tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74216071523452394102024-03-14T04:50:14.523+05:30Deepak Raja's world of Hindustani MusicExplorations in the realm of Hindustani music.
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-86814811757925187092021-12-09T11:46:00.005+05:302021-12-09T13:56:44.697+05:30Briefs on Hindustani musical instruments The classification of instruments: Around 3000 BC, the Chinese are known to have classified musical instruments based on the
material from which they were made. Stone, wood, leather, bamboo, copper, silk etc. This
classification reflected the crafts that were involved in making/ repairing/
maintaining them. Around 200 BC, the Natyashastra written by Bharata
classified them in the basisDeepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-84697830948071392452021-12-05T12:33:00.004+05:302021-12-06T18:52:22.966+05:30The enigma called “taseer”I often discussed with Ustad Vilayat Khan
the music of famous pre-independence musicians, whom I had not heard personally,
but he would have certainly heard. In one of those conversations, the topic drifted towards
early 20th century Rudra Veena music.I had heard a few available
recordings of Ustad Dabeer Khan, and thought his music was unrefined compared
to the music of recent Beenkars like Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-29857585980496302312021-12-04T18:29:00.007+05:302021-12-04T22:55:31.898+05:30What is music? Attempts at defining music
generally begin with “Structured/ organised Sound”, and end up questioning this
definition. A universally acceptable definition may not yet exist. Scholars
have, however, devised a workable description, which enables them to pursue
their study of musical activity. A brief look at the issues is interesting.
It is argued that “Structure” cannot be part of an Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-73111392346431936222021-04-19T13:21:00.109+05:302024-01-09T09:48:36.132+05:30Dhrupad Today For the 1999 annual issue of the Journal of the Indian
Musicological Society, I had co-edited a survey of the Dhrupad genre of
Hindustani music The survey, published under the title “Perspectives on
Dhrupad”, attempted to document the status of
the medieval genre at the stage when there was considerable difference of
opinion on the level of vitality the art-form exhibited. The volume is,
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-68796989148513050182021-02-18T13:12:00.003+05:302021-02-25T07:29:41.274+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: A Composite View (Concluded) In this concluding part of the Ragascape studies, I attempt to integrate the results of the
three Ragascape studies reported earlier, into a composite perspective on the
phenomenon being explored.
In the first study, we identified 97 Raga-s prescribed
for study at under-graduate and graduate levels by students at the major
universities granting degrees in music. For this set of 97Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-3439258920668371902020-10-19T14:30:00.006+05:302020-10-20T20:46:31.694+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: VIII Contemporary Musicians and the Ragascape
In this third part of the Ragascape study, we examine
the repertoire strength of different Raga-s, as evident from the concert
repertoire of contemporary musicians. This direction of enquiry is suggested by
the findings of the first study on Audience Engagement Indicator of widely
performed Raga-s. (See Parts 1 through 6) In the Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-58859772173069193072020-09-10T21:33:00.006+05:302020-09-12T12:18:23.135+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music - VIIThe idea of the Ragascape has been discussed in the earlier part of this study. The testing continues now, though from a different angle, of the hypothesis that the contemporary Ragascape
is dominated by a finite number of Raga-s, and that the number could be in the
region of 50.
The Ragascape manifests itself in a wide variety of
personal and impersonal encounters between Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-18021401470530065772020-06-16T06:57:00.000+05:302020-06-17T11:35:39.997+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: VI
Methodology
and the data source
Research design for this study had first to determine
the set of Raga-s to be considered. The
list of “Candidate” Raga-s was compiled by merging the under-graduate and
post-graduate syllabi of the major teaching universities and examining bodies
granting certifications/ degrees/ diplomas in Hindustani music. This list was
submitted for suggestions/ Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-52931811067471581202020-06-16T06:54:00.000+05:302020-06-16T06:54:11.505+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: V
Whose music engages on YouTube?
We started with the hypothesis that the Ragascape is a
dynamic cultural force constantly shaping, and being shaped by, the world of
performance. Imperceptible changes take place every day, and accumulate
perhaps over a generation or two to become visible periodically as paradigm
shifts. YouTube holds the music of perhaps four generations of Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-68634314153755776242020-06-15T16:29:00.001+05:302020-06-15T16:29:55.162+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: IV
Instrumental music and the Ragascape
In the post-independence era, the re-engineering of
older instruments, the entry of newer instruments, developments in sound
engineering and outstanding musicianship are believed to have helped
instrumental music challenge vocalism in terms of popularity, if not also
stature. Dr. Ashok Ranade, the eminent musicologist, believed that the major instrumentsDeepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-27385436050378912702020-06-15T16:25:00.000+05:302020-06-15T16:25:12.469+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: III
A contextual perspective on ratings
Musicians select their repertoire for concerts based
on certain contextual considerations. It
therefore makes sense to view the results of this study in that perspective. The
classification attempts to follow contemporary practice (more than any
theoretical construct), and is admittedly debatable.
&Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-19555784570689254272020-06-15T09:07:00.000+05:302020-06-15T09:07:20.381+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: II
Patterns in Audience Engagement
Table 1 presents the list of the 97 considered Raga-s
in descending order of views per month (the audience engagement indicator). The
indicators were also computed separately for vocal music and instrumental/
orchestral music.
The composite Audience Engagement Indicator across 97
Raga-s is 526 views per month, incorporating a vocal music score of 462 and Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-915234443181902922020-06-15T08:32:00.002+05:302021-02-25T07:32:03.555+05:30The Ragascape of Hindustani Music: I
About a hundred years ago, VN Bhatkhande published
compositions in 181 Raga-s, of which he described 45 as being “Prasiddha”. The
remaining were classified as “Aprasiddha”. This classification is often
mentioned in contemporary musicological discourse, along with an unstated
question: If a similar classification were to be attempted today, what kind of
numbers would it yield? This question Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-32302858042742130922018-11-10T16:03:00.000+05:302018-11-10T16:03:09.090+05:30Book Review: The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan
November 8, 2018
Chitra Swaminathan
Namita Devidayal’s book on Ustad Vilayat Khan is an interesting account of his life and musical journey
Writing the life sketch of a legendary musician such as Ustad Vilayat Khan is no easy task. Going by his lineage, stature, proficiency and lasting influence, summing up his music and personality in 252 pages is like exploring a raga in five Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-1501239345740900742018-10-31T17:20:00.000+05:302018-10-31T17:52:25.275+05:30The Musician and his Art: to be published soon. Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-58541089017197075912018-06-08T09:31:00.000+05:302018-10-31T17:53:40.092+05:30Raga clusters in Hindustani music
This essay has been published in my book:
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-22288517965504848832018-04-12T19:15:00.001+05:302018-04-16T08:45:48.649+05:30Pt. Brijbhushan Kabra (1937-2018) and the Indian Classical Guitar
Until the 1960s, the Hawaiian Slide Guitar had been
heard mainly in film songs, and in the regional music of Bengal. The credit for
elevating the instrument to the Hindustani art music platform goes to Pandit
Brijbhushan Kabra.
With friend and collaborator:
Pt. Shivkumar Sharma
In 1968, Kabra recorded the album “Call of
the valley” with Shivkumar Sharma (Santoor) and Hariprasad Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-54527234965612599512018-03-22T22:58:00.000+05:302018-03-29T10:08:21.870+05:30Shaping a life in classical music
Paper presented to the Seminar on Pedagogy of Performing Arts, hosted by the Lalit Kala Kendra, Gurukul, Savitribai Phule Pune University, on March 6-7, 2018.
This seminar is focused on the pedagogy concerns of the University system. The system represents a massive commitment of public funds. Those concerned about the social value of this commitment are best equipped to Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-75194114784491416792018-02-20T15:00:00.001+05:302018-10-31T17:26:26.530+05:30Abstraction in our times
This essay is now published in my forthcoming book:
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-81660592693518447972018-02-01T09:23:00.001+05:302018-02-01T09:23:58.813+05:30Pt. Shrikant Waikar, Raga Gaud SarangDeepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-66284296448884890952018-02-01T09:21:00.001+05:302018-02-01T09:22:28.615+05:30Pt. Shrikant Waikar, Raga TodiDeepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-33662084587450275562018-01-31T15:21:00.001+05:302018-01-31T15:45:39.905+05:30Pt. Shrikant Waikar, Raga Puriya and Raga Anandi KedarDeepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-56308893882857648242018-01-17T11:31:00.000+05:302018-10-31T17:29:34.545+05:30Wherein resides the Raga: यसमिन्वसति रागः
This essay is now published in my book:
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-36822111387488323512018-01-11T16:11:00.000+05:302018-10-31T17:24:48.661+05:30Bhakti (the devotional spirit) in Hindustani music
This essay is now published in my forthcoming book:
Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421607152345239410.post-45152842873395666242017-10-02T20:01:00.000+05:302017-10-02T20:01:10.019+05:30"The Surbahar's future? Andhakarmoy" অন্ধকারময় says Smt. Annapoorna Devi
In
August 2009, I sought an interview with one of the most distinguished
performers on the Surbahar, Smt. Annapoorna Devi. Getting a personal interview was, as anyone
can imagine, impossible. But, her husband and Sitarist, the late Prof.
Rooshikumar Pandya agreed to help. She dictated to Rooshi Bhai the answers to
my questions.I reproduce here the full text of the questions and answers.
&Deepak Rajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629729794432211907noreply@blogger.com