Hindustani Music, A Tradition in Transition

"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 the author's long years of training as a musician, vast experience as an analyst of music, and an observer of the cultural environment.

The 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 the 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.

Deepak Raja [b: 1948] is amongst the most respected writers on Hindustani music today. He works as Repertoire Analyst for India Archive Music Ltd. New York, the most influential producer of Hindustani music outside India and is closely associated with the academic and publishing activities of the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy, Sangeet Natak Akademi, and the Indian Musicological Society. His first book: Hindustani Music: A Tradition in Transition, was published in 2005. In 1999, he co-edited a volume titled Perspectives on Dhrupad for the Indian Musicological Society.

The author, a musicologist, is a sitar and surbahar player of the Imdad Khan/Etawah Gharana, and studies Khayala under Vidushi Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Deepak Raja took an Honours degree in Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science from Delhi University, a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Advertising Administration from the Watford College of Technology in Hertfordshire, UK. He has occupied important positions in the media industry, including Editor of Business India, and Secretary General of the Indian Newspaper Society.