Question: The Vijayanagara musicological nonet consists of a work that is one of the most important what?

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Cabildo (opera): Cabildo is the only opera by the American composer Amy Beach, her opus 149.  This chamber opera is in one act and has a libretto by Nan Bagby Stephens.  Beach composed the music in 1932 and made use of folksong and Creole tunes.  However, the work was not performed in her lifetime and received its first performance in 1947.  Subsequent performances were in 1981, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and in 1982, at the American Musicological Society meeting and the Sonneck Society.  The first fully professional production was on May 13, 1995, as part of the "Great Performers at Lincoln Center" series, led by Ransom Wilson and directed by Hans Nieuwenhuis.

Karl Leichter: Karl Leichter (October 13, 1902 in Näpi, Sõmeru – March 7, 1987 in Tallinn) was an Estonian musicologist.  He graduated in 1929 in theory and composition, studying under Heino Eller with pupils such as Eduard Tubin, Alfred Karindi, Eduard Oja and Olav Roots.  Between 1929-1931 he worked in the Estonian Folklore Archives.  Following World War II and the ensuing Soviet occupation of Estonia, he worked hard to re-establish functioning musical education and musicological research.  For a short period, he was dean of Tallinn State Conservatory, but quickly lost his position due to political reasons.  Only after Stalin's death could he slowly work his way back to a position as a teacher and eventually as the Chair of the Department of Composition and Musicology.  He later worked in Stockholm and Helsinki.  The Eduard Tubin Museum of Alatskivi Castle today contains exhibits related to him and his other peers who studied with him at the Tartu school.  His large archive of correspondence with many important musicians throughout Estonia and abroad was donated by his widow to the Estonian Museum of Theatre and Music in the 1990s.

De Viris Illustribus (Jerome): De Viris Illustribus ("On Illustrious Men") is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th-century Latin Church Father Jerome.  He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392-3 CE.  The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography.  Jerome himself is the subject of the final chapter.  A Greek version of the book, possibly by the same Sophronius who is the subject of Chapter 134, also survives.  Many biographies take as their subject figures important in Christian Church history and pay especial attention to their careers as writers.  It "was written as an apologetic work to prove that the Church had produced learned men."  The book was dedicated to Flavius Dexter, who served as high chamberlain to Theodosius I and as praetorian prefect to Honorius.  Dexter was the son of Saint Pacianus, who is eulogized in the work.

Svaramelakalanidhi: Swaramelakalanidhi is a much celebrated musicological treatise of 16th century Vijayanagara.  Authored by Ramamatya in the year 1550, the work is counted among the "sangita shastra navaratnas" or the nine 'gems' of the theory of Karnataka Music.  The work's importance lies in the fact that it is more relevant and related to modern practice than the books written prior to it.  Spread over five chapters, it deals primarily with the theory of "raga", describes the "melas" for the classification of "raga" -and the different "shuddha svaras" and "vikrta svaras" constituting the "melas".

Sangita Ratnakara: The Sangita-Ratnakara (IAST: Saṅgīta ratnākara), literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important Sanskrit musicological texts from India.  Composed by Sharngadeva in the 13th century, both Hindustani music and Carnatic music traditions of Indian classical music regard as a definitive text.  The author was a part of the court of King Singhana II (1210–1247) of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri, Maharashtra.

Dravidian architecture: Dravidian architecture was an architectural idiom that emerged in the Southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India.  It consists primarily of temples with pyramid shaped towers and are constructed of sandstone, soapstone or granite.  Mentioned as one of three styles of temple building in the ancient book Vastu shastra, the majority of the existing structures are located in the Southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.  Various kingdoms and empires such as the Cholas, the Chera, the Kakatiyas, the Pandyas, the Pallavas, the Gangas, the Rashtrakutas, the Chalukyas, the Hoysalas, and Vijayanagara Empire among others have made substantial contribution to the evolution of Dravidian architecture.  This styled architecture can also be found in parts of North India (Teli ka Mandir Gwalior, Bhitargaon Baitala Deula, Bhubaneshwar), Northeastern and central Sri Lanka.

Harihara II: Harihara II ಹರಿಹರ ೨ (1377–1404 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.  He patronised Kannada poet Madhura, a Jaina.  An important work on Vedas was completed during his time.  He earned the titles "Vaidikamarga Sthapanacharya" and "Vedamarga Pravartaka".

Classical Archives: Classical Archives LLC is an online digital music store focused exclusively on classical music.  Originally opening as the Classical MIDI Archives in 1994 primarily as a repository for free MIDI sequences of classical music works, in August, 2000 the site incorporated as Classical Archives, LLC, and has since been also offering commercial label recordings for both streaming and downloading.  Non-members can stream 60-second samples from any track on the Classical Archives.  For a monthly fee of $7.99 (or $87.89 a year) members can stream any track, work, or album in its entirety from the site’s catalogue, and receive a discount of 10% on the price of downloads.  Both members and non-members can access detailed musicological information for each work: movements, genre, principal instruments, year of composition, and key.  Additionally, nearly every composer’s biography is provided.  Free streaming radio is available for computers and mobile devices that also includes a device to close the connection in one hour, if desired.

Vijayanagara musicological nonet: The Vijayanagara musicological nonet or the Sangitashastra navaratna are a group of nine musicological treatises written during the reign of the Vijayanagara empire.  These works are counted among the most important and definitive treatises in Carnatic music theory.  Each of these works contributed seminally to the growth of the Carnatic music tradition.  These nine works are the "Sangitasara" by the sage Vidyaranya, "Taladipika" by Salva Gopa Tippendra, "Sangitakalanidhi" by Kallinatha, Bhandaru Vittaleshwara's commentary on the "Sangita Ratnakara", Bhandaru Lakshminarayana's "Sangitasuryodaya", Achyutadevaraya's "Talakalabdhi/Talakalavriddhi" and the much celebrated "Swaramelakalanidhi" by Ramamatya.

Tanabe Hisao Prize: The Tanabe Hisao Prize (Japanese: 田辺尚雄音楽賞 or 田辺尚雄賞 ) (often known more simply as the "Tanabe Prize") was created in 1983 by the Tōyō Ongaku Gakkai (Japanese: 東洋音楽学会 , "Society for Research in Asiatic Music"), the oldest musicological society of Japan (headquartered in Tokyo).  The prize is named after the musicologist Tanabe Hisao (Japanese: 田辺尚雄 ,1883–1984), one of the founding members of the society.  The prize is awarded annually to one or several individuals or groups who have published an outstanding work of Asian musicology during the previous year, one that "promotes further research in Asian musicology and contributes to Japanese scholarship."  It is generally considered the most prestigious award in the field of Asian musicology awarded in Japan.

Supporting paragraphs: Vijayanagara musicological nonet Sangita Ratnakara
Answer: Sanskrit musicological texts