In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Hinduism and Musicology of Religion

  • Introduction

Hinduism Hinduism and Musicology of Religion
by
Guy Beck
  • LAST MODIFIED: 07 January 2025
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0301

Introduction

This bibliographic essay engages the theories and methods of musicology of religion as they relate to Hinduism. Applied broadly, musicology of religion focuses on the subject area of religion and music in a comparative context across cultures and time periods. The immense historical record of data collected on the relation of music and religion, along with the rising discussions of the role of music in various religious traditions, points to the growing need to identify religion and music as a singular unit of study and research. The principal object of study for the musicology of religion is thus the visible or invisible connections between religion and music in the broadest sense, with the methods necessarily geared toward finding cross-cultural patterns and insights about religion that may be concealed or less obvious. Musicology of religion is designed to rise above the empirical and culture-specific methods and findings of the social sciences and ethnomusicology to incorporate philosophical, phenomenological, theological, and cognitive dimensions. Research in the history of religions, musicology, aesthetics, and cognitive studies has identified human nature as homo religiosus (“religious human”) and homo musicus (“musical human”), that is, predisposed to act religiously and to make music. These two natures are linked together in two ways, one externally as homo ritualis (“ritual human”), covering the tendency to act ritually or liturgically, and the other internally as homo aestheticus (“aesthetic human”), the ability to experience beauty and the arts. The latter terms exemplify the application of musicology of religion to the study of Hinduism and music, for Hindu practitioners exhibit one of the most enduring senses of the primacy of religious ritual and its association with the arts and music. The approach of musicology of religion widens the scope for the study of music in Hinduism so that the educated world can benefit from placing the Hindu musical experience in conversation with religious studies, theology, phenomenology, cognitive studies, and aesthetics. It thus aims to bring Indian or Hindu music into further dialogue with many of the developing fields of discourse in the humanities and social sciences, stimulating new directions in research and teaching. Acknowledging the established field of Indian music studies, this article complements the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism article “Hinduism and Music” and the Oxford Bibliographies in Music article “Music in India.” Somewhat different from these entries, however, this article, rather than compiling descriptive sources for the study of music in Hinduism and India, draws together a variety of theories and methods from other disciplines that will hopefully provide more fertile ground for comparative studies on the role of music in Hinduism. Musicology of Religion presents the sources for the approach of musicology of religion, and Hinduism and Music identifies new sources for the study of specific Hindu traditions of music as well as important works in Indian aesthetics.

Musicology of Religion

The subject title of “Musicology of Religion” arises out of the necessity to provide a workable set of theories, methods, and directions for the rapidly developing combined area of religion and music. One of the prerogatives is to advance a “meta-conversation” involving religion and music that rises above specific geographic areas and historical time periods. Separately, one may study and discuss Jewish cantillation, Navaho ritual music, Gregorian chant, Hindu bhajans, and so on, but what is needed is a more structured theoretical approach to the seemingly universal and abiding connections between music and religion throughout the human condition without ignoring the important differences. The general themes of musicology of religion are outlined and discussed in Beck 2023a. An additional set of relevant papers have been collected in a special issue of the journal Religions in Beck 2023b.

  • Beck, Guy L. Musicology of Religion: Theories, Methods, and Directions. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2023a.

    DOI: 10.1515/9781438493091

    Introduces the field of musicology of religion, the combined study of religion and music. After an introduction that contains the arguments for its inception, the book follows with chapters outlining the status of music in religious studies, social sciences, philosophy, theology, liturgical studies, and cognitive studies, with a broadened view in support of comparative study across all disciplines. Closing with a discussion of homo religiosus and homo musicus, the book includes a terminology lexicon and an extensive bibliography.

  • Beck, Guy, ed. Special Issue: Musicology of Religion: Selected Papers on Religion and Music. Religions 14.15 (2023b).

    Features contributions on music or musical thought in all forms of religion, whether across cultures or in one culture. The methods of approach include phenomenology, history of religions, philosophy, aesthetics, theology, liturgical studies, ethnomusicology, and cognitive studies. Includes essays on Catholicism (Sean Williams), Sikhism (Pashaura Singh), and music therapy (Joscelyn Godwin).

  • Beck, Guy L. “Shared Religious Soundscapes: Indian Rāga Music in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Devotion in South Asia.” Religions 14.11 (2023c): 1406;

    DOI: 10.3390/rel14111406

    Music in India has been associated with the divine and Hindu devotional worship expressed in rāgas or special melodic formulas. Nearly all Indic genres of music, whether classical or devotional, share a similar understanding, including Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. What is less documented is how rāga music has been adopted by non-Indic religious communities in South Asia: Judaism (Bene Israel), Christianity (Catholic), and Islam (Chishti Sufi). This essay identifies the presence of rāga (Bhairava) in songs praising the divinity of each tradition: Adonai, Jesus, and Allah. These examples (with audio links) reveal “shared religious soundscapes.”

  • Heimarck, Brita R. “Srī Gurugītā: A Sanskrit Devotional Text and Musical Yogic Practice.” Religions 15.8 (2024): 894.

    DOI: 10.3390/rel15080894

    The Guru Gita, “Song to the Guru,” is a Sanskrit hymn of 182 verses from medieval India that teaches the worship of God as Guru. This essay, drawing upon sacred scriptures, interviews, and research in ethnomusicology, traces the history of this text as a powerful sonic form of religious devotion utilized by a variety of Indic traditions, culminating in its musical performance among Yoga communities in America and around the world.

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