Category archives: Resources

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:

  1. Deccan Herald
  2. Hindustantimes.com
  3. The Indian Express
  4. Livemint.com
  5. Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music by music historian V. Sriram
  6. Newindianexpress.com
  7. Sruti.com
  8. Telegraphindia.com (The Telegraph Calcutta)
  9. Thebetterindia.com
  10. TheHindu.com
  11. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Tips: alternative custom search options | Search window >>

For information on places, persons, instruments or institutions

“The tambura is back. But where are the players?” – Interviews in The Hindu

Gaining prominence

Despite the many alternatives available today, fortunately we still get to see the tambura player on stage. In fact, the first thing many musicians do after accepting a concert date is to book their preferred tambura player. As more musicians show a renewed interest in the instrument, the tambura is experiencing a resurgence. Paradoxically, though, the number of dedicated artistes playing it is declining. […]

[Eminent violinist] RK Shriramkumar laments the fact that one needs to refer to the instrument as an acoustic tambura to distinguish it from its electronic version. “It’s a tragedy that musicians have brought upon themselves by settling for electronic versions. Just as instrumentalists are expected to bring their own instruments to concerts, vocalists must be instructed to bring tamburas. Students should be encouraged to play the tambura for their gurus on stage to experience the constant give and take.”

Source: “The tambura is back. But where are the players?” by Lakshmi Anand in The Hindu 2 December 2021

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/the-tambura-is-back-but-where-are-the-players/article37806267.ece

Date accessed: 29 June 2022

Information about the persons, items or topics

Learn & practice more

Video | Raga Alapana on the Veena – The Music Academy Madras

Date: 30th Dec 2022, 8.00 am
By Vidushi Jayanthi Kumaresh

How does a vainika internalize a raga1 before he or she presents it?

Information about the persons, items or topics

Learn & practice more

  1. The most concise definition of a raga may be that by Joep Bor: a tonal framework for composition and improvisation. [↩]

Tyagaraja (1767-1847) – Sruti Magazine

Tyagaraja Aradhana Festival
at Kalakshetra
Photo © Ludwig Pesch

The period 1750-1850 was a golden era in world music, when some of the greatest musician-composers lived and enriched the field. In Europe, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schumann and others lived during this period and created the symphony repertoire. It is a significant coincidence that the Carnatic Music trinity—Tyagaraja (1767-1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar (1776-1835) and Syama Sastry (1762-1827)—lived in a single area in Tanjore District during the same period.
As a tribute to Tyagaraja as we celebrate his 250th birth anniversary, we explore Tyagaraja’s compositions, his contribution to Carnatic music, his lyrics from the point of view of literature, prosody and poetics, his creation and craftsmanship of ragas1 and his devotion to Rama.

Source: “Tyagaraja 250: His art and craft: Cover Story by Pappu Venugopala Rao (Sruti Magazine, Issue 393)
URL: https://www.sruti.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=6&product_id=465
Date Visited: 6 December 2021

Order details & finding a library copy >>

For details on the classical music of South India (including staff notation for ragas covered in the Flow series), see the present author’s critically acclaimed reference work: The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music >>

Information about the persons, items or topics

Learn & practice more

  1. The most concise definition of a raga may be that by Joep Bor: a tonal framework for composition and improvisation. [↩]

Find a copy of The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music

The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music
OUP India >> 
OUP worldwide >>

An indispensable and enriching reference for the connoisseur, practicing musician and dancer, interested amateur, impresario, teacher, and student, this completely revised, updated, and enlarged edition will also inform and engage anybody keen on learning more about Indian culture.

Publication date: 27/01/2009 (Hardback, 552 pages)

Critical acclaim from India and beyond
“Pesch’s sumptuous Illustrated Companion is a delight”, “the most thorough study of Carnatic music”, “a marvellous work”, “a thorough, and scientifically accurate companion to our classical music” that includes a “useful chapter on voice training”; in short “pure reading pleasure”

Used as textbook for this course, The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music is readily available. For order details please visit the publisher’s websites: Oxford University Press India & Global OUP >>

Please beware of inflated prices quoted for used copies compared to the publisher’s list price (see OUP India): the revised 2nd edition has been in print since publication.

Should your preferred supplier fail to deliver, copies may also be arranged arranged (at short notice & cost price) via Contact >>

Overview

  • Overview of music, instruments, composers, schools, etc.
  • Visuals of instruments, major composers, etc.; also colour plates
  • Biographical notes on musicians and composers
  • Guide to Pronunciation and Transliteration, Alphabetical Index of Ragas and Scales, Index of Names

Description | OUP India & Global OUP >>

This is a completely revised and updated edition of The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music, which includes the latest available information on the subject. Acclaimed as the most authoritative reference work on South Indian classical music, the Companionprovides an overview of the historical and cultural contexts of the music, its instruments, composers, leading practitioners, and schools.

The Companion features more than 120 line drawings and photographs of all the instruments discussed, as well as of major composers, and a special colour plates section, make this an indispensable guide to classical music of the sub-continent. With detailed biographical notes on musicians and composers, a guide to pronunciation and transliteration, an alphabetical index of ragas and scales, and more, this reference becomes truly invaluable.

An indispensable and enriching reference work for the connoisseur, practicing musician, interested amateur, impresario, teacher, and student, the Companion will be of interest to anybody keen to learn about Indian culture.

Disclaimer: hyperlinks are meant for fact-checking and information purposes only >>