written. The book is, in effect, the complete collection of the author's lesson notes. While I, and my tabla-playing colleagues, must be grateful for this fascinating collection that crosses many stylistic boundaries and offers familiar and unfamiliar compositions, it is a pity that only tabla players will be able to read and fully appreciate what is so clearly a work of love.