________________
SKETCHES
83
the Western music they have the method of notation i.e. writing down their music. At that time, there was no such method of notation in India. According to Rolland, this method has both advantages and disadvantages. A piece of music gets stabilised and perpetuated because of this method of notation. It also reduces the soaring capacity of that piece and one can get very little by thus stereotyping a piece of music.
But, writing music down is not thoroughly inadvisable because the Western superstructure in the realm of music, erected on the basis of harmony, would not have been possible without some system of notation. Secondly, the process of writing down motivates the composer to create something new. In addition, the popular taste can be refined, Rolland thinks, through the one process of bringing it into contact with what is fine. So, written music shows what is best in the Pantheon of sound and thereby elevates the common man's taste slowly without its being aware of it himself. By the introduction of a notation system, Rolland here worries, Indians will have to travel farther away from their beautiful and glorious tradition of creative improvisation.
Thus, Romain Rolland was very clear about the noble mission of the artist in the realization of high ideals in human life. Egoism, Rolland tells Dilip Roy, cannot be applicable to a true artist because, often, he has to face personal hardships for the sake of art. The artist's creative attempt can prove a daily succour in human sorrow. He cannot be considered becoming insensitive towards the suffering human beings while he pursues art. By observing the effect of paintings, dramas and musical performances on the tired, pale. faces of hardworked people in ordinary galleries, theatres and concerts, he came to the conclusion that:
“A single symphony of Beethoven is certainly worth half-adozen social reforms. Then again, the more down-trodden a community, the greater its spiritual need of art. The more grinding the miseries from without, the more fortifying the
consolation from within."5
Moreover, he had trust in the division of labour and he explained to Roy that one person could not perform all the roles of a sailor, a mason, a carpenter, a humanitarian and so on in his desire to be concretely useful to society. He asserted: “An artist can achieve best in what he is cut out for." A true artist, Rolland says, almost always has a very difficult path to tread. Rolland derived this truth from his study of the lives of many great artists of the world. like Beethoven, Michael Angelo, Francois Miller, Tolstoy etc.
Rolland learnt from his own experiences that the most important duty of the artist is to be true tirelessly to his inner call and urge. He must be receptive
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
