Influence of Western Music on Rabindranath Tagore’s Mind
Dr. Srabani Sen, Associate Professor, Department of Music, Tarakeswar Degree College, Tarakeswar, Hooghly, e-mail-srabanisn1@gmail.com Mobile no- 6290242709 Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath – a great poet, philosopher, and Music composer. Tagore’s songs have dual importance as poetry and music. Before Tagore’s time, in 1757, British, German and Italian music entered the Bengali Soundscape. Tagore’s family allowed for his proper introduction to Western music and literature. He received formal training in piano as a child and listened to the music of Beethoven, Bach and other composers from a very young age. During his first trip to England in 1878, he became familiar with English, Irish and Scottish music. He enrolled in Western classical vocal music and was influenced by the works of romantic and classical composers at the time. Many of Tagore’s songs were influenced and sometimes inspired by Western music. Tagore’s exposure to Western music allowed for another exotic Read More …