he intonation of our music has changed considerably. This change can be attributed to a new sensibility. It could also be on account of the rapid developments in sound recording and reproduction technology.

Criticism produced under colonialist rule tended to create an impression that all artistic practice in the subcontinent was static and thus subject to a degree of decay. This was the broad assessment regarding everything, including painting, poetry and music. It was alleged that the link between the objective reality and its representation in arts was weak and lacked dynamism. The idea of stylisation, which characterised various forms of artistic norms, was not appreciated. The condemnation was insensitive and rarely justified.

The most substantial changes in the subcontinental arts were the result of the interaction that took place with Iranian and Central Asian cultures a thousand years. It changed much of the artistic face of the region. New sensibilities came into play and many worthwhile experiments were undertaken.

Later, during the colonial rule and under the pressure of nationalistic identities, researches led to more pristine forms in the past that were more or less imagined. The harking back to a glorified past consolidated the view that things have not moved in the Indian subcontinent.

The construction of sensibilities based on an enduring culture was backward looking. It created an impression that the older work was more pristine, purer and more authentic. Ancient thus came to be seen as equivalent to pristine and original. This construction was not limited to the arts; it also informed the entire rationale for independence from colonial rule.

There was thus a cleavage between the scholarship of music that emerged and the growing body of music that was evolving. The two were not necessarily on the same track. Thus the cleavage grew and was not a subject of scrutiny for many scholars of music and culture.

The essence of subcontinental music lay in intonation, the way a sur (note) was applied more than anything else. The shruti had a critical role in the debate. But the evolving structure of the tampered scale made no allowance for it and thus had to be evoked in practice and laid out as a quantifiable entity.

The canons for musical valuation keep changing but it is better for the focus to stay on the musical sound and its production rather the cause that it promotes.

However, the latest changes now sweeping the scene are totally different. These are not dictated by a desire for nation building and a solid cultural base to stand on. Instead these are meant to satisfy technological needs. The debate has now spiralled beyond nationalism and is more bout arts and technology.

Are we moving towards a chaotic internationalisation of the musical sound through the impetus that are of the technological developments? This could indeed be the case. Therefore, it is not the musical sound that is being narrowed down and looked into but the content of the song or the composition. It appears that the focus has shifted to the lyrics and the immediacy of the problems these address. Music, like other contemporary arts, is becoming more topical. It draws its legitimacy from the cause it advances.

The musical standards or the norm by which music is judged in international juries too are tilting towards the new aesthetics. One can see that particularity of culture in sound is no longer given due consideration. The desired universality is about patronising another culture or the immediacy of a cause.

The canons for musical valuation keep changing but it is better for the focus to stay on the musical sound and its production rather the cause that it promotes. The latter often falls in the category of propaganda. In the age of post-truth and deep fakes the difference between the two is disappearing very fast. What the truth was once was known to be is not considered worth an investigation. The mediated levels are now so prominent that they become the building blocks that form the substance and are difficult to differentiate from the form. The two are too linked and do not make a difference to those that receive the new music.

The author is a culture critic based in Lahore