Military Digest: When President Rajendra Prasad wanted to ‘Indianise’ Army soundtrack and Nehru cautioned against sudden change

British marching tunes had remained the mainstay of the brass bands and pipes-and-drums ensembles of the Indian Army, though Indian tunes were gradually being developed by Army musicians. However, these too were played on foreign instruments, and Indian instruments like sitar, santoor, mridangam, etc., were not considered conducive to them at the time.

In a letter written to the President on May 17, 1953, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also expressed his concerns about the adaptability of Indian music in the Army after the President sent him a copy of his letter to the Army Commander-in-Chief.

“What you have written to the Commander-in-Chief certainly deserves consideration, and I hope that the matter will be enquired into. I rather doubt, however, if it is possible or desirable to replace altogether foreign music by our own in so far as military bands are concerned,” Nehru wrote in his reply to the President.

Nehru was of the view that while Indian music had made great progress in its own particular domain, there was little in it in the way of orchestral or band music. “Recently some attempts have been made. They have not been remarkably successful. From the popular point of view, the success obtained has been largely with cinema tunes, which though catchy, are hardly high class,” he said.

The then PM opined that the question, therefore, was of developing orchestral and band music in accordance with the rules and conventions of Indian music. In his opinion, that was a very wide and difficult question, and it was not merely a question of adopting a tune.

“The genius of Indian music and the genius of European music differ greatly and it is doubtful if one can be grafted on to the other. No doubt, one could learn from the other to some extent and be influenced by it. But, so far as I know, experts do not think it desirable, to mix these two completely different types,” he said.

‘Difficult to imagine people marching with these instruments’

According to Nehru, it was not a question of purely martial music but rather of music suitable for orchestras and bands, more particularly for bands on the march. He said that even the modern Indian orchestras, the very few that existed at the time, used sitars, veenas, sarangis, tablas, etc. “It is a little difficult to imagine people marching with these instruments and playing them at the same time,” he said.

In Nehru’s view, Indian music, as developed, was essentially what might be called chamber music or folk music. He said that while it is very good from that point of view, but how it can be applied to an orchestra or a band was not quite clear.

The PM reiterated to the President that recently, some film tunes had been adopted by military bands, and while they were not good enough for serious performance, they might occasionally be used.

Fear of losing touch with universal music

“While Indian music should be encouraged and developed in every way, it would be a pity for us in India to get out of touch with the type of music that has become almost universal in the world and which has produced some of the highest forms of art. Indeed, it is a pity that European music is fading out with great rapidity from India. That I think is bad in itself and it is also bad because its influence on Indian music will then cease,” wrote Nehru.

The Prime Minister noted that, at that time, there were only one or two proper orchestras left in India that played European music with some success.

“My own impression is that band music as played is popular with our people. You will remember the Retreat is played not only by one band but mass bands. This is most effective and greatly appreciated. It is not quite clear to me how this can be replaced by some form of Indian music,” said Nehru.

He also pointed out that it was interesting to note that a fair number of private bands exist in almost every major city of India. “They are not good at all, but they appear to supply some public want and they have grown up by public support. They play some kind of European music,” he said.

Despite his outward opposition to the suggestion made by President Rajendra Prasad, Nehru thought it worthwhile making a comprehensive investigation with the help of people who knew Indian music to take advantage of “our old martial tunes and conform them with modern conditions, grafting here and there from foreign countries on the stalk of the Indian origin”.

More than 60 years after his letter to General Rajendrasinhji, President Rajendra Prasad’s suggestions were finally implemented when Indian tunes and instruments were incorporated into the Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi in 2015.