Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840–1914), a member of the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family and holder of the title of Raja, was a key figure in the Bengali Renaissance during the last quarter of the 19th century. As a musicologist, he focused primarily on enriching the Bengali musical repertoire by reviving concepts from the Sanskrit tradition. From 1870 onward, he founded music schools and authored numerous theoretical works. He also composed pieces that reflected his personal vision of Hindustani music and occasionally wrote musical notation. In this context, he commissioned the...
Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840–1914), a member of the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family and holder of the title of Raja, was a key figure in the Bengali Renaissance during the last quarter of the 19th century. As a musicologist, he focused primarily on enriching the Bengali musical repertoire by reviving concepts from the Sanskrit tradition. From 1870 onward, he founded music schools and authored numerous theoretical works. He also composed pieces that reflected his personal vision of Hindustani music and occasionally wrote musical notation. In this context, he commissioned the construction of many musical instruments, which he presented - together with his own writings and translations - to around forty governments and institutions worldwide. These instrumental ensembles, which embody a vision of Hindustani music where nationalist and colonialist, traditionalist and modernist, artistic and political currents intersect, are today preserved in museums across the globe.
The collection of instruments, books, and scores that Raja Tagore sent to Belgium is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable of its kind. Presented as a gift to King Leopold II in 1876, it was shortly thereafter donated to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where - together with the Fétis collection - it contributed to the creation of the Musée Instrumental, the predecessor of today’s MIM. This donation of about 100 instruments (inv. no. 01–98) played a major role in the development of the first scientific classification of musical instruments by Victor-Charles Mahillon (1841–1924), the museum’s first curator.
Until the end of his life, Sourindro Mohun Tagore and Mahillon maintained a correspondence: Tagore regularly sent his latest works and, on occasion, additional instruments (for example, the music box, inv. no. 1946, reproducing eight of his compositions), while Mahillon sought detailed information on Indian musical traditions.
