This was a panel for the Society for Music Analysis study group, SMA Formal Theory Study Group, called ‘Formal Theory in Ethnomusicology’. I presented alongside Michael Ellison (University of Bristol), Iryna Klymenko (National Ukrainian Academy of Music), and Rytis Ambrazevičius (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre). The panel considered the relevance of formal theory in musical repertoires outside of the limiting field of Western Art Music. Examining intersections between formal approaches for analysing Western art music and global musical traditions, the panel presented four case studies from Turkey, Ukraine, Lithuania, and India.
My contribution:
Ragas are often perceived from the outside, especially in Digital Audio Workstations, as merely different combinations of melodic steps. For this presentation I explained the ways in which melodic movement and momentum are as crucial to realising a raga as the more immediately recognisable stars (melodic steps). I demonstrated the differences between Ragas Purbi, Puriya Dhanashri, Basant and Paraj, all of which feature the swaras: SA re GA MA PA dha NI ‘SA.
Dr Pete Yelding 