“Useful chapter on voice training” – A History of Singing

Ludwig Pesch, The Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999) is a lengthy introduction to Carnatic music, with a useful chapter on voice training.

John Potter and Neil Sorrell, A History of Singing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. (Sources and references, p. 310)
isbn 9780521817059

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

Paper and Lecture Recital at the International Congress of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung

Music | Musics. Structures and Processes
15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung Goettingen

Title of the presentation by Manickam Yogeswaran & Ludwig Pesch: “Unity in diversity, antiquity in contemporary practice? A fresh look at South Indian music”

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Press coverage: A musical picture book from Kerala

vaitari_01_cover_boats

Vaitari: A musical picture book from Kerala by V.C. Arun with an Introduction for educators and parents by Ludwig Pesch

Making studies as pleasant as music
Review by A. Sangameswaran

Two musicologists of international repute are on an innovative mission to educate music lovers across the world about the intrinsic value of Carnatic music as a potential tool for education and blending cultures.

The Indo-Swiss research project, titled “Sam, reflection, gathering together,” is being executed jointly by Emanuel Wuethrich and Ludwig Pesch, in association with Natana Kairali at Irinjalakuda. […]

Their experiments to use Carnatic music for educating students with varying capabilities across the world have yielded remarkable results too.

They conducted joint programmes in different parts of the State to share their teaching and learning experiences.

They say that there is ample scope for introducing some of the Carnatic music lessons in classrooms, adult education and also rehabilitation programmes for the physically and mentally challenged.

THE HINDU, Kerala edition, Sunday 13 August 2006 (Online edition of India’s National Newspaper)

Preserving a rich cultural tradition
The Indian education system boasts of a past where knowledge was imparted to the next generation by word of mouth. To pass on the teachings of various art forms, the masters devised various techniques.

One among them is rhythmic syllables or phrases called Vaaythaari. These rhythmic phrases, in the case of percussion arts, are construed in such a way that their recitation resembles the sound generated by the instrument, be it the chenda, maddalam, mizhavu, mridangam or edakka. […]

Professor Immanuel Wuthrich, a musicologist at the Bern University of Arts (Switzerland), and Ludwig Pesch, a musicologist and Indologist, have documented this system. Under the joint auspices of the Bern University of Arts and Natanakairali, Irinjalakuda, a workshop was conducted two years ago at Irinjalakuda on the intangible aspects of oral traditions. […]

In the workshop that followed, a lecture-demonstration by Nirmala Panicker on the incorporation of rhythmic syllables in Mohiniyattam, an oral exercise by Vayali, a class by P. Nandakumar on the rhythmic phrases and patterns used in playing the edakka and the mridangam, a demonstration by Kalanilayam Prakasan on the phrases used in maddalam and a painting class by V. C. Arun were included. […]

The organisers hope that the workshop will help create awareness about Kerala’s rich folk art culture.

THE HINDU, Thiruvananthapuram, Friday Review (Online edition of India’s National Newspaper), Friday, Sep 14, 2007

AT HOME with Master Musicians of Madras by Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy

Madras is one of the most musical cities in the world, where thousands of concerts of South Indian classical music every year. Most Madras musicians begin their training in the nurturing environment of the home. In this series, several top musicians are seen in family settings as they teach their children and students, discuss their views of Karnatak music and its spiritual dimensions, and demonstrate elements of this unique devotional classical tradition.

Volume 1: T.N. Krishnan (violinist)

VOLUME I follows a day in the life of world-famous violinist T.N. Krishnan, beginning in the private space of his home where he teaches his two remarkable children, Viji, age 14, and Sriram, age 8, both now acclaimed violinists. He then delivers an elegant and charming demonstration of Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi, and guides us through his photo album. After interviews with Viji and Sriram, we enter public space to take a drive through the sights of Madras with TNK’s narration. We then arrive at Shastri Hall, where he performs a public concert, with his daughter Viji and the century’s greatest mrdangam drummer, the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer (1915-1981).

Source: AT HOME with Master Musicians of Madras Volume I
http://www.apsara-media.com

Volume IV: South Indian Classical Music House Concert with M. D. RAMANATHAN (vocalist), T.N. Krishnan (violin) and Umayalpuram Sivaraman (mridangam)

Manjapara Devesa Ramanathan (1923-1984), the disciple of “Tiger” Varadachariar, was a gifted vocalist and composer remembered for his uniquely creative, sensitive, and unpredictable style. “MDR” was awarded the Padma Sri by the Government of India in 1974 and the Sangit Natak Akademi Award in 1975.

VOLUME IV Manjapara Devesa Ramanathan appears in rare video footage recorded by Fredric Lieberman and Amy Catlin in 1977. He presents with consummate artistry a one-hour concert of carefully selected gems covering a wide range of materials in Telugu and Sanskrit by the greatest classical Karnatak composers.  Completing the trio are the esteemed accompanists Padma Bhushan T. N. Krishnan, violin, and Padma Sri Umayalpuram Sivaraman, mridangam.

Source: At Home Volume IV
Address : http://www.apsara-media.com/At%20Home%20v4.html
Date Visited: Mon Jun 18 2012 23:15:55 GMT+0200 (CEST)

Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy’s research, writing, teaching, curatorial activities, and multi-media publications often have an applied focus, aimed at community development of minority traditions, especially in diasporic settings. She served as curator and presented the first concert and lecture tour outside India with a group of African-Indian Sidi performers from Gujarat, in September 2002, traveling with them in England and Wales. Her recent publications include Sidi Sufis: African Indian Mystics of Gujarat(Aspara Media 2002: 79-minute CD), the volume co-edited with Indian Ocean historian Edward Alpers, Sidis and Scholars: Essays on African Indians (New Delhi: Rainbow Publications and New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2003) and the DVD, The Sidi Malunga Project (2004). Funding for her research has come from such agencies as NEA, NEH, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the American Philosophical Society, Fulbright, the Indo-US Subcommission, and the American Institute of Indian Studies.

Her most recent publication is the DVD, Music for a Goddess, a continuing applied ethnomusicology project concerning Dalit (formerly known as Untouchable) Devidasis (women musicians dedicated to the Goddess) of the Deccan (India’s central plateau, where the most severe rural poverty reigns in many regions).

Source: Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy Bio
Address : https://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1135:amy-catlin-jairazbhoy-bio&catid=7&Itemid=226
Date Visited: 18 June 2012

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