Khayal is the pre-eminent genre of Hindustani vocal music: It is a dynamic ever-changing art form which, in its present form, accompanied by tabla, began to crystallise in the early nineteenth century. Many changes occurred in the twentieth century, most notably a radical slowing down of the vilambit part of performance and the gradual replacement of the bowed sarangi by the harmonium as the preferred instrument of melodic accompaniment. In this substantial ...
