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Category archives: Books and periodicals
Coming soon: the 3rd, digital and free edition: Ragadhana 2020
Both earlier editions of Ragadhana were well received in India and beyond. Being out of print for several years it is time to make it available again as a 3rd (free) edition.
In tune with today’s needs, Ragadhana may now be read as well as browsed:
- online with the help of any browser
- offline via eReader (any tablet or pc)
- in printed form (PDF download)
The present edition incorporates the 2nd, revised and enlarged edition (1993).
Carnatic music is a vast realm with room for both, adherence to tradition and creative exploration of melody in all its diversity. This observation may account for the enthusiastic feedback received received from students, teachers and composers for the earlier editions. The present updates and some additional material are intended as a way of returning their compliments.
“I completely enjoyed the role of being an observer and a commentator”: Sebastian and Sons by T.M. Krishna celebrates the contribution of mrdangam makers

Read the full interview in the Deccan Herald >>
The writing in Sebastian and Sons introduces us to the storyteller in T M Krishna like never before. It’s a non-fictional work written with a novelist’s touch. It makes for a riveting read with the musician’s earnestness to absorb the stories of his subjects and his ability to look at the larger picture shining through. He concurs his approach was unique: “This book was very different writing for me; it was a new form for someone who has largely explored philosophical ideations driven by research (treatises), activism and self-introspection. This is the first time I wrote a book with the approach of a journalist. And it was other people’s stories, which I was trying to make sense of. I completely enjoyed the role of being an observer and a commentator.”
Source: Srivathsan Nadadhur, Deccan Herald, 7 June 2020
URL: https://www.deccanherald.com/sunday-herald/sunday-herald-art-culture/the-melody-of-dissent-an-interview-with-carnatic-vocalist-tm-krishna-845453.html
Date visited: 7 June 2020
Excerpt from S. Gopalakrishnan’s “Another Listening” newsletter
A much awaited book ‘Sebastian and Sons’ by TM Krishna on the evolution of the art of Mridangam making is going to be released on 2 February 2020. ‘The making process is an intellectually, aesthetically and physically taxing one. From acquiring the skins for the circular membranes and straps to the wood for the drum, from curing the material to the final construction, and at the end of it all, making sure that it has the tone that the mrdangam player wants, mrdangam-making is also a highly nuanced operation at every stage. This requires a highly tuned ear and an ability to translate abstract ideas expressed by musicians into the corporeal reality of a mrdangam. Yet, their contribution to the art of the mrdangam is dismissed as labour and repair—when it is spoken of at all.There are legendary mrdangam players, yes; there are also distinguished mrdangam makers, many of them from Dalit Christian communities, who remain on the fringes of the Karnatik community. Sebastian and Sons explores the world of these artists, their history, lore and lived experience to arrive at a more organic and holistic understanding of the music that the mrdangam makes’.
As a dedication to all major Mridangam makers of the past I dedicate Mridangam solos of three all-time masters, Pazhani Subramania Pillai, Palakkad Mani Iyer and Ramanathapuram C S Murugabhoopathy
1. Pazhani Subramania Pillai (1908-1962) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r2FafKt_X8
2. Palakkad Mani Iyer (1912-1981): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Zd8GjQ39w
3. Ramanathapuram CS Murugabhoopathy (1914-1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFXE4aVMT8
Subscribe to the “Another Listening” newsletter for daily Carnatic music recommendations and more: anotherlistening@gmail.com
There is not only myth, but also vocabulary. “In Tamil, ‘thol’ means ‘skin’ and ‘thattu’ means ‘plate’. Mridangam players will talk about thattu, but not about thol,” Krishna said. “These were all ways of distancing.”

Read “T.M. Krishna speaks about his new book, Sebastian and Sons at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet” (21 January 2020): https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/mridangam-the-cowhide-conundrum/cid/1739616
Book search (India)
List of sites covered by this Google custom search engine
- http://carnaticbooks.com
- https://www.dkagencies.com
- https://india.oup.com
- https://www.mittalbooks.com
- https://www.orientblackswan.com
- https://penguin.co.in
- https://www.routledge.com
- https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in
- https://www.sruti.com
- https://www.thehindu.com
Enter a book title, author’s name or any subject of special interest in the above search field.
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The idea of singing birds: A tribute to a vital artistic tradition – Book Review

Photo © Telegraph Calcutta
A Southern music: The Karnatik story
By T.M. Krishna, HarperCollins, Rs 699 | Read the full review here >>
If a successful and busy Karnatic singer takes time off in order to write reflections on South Indian or “Karnatic” music, the book release function is bound to be met with considerable interest. […]
He pays tribute to the tambura (the tanpura) as “the life-giver, the soul of our music”. For Krishna, “it is the one instrument that can be said to hold within itself the very essence of classical music. So unobtrusive is this instrument, so self-effacing in its positioning on the stage and so tender of nature, that it is almost taken for granted.” Sadly, the tambura is rarely played “live” even during live concerts where it tends to be drowned by its electronic surrogate with devastating effect. Restoring its presence would seem indispensable in efforts such as those outlined under two chapter headings, “To Remove the Barriers Imposed by the Music” and “To Expand the Listenership of Karnatic Music”. The very concept of “fusion” is dismissed as a “lopsided idea of the music.” […]
The fact that 15 out of 588 pages are assigned to an Index is welcome in view of the publisher’s ambition to provide readers with a “path-breaking overview of South Indian classical music.” A mere glance at the Contents page and Index proves that, as in his concerts, T.M. Krishna would take nothing for granted, starting with instructions titled “A Note on Reading”. […]
LUDWIG PESCH
Source: The idea of singing birds
Address : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140228/jsp/opinion/story_18023416.jsp#.UxC3W16kAfl
Date Visited: Fri Feb 28 2014 17:21:31 GMT+0100 (CET)
More >>
Up-to-date information: Composers, musicians, scholars, publications and special events
Custom search – press and websites
For up-to-date information from several leading periodicals and other websites, simply type one or several keywords such as a personal name or institution you want to learn more about (e.g. “carnatic”, “karnatak composer”, “hindustani musician”, “ragamalika”); optionally add a city or state (e.g. “Madurai singer”, “Karnataka violinist”, “Trivandrum music festival”, “Chennai music season”):
To confine results to one website, include its name in the search field (e.g. “MS Subbulakshmi sruti.com” or “MS Subbulakshmi musicresearch.org”).
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Periodicals and other recommended sites included in the above Google custom search:
Find a copy of The Oxford Illustrated Companion

The textbook for this course, The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music is available from its publisher and several other distributors:
- For more information and orders, please visit the publisher’s websites: OUP India and OUP worldwide >>
- For new and used copies, also search and compare prices on Abebooks.com, Amazone.com, Bettereducation.com (Australia), Betterworldbooks.com
- Suppliers in The Netherlands: Athenaeum.nl & Bol.com >>
Library copies
ISBN for copy-paste in the WorldCat search field:
9780195699982
Tips
- use of the “Enter your location” search field on finding the above or related book titles with the held of WorldCat.org
- also compile your personal WorldCat study list: create a free account for this purpose
- for other publications (books and articles) by Ludwig Pesch on WorldCat.org please check here >>
Disclaimer: all links are for information purposes only … | Read more >>
Open access version (text and audio files): The goddess Māriyammaṉ in music and in sociology of religion

The Goddess Mariyamman in Music and in Sociology of Religion by Pia Srinivasan Buonomo & S. A. Srinivasan (German) >>
Listen to the four recordings here; and download the audio and text files on
https://archive.org/details/mariyamman-in-music >>

The mridangam makers of Mylapore

https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/the-mridangam-makers-of-mylapore
Jesudas and his son Edwin are skilled craftsmen, known in the Carnatic music universe of Chennai and elsewhere for the mridangams they give life to, though they still face occasional communal biases | Read the full article with more images in full size here >>
Tip | Online research library: Musicresearchlibrary.net
Merger of websites: The two sites www.musicresearch.in and www.musicresearchlibrary.net have now merged! We have closed www.musicresearch.in and moved its contents to www.musicresearchlibrary.net. In the ‘musicresearchlibrary.net’ site, a menu ‘musicresearch.in‘ has been created which will house some of the earlier contributions of senior scholars. Please like and follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Musicresearchlibraryadmin/ for latest news and updates.
Unity in Diversity, Antiquity in Contemporary Practice? South Indian Music Reconsidered
“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 about the relationship between politics and musical creativity. The first part concentrates on musical identity and political reality, discussing ideological values in musical discourses. The second part deals with (musical) constructions, drwawing on diverse national connections within our own and foreign identity. – Matthew Gardner & Hanna Walsdorf (eds.)
To read or download (free), click here: South-Indian-Music-Reconsidered-Ludwig-Pesch-Goettingen-2016-print