পাতা:রবীন্দ্র-রচনাবলী (ষোড়শ খণ্ড) - সুলভ বিশ্বভারতী.pdf/৭২২

Գ Տ Հ রবীন্দ্ৰ-রচনাবলী l heard European music being played on the piano ; much of it 1 found attractive, but I could not enter fully into the spirit of the thing. Do the different countries of Europe have peculiar features of their own in their music For example, has Italian music any special characteristics ls the general spirit different from that of German music ROLLAND: Very different indeed. A good deal of modern European music had originally come from Italy but became completely changed in its development. In the south the music has more beauty, but as you go to the north it becomes more and more complex. In the old Italian music of the 16th century you find delicate lines and shades, and the beauty of melody is prominent : in the north there is more emotion. among modern composers Puccini has great gifts but lacks in taste, and I think modern Italian music is rather spoiled and extravagant. In old Italy the composer and poet were both seeking for purity. after sone more discussion about music TAGORE: I want to ask you a question. The purpose of art is not to give expression to emotion but to use it for the creation of significant form. Literature is not the direct expression of any cmotion. Emotion only supplies the occasion which makes it possible to bring forth the creative act. A Grecian urn is not the representation of any particular emotion which is at all important : but it gives form to some definite urge of the artist's mind. In European music I find, however, that an attempt is sometimes made to give expression to particular emotions. Is this desirable Should not music also use emotion as material only, and not as an end in itself"? ROLLAND : A great musician must always use emotion as substance out of which beautiful forms are created. But in Europe musicians have had such an abundance of good material that they tended to overemphasise the emotional aspects. A great musician must have poise, for without it his work perishes. TAGORE: Take the opera ll Traviata. Is it not too definite Does it not try to describe everything in too definite terms ? ROLLAND: Yes, it is a defect of our music, especially since the beginning of the 9th century, after the romantic work of Beethoven was written and particularly after Wagner. TAGORE : In India we have the other extreme. The singer often takes to() much liberty with the music. In pictures and in literature the outward forin is fixed, but music requires for its interpretation the human voice; even in instrumental music you have the human hand which is very flexible. The singer must therefore be a true artist and not merely an artisan. In India the composer has to depend a great deal on the singer to make the music complete by his