Introductory Remarks to Tibetan Traditional Writings on Music Theory (11th-19th centuries)
https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-25-3-29-39
Abstract
The paper provides a general overview of the main features and characteristics of Tibetan theoretical works on music written in the 11th-19th centuries. It is generally recognized that a written document of any kind is in many respects a product of the culture and epoch of its creation. To understand a document more correctly a researcher should first learn the respective cultural background. Given below is a concise account of the cultural circumstances in which Tibetan traditional works on music theory appeared as well as some preliminary remarks on the contents and peculiarities of the Tibetan theoretical writings on music already known to contemporary researchers. In fact, works on music theory written by learned Tibetan lamas were not in the focus of traditional Buddhist education. Those were often included in voluminous encyclopedias - without being properly studied. Despite this obvious neglect of musical aspects by the Tibetan Buddhist community, the texts represented in the paper contain a lot of valuable information about Tibetan music theory and practice, Tibetan philosophy of music and music education. On studying these traditional Tibetan works on music theory, researchers would be able to draw a realistic historical timeline telling about the development of Tibetan music culture and, eventually, to introduce this local historical narration into the framework of the global history of music. It should be noticed that at present the articles by Russian researchers that deal with Tibetan music are quite few. A hope is expressed that the paper will help attract the attention of scholars engaged in different fields of research to the problem of investigating Tibetan music theory and traditional theoretical works.
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Review
For citations:
Butsyk P.I. Introductory Remarks to Tibetan Traditional Writings on Music Theory (11th-19th centuries). Oriental Studies. 2016;9(3):29-39. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-25-3-29-39
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