This book is a systematic and contemporary exploration of the uniquely Indian phenomenon of raga, which forms the foundation of the musical culture of India.
Maestros speak with total conviction of a raga as having a personality. A raga must therefore be viewed not only as the governing authority of musical performance, but also as an archetype pregnant with cultural meaning. The exploration of raga-ness, therefore, can begin with the grammatical coordinates of ragas, but cannot stop there. This book attempts to extend the scope of the enquiry to cover several other facets of ragas examining the manner in which they participate in the cultural process. As such, this book provides valuable insights to scholars, researchers, connoisseurs, as well as performing musicians.
Written by an author of established credentials as a musician, researcher and writer with three acclaimed works to his credit, this book explores the subject through conceptual essays in Part I, and case studies of fifty-one ragas in Part II. The case studies of ragas are supported with references to authoritative texts and reviews of recordings by recent and contemporary maestros.
Written in the author’s lucid and masterly style, this book makes complex musicological concepts accessible to non-academic readers, and contributes significantly to widening the understanding of the role of ragas in the musical culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Deepak S Raja
Deepak Raja (Born: 1948) is amongst the finest contemporary writers on Hindustani music. He is a Repertoire Analyst for India Archive Music Ltd., New York, the most influential producer of Hindustani music outside India. He is also a columnist for Sruti, the performing arts monthly, and frequently contributes papers to seminars and journals of the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy, Sangeet Natak Akademi, and the Indian Musicological Society. The author is a sitar and surbahar player of the Imdad Khan/Etawah gharana, trained for over forty years by two of its stalwarts, Shri Pulin Deb Burman, and Pandit Arvind Parikh. He studies Khayal under Pandi Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur-Afrauli gharana. As a performer, he is respected for the soundness of his approach to music, and his command over the instruments. Deepak Raja took a BA Honours degree from Delhi University, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and studied advertising at the Watford College of Technology in the UK. For over thirty years, he has been a prolific writer on media, marketing, finance, as well as music, and has occupied senior positions in the media industry, including the Editorship of Business India. While being well versed in the traditional concepts of Indian musicology, he brings to the subject a fresh perspective using the conceptual tools and analytical methods cultivated by his careers in media research, business journalism and financial consultancy.
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