Books on Indian Classical Music
Rajesh Keswani
during my stay in India this past summer...
I have since been wanting to become better read on the subject
because many of the terms used are unfamiliar to me.
Two initial questions, however:
1) What exactly is carnatic music (and how does it differ from other
types of classical music)
2) I obtained my CD copy of Tana Mana, by Ravi Shankar and absolutely
loved it, although I understand some purists would not like it. Is
there anything similar to this avante garde type of sound that I
will be able to purchase. And what are other peoples feelings on this
type of music.
Thanks,
Raj
(raj...@acs.bu.edu)
ManiV
Mani
Rajesh Keswani
: Can anyone recommend good books about this topic and where to obtain them?
: Mani
Actually, that is the question that I really meant to ask, but never
explicitly said it...
Are there any definitive books... has anyone here written one, perhaps?
Raj-
ra...@neu.aoe.vt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------
An Annotated Bibliography of Indian Music
-----------------------------------------
All comments by Murali Sharma unless otherwise noted
<AL>: Art Levine
<ymk>: Yellamraju Murali Krishna.
<KK>: Krishna Kunchithapatham
<SV>: Sridhar Venkataraman
<UK>: Umar Khan
1. Introductory Books and Recordings
2. Intermediate and Reference Material
3. Periodicals
4. How to Contribute to this list
****************************************************************************
1. Introductory Books and Recordings
------------------------------------
Misc. editors
The New Grove Dictionary of Music, entry on India
Availability :any library
Description of contents: Most easily accessible, excellent introductory
article with plenty of references. Only handicap is the lack
of accompanying recorded material. Covers both Hindustani and
Carnatic
Bonnie Wade
Music in India, the Classical Traditions
Riverdale reprint of Manohar edition 1987
Availability :South Asia Books
Description of contents: Introductory text with comparisons to western
analogs, oriented towards the western reader. Both Hindustani and
Karnatic music are covered. Chapters on melody, melody instruments,
the meter, rythm instruments, and various performance genres.
Good introduction.
Ravi Shankar
Learning Indian Music, A Systematic Approach
Fort Lauderdale (they publish books there?) circa 1970
Availability: out of print, try libraries
Description of contents: 3 cassettes + book boxed set
Whether or not one likes Ravi Shankar's music, I imagine
everyone will admit he knows it about as well as anyone
else. It is a treat therefore to listen to his well thought
out introductory course. There are about 48 lectures on
these cassettes, and one is encouraged to learn the Indian
way: i.e. by listening and practising. The material covers
all the major ideas in a substantial way with very beautiful
examples.
Neil Sorrell and Ram Narayan
Indian Music In Performance, A practical Introduction
New York University Press
Availability:out of print, try libraries
Description of contents:The aim of this set is to enable the reader
to appreciate the components of a performance. The book includes
introductory material on Hindustani music, its sociology, some gossip
from Ram Narayan, and musical examples played by him. It would
help to be able to read staff noatation. The material is a small
subset of what is covered in the previous set and the cassette
not very well organized since there are no verbal explanations
on the tape and one has to read the examples off the book.
Author:Anupam Mahajan
Title:Ragas in Indian Classical Music
Publisher:Gian Publishing House, India
Availability : South Asia Books $20
Description of contents: Book + cassette with illustrative examples by
Asad Ali Khan and Mushtaq Hussain Khan (Veena and Sitar)
Various
Music Appreciation
Label:Music Today, 1992
Availability:Shrimati's, $10
Description of contents: Three cassette set
This is in the form of a narrative essay with interpolating examples.
An interesting feature is the use of portions of commercially
released pieces as examples. A drawback is that all
these are drawn from the earlier releases on this label; it
is hard for a novice to understand subtleties when they are played
on completely different instruments in different styles. Thus,
there is somewhat of a 'sampler disc' approach in places, but
is useful all the same if only to get familiar with the jargon.
On music and musicians of Hindoostan / Ashok D. Ranade. <ymk>
Description: 208 p., <1> leaf of plates : ports. ; 23 cm.
Includes bibliographical references, discography, and index.
New Delhi : Promilla, 1984.
This book is divided into two parts.
The first part a series of papers and works on Hindustani Music. The second
part is a set of biographies of India musicians of yore, such as BGAK,
Vaze, Abdul Karim Khan etc. In the first chapter, the author introduces
a novice to the concepts of art and literature, and how Indian Music
evolved along with other art forms. He also highlights the some important
aspects of the learning
process itself(the guru-sishya parampara) and why things happened that way.
Leela, S. V., 1934- <KK>
Veena, self-taught : an introduction to Carnatic music / by S. V.
Leela. -- New Delhi : D.K. Publishers Distributors, 1976.
Kumar, Kanthimathi. <KK>
Classical music of south India : Karnatic tradition in western
notation / Kanthimathi Kumar, Jean Stackhouse. -- Stuyvesant, NY
: Pendragon Press, c1987.
Rajagopalan, T. S. <KK>
Easy ways to enjoy Carnatic music -- Madras :Abirami, [1989?]
White, Emmons E. <KK>
Appreciating India's music; an introduction, with an emphasis
on the music of South India
Boston, Crescendo Pub. Co. <1971>
Deva, Bigamudre Chaitanya, 1922- <KK>
An introduction to Indian music / B. Chaitanya Deva.
New Delhi : Publications Division, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1981.
Shankar, Ravi. My music, my life. With an introd. by Yehudi Menuhin.
New York, Simon and Schuster <1968>
An autobiography by the man who put Indian music on the western
map. Includes material about his training, some basic theory and
a sitar primer.
**************************************************************************
2. Intermediate and Reference Material:
---------------------------------------
Bonnie Wade
Khyal, Creativity within North India's classical music tradition
Cambridge University Press, 1984
Availability:out of print, try libraries
Description of contents: A very thorough (the genealogical charts
include entries for male, female, and sex unknown) study
of Khyal. Apart from a definition of the genre, includes a
study of the major gharanas: Agra, Gwalior, Rampur/Sahaswan,
Alladiya, Kirana, Patiala, as well as those inbetween houses,
such as Amir Khan. The major distinguishing traits of a gharana
as well as its main representatives are analysed, some in
considerable depth. An accompanying cassette includes selections
that are analyzed in the text with a modified western notation,
as well as pictorial depictions of taans etc. Good historical
information and genealogical charts as well. Essential reading
for anyone interested in Khayal.
Indurama Srivastava
Dhrupada, A study of its origin, historical devp.,structure and
present state
Motilal Banarasidass, India, 1980
Availability:Out of print ?
Description of contents: One might preconceive this to be a biography
of the Dagar family, but it is a solid study of dhrupad, its
origin, the verbal content, the musical structure,and the
practitioners. Since Dhrupad must be the most alien of
all the Indian musical forms to the uninitiated, worth studying
to understand the complexity behind an apparently simple sounding
music.
Peter Manuel
Thumri, in historical and stylistic perspective
Motilal Banarasidass, 1989
Availability:
Description of contents:The literary aspects of thumris, their historical
origins, stylistic analyses of the Bol Banao and Bandish thumris,
the role of taal, dadras, instrumental thumris, interrelationships
between various thumri ragas.
N.A. Jairazbhoy
The Rags of North India
Lok Virsa Pakistan,(also Faber and Faber, Britain)
Availability : out of print
Description of contents:Although not quite 'introductory',
I found this book very useful
reading because of the uniqueness of the approach. (The
information about intonation particularly, cleared up much
of my confusion). There is an
emphasis on 'as practised' rather than on theory, and an attempt
is made to systematically classify ragas. Again it would help
to be able to read music (i.e. staff). An example disk by
Vilayat Khan is included with an appendix analyzing these pieces.
B.Subba Rao
Raganidhi, A comparative study of hindustani and karnatak ragas
The Music Academy, Madras, India, 1964
Availability:Cycles in and out of print; only from Karnatic Music Book Store
Description of contents:Short discussions of pretty much all ragas, including
a comparison of similar ragas within the system, and also between the
two systems. The discussion includes the aroh-avaroh, pakad and
sometimes also standard compositions.
Michael Kinnear
A Discography of Hindustani and Karnatic Music
Greenwood Press,1985
Availability:In print, about $ 80
Description of contents: A comprehensive discography, covering mostly the LP
era.
Comments: Art Levine provides the information that Kinnear is currently
involved in a project to put out releases from the first few
decades of sound recording in India, with concurrent releases of
such archival recordings.
Shiv Dayal Batish/ Ashwin Batish
Ragopedia Vol I
Publisher:Batish Records
1310 Mission St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Year of Publication:
Availability:about $35
Description of contents:A short introductory section defines basic terms:
thaat, jati, vadi samvadi, poorvang uttarang, rasa etc. Next,
Sargam notation is explained in terms of staff. A short chapter
explains the construction of a chalan from the ascending and
descending patterns and dominant subdominant note information of a
raga. Chalans are then given for five ragas.
The rest of the volume is an alphabetically arranged sequence of
ragas, with the names of their thaats, the traditional time of play,
the dominant (Vadi) and subdominant (samvadi) notes, and the
ascending and descending scale patterns in staff and sargam notation.
Planned future volumes include Karnatik ragas, as well as chalans
in English etc.
Comments: Its main virtue is its ease of availability in the U.S. and the
use of staff notation for the scales. For a reference work, a complete
absence of references indicates either extraordinary originality
(which we don't want here) or unreliability. Since no information is
given about where the authors got their information from, or what their
training is, difficult to go out to bat with this book.
Author:Chetan Karnani
Title:Listening to Hindustani Music
Publisher:Orient Longmans, India
Year of Publication:
Availability:Libraries
Description of contents:Essays of music criticism.
Comments:The author is a vocalist, and a music critic. These essays deal with
various performers (such as Mallikarjun Mansur, Amir Khan, Nikhil Banerjee,
Ali Akbar Khan) and other general topics (contrasts between western and
Indian music, status of music criticism etc.). Very entertaining and
informative. The author has made a conscious attempt at being 'modern'; a
lot of the criticism is technical and specific rather than emotional and
vague. Must reading.
Wayne, Howard
Samavedic chant
New Haven : Yale University Press, 1977.
Gottleib, Robert <UK>
Solo Tabla Drumming of NIndia
(2 vol + tapes) $68
I just bought this for $59 at a local Indian book store. It is a fine
resource. Gotleib has collected tintaal recordings from historical
performances of several leading figures in four gharannas: Ustad
Wajid Hussain, Ustad Inam Ali Khan, Ustad Karamatullah Khan, Pandit
Kishan Maharaj, Ustad Habibuddin, and Ustad Alla Rakha. He has
transcribed these tapes completely using a western style notation.
He has also provided commentary to these recordings, histories and
geneologies of the gharannas in North India and Nepal, and basic
details of the tabla and musicology. I believe that these volumes
are well worth the money for either the serious conniseur or the
serious student of percussion. My opinion.
Jha, Ramashraya ("Ramrang"). <AL>
Abhinava Geetanjali.
Sangeet Sadan Prakashan, 88 South Malaka, Ilahabad. Durbhash:54973.
India
Here's my pick for the best publication on Hindustani music. 3
volumes, totalling ca. 750 pages, surveying 77 rags (counting the
four type of Patmanjari as separate rags).
Volume 1, 262 pages. 3rd edition, 1989.- 15 rags:
Shyam Kalyan, Shuddh Sarang, Devgiri Bilaval, Yamani Bilaval,
Bhatiyar, Puriya Kalyan, Bilaskhani Todi, Gurjari Todi, Maru Bihag,
Chandrakauns, Jogkauns, Sur Malhar, Madhuvanti, Ahir Bhairav,
Hansadhvani, (Rag Mala)
Volume 2, 255 pages. 3rd edition, 1991.- 30 rags:
Suha Kanhra, Nayaki Kanhra, Shahana, Devsakh, Ramsakh, Bavsakh,
Lachchhasakh, Kafi Kanhra, Kaushik Kanhra, Abhogi Kanhra, Maluha
Kedar, Jaldhar Kedar, Sindhura, Patdeep, Hanskinkani, Pradeepaki,
Barwa, Bhim, Bhim (type 2), Palasi, Rageshwari, Dhani, Gopika
Basant, Gandhari, Devgandhar, Khat, Jhinjhoti, Gara, Tilang, Mand,
Pahadi
Volume 3, 237 pages. 3rd edition, 1991.- 32 rags:
Narayani, Gorakh Kalyan, Khambavati, Janasammohani, Kalavati, Jog,
Nand, Jait Kalyan, Shukla Bilaval, Kukubh Bilaval, Sarparda
Bilaval, Nat Bilaval, Hamir Bilaval, Hemant, Durga (Bilaval thaat),
Pratap Barali, Bihagra, Nat Bihag, Pat Bihag, Chandni Bihag, Miyan
ki Sarang, Madhamad Sarang, Lankadahan Sarang, Samant Sarang,
Badhans Sarang, Jaitashri, Saraswati Sarang, Patmanjari (type 1),
Patmanjari (type 2), Patmanjari (type 3), Patmanjari (type 4),
Basant Mukhari, [8 Thumris]
A couple of factors make *Abhinava Geetanjali* outstanding. First,
many of the compositions are superb, both in terms of the way they
reveal the face of the rag, and for their sheer rhythmic interest.
You'll also note that many of the rags are well into the aprachalit
(rare) category. But the thing that really makes this set great is
the very detailed discussion of the rags themselves. Just to cite
one example: the discussion of Khambavati in vol. 3 consists of a
9-page essay and includes, among other things, a detailed treatment
of the way each individual swara is to be handled. I am not aware
of any other book that comes close to this. Certainly nothing in
English.
And there's the rub, as they say. Armed with a good Hindi-English
dictionary and a reading speed of about three words per hour, I and
the rest of the angloid contingent can basically make out more --
or less -- what Mr. Jha is talking about. But pulling teeth, or what.
So to a statement and a question. Statement: of all the books I
know of written in Hindi on the subject of Hindustani m., this one
is the most valuable both from a theoretical and compositional
point of view, and so is most worthy of being translated into
English. Question: would anyone be interested in having a crack at
one of the essays, just so we can have the translation as a "model"
for what a discussion of rag really can be. And of course, in
saying this, I don't at all mean to take away from the value of the
more "thumbnail" sketches provided in such books as Kaufmann,
Raganidhi or lately, through the efforts of Murali and John, in
rmic. So, any takers for a pioneering translation project? I, for
one, would be eternally grateful.
Prof. P. Sambamoorthy <SV>
South Indian Music - Book 1 through Book 6, 7th edition (1968),
published by The Indian Music Publishing House.
Book 1 - Intro, Musicography, Vocalises
Book 2 - Raga, Tala, 35 Alankaras, Gitas
Book 1 & 2 deal with the theoretical stuff of svara (sruti etc.),
raga, tala, gitams (with examples), the technical terminology involved etc.
Kuppuswamy, Gowri M. <KK>
An Anthology of Indian music
Delhi : Sundeep Prakashan, 1989.
Ayyar, Chandrasekhar Subrahmanya, 1885- <KK>
The grammar of South Indian (Karnatic) music
3rd ed. with two articles. -- Madras : S.V. Shankar, 1976.
Bhagyalekshmy, S. <KK>
Ragas in Carnatic music
Trivandrum, S. India CBH Publications ; Madras :
Available at Karnatic Music Book Centre, c1990.
Dhandapani, M. N. <KK>
Raga pravaham : index to Carnatic ragas / M.N. Dhandapani, D.
Pattammal. -- Madras : Available with Higginbothams, 1984.
Govinda Rao, T. K., 1929- <KK>
Varnamanjari : Karnatak music in roman script
-- 1st ed. -- Madras : Ganamandir Publications, 1979.
Kaufmann, Walter, 1907-
The ragas of South India : a catalogue of scalar material / by
Walter Kaufmann. -- Bloomington : Indiana University Press,
c1976.
Krishnaswamy, A. <KK>
Melakarta and janya raga chart / compiled & designed by A.
Krishnaswamy. -- Madras : Sakthi Priya Publication, 1981.
Nijenhuis, Emmie te. <KK>
The Ragas of Somanatha / by E. te Nijenhuis. -- Leiden : Brill,
1977.
Rajagopalan, N., 1923- <KK>
A garland : a biographical dictionary of Carnatic composers and
musicians / by N. Rajagopalan ; with an article by B. Ramamurthi.
-- Bombay : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1990-
Ramakrishna, Lalita. <KK>
The varnam : a special form in Karnatak music / Lalita Ramakrishna.
-- New Delhi : Harman Pub. House, 1991.
Ramaswami, M. S. (Melur Subbiah), 1916- <KK>
The ambrosia of Muthuswamy Dikshithar / M.S. Ramaswami. -- Madras :
Karnatic Music Book Centre, 1988.
Rangaramanuja Iyengar, R. <KK>
"Sangeeta ratnakaram" of "Nissanka" Sarngadeva / by R.
Rangaramanuja Ayyangar. -- Bombay : Wilco, c1978.
Sambamoorthy, P. <KK>
Aids to the teaching of music / P. Sambamurthy. -- 2nd ed. --
Madras : Indian Music Publishing House, 1984.
Sambamoorthy, P. <KK>
Elements of Western music for students of Indian music / P.
Sambamoorthy. -- Madras : Indian Music Pub. House, [1961?]
Seetha, S. (Subramaniam), 1930- <KK>
Tanjore as a seat of music, during the 17th, 18th, and 19th
centuries / S. Seetha. -- Madras : University of Madras, 1981.
Sundaram, B. M. <KK>
Palaiyazhi = Musical scales / by B.M. Sundaram ; introduction by
S.A.K. Durga. -- Madras, Tamil Nadu, S. India : Murali Ravali Art
Centre, 1979.
Sundaram, B. M. <KK>
Tala sangraha : compendium of talas in Karnatak music / compiled by
B.M. Sundaram. -- Bangalore : Percussive Arts Centre, [1987]
Vedagiri, T. S.
GNB, a biography / by T.S. Vedagiri, K.S. Muthuraman, K.S.
Mahadevan. -- Madras : G.B. Duraiswamy, 1985.
Vidya Shankar.
The art and science of Carnatic music / Vidya Shankar. -- 1st ed.
-- Madras : Music Academy Madras, 1983.
Rangaramanuja Iyengar, R.
Musings of a musician : recent trends in Carnatic music / by R.
Rangaramanuja Ayyangar. -- Bombay : Wilco Pub. House : copies can
be had from Padma Varadan, [pref. 1977]
Shenai, V. A. <KK>
Purandara Dasa : the father of Karnatak music / script, V.A. Shenai
; illustrations, M.N. Nangare. -- Bombay : H.G. Mirchandani :
distributed by India Book House, 1977.
Gautam, M. R. (Madura Ramaswami), 1924-
Evolution of raga and tala in Indian music / M.R. Gautam. -- New
Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1989.
Prajnanananda, Swami.
A historical study of Indian music / by Swami Prajnanananda. -- 2nd
rev. and enl. ed. -- New Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal, 1981.
Sambamoorthy, P
A dictionary of South Indian music and musicians. -- [1st ed.] --
Madras, Indian Pub. House, 1952-
Sambamoorthy, P.
History of Indian music / P. Sambamurthy. -- 2nd ed. -- Madras :
Indian Music Pub. House ; Columbia, Mo. : South Asia Books,
distributor, 1982.
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3. Periodicals:
---------------
Bansuri
Raga Mala Performing Arts of Canada,
216 Varsity Green Bay N.W.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T3B 3A8
Subscription:$5 for each annual issue
Comments on contents: A short magazine (about 30 pages), includes interesting
interviews with musicians and others related to music. Back
issues available.
Name:Sruti
Address:contact Sundaram Sankaran 4318 Puller Dr. Kensington MD 20895
(301) 564-0425
Subscription ($ for n issues a year):
Comments on contents: A madras monthly on dance and music.
To find out about local concerts, it is helpful to get hold of Indian
newspapers and periodicals available in Indian grocery stores or restaurants.
These usually have a 'cultural calendar' or other concert announcements.
*****************************************************************************
Prerana Rani Jayakumar
Hi,
I have been learning karnatic music for some years now
and would like to know if any of you know anyone in the Boston area who
teaches well. If so, could you send me her/his name (and if possible,
phone number)?
Thanks a lot :)
rani
Batish's
>
> From the RMIC FAQ.....
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> An Annotated Bibliography of Indian Music
> -----------------------------------------
> All comments by Murali Sharma unless otherwise noted
> <AL>: Art Levine
> <ymk>: Yellamraju Murali Krishna.
> <KK>: Krishna Kunchithapatham
> <SV>: Sridhar Venkataraman
> <UK>: Umar Khan
>
We do wish you had consulted with us on some of the points, but that's
OK.
To add to the information the author of the review regarded as missing from
this work we would like to invite everyone interested to visit our
World Wide Web site at http://hypatia.ucsc.edu:70/1/RELATED/Batish
You will find further information on the authors, Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish
and his son Shri Ashwin Batish. Panditji has been involved with the Indian
music scene since 1936 and is one of the leading exponents in the field
of North Indian classical music. He has also written "Chalans" on all the
680 plus ragas listed in the Ragopedia. Each Chalan is notated in staff and
sargam notation and each Chalan is also available (in Sargam form) on a
cassette. This Chalan work is in 7 volumes and 700 cassettes (one cassette
per raga). To see the complete list of ragas available please consult our Web
pages.
There is also a bibliography of all the works that were consulted in
creating the Ragopedia. As a matter of fact, the first five chapters mentioned in
the review have been uploaded to the site for everyone to view and study.
The site is undergoing construction but will very soon offer a discussion area
for Questions/Answers with midi files of all the ragas and compositions.
Please contact us if you need further information.
Sandra Batish