Thursday 28 March 2024

Whole Tone Scale in Western, Hindustani & Carnatic Music

This scale uses only whole tones & no semitones. All tones are the same distance apart & as there is no leading tone, it creates a blurred, indistinct effect. Though it was used as early as by Bach to end his Cantata BWV 60, it was also used by Mozart in his "Musical Joke." Though the Russian Composers used it extensively, it was mainly associated with the Impressionist music of Debussy, his "Voiles" being almost within the whole tone scale.

In Hindustani music, it is called Raga Sahera & used in a Ghazal by Mehdi Hasan & played on the Sarangi by Sultan Khan. "Raga Junglism" points out that this raga is "Self Murchana" (rotationally symmetric) & palindromic (same intervals forwards & backwards.)

In Carnatic Music, it is called Raga Gopriya, a janya of Melakarta Rishabhapriya, with the Panchama being dropped. Also  Rishabhapriya itself is the Pratimadhyama variant of the popular Charukeshi. Vidwans Suryaprakash Ramachandran, Ramanathan Muthuganapati & Madurai N.Sivaganesh have performed compositions in Gopriya.

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