A Comprehensive Dictionary of Carnatic Music

Carnatic Music has a very rich collection of compositions created by innumerable composers over the years. Present-day composers keep enriching this list with new compositions. And this makes the situation extremely ticklish. Even an inadvertent omission of one or two names here and there will send wrong signals leading people to think that it might have been deliberate! Hence, in the dictionary segment we have avoided allotting individual entries to all composers both past and present, except six. They are; the trinity for the very special and unmatched place they hold, Swati Thirunal for being the most popular multi-lingual composer, Purandaradasa for being the creator of Abhyasa Gana (Music lessons) and Gopalakrishna Bharati for being the trendsetter by introducing Tamizh compositions. Of course, other composers' names have been mentioned wherever it is relevant in that context. Also in the 'A Raga A Page' segment, genuine effort has been taken to include the works of all composers, both past and present. Hence, this book, though titled as 'A Comprehensive Dictionary of Carnatic Music', actually consists of many segments. Please see the contents page for details.