New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-14
WELODIC CROONS
FROM THE ORIENT
Classical and Popular
Songs Given by Rattan
Dew at Princess.
BY ". f.. kREHBIEL.

An English woman clad in the habIll-
ments Of the Far East sat, Oriental fash
ion. upon a pile OF rugs in front OF
dark blue draperes on the stage Of the
Princess Theatre yesterday afternoon
and sang songs in strange tongue
and with strange cadences 20 the IN
changing drone OF strange instrument
Of strings.
On either side Of the singer stood
slender vases holding dark red poin-
settia blossoms. and near them sticks
Of incense burned slowly in their hold
ers and sent their clouds Of perfumed
smoke in the audience room.
The room was filed with an audi
encc Of refined persons, who listened
with close attention TO DR.. Amanda
CoomarasWamys pleasant and lucid
discourse on the nature OF Hindu music
in both its artistic and its popular
forms. and then fell under a sort or
spell. while his wife, who IS profession.
ally called Rattan Dew, sang songs or
the kind that he had tSked about, II
Illustrating the art as IL IS practlsed py
the professional guild OF musicians IN
India and as il is sung by the people
in the Vale Of Cashmere.
In his exposition of Hindu music
DR.. Coomaraswamy had admonished
the audience not TO listen to the
classic songs for amusement. but 70
hear them for what they are considered
10 be in India magic songs, part OF
the investiturc OF divinity; and tne
attitude Of the audience indicated
disposition 20 yield to their influence
TO iiberate feeling and Imagination and
lock up thought.
Those who permitted themselves TO
indulge in the luxury OF critical
ANALYSIS. however, found quite as mucn
to admire in the art OF the singer as
20 marvel at IN the nature OF her
grooming song.
Excellent Interpretation.
From what can be learned from
hooks and the conversation of travel
lers Il is not al all unlikely that the
musical beauty Of the songs had
finer Interpretation from Rattan Dew
than IL would have had from the lips
of the singers whose method she has
studied. These singers are men, not
women. and the aim OF their perform
ances is TO convey what they conceive
20 be the ethos OF the music which
in its essentials. has come down 10
them through the ages, rather than 10
charm the senses. Beauty OF tone IS
secondary and almost negligible
matter with them.
Rattan Dew, on the contrary, is a
European woman with beautiful meL-
accountable voice. which has had ad-
mirable training OF the European kind
She has brought the arts Of phrasing
and nuance 10 something closely APP
rroaching perfection. and by the use
which she makes Of these gifts and
rraces she is able 70 invest the weird
est phrases ms well as the most com
nonnlace with a singular charm. The
majority Of the songs which she sang
were little more than croons, IN when
the voice glided from tone 20 tone IN
o,Beenudo Of the kind which may ne
heard in the singing Of uncivillZed peo-
RES the world over. but which IN her
singing appears as a rare refinement
Suci. also IS the singular departure
from pitch as established by the h1ed
tones OF the different scales, or IN
t.rvallic groups which DR.. Coomaras-
wanv called RAGS and roQlnts. she dis
closed fre technical skill, too. IN the
employment Of ford passages when
arc an important element IN classical
Hindu song. Inc fNahifi'' fNF'
aud yrCiris which she gave all sound
cd like improvisations. and the lecturer
cvnlaincd that this was a character
stir of classical song. the rrQ being
little more than q pattern. with certain
significant intervals within which the
niger exercises his creative skill.
Folksongs Recalled.
The Kashmiri folksongs, on the other
hand besides moving within the sys-
tens which have a natural and familiar
.ound TO Occidental ears. resemble
European folksongs in their forms;
especially in periodic 5ymmetry and
the pairing Of periods. That some OF
them approach closely 20 the folksongs
of Western peoples was foreioiy
brought 10 notice by the third o. he
Kashmiri songs. which nad marked
Vilesian tang that one might easily
have fancied II 20 he one 81 the tunes
,ootled on the beer bottle by krisnna-
Mulvaney.
DR.. Coomaraswamy and his gifted
wife have brought us something new,
something in which an exotic beauty
NAV be apprehended, although one need
not affect 10 believe that i IS com
parable in any sense with the Occi-
dental art. II Is at least rcstful 20 let
sense and feeling float INCREASINGLY
on III. faint drone ~ Rattan Dew
tambours and the exhalations Of her