Mātrālakṣaṇam
(KMS No. 1)
Text, Translation, Extracts from the
commentary, and Notes
including References to two oral traditions of South India
Edited and translated by WAYNE HOWARD
1988, xvi,+98 pp., musical notations, bibl. indexes, ISBN: 81-208-0585-5, Rs 150 (HB)
| The Matralaksana is one of the important
technical treatises belonging to the Kauthuma and Ranayaniya recensions (sakhas) of the
Samaveda on chanting. The text attempts at transcribing the world's most ancient and complex system of accented verses, which were initially transmitted through oral intonation, into a written textual form. It lays the foundation for disciplines recognized today as phonetics, linguistics and prosody. Equally important is the discussion on sound and notes and it serves as the forerunner of the modal system of Indian music. Throughout this translation of the entire text
and most of the commentary, the translator has provided copious notes, which include 127
musical transcriptions of chant fragments pertinent to the various subjects addressed by
the Matralaksana.
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| WAYNE HOWARD Ph.D., (Indiana university, 1975) began his study of the Samaveda in 1970, when he started a fifteen month stay in India as a Fulbright Scholar. The first result of his field research was the publication of his dissertation, Samavedi Chants (Yale university Press, 1977). He has written two other books, Vedic Recitation in Varanasi and The Development of the Samavedi Notatian of the Jaminiyas. |
