Academic literature on the topic 'North Indian classical music'

In Sri Lanka, the various groups of Tamils are jointly the largest minority group who migrated from different places of South India and in different time periods. South Indian music is widely appreciated and learnt by both the Sinhala including by large parts of the Tamil minority spread over Sri Lanka. Although a number of Sinhala people prefer and practice North Indian music geographically, and probably culturally, they are much closer to South India than to North India. Some historical sources report that Sinhalese are descendants of North Indians who are believed to be Aryans who migrated from Persia to the Northern part of India in the 13th century and later. Therefore, some scholarly authorities believe that the Sinhalese ‘naturally’ prefer North Indian music as they also continue the suggested Aryan heritage. Nevertheless, some other sources reveal that the North Indian music was spread in Sri Lanka during the British rule with the coming of the Parsi Theatre (Bombay theatre), which largely promoted Hindustani raga-based compositions. This paper explores selected literature and opinions of some interviewees and discusses what could be the reasons for preferences of North Indian music by the Sinhalese. The interviewees were chosen according to their professional profile and willingness to participate in this research. As a result, this paper will offer insights through analysing various opinions and statements made by a number of interviewees. The research also considered some theories which may relate to the case whether Hindustani classical music is due to these reasons a dominating minority culture or a rather self-imposed musical ideology. The latter would establish an aesthetic hierarchy, which is not reflected in the cultural reality of Sri Lanka. This is a new research scrutinizing a long-term situation of performing arts education in this country taking mainly interviews as a departing point.

The positive impact of Indian classical music on human health is the subject of a deeply rooted belief in the Indian subcontinent and is also held among those who invest their time and efforts to Indian classical music elsewhere in the world. This article attempts to provide an account for such a widely shared belief, and singles out four essential components that contribute to it: The melodic rāga domain, the rhythmic tāla domain, time theory, and the extramusical rasa system. The discussion is developed from a general introduction to India to the specific therapeutic aspects of North Indian classical music. The author brings together up-to-date research and her first-hand experiences as a scholar and performer of North Indian classical music.

In three previous issues of OS (10/1, 2005, 13/3, 2008 and 19/2, 2014) a range of scholars explored non-Western instrumentation in electroacoustic music. These issues addressed concerns about sensitive cultural issues within electroacoustic music. This article builds upon this discussion through an examination of a number of electroacoustic composer-performers using non-Western instrumentation. This discussion will include the voices of ‘Western’ electroacoustic composers using non-Western instruments or sounds sources. It will also document some of the work of non-Western electroacoustic composers who incorporate traditional material or indigenous instruments in their music. Special attention will be given to the complexity of being in-between musical cultures through a critical engagement with theories relating to hybridity, orientalism and self-identity. In particular, this article will focus on my own practice of composing and performing electroacoustic music with the North Indian lute known as the sarode. It will discuss both cultural and artistic concerns about using the sarode outside the framework of Indian classical music and question whether Indian classical music can ever be ‘appropriately appropriated’ in an electroacoustic context. Two of my recent compositions will be explored and I will outline the development of my practice leading to the creation of a new ‘hybrid’ instrument especially for playing electroacoustic music.

This article explores ways in which the elements of north Indian classical music may be taught in a western context. It examines traditional methods of teaching in India and points out the difficulties of transferring such methods into Western music education. The basic materials of Indian music are examined, with a view to using them to heighten awareness of music in general, but not necessarily to produce solo performers. The article suggests ways in which Indian music can be explored without compromising its inherent complexity, sense of form and aesthetic beauty; while, at the same time, making it more accessible to a wide range of people.