ABSTRACT
The ultimate intention behind the whole research, and the construction of a programme for performers at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, has precisely been to lay a bridge to restore the communication referred to by Boulez in the measure that can contribute to this end through the knowledge of karnatic rhythm. In addition to this pedagogical and performance-oriented goal, it very important to reiterate the great palette of creative possibilities that the karnatic rhythmical system can provide to westerners. Performers today are confronted with pieces that have not been composed with any knowledge of karnatic rhythmical structures but that utilise rhythmical complexities in various ways, and increasingly encounter works by composers who have studied karnatic music either through the programme at the Amsterdam Conservatoire or with Indian musicians. The combination of karnatic techniques with the arsenal of possibilities provided by a western musical background can produce completely new paths in western creation.
