Hindustani Music : Thirteenth to Twentieth Centuries

Contents: Preface. Introduction. I. The formative period: 1. Sanskrit and Indo-Persian literature on music/Emmie Te Nijenhuis and Francoise 'Nalini' Delvoye. 2. Music patronage in the Indo-Persian context: a historical overview/Madhu Trivedi. 3. Musical forms in medieval India/Emmie Te Nijenhuis. 4. The emergence of Dhrupad/Richard Widdess. 5. Collections of lyrics in Hindustani music: the case of Dhrupad/Francoise 'Nalini' Delvoye. 6. The origins and early development of Khayal/Katherine Butler Brown. II. The modern period: 7. Hindustani music: a historical overview of the modern period/Joep Bor and Allyn Miner. 8. A mine of music history from nineteenth-century Lucknow/Regula Burckhardt Qureshi. 9. Thumri, Ghazal, and modernity in Hindustani Music culture/Peter Manuel. 10. Dhadhis and other Bowing Bards/Daniel Neuman. 11. Rampur as a centre of music/Sulochana Brahaspati. 12. Representing "Hindu" music to the colonial and native Elite of Calcutta/Charles Capwell. 13. Music schools and societies in Bombay c. 1864-1937/Michael D. Rosse. 14. The All-India Music Conference of 1916-1925: cultural transformation and colonial ideology/David Trasoff. 15. Music and music drama in Maharashtra/Ashok Da Ranade. III. Musical instruments: 16. Sources on the early history of the Tambur, Rabab, Sitar and Sarod/Allyn Miner. 17. A historical account of the Fretted Vina/Philippe Bruguiere. 18. Early Indian Bowed instruments and the origin of the bow/Joep Bor. 19. The history of Tabla/James Kippen. IV. Indian music and the west: 20. Indian music and the west: a historical overview/Gerry Farrell. 21. A Harpsichord on the banks of the Ganges: English keyboard instruments and the collection of "Hindostannie" Airs/Ian Woodfield. 22. Early western pioneers: John Foulds and Maud MacCarthy/Neil Sorrell. 23. Rabindranath Tagore and Frederik van Eeden: reception of a "poet-king" in the Netherlands/Rokus de Groot. V. Concepts and theories: 24. Sargam notations and Rag-Ragini Theory/Harold Powers. 25. The construction, reconstruction, and deconstruction of Shruti/Suvarnalata Rao and Wim van der Meer. Index.

"North Indian or Hindustani art music has a wealth of vocal genres and instrumental styles, some of them rooted in the past and others of a more recent origin. Although Indian music is primarily an oral tradition, it has a long practice of written music theory. Through dozens of musicological treatises and other historical documents we know that changes in patronage and musical taste have had a profound effect on ragas, talas, style and repertoire.

This collection of twenty five essays by prominent scholars provides a major overview of the history of Hindustani music from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, and the sources that make up this history. The essays are thematically arranged into five parts.

Addressing a broad range of issues, the authors raise questions about the sociocultural and political contexts in which new musical forms and instruments arose. Much attention is given to the developments that took place in music life during the last three centuries, and to the impact of the colonial encounter and nationalism when Hindustani music acquired its modern identity.

Covering eight centuries, this 736 page volume has a comprehensive introduction and extensive bibliographies. With such a variety of topics and source materials, it is invaluable for anyone interested in Hindustani music and its history." (jacket)