Buddhist Music :Music in Indian Buddhism to about AD 700

In understanding of Buddhist music in the various current traditions depends on a knowledge of Buddhist life in Indian history.

Earliest Buddhism apparently had little to do with music. The Buddha is said to have rejected ritual as one of the 'Ten Fetters' and Theravada tradition has classed musicians, along with painters, perfumers and cooks, as purveyors of sensual luxuries. These attitudes arose, it seems, not from any objections to music itself, but rather for a reason resembling that which prompted the prohibition of music in early Islam: the association of many forms of music-making with sensual pursuits.

Yet, just as Buddhism itself drew on the rich Vedic and post-Vedic traditions, so its early chant probably drew on Vedic chant. In effect sabda-vidya, the Sanskrit term for the sciene of exact pronunciation (one of the Brahmins' five major courses of study), among Buddhist came to mean the 'doctrine of the voice', it is the origin of the later Chinese sheng-ming and Japanese shomyo, terms for chants to the Buddha. Some existing Buddhist chant shows certain affinities with surviving Vedic chant, but there are also important differences; the subject awaits careful study.

In the middle phase (3rd century BC to 7th century AI) music was referred to in the scriptures and, following the content of those references, artists depicted musical scenes in relief on the Buddhist shrines (stupa) and temples. Such sources indicate the growth of a music more ideological suited to Buddhism, to which many ethnic influences-ancient Near Eastern, Persian, Greek and Central. Asian probably contributed.

As early as the Sunga period (185-80 BC) reliefs were made showing celestiai dances accompanted by drums and arched harps of a type with distant origins in the high civilisations of the Near East. At the great Buddhist shrine at Sand pilgrims, including the Emperor Asoka, are shown paying homage at the bodhi tree, accompanied by an orchestra of drums, conch trumpet and transverse flute.

The important instruments used in Buddhist contexts during the greater part of this millennium of expansion were the ghanta (handbell), damaru (rattle-drum), various other types of drum, sankha (conch trumpet) and vina(arched harp). Most of these, as well as the lute (also vina), are depicted in the hands of deities. The cymbals (tala), although apparently added later, also became very important in the Buddhist world.

Liturgical Chant

Life in the Buddhist monasteries centres on a succession of services in which choral chanting is an important element.
The purpose of the chant is said to be 'to read the text'. Such reading is itself an act of meditation, and Zen Buddhists actually equate sutra chanting with zazen (meditation).

The chant texts are taken chiefly from the canonical books, the language differs between areas. The scriptures in all Theravada Buddhist countries are in Pali. The language of the Mahayana scriptures was originally Sanskrit, and someSanskrit elements are found in most regions, but it is characteristic of this tradition that in each country the texts havebeen translated into the vernacular. Some regions also employ some untranslated forms: thus in Japan the Buddhist languages include Japanese, Chinese in Japanese pronunciation and Sanskrit. In Vietnam the language of the liturgy is Sino-Vietnamese, a learned monosyllabic language descended from classical Chinese but pronounced in the Vietnames way. In the Sino-Vietnamese and Chinese the tonal basis has influenced the contours of the melodies to which the textsare recited.

Buddhist services are essentially readings of doctrine. Their chant texts include words attributed to the Buddha himself, commentaries, statements of vows and of faith, dedications, mantras (recitation formulas) and hymns of praise. The texts are set in a wide range of styles, all ritually prescribed. There are two major approaches throughout Buddhist territory: those associated respectively with the sutra ('thread' of discourse), i.e. a discourse or aphorism of book of the same name, and the gatha, a stanza or sequence of stanzas (hymn). The style of a sutra (Pali sutta) is recitative which, being heightened speech, comes nearest to the meaning of "reading the text". The style of the gatha or hymns, a rendering of poetry, is usually more elaborate than that of the prose sutra and corresponds to what is normally understood to be chant in the Western sense.

While Buddhist chant is sometimes described as the "plaint chant of Asia" and shares some characteristics with Christian chant, it also has distinctive individual features. It is subject to metrical considerations in that, it follows fairly closely the long and short vowels of the text in the note values set to them. The rhythmic schemes are also greatly varied: whereas in Japan and Vietnam they are essentially binary, Korean and Tibetan Buddhists add triple elements, while additive schemes are found in China and in materials of Indian origin. The voice quality is often natural, although restricted production is a Buddhist characteristic. In some regions, the voice is variously disguised-by nasalizaion (as in Cambodia), by falsetto (as in the Vietnamese Buddhist chant tan) or by forcing it to a very deep register (as in the Tibetan chant dbyangs).

Instruments and the Liturgy Buddhist chanting is largely but not entirely unaccompanied. Instruments are variously used for punctuation, time-beating and more elaborate rhythmical accompaniments, and as signals in the monastic routine and in the services themselves. Purely instrumental music is rare, but is found in Tibetan Buddhism.

Traditions vary greatly in the number and types of instruments employed. The instrumental inventory is generally simple in Theravada and complex (like the rituals) in Mahayana. Buddhist musicians in all Mahayana countries use drums, bells, cymbals and gongs, with other percussion instruments according to region. The temple monks virtually confine themselves to these two types, with the notable exception of the Tibetans, whose ensembles at their fullest are the most complex in the Buddhist world. To drums, bells, cymbals and at times also gongs and discs (or both) they sometimes add as many as four pairs of aerophones.

Non-Liturgical Music

While liturgical music most central to Buddhism, and which can most justly be called 'Buddhist music', several other forms appear in Buddhist contexts, or owe something of their character to Buddhist influence.

Festival music: There are numerous Buddhist festivals, associated with important days in the Buddha's life, the birthdays
of saints, significant phases of calendar and the seasons. They are outdoor occasions held around the temples and shrines, involving the whole community, and they include dances, dramas, pageants and huge processions. Their musical requirements are accordingly complex and, while they often have features in common with monastic music, they also frequently accommodate elements from older faiths and from folk, military and aristocratic secular music.

Popular genres: Certain other types of Buddhist music differ greatly from that of the monasteries, for example vernacular songs composed by travelling clergy who find music a useful aid to conversion. Some Tibetan saints, including Milarepa (1052-1135), reputedly used folksongs for teaching purposes, and from the 13th century the Japanese komuso played the bamboo flute (shakuhachi) to spread the doctrine at street corners. Monks still compose songs for the laity to sing on important occasions or communally at any time (e.g. motalistic songs). Like Christian pilgrims in the past, Buddhist pilgrims have their own songs.

Music inspired by Buddhism: There is also much secular music either derived from Buddhist sources in varying degrees (just as Western art music owes much to plainchant) or simply inspired by a Buddhist atmosphere. Outstanding examples are found in the fields of drama and instrumental music. The Tibetan morality plays (a-che Iha_mo), conveying Buddhist ideas to the laity in the form of tales they can enjoy, are secular performances with secular music and include popular elements. Some important Japanese drama forms, although not designed to teach Buddhism, owe much to its inspiration: the noh plays (14th century), which tend towards mysticism, drew originally on Shinto and Buddhist dances, while secular kabuki (late 16th century) is believe to have evolved from a Buddhist exorcist dance (nembutsu odori). Whereas the musical arts of dancing, singing and playing instruments have sometimes.been forbidden to clergy, as in Sri Lanka during much of its history, these same clergy have occasionally been important sponsors of secular music. In Cambodia during much of the 20th century, for instance, the monasteries were training centers for classical musicians.

Aristocrats have adapted much music which originated in Buddhist circles for court use. The best-known example is the Japanese court music gagaku, whose materials originated in many Buddhist countries to the west, as did some music of
the Korean court.

Extracted from The New Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians