a voice-producer. He is not singing from some set piece, but extemporizing according to some definite rule, which almost unconsciously models the form of his song.' This accounts for the frequent occurrence even in the best songs of difficult sol-fa passages which have no musical beauty whatever. A short time ago while talking with an Indian musical friend about a certain singer, I said, 'He has not got a very good voice.' 'Oh,' said my friend, 'That is nothing. The great thing is for him to sing correctly and skilfully. The tone does not matter at all.' In a note in the Adyar Bulletin, Madras, somewhat recently, Mr. Tagore, in discussing the singing of an Indian lady, who had received training in Europe, said that in India any finesse in singing is regarded with contempt, no trouble being taken to make either voice or manner attractive. He goes on :
'They are not ashamed if their gestures are violent, their top notes cracked, and their bass notes unnatural. They take it to be their sole function to display their perfect mastery over all the intricacies of times and tunes, forms and formalities of the classic traditions.'
A commentator adds, 'In Europe we listen for the tone, the sweetness of the voice, of the instrument. In India they listen only for the tune — the melody and the rhythm.' It must, however, be added that to-day many Indian music-lovers are coming to realize the importance of tone, and are placing very much greater emphasis upon it.
One thing which often depresses the western listener is the harsh nasal tone of the Indian singer. It is interesting to find that, while many Indians are trying to get away from it, the nasal tone still has its defenders. Mrs. Mann says that it is a degraded form of a very fine tradition, to the effect that the yogi could obtain the power to go on singing without breathing, and it is the desire to attain to this power which is responsible for the cultivation of the habit of singing at the back of the nose.
Sir Rabindranath Tagore goes down to the fundamental causes of the difiference between the music of East and West:
'At first, I must admit your Western music jarred upon me. I heard Madame Albani sing a song in which there was an imitation of
