182 ESSAYS IN NATIONAL IDEALISM.

excels in a field which is almost unknown to the Eastr
there can, on the other hand, be no doubt that in individual
singing, whether technique, expression or subtlety, the
East as far exceeds the West. Each has much to learn
from, and to admire in, the other.

The Indian singer, as Miss MacCarthy (loc. tit.) says,

"seems to concentrate upon his very inmost self in the
exercise of his art. His eyes close often in prayerful ecstasy. Hi«-
pauses are long and frequent. Those who accompany him hang,
upon his mood and follow its windings without any other support
than that of intention. The audience, too, must follow as best it?
can—7ie leads it, it does not lead him. "

Much of this description is realised in the accompany-
ing reproduction (Plate YI) of an Indian painting (in the
collection of the Eaja of Satara), representing the poet.
Sadi listening to a singer.

"Whatever may be gained by possible combination it*
the future developments of Indian music, the necessity for
this intensely personal and rhapsodical singing—so perfect
and so natural an expression of the Indian mind—cannot
pass away. It were well indeed if room could be found ir*
the West, which, with all its magnificent choral and
orchestral development, lacks this lyrical and intensely
personal and religious element, for individual expression of
the same kind. To some extent, no doubt, the revival of
folk-song in England is due to a sense of this need at the-
present time.

It would be difficult to explain to a foreigner the-
countless ways in which music in India is bound up with
the national culture. It is the resource of India in jo}r
or sorrow. It is a symbol of the immanence of GocL
" Thou art present even as music in the vina" says a
Tamil poet. It is essential at every festivity, and insepara-
bly connected with all religious ceremonies.