Texts, Videos and Links to Material on Hindustani Music

 This material continues to be updated, please check again regularly.

Here, you can peruse some unusual or rare resources on Hindustani Music that can provide a deep insight into the depth and complexity of the diverse and rich cultural eco-system of Hindustani music.

Online resources

Here are two links worth looking at:

Music in Motion
National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai.
“The aim of this project is to freely put at the disposal of students, teachers and researchers of music a new tool, that enables us to take a zoomed-in look-and-listen of North Indian music (Hindustani sangit). Because of the generous grants offered by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from 2004-2007 and 2009-2012, and decades of support from NCPA and Amsterdam University this material is being offered in the public domain.”

Understanding Ragas Parrikar.org
Some insightful and important practical discussion, analyses and recordings of ragas in Hindustani music. Please be aware that the Rajan Parrikar is prone to espousing some quite offensive and unjustifiable statements unrelated to music in an otherwise useful resource.
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Articles

Two very interesting introductory articles by the well known musicologist, Ashok Da Ranade. (This link takes you to the Ashok Da Ranade archives set up by Dr Chaitanya Kunte in Pune)
Improvisation – an Indian Cultural Perspective
The_Music-making_Spectrum_An_Indian Cultural Perspective

Philosophy

Lewis Rowell is a deep thinker on the philosophy of music and process. These two articles are from his amazing book – Music and Musical Thought in Early India. The book is written in a style reminiscent of a musical shastra.

Rowell – Thought in Indian Music
One of the most important publications on deep issues in Indian music over.

Rowell Time in Indian Music

Music and Aesthetics Rasa
Explores deep philosophical ideas of Hindustani music by Jonthan Katz

Hindustani Music History

Music as the Sound of the Secular by Janaki Bakhle
Locating Hindustani music in Society

Prostitutes patrons and state in 19th c awadh
Tawaif in Lucknow

Music, art, and power in ‘Adil Shahi Bi…herine Butler Schofield
An important aspect of the history of Hindustani music

That System of Seventeenth Century North India Confronting the Social Mode of Production by Regula Qureshi (More on mirasis and hereditary musicians)

“The Shahjehanpur Sarod Gharana” by Radikha Mohan Moitra click here

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Some Important Historical Treatises on Hindustani Music

Some important treatises on Hindustani Music.

Nur Ratnakar
“A bio-bibliographical survey and techno historical study of all available important writings in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and other allied languages on the subject of song, dance and drama.”]

Shams Al-Asvat
This is an English translation of an important treatise on Hindustani music written at the Mughal court in the 18th century.

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Videos

The legendary: Malka Pukhraj

Some rare material discovered in the course of undertaking research, which I am delighted to be able to share with the community of Hindustani music lovers