The organographic system popularized by Hornbostel and Sachs was possibly derived from an Ancient Indian one. The four fold classifactory system of idiophones (autophones), aerophones, chordophones, and membranophones was first introduced in the West by Victor Mahillon in the year 1878.
But how is it that he decided to reject the traditional threefold divisions of winds, strings, and percussion?
Raja Sourindra Mohan Tagore and Victor Mahillion
In November of 1876 Raja Sourindra Mohan Tagore of Calcutta donated ninety-eight Indian musical instruments to the King of Belgium. These (and other) instruments came to form the basis of the collection at the museum situated in an annex to the Brussels Music Conservatory. In January of the following year Mahillon was nominated the director of this museum and less than two years later he published his catalogue of musical instruments.
Schaeffner suggests that Mahillon was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that a large number of non-European instruments could not be classified according to the three category system (Schaeffner 1932:216-7).
Sourendra Mohan Tagore was a renowned musician and musicologist. His numerous publications included Jantra Kshetra Dipika (1872) (A Commentary on [or Light on] the Realm of Instruments) which discusses the sitar and its music, and Jantra Kosh (1875) (Musical Instruments Dictionary). It would follow that Tagore may have recommended the fourfold classification system to Mahillon.
B.C. Deva
B.C. Deva identifies the contemporary system with the ancient Indian one, as follows:
"the classification prevalent throughout the world was formulated in India at least two thousand years ago. The first reference to it is in the Natyashastra of Bharata who is said to have lived sometime between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. ... He also gave four classes; ghana (solid) or idiophones, avanaddha (covered vessels) or drums [membranophones], sushira (hollow), or wind instruments [aerophones] and tata (stretched) [chordophones] because they have tensed guts or strings "(Deva 1977:6).
Natyashastra and Hornbostel-Sachs
The Western version of this system, introduced by Mahillon, was expanded by Hornbostel and Sachs in their publication Systematik der Musikinstrumente (1914). Here are the two systems:
The Classification of Musical Instruments found in the Natyashastra
- ghana (solid) ,
- avanaddha (covered vessels) or drums
- sushira (hollow) or wind instruments
- tata (stretched) or stringed
The Hornbostel and Sachs system of Musical Instrument Classification
- 1. Idiophones
- 2. Aeorphones
- 3. Chordophones
- 4. Membranophones
In order to differentiate subdivisions this system number coding was borrowed from the Dewey Decimal System of Library Science. For example:
- 3-chordophones
- 31-simple chordophones or zithers
- 32- Composite Chordophones
- 321-lutes 322-harps 323-harp lutes
- 321.1-bow lutes 321.2-yoke lutes 321.3-handle lutes or lyres
- 321.31-spiked lutes 321.32 necked lutes
- 321.311-spiked bowl lutes 321.312-spike box lutes 321.313spiked tube lutes
- 321.321-necked bowl lutes 321.322-necked box lutes (Hood 1971: 181-7)
The division of the chordophones into simple (31) and composite (32) contrasts zithers on the one hand with lutes, harps, and harp lutes on the other. For example, the Indian bin is a zither while the Afghan dutâr is a lute. The lute grouping is then separated into bow, yoke and handle varieties. The last of these (handle lutes) is then divided into two groups namely the spike and the necked varieties. Then the spike category divides into three to include the bowl, box, and tube versions, while the necked category has only two subgroups, the bowl and the box.
The similarity found between the two systems of classification is either the result direct communication or a common method of grouping. The net result is that the Horbostel-Sachs system closely resembles the ancient system of classification found in India.
Bibliography
Deva, B.C. 1974 Indian Music. New Delhi: Indraprastha Press.
1977 The Development of Chordophones in India. Sangit Natak 44: 10-18.
Hood, M. 1971 The Ethnomusicologist. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Hornbostel, E.M.von & Curt Sachs. 1914 Systematik der Musikinstrumente. Zeitshrift für Ethnologie 46 (no. 4-5): 553-590.
Schaeffner, M. 1932 D'une nouvelle clasification methodique des instruments de musique. La Revue Musicale 13 (2): 215-231.
Tagore, S.M. [1872] 1878 Jantra Kshetra Dipika (Bengali). Calcutta: Bengali Press.
1896 Universal History of Music. Calcutta: Sen Press.
[1875,1882]1965 Hindu Music from Various Authors. 3rd ed. Varanasi: Chowkamba Sanskrit Series Office.
