Hindustani music
Subtitle: a tradition in transition
By: by Deepak S. Raja ; foreword by Shivkumar Sharma ; introduction by Lyle Wachovsky.
Series: New vistas in Indian performing arts ;; no. 7
Publisher: D.K. Printworld; DK Printworld
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New Delhi
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
Description: About the Book:

"Hindustani Music: A tradition in transition" is a wide-ranging survey of the North Indian tradition of classical music during the post-independence period. Explicitly, this book addresses music lovers of above-average familiarity with Hindustani music, and their curiosity about its inner workings. It is, however, also a valuable reference for scholars and other writers on music.

The book is based on author's long years of training as a musician, vast experience as an analyst of music, and an observer of the cultural environment.

This book is divided into six parts.

Part I articulates an Indian perspective on important societal, cultural, economic and technological drivers of Hindustani music.

Part II discusses issues pertaining to presentation formats, and the structural and melodic aspects of Hindustani music.

Part III deals with the notion of raga-ness, and the world of ragas.

Part IV presents comprehensive backgrounders on the four major genres of vocal music - Dhrupad, Khayal, Thumree, and Tappa.

Part V features detailed fact-sheets on eight major melodic instruments of Hindustani tradition - Rudra Veena, Sitar, Surbahar, Sarod, Sarangi, Shehnai, Santoor, and the Indian classical (Hawaiian) guitar.

Part VI presents a glossary of words in italics, a list of suggested readings, and an index.

The book makes complex musicological concepts accessible to non-academic readers, and contributes significantly to widening the understanding of contemporary trends in Hindustani music. Written by an author of impeccable credentials as a musician, researchers, and author, this book is very significant addition to a body of authoritative writing on 20th century Hindustani music.

Experts from Reviews:

" I commend Deepak Raja's book as a serious review of the Hindustani music tradition in the post-independence era. Deepak is an author with a keen analytical mind, imbued with a scientific approach. His chapters on raga grammar, raga authenticity, raga chemistry, and introductory essays on Dhrupad, Khayal, Thumree and Tappa can be of immense value to music students and scholars. His essays on the time-theory of ragas is a thought-provoking piece of writing, which deserves the attention of the music fraternity in view of the changing context of music performance and enjoyment. I sincerely hope that this book will be widely read, and will encourage the serious discussion and debate on different facets of Hindustani music"

Shiv Kumar Sharma

" Deepak Raja's volume is a welcome overview of the recent trends in Hindustani music. It provides a panoramic, rather than encyclopedic, appraisal of important developments in Hindustani music, and confronts us with the problems that Indian classical music faces today Raja has a very definite point of view and argues it passionately."

Lyle Wachovsky

About the Author:

Deepak Raja [Born: 1948] is amongst the finest contemporary writers on Hindustani music. He is a Repertoire Analyst for Indian Archive Music Ltd., New York, the most influential procedure of Hindustani music outside India. He is also a columnist for Sruti, the performing arts monthly, and frequently contributes papers to seminars and journals of the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy, Sangeet Natak Akademi, and the Indian Musicological Society.

The author is a sitar and surbahar player of the Imdad Khan/ Etawah gharana, trained for over forty years by two of its stalwarts, Shri Pulin Deb Burman, and Pandit Arvind Parikh. He studies Khayal under Pandit Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. As a performer, he is respected for the soundness of his approach to music, and his command over the instruments.

Deepak Raja took a BA Honours degree from Delhi University, an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and studied advertising at the Watford College of Technology in the UK. For over thirty years, he has been a prolific writer on media industry, including the Editorship of Business India. While being well versed in the tradition concepts of Indian musicology, he brings to the subject a fresh perspective using the conceptual tools and analytical methods cultivated by his careers in media research, business journalism and financial consultancy.

______________________________________________

CONTENTS

	Foreword	VII
	Preface	XIII
	Acknowledgements	XXV
	Key to Transliteration	XXIX
	Prologu	1
	Not by Accident Alone	2
	The Bigger Picture	3
	The Language Issue	5
	Issues of Objectivity	6
	The Writer's Role	7
	Towards Connoisseur Activism 	9
	Clarity of Purpose	11
	Introduction	13
	
PART I
	
Culture, Technology and Economics
	
1.1	Populism and Rival Forces	25
	The Emergence of a Market	26
	Dimensions of Populism	27
	The Conservationist Reaction	29
	The Unlikely Ally	32
1.2	If Peanuts is What You Pay	36
	The Changing Context	37
	The Economics	38
	The Bottom-line	41
1.3	Government, Business and Classical Music	42
	The Traditional Patronage Model	42
	Benefactor Qualifications	44
	Reconfiguring Benefaction 	47
1.4	Pandits and Ustads Aplenty	49
1.5	Archival Music and the Cultural Process	55
	Obsolescence in Recorded Music	56
	The Archival Music Market	57
	Generations as "Markets" 	59
	Continuity and Change	61
	The Challenge from the Graveyards	61
	The Yardstick of Musicianship	64
	The "Virtual Guru" 	66
	The Big Picture	69
1.6	A Requiem for the Gharanas	71
	What is Gharana? 	71
	Favourable Conditions	73
	The Golden Age of Hindustani Music	77
	Chinks in the Armor	78
	The Gharana "Brands" Today	81
	
PART II
	
Form, Idiom and Format
	
2.1	Architecture in Modern Hindustani Music	87
	The Architectural Metaphor	88
	Function and Structure	89
	The Linearity of Progression	90
	The Cyclicity of Melodic Exploration	93
	The Econometric Model	96
	A Case Study	97
	The Duration Factor	99
	The Argument	100
2.2	Instrumental Idioms Anga or Apanga	102
	Source Material of the Hindustani Material	103
	Adoption and Adaptation	104
	Deviations and Innovations	105
	Aucitya in Innovation 	107
	Aucitya - The Idea	110
2.3	The Jugalbandi Racket	111
	Jugalbandi Patterns	112
	The Burden of Evidence	113
	Experimentation and Propriety	115
2.4	Tihayis and the Rape of Melody	117
	The Logic of Tihayis	118
	Placement, Function, and Aesthetics	120
	The Aesthetic and the Grotesque	121
	
PART III
	
The World of Ragas
	
3.1	The Raga-ness of Ragas	125
	The Melodic Grammar of Ragas	130
	The Aesthetic Grammar of Ragas	133
3.2	Raga Chemistry and Beyond	138
	The Allotrope	139
	The Compound	141
	The Emulsion	143
	Chemistry Defines Options	145
	The Raga-Malika	146
	Beyond Chemistry	147
	Raga Chemistry and you	149
3.3	Raga: Right and Wrong	150
	Nomenclature 	151
	Rare Ragas and their Compounds	152
	Creative License 		153
	Raga Evolution	154
	Grammatical Propriety	156
	The Bottom-Line	157
3.4	Kedara at Sunrise	159
	The Theory	162
	A Rational Perspective	165
3.5	The Experience of Melody: From Dhrupad to Santura	168
	Melody in Dhrupad	169
	Melody in Khayala	171
	Melody on the Sitara	172
	Melody on the Saroda	174
	Melody on the Flute	175
	Melody on the Santura	175
	What the Trends Imply	176
	The Concept of a Genre	178
	The Concept of a Music-Scape	179
	Alarm and Reassurance	182
	
PART IV
	
The Major Genres
	
4.1	An Introduction to Dhrupad	185
	An Aesthetic Perspective 	188
	Stylistic Diversity	189
	Gharanas of Dhrupad	191
	Melodic Expressions in Dhrupad	192
	The Talas of Dhrupad	194
	Raga Presentation Structure	195
	Variants on the Raga Presentation Structure	199
	The Ensemble for Dhrupad Performance 	200
	A Structural Analysis	201
	The Nature of Appeal	202
	Dhrupad Today	204
4.2	An Introduction to Khayala	207
	The Plastic Arts Metaphor Applied to Khayala Music	208
	History and Evolution	209
	The Gharanas of Khayala Music	210
	The Ensemble for Khayala Performance	213
	The Format of Khayala Presentation	213
	Melodic Expressions in the Khayala Genre	215
	The Poetic Element in the Khayala Vocalism	217
	Articulation in Khayala Music	218
	The Structure of Compositions	220
	Khayala Presentation Protocol	220
	The Typology of Tanas	222
	The Aesthetics of Tanas	224
	Trends in Khayala Vocalism	226
4.3	An Introduction to Thumari	229
	Sources of the Thumari Tradition	231
	Stylistic Evolution	232
	Landmark Personalities	236
	Poetry in Thumari 	241
	Ragas in Thumari	243
	Tala in Thumari	244
	Dadara, The Genre	245
	Ensemble for Thumari Performances	246
	Bandisa Thumari: Structure and Rendition	246
	Bola-banao Thumari: Structure and Rendition	248
	Thumari in Instrumental Music	250
	The Thumari Today	253
4.4	Introduction to the Tappa	257
	Historical Outline	258
	Salient Stylistic Features	261
	The Tappa Today	263
	
PART V
	
The Major Instruments
	
5.1	The Rudra Vina	269
	Organology	270
	History 	271
	Design	274
	Ergonomics	276
	Acoustics	278
	Stroke Craft	279
	Techniques of Melodic Execution 	280
	Recent Bina Music	281
	The Disappearing Breed	287
5.2	The Sitara	290
	The Masit Khani Gata	291
	The Raza Khani Gata	292
	Sitara Styles	293
	Techniques of Melodic Execution	294
	The Singing Sitara	295
5.3	The Surabahara 	298
	Surabahara and the Imdad Khan Lineage	300
5.4	The Saroda	303
	History	303
	Organology	305
	Design and Tuning	306
	Acoustics	307
	Ergonomics	307
	The Saroda Idiom	309
	Techniques of Melodic Execution	309
	New Path to Sculpting of Melody	311
5.5	The Santura	314
	Organology 	315
	Construction and Tuning	317
	Evolutionary Perspectives	318
	Shiv Kumar Sharma's Music	321
	The Santura after Shiv Kumar Sharma 	324
5.6	The Sehnayi	328
	Organology	328
	Design	329
	Idiom and Repertoire	330
	Genres in Sehnayi Music	331
	The Ensemble for Sehnayi Performances	332
	The Disappearing Sehnayi	332
5.7	The Sarangi	334
	Construction, Design, and Tuning	335
	Playing Technique	336
	The Role of the Sarangi in Music	336
	The Harmonium Challenge and the Response	338
	The Sarangi - As the Second Fiddle and the First	340
5.8	The Indian Classical Guitar	343
	Evolutionary Perspectives	344
	The Vicitra Vina Legacy	346
	Kabra's Guitar	347
	After Kabra	349

	Glossary	351
	Suggested Bibliography	419
	Index	423
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [419]-421) and index.