Transmission

Audio | “Dedication to her guru, Veena Dhanammal” by Savithri Rajan

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Tips: (1) to automatically play both the sides of the LP-recording, click the play button; (2) to view or download the audio files, item details, liner notes and images, click here; (3) Please be patient if it takes some time to load. – Enjoy! In her private LP recording titled “Dedication to her guru, Veena … Read more

What’s the difference between Hindustani and Carnatic music?

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At first, this question seems easy to answer: just watch performers from either strand of Indian music and you’ll know Which is Which, merely going by the instruments in use, or how they dress and watching the body language involved: harmonium or sarangi vs. violin for melodic accompaniment for most vocal recitals, and tabla drums … Read more

Why Carnatic Music Matters More Than Ever

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by Ludwig Pesch For this musicologist and author, there are good reasons to believe that Carnatic music matters, perhaps more than ever and almost anywhere in the world. So why not perform and teach it in the service of better education for all, for ecological awareness or in order to promote mutual respect in spite … Read more

A music for all: How Carnatic music unites and keeps spreading

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by Ludwig Pesch Carnatic music – the classical music of South India – unites people from a variety of social backgrounds. Over two hundred fifty million people now inhabit a region that comprises five modern states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana) drawn up on the basis of their respective linguistic majorities. They take pride … Read more

Rajeswari Padmanabhan: Vainika, teacher, friend – a tribute in Sruti, A Monthly Magazine on Indian Performing Arts

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By Dr. Pia Srinivasan (15 May 1931 – 8 April 2022) I joined Kalakshetra in 1968 to learn Carnatic music. It was there that I met Rajeswari. It was a great event in my life as I came to realise more and more. Rajeswari, along with her music, is the central figure in my book titled Il … Read more

Unity in Diversity, Antiquity in Contemporary Practice? South Indian Music Reconsidered

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“Unity in Diversity, Antiquity in Contemporary Practice? South Indian Music Reconsidered” by Ludwig Pesch (Amsterdam) in Music – Politics – Identity published by Goettingen University Music always mirrors and acts as a focal point for social paradigms and discourses surrounding political and national identity. The essays in this volume combine contributions on historical and present-day questions … Read more

Flow | The right tempo or “kalapramanam”

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If there is a single feature of Carnatic music to account for its mesmerizing effect on listeners it may well be a feature known as kalapramanam: practicing rhythm (laya)1 and performing in the the “right tempo”2 (kālapramānam) which, once chosen, remains even (until the piece is concluded). Adopting it as part of regular practice enables … Read more