Will Hand Writing be gone forever?

It was interesting to read a book review by Andrew Robinson on written scripts and its evolution from ancient times (1). As a teacher of science in a career spanning 2 decades and covering more than 4 diverse states of India I have observed the amount of handwritten answer scripts, lab journals etc are becoming less and less as typing on screen and keyboard is increasing more and more. In fact, I wonder how slowly human beings will cease to write with their hands. All the written admission tests and entrances earlier used to be pen and paper based. You had to visit exam centres and write the answers with your hands. Now most of the entrances and tests including international ones like GRE,TOEFL, SAT, GMAT, IELTS have become online with typing on keyboards or screen. India is scrapping handwritten tests by computerising its popular entrances like IIT JEE, NEET,CUET (2). During 2 years of covid lockdown I resorted to taking online exams, mostly MCQs for my students. Earlier in my generation we had to write lab journals and notebooks by hand. Nowadays my students write only observations, results and discussion of a lab notebook with their hands, everything is typewritten or copy pasted. Our offices, workplaces have resorted to online apps or word processing tools so that handwriting is required during signatures on documents only; other than that an adult is writing very less with their own hands. In my time, pens, pencils and stationeries were treasured, we had to write impeccably in reams to fetch good marks in exams. We put a lot of effort into choosing writing tools like ink pens, ball point pens, chiseled pencils etc. The pens used to be costly. Now, even with cheaper use and throw plastic pens available, the art of handwriting is scarce. Except in schools nobody writes with their hands any longer. In higher education and daily life writing by your hands is becoming less and less, which begs the question, Will we slowly stop writing by our hands?This has already been pointed out by the venerable BBC in 2017 (3). Smat phones, tabs and laptops are here to stay and there will be more online tools to increase typing on screen (4). As a seasoned academician I do feel sad to see the decline in handwriting and I see no change unless the teachers start forcing handwritten journals and exams for the students. References: 1.Andrew Robinson (2026) Technology is changing how we write — and how we think about writing. Nature 649, 1099-1101 (2026) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00245-0 2. Sanjay Sharma (2025) From-digital-to-paper-can-pen-and-paper-exams-end-ntas-test-turmoil-and-shape-the-future-of-jee-neet-and-cuet. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/from-digital-to-paper-can-pen-and-paper-exams-end-ntas-test-turmoil-and-shape-the-future-of-jee-neet-and-cuet/articleshow/126032346.cms 3. Ewen Hosie(2017) The uncertain future of handwriting. BBC https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171108-the-uncertain-future-of-handwriting 4. Chritine Rosen (2025) Signature moves: are we losing the ability to write by hand? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jan/21/signature-moves-are-we-losing-the-ability-to-write-by-hand

Retraction of Scientific Articles in India

 I read with great interest a news article published in Nature on rising retractions in India (1). Though India doesn't boast of any university or IITs in top 100 list of globally reputed rankings like Times Higher Education, QS etc; it has seen a steady rise of research papers from what we had in 2001. However India's research papers are not cited heavily and there is an overall doubt about the quality (2). No wonder the retraction rate is high. Most of the Indian institutes don’t punish the scientists with retracted papers. I personally know one or two scientists in my circle who have carried on unfettered despite having had several of their papers retracted. Now, Indian researchers are under immense pressure to perform because in most of the places incentive of publication is promotion or increments. Recently India has seen an unprecedented rise in the Private Universities and Colleges whose sole motto is increasing student enrolment and vying for the prized global or national rankings (3). Professors literally perish if they don’t publish; they are given targets to publish and incentives like the salesmen or the corporate. Obviously with so much under stake the numbers of publications will continue to swell with increased retractions, unchecked growth and no real-world impact.

At least 25 papers of one scientist from Saveetha University, Chennai has been retracted in July 2025 (4). This particular Chennai based university is under radar for maximum retractions in the past 4 years with 99,80 and 90 retractions in 2023,2024 and 2025 (5). One Physics professor of IIT Dhanbad has had 34 retractions since 2018, yet he got promoted to Associate Professor recently (6). UGC, the regulator of all Indian Universities and the apex body, a decade ago had prepared a list named UGC CARE list in line with the Beale list to prevent predatory journals and paper mills. However, very recently UGC scrapped its own CARE list creating more confusion, utter dismay and sparking fears about unscrupulous paper mills (7).

Overall, as India is gearing up for burgeoning private education paraphernalia with ever increasing appetite for quantity over quality of research papers and a pressure to perform, it doesn’t appear that retractions are going to stop soon.

 

References:

1.    India to penalize universities with too many retractions

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02364-6

 

2.    https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/high-output-low-impact-why-indian-academic-research-needs-a-rethink-3662387 last accessed on 6/8/2025

3.    https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/university-challenged-behind-veil-indias-private-higher-education  last accessed on 6/8/2025

4.    https://sciencechronicle.in/2025/07/11/25-papers-of-a-chennai-based-researcher-retracted-for-image-duplication-manipulation/  last accessed on 6/8/2025

5.    https://retractionwatch.com/2025/02/10/as-springer-nature-journal-clears-ai-papers-one-universitys-retractions-rise-drastically/  last accessed on 6/8/2025

6.    https://sciencechronicle.in/2025/07/23/iit-dhanbad-researcher-with-34-retractions-gets-promoted-as-associate-professor/  last accessed on 6/8/2025

7.    https://www.thehindu.com/education/ugc-care-list-scrapped-a-move-towards-autonomy-or-a-risky-gamble/article69210502.ece  last accessed on 6/8/2025

Science Haiku

 

2025

Hunger, hunger where you are?

9 billion people, food are scarce.

 

2050

Malthus said All will starve and die

GMOs say all 12 billion are fed with spirits high.

 

2025

Lights are on with incandescent bulbs and electron

LEDs, CFLs and solar panel shine on.

 

2050

GM Plants with GFP and Luciferin are born

Bioluminescence will turn the lights On.

 

2025

Cancer with no answer

Has Small molecules and Monoclonals

 

2050

Cancer has an answer

With Magnets and Laser.

 

2025

High Sugar and diabetes On

Control with semaglutide on.

2050

High Sugar and diabetes On

Show a laser on pancreas and its gone.

 

2025

Genes and Alleles had their time

With recombinant DNA and all

 

2050

Histone Acetylation and DNA Methylation

Will turn the Epigenetics ON.

Asia's contribution to Quantum Mechanics on its centenary

I read with great interest the editorial (1) and essay (2) on celebration of the centenary of quantum mechanics. I was particularly happy about the mention of Lucy Mensing, a woman scientist who contributed to quantum mechanics.

However the focus on the development of the subject of quantum mechanics was shown to be mainly Euro Centric. Though it is true and many American scientists like Oppenheimer indeed congregated in Europe to study the new science of quantum mechanics, there were two major centres outside Europe which played a crucial role in the development of the theory of Quantum Mechanics. Self-taught Physicists from Calcutta, India and Osaka, Japan, independent of the European stalwarts developed theories in Quantum Mechanics which became part of the subject matter and its history. For example, Satyendra Nath Bose trained in Calcutta University and while working as a young professor in Dacca, now called Dhaka, developed Bose - Einstein Statistics (3). This statistical model had a far reaching impact in categorising sub atomic particles as Bosons and in Bose Einstein Condensate research. Though many Nobel laureates owe their award to Bose Einstein Condensate and Bosons, S.N.Bose himself never got a Nobel. Also, trained in Cambridge, another Indian nuclear physicist, Homi J Bhabha used quantum mechanics to explain the cascade showers in cosmic rays. 

Similarly, Hideki Yukawa of Osaka University combined quantum mechanics with nuclear forces to predict Meson, a subatomic particle. Yukawa Potential results from an analogy of quantum field theory.  When Mu Meson and Pi Meson were proved to exist by experimental physicists in 1936 and in 1947, Yukawa was awarded a Nobel prize in 1949 (4). Bhabha and Yukawa attended the immensely eminent Solvay Conference of Physics with master proponents of Quantum Mechanics.

So, it appears that outside Europe there were Asian centres of excellence where quantum mechanics theory was developed without training from Europe. Very often, these Asian masters are overlooked however it must not be forgotten that S.N.Bose and Yukawa were homegrown talents who played a crucial role in the development of quantum mechanics in the very beginning. Both of them later on went to Europe and the USA for further work; however their formative years when they formulated their contributions were totally independent of the then European stalwarts.

 

References :

1.     Quantum mechanics 100 years on: an unfinished revolution. Nature 637, 251-252 (2025)

2.     Kristian Camilieri. (2025) How quantum mechanics emerged in a few revolutionary months 100 years ago. Nature 637, 269-271 (2025)

3.     Sahana Ghosh (2024) As the world looks for quantum solutions, Bose statistics turns 100 https://www.nature.com/articles/d44151-024-00018-6

4.     https://www-yukawa.phys.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/university

 

Need for more Psychological Counsellors and First aid in mental disease

 The way we are behaving is increasing the rate of mental illness day by day. The stress, the relationship issues, the constant hook up and break up culture, financial distress all are adding up to our constant misery. Modern life is no longer easy. We pay the price of living by depression and anxiety. 

India has now >15% population suffering from mental illness. However help is scanty with less doctors and counsellors available mostly in urban set up. I feel, instead of making too many engineers ( IT Jobs are the most attractive) we have to start making more psychiatrist and counsellors. The days are coming where common mental disorders like depression and anxiety will become as regular as Common Cold. There is so much to tell but nobody to listen. Tele counseling services are overflooded with suicidal calls. In India where mobile internet penetration is very high we should now add more tele counselors to save the distressed souls. Already like weight reduction apps India started Tele Manas, Mindpeers, Rocket Health etc for Counseling. Tele Manas the GOI initiative is spreading its network to different states in India.

https://telemanas.mohfw.gov.in/home

Click to get help

If you can pay by GPay and Phone Pe then you should be able to unburden your chest by a phone call. IT jobs are always popular, but next big lucrative jobs will be in Psychological health ( Mental Health Care). With every passing year, being a teacher I see many students crying for help. Since I am safe, non judgmental and highly approachable, most students favor to call upon me; however I am ill equipped to treat them. Hence I channelize them to campus doctor and counselors. 

We are short of mental health care staff in our country and it is urgent that many more personnel should be trained in counseling and psychiatry. Next big lucrative career will be Psychology professionals because robots and AI cannot touch the soul of a human being. Common mental disorders will be the next pandemic unseen but known to all and with no help nearby the patients will feel helpless, frustrated. Even if they forget the stigma there will be no one to approach because of shortage of trained mental health care professionals.

In this regard I suggest a book " Where there is no Psychiatrist" by Dr Vikram Patel which can be a First aid for mental health. The link is given, free to download.

https://asksource.info/pdf/30256_wherethereisnopsych_ch1_2003.pdf

I also think it is time to increase enrolling of psychological counselors.

Hope is eternal and things will change.

Women Safety and Men’s Upbringing in West Bengal

Recent rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata has raised nation wide alarm just like Nirbhaya rape case did in 2012. It is evident even after the Nirbhaya case perpetrators were hanged there is no deterrence in rape crime. There is no doubt the issue of women’s safety bugs the nation. Kolkata with its prominence in social reforms, culture and intellect has failed to make it safe for its women. Kolkata women are educated and progressive in nature. Bengali women have joined workforce since long. Widow remarriage is nothing new in this part of the country and it is said Women are Stree Shakti and the people here pray to goddesses every year with such pomp and glory. However the same feeling of respecting women is not reflected on the streets. The shocking incident of RG Kar is a testimony of what is wrong regarding women safety. 

 There are protests being organized, social media is flooded with anger and memes to create awareness against hate crime against women, but the authors feel this armchair protest and keyboard warriors achieve nothing to curb the crime. The current author has left Kolkata in 2005 and stayed in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Guwahati for last 19 years. His maximum time was spent in Mumbai (10 years), Pune (5 years), Guwahati (2 years). Snob high nosed Bengalis from Kolkata had always jeered “Non Bengalis” and passed snide remarks about their culture. However I saw no eve teasing and roadside Romeos in Mumbai, Pune or Guwahati for last so many years. Kolkata and Bengal is still a hotbed of eve teasing. There is a strong undercurrent of dowry, domestic violence, eve teasing and lack of support for working women beneath surface veneer of cultural sophistication in Bengal. Many Bengali women are still trying to break the glass ceiling. However, the so called “Uncultured” states of India according to Bengali genteel bhadralok, do not exhibit eve teasing culture. Mumbai, Pune and Guwahati are safe for women according to me. In Mumbai, at midnight female passenger is safe in a local train. At any time of the day Mumbai is safe for women. I have stayed for a pretty long time in Powai, Navi Mumbai and taught in Xavier’s Mumbai. I never seen fear in the faces of my girl students in Pune, Mumbai or Guwahati. In Pune I had stayed in Viman Nagar and Lohegaon without seeing any eve teasing cases. In Guwahati I never see boys in groups teasing women and passing lewd comments, however in Bengal it is still the case. “Rokbaji” they say is rampant in Kolkata. Groups of young men with teacups and cigarettes in hand are seen to tease any passing girl. In localities or “Para” as they say boys find vicarious pleasure in making lewd comments, ogling, jeering and teasing women. In the lanes and bylanes of Kolkata eve teasing is a common pastime of young men. Staring is not an offence. These are the same boys who join plum IT jobs out of Kolkata and want submissive women to marry them and take care of their domestic work. Boys are not trained from young age to take care of their daily household chores. Most of the Bengali educated families train their boys to excel in study and get plum jobs. They are all dubbed as “Brilliant” “Gem” “Studious” and then they behave as entitled men bossing over their women. Most of them marry not for a loving partner but for someone who will settle in happy domesticity and take care of their “Sansar”. I have seen many of these bachelors accommodation in Mumbai and Pune and I dub them as Pigsty. Only a marriage rescues these high earning bachelors from unkempt household and brings some order. 

 Reams have been written on how to train our men so that rape crime is prevented but nobody talks about the actual methods to train these boys. The actual education comes from the household where parents teach the equality concept and no gender bias to their boys. From the dining table they learn girls have equal share of nutrition. Many mothers try to feed their boys with bigger pieces of fish and chicken than their girls. From the kitchen the boys must learn how to cook and clean as a basic survival skill not to think this is a woman’s job. They must learn how to iron clothes, keep their room tidy and belongings neat. They must understand they can also make a cup of tea when their working wives come home and do the laundry. They can also participate in their child’s school education, most of the mothers actually take care of school level education in India. It is time fathers learn how to educate their child at home and prepare them for school. Going to “Bajaar” should not be the only prerogative of these entitled males, they have to bring in participation in domestic chores. When a parent decides to allocate funds for future education for both boys and girls should be equally dealt with. It should never be like saving for daughter’s marriage and son’s education whereas a daughter’s education takes backseat. The concept of bias free upbringing begins from ancestors. If the fathers stops getting privileges like not cooking, cleaning ; continues watching TV reading newspapers and ordering tea and coffee then the boys will learn how domestic chores are not priority of a woman. The recent rape case may have different cause, there may be ugly details getting unearthed but overall, I feel respecting women begins at home and the society. It is high time our boys learn and the parents advice accordingly.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Author Dr Biswa Prasun Chatterji, PhD (IIT Bombay) Professor, Faculty of Science Assam down town University

Western Classical Music, Death and Funeral

 Actually Mozart was very afraid of death. He died quite young and during his last days he was commissioned by a Count in Vienna to write a Requiem which he did with a dark assumption that the messenger of the Count is a harbinger of his death which was near. Listen to Mozart's Requiem

 

Then Beethoven courted death when he was turning deaf. Music was everything to him and how frustrating it must have been for him to discover at the prime of his musical career that he is losing the sense of hearing. A musician turning deaf is like a surgeon who cannot hold a scalpel because his hands tremor or like an orator who cannot speak ! Beethoven thought of suicide and wrote a will which is famously known as Heligenstadt testament ..

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiligenstadt_Testament ...

he actually changed his mind after a visit to a countryside and celebrated by writing the Sixth symphony which I believe is his best. A movie on Beethvoen called Immortal Beloved

Then Gluck's opera Orpheus Euricye speaks of death. This opera is based on a Greek mythological story where Orpheus laments his lover's demise and go to hell and heaven in search for her. Listen to this....

Rossini, Bach and Handel also wrote several mass to be performed during burial ceremony in church.

An Indian Surgeon did world’s first pig heart transplant to humans in 1997

Apropos your Feature on Pig Organs Head for the Clinic (1), this is not the first pig heart transplantation in the humans in the world. In 1997 in Guwahati India a heart surgeon Dr Dhaniram Barua, FRCS transplanted a pig heart in a human patient (2,3). The patient survived for a week but passed away after that. There was a huge furore in the media and the surgeon’s office was ransacked. Due to lack of ethical clearance Dr Baruah was given a 40 days jail term as reported in Nature in January 1997 (4). However, Dr Baruah’s pig heart transplant was historically the first in the world. Mentioning David Bennett as the first recipient of pig heart is a distortion of history and it should be corrected and credit should go to the pioneer. It is understood that David Bennett’s case involves a genetically modified pig heart with a Crispr/Cas mediated gene editing which itself is a novelty; however, to be historically accurate Bennet was not the first human to have received a pig heart. 

Dr Baruah achieved this feat 25 years ago unbeknownst to the western media with a normal unmodified pig heart. In fact, when Bennet’s pig heart transplant was published in January 2022 several Indian newspapers recounted Dr Baruah’s pig heart transplantation surgery of 1997 (4). Though Dr Baruah’s surgery crossed ethical boundary it has to be appreciated as the world’s first pig heart transplant in humans. He is a maverick whose methods might have been unconventional but the fact that he performed world’s first pig-to-human heart transplant in 1997 and the patient survived for a week cannot be ignored and denied. I urge the editor to please include this fact to correct an error in history of transplant surgery. 

 References: 

1. Sara Reardon (2022) PIG ORGANS HEAD FOR THE CLINIC. Nature. Vol 611, pg 654-655 

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaniram_Baruah, last accessed on 26/11/2022 

3. Mudur G. Indian surgeon challenges ban on xenotransplantation. BMJ. 1999 Jan 9;318(7176):79 

4. K.S.Jayaraman. (1997) Pig heart transplant surgeon held in jail. Nature. Vol 385, pg 378 

5. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/transplant-jogs-dhani-ram-memories/articleshow/88843361.cms last accessed on 26/11/2022

Payment for Journal Reviewers

 Of late I have noticed a sea change in the publishing model of research articles. Most of the publishing houses and journals are adopting the pay and publish Open Access model. Earlier payment was looked down upon and it was thought if your article lacked quality, you published  by paying money. But things have changed rapidly in the past 5 years. More and more journals are becoming Open Access and payment by the authors have become a norm (1).

I have also observed the reviewers are slow to act; they send their opinions across after prodding and pleading. Every editor knows how difficult it is to make the reviewers submit their comments in time. Sometimes it takes months. Their reluctance to review for a journal is not caused by professional ineptitude but by lack of payment. If the journals are taking money for publication then the editors can pay, whatever small the amount may be, to the reviewers. Silver tonic always works in getting things done. Money can be an incentive for the reviewers and the reluctance and lethargy to review can go. This can also be a pathway to generate more income by the reviewers (2,3). The process of review actually takes a long time now and mars the spirit of the scientists who submitted their articles for review. I suggest the journal editors think of paying their reviewers for speedy publication (3). Many scientists prefer a journal for faster publication process. As you increase the speed of publication, the journal profits by attracting more authors and revenue generation in the end.

Reference

1. https://ifis.libguides.com/journal-publishing-guide/open-access-models

2. Open access pay-for-review option — ethical question. Nature 590, 36 (2021)

3.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9893124/

10 top-of-the-mind Western Classical Music Pieces

 In advertising there is a term-"top-of-the-mind" or product recall. That means what comes up in your mind when you think about a particular subject; say you think of Impressionism van Gogh comes to your mind. You think of cold drinks Coke or Pepsi comes to your mind. 

Similarly what comes to my mind when I think Western Classical Music?

1. Beethoven's Violin Concerto 

The Rondo movement is hummable and so memorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD6UT-y2HPo

2.  Eine Kleine nacht Musik by Mozart

The first movement is sprightly and forever favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2zDJPIgwc

3. On the Beautiful Blue Danube

This waltz by Johann Strauss needs no introduction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKkDMiGUbUw&t=165s

4. Four Seasons - Spring

This one by Vivaldi may be written in mediaeval age but how popular is it still now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfKxEH699Nw

5. Fur Elise

Beethoven's iconic piano piece is everywhere from ringtone to elevator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGLpHxdsLtM

6. Turkish Rondo

What a pretty piece Mozart wrote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ryaQ6Gtpg

7. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

Bach's eternally moving piece which makes Christmas or Easter incomplete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7PNFDrcqmY

8. Chopin's Nocturn no.20

Reportedly this piece saved life of Spillman from Nazi torture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9oQEa-d5rU

9. Tchaikovsky's Song Without Words

A short and sweet passage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=907KXouF3Mw

10. Mozart Elvira Madigan Piano Concerto no 21,2nd movement

Soothes your soul, just flow with the music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRCEwy5XQSs

This is not the end....I add 10 close contenders

1. Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, 3rd movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xsjrbpo0qQ

2. Moonlight Sonata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu7hscHkfPw

3. Tempest by Beethoven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KMGcOYHSs0

4. Hungarian Dance no 5

This chirpy Brahms piece is musical

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzo3atXtm54

5. Paganini caprice no 24

Was Paganini a rockstar?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ307sM0t-0

6. Schumann Traumerei

Remember the Raymond ad?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z82w0l6kwE

7. Schubert's Serenade

evokes cinematic emotions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=widDAQKdlUA

8. Mozart Symphony no 25, 1st movement

Titan ad anyone??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNeirjA65Dk

9. Pachelbel canon

Can you imagine a marriage in the western world without this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlprozGcs80

10. Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyM2AnA96yE

** Can't stop sharing this Anthem of the EU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqs9a2Cxv5c

Music Education: Chamber Music

 

Chamber Music    

Chamber music is music written for small combinations of instruments, expressing intimate and personal emotions. Originally it was meant to be performed inside a room with friends and not in the concert hall. From the room or chamber this music gets its name Chamber Music. Almost all the composers have written beautiful music in this form. But the best chamber music has come from Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. Chamber music starts with the combination of two instruments, a "duo" as it is called and goes right up to nine instruments or "Nonet". More than nine instruments become music for small orchestra or chamber orchestra. For these small orchestras the composers have also written works and these are known as sinfonias, or sinfonettas, or concertinas, in other words small symphonies and concertos.

Given below are the different categories of chamber music.

 

The    Duo   : This can be in various combinations, two violins, violin and piano, piano and

oboe, piano and clarinet, piano and flute, piano and horn. The most common is the violin and piano combination and in this, the works of Mozart and Beethoven are the momentous.

The Trio Sonata: This is virtually a duo because the third instrument merely holds on to the note like the Indian Tanpura. Bach and Handel wrote a lot of Trio Sonatas. The form really existed in the Baroque Age (1600-1740).

The Trio: Very popular chamber music form. The most Popular combination is violin, piano and cello. There are other combinations, violin, viola and cello (known as string trio). Beethoven wrote some wonderful string trios. Then there is clarinet trio or clarinet, cello and violin in which combination Mozart wrote and so did Brahms. but the most famous trios are the piano trios of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. Dvorak's "Dumky" trio is also a lovely work;

The Quartet:         most important is the string quartet in which some of the greatest music of the composers have been written. This consists of two violins, viola and cello. The string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert arc the most important. The string quartet like the symphony can be called the backbone of western classical music. By dropping one instrument of the string quartet usually the second violin and adding either piano, horn or clarinet, the composers have obtained unique patterns of sound. The two piano quartets of Mozart, written for piano, violin, viola and cello, are very great works. Brahms wrote three piano quartets and so did Beethoven and Dvorak. Mozart also wrote flute quartets and oboe quartets and also a horn quartet where a fourth instrument outside the string family is added onto a string trio.

Quintet: The addition of a fifth instrument either a viola in case of Mozart and cello in case of Schubert     creates the form of the string quintet. Mozart's string quintets are great works and so is the string quintet of Schubert. If the fifth instrument is a piano it is known as a piano quintet as in the case of Schubert's popular Trout Quintet. Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak wrote piano quintets. Mozart and Beethoven also wrote a quintet for a combination of a wind quartet, that is clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn and the piano as the fifth instrument. The piano and wind quintets of Mozart and Beethoven are utterly ravishing works. Mozart, Brahms and Weber also wrote clarinet quintets, where the clarinet takes the place of the piano.

Sextet: The addition of two more instruments to the string quartet makes it a sextet. Brahms wrote two beautiful string sextets. He also wrote string quintets like Mozart. Mendelssohn and Dvorak also wrote string sextets.

Septet: A combination of seven instruments makes it a Septet. The most famous work in this category is the Septet by Beethoven. It is a product of Beethoven’s youth full of passion and feeling.

Octet: A combination of eight instruments, strings and winds makes it an Octet. Schubert wrote a famous Octet for winds and strings while Mendelssohn wrote an Octet only for strings Both are captivating works.

Nonet: Nine instruments is a rare combination and only some contemporaries of Beethoven like Spohr used it. Chamber music ends with the Nonet. After that it becomes orchestra.

Practical reasons made composers write for small groups for it was not always possible to get a large orchestra. Sinfonias and Sinfonettas could be also performed easily. One can mention Mozart's serenade for thirteen wind instruments, a masterwork that remains unsurpassed in charm and beauty. Most of Mozart's divertimentos and serenades, which contain some of his most vivacious music is written for a small orchestra of ten to fifteen players.

Chamber music is the key to feeling the pulse of the composers. The greater the composer the better his chamber music output.

 

List of Chamber Music

1.    Haydn String Quartet ‘Lark’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNN_Kbuf7_U

2.    Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat K452

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9Qp6wKWsg

3.    Mozart Clarinet quintet K581 in A major

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTNbclgU3h4&t=380s

4.    Mozart: Oboe Quartet KV 370

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTmzmi4AkQ

5.    Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlFYC1U5viw

6.    Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiVbMB6iLPc

7.    Beethoven - Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Archduke Trio)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mrfy_D9JVE

8.    Franz Schubert String Quintet in C Major, D. 956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3iX7x73JY

9.    Franz Schubert - Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, "Trout"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr4pDGo0KE

10. Johannes Brahms - Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-DqO_D1g1g

 

 

Music Education: Sonata

 

Sonata

Sonata refers to a particular structure or form of music in which composers have written works ever since the 16th century. A sonata can be for solo instruments like the piano or a combination of two instruments like the piano and violin, piano and clarinet, piano and cello, piano and horn etc. There is another type of sonata for three instruments known as Trio Sonata which used to be popular in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in which two of the instruments really played the major role and the third held the tune rather like the Indian tanpura or drone instrument. Sonatas are usually in three movements but there is no fixed rule. The first movement is constructed with two melodies rather like the first movement of the symphony. A simple formula will help to understand this construction. Suppose we call the two melodies A and B, A being strong and masculine, B being soft and feminine. How are they presented? The first part of the movement belongs to A then B is introduced and combined with A almost like a marriage and then out of the blending or the marriage of these two melodies a third melody or C emerges as the conclusion of the movement. Therefore we can map the flow of this movement with the following equation,

                              A       B        ABBA         C

Where A refers to  the  first  melody B  to the second melody ABBA to the blending of the two and C to the conclusion. In some sonatas there is an introduction before A, which appears rather like the opening of a door and we can call this section D. The first movement of the symphony and the concerto is based on this formula. So if you are good in catching tunes you should be able to follow these forms of music and have fun and enjoy yourself. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms all wrote beautiful Sonatas.

List

1.    Beethoven Moonlight Sonata    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5OaSju0qNc

 

2.    Mozart Sonata for Violin and Piano K378 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKeVF_Dluao&t=68s

 

3.    Beethoven Sonata Pathetique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrcOcKYQX3c&t=615s

 

4.    Brahms Sonata for Cello and Piano no 1 Opus 38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XiYrzsgWto

 

5.    Joseph Haydn Piano Sonata nº 59 in E flat, Hob. XVI:49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWF-48jIrSU&t=754s

 

6.    MOZART Sonata in C minor, K. 457

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfptgKV1qI4

 

7.    Beethoven.Violin.Sonata.No.9.Op.47.kreutzer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COGcCBJAC6I&t=573s

 

8.    Beethoven.Violin.Sonata.No.5.Op24.Spring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGFs7n6n3-8

 

9.    Beethoven Sonata N° 23 'Appassionata'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ak_7tTxZrk&t=58s

 

10. Beethoven Sonata N° 29 'Hammerklavier'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwZsDzGY1XA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Education : Symphony

 

The Symphony

 

The most famous of all musical forms. It means an orchestral composition in four sections with distinct pauses in between sections. The four sections are called movements. But there are symphonies with more or less than the standard four movements. The first movement is usually the most important movement of a symphony and it sets the mood of the whole symphony. It usually deals with two melodies or themes as they are called, which are displayed, developed and brought to a conclusion. The first movement is usually fast paced, magnificent and noble. The second movement is in contrast, lyrical, personal, meditative and slow moving. It is intimate in mood. The third movement is a dance and full of vivid motion. This dance movement has two melodies, one stated by the full orchestra and the other by a few instruments grouped together. The constant contrast that these two melodies produce is the charm of this movement. The last movement or finale is a blazing, triumphant fast paced piece of music of epical grandeur. The symphonic message is the triumph of the human will over tragedy and the infinite possibilities of human endeavor. Though there are symphonies that end tragically in a slow piece of music, most symphonies conclude with a blazing panorama of sound.

The great symphonies are the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Sibelius, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky. If you can listen to some symphonies of these composers you will get a good idea of the sound of the symphony. Symphony has become part of the English language and it means a richly blended outpouring of different strands of sound. The word symphonic suggests grand scale and size. Musically it means just that, a large scale work of tremendous passion and grandeur.

I have provided a list of 10 important symphonies below. Click on the link, you will be followed to Youtube. Track the movements and their pace each time you listen one. Sometimes the movements and their lengths are written below the Youtube title in the description section. For example, if you pick up Beethoven 3^rd Symphony you will find 4 movements;

                                          0:20 I. Allegro con brio

                                         16:13 II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

                                         32:02 III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace

                                         37:57 IV. Finale: Allegro molto

Here, time of each movement is mentioned in HH:MM ( hour:minute) format. The term Allegro means Fast pace and Adagio means slow pace. Vivace means lively.

Likewise you can read a description of movements of each symphony from Youtube or Internet to learn the separate pace and mood of movements. About naming some symphonies as Eroica or Farewell or Unfinished, I shall share anecdotes in a separate post.

 

Ten Great Symphonies

1.      Beethoven : 3^rd Symphony ‘Eroica’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InxT4S6wQf4)

                               5^th Symphony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2WJMVPQi8)

                               9^th Symphony  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOjHhS5MtvA)

2.      Mozart :    Symphony no.40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sGqkMU-mGQ)

                  Symphony no.25 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvqOhbsriA&t=130s)

3.      Dvorak  : New World Symphony   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoeDafIQvNM)

4.      Haydn : Symphony no.45 ‘Farewell’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpD9ofCm6Ak&t=265s)

5.      Schubert : Symphony no.8 ‘Unfinished’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW0-75f8ov4)

6.      Mendelssohn : Symphony no.4 ‘Italian’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HX_jF1_Tgc)

7.      Tchaikovsky : Symphony no.5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JBT0HC98I)