The ancient writers who wrote on the grammar of music derived the art from an august parentage. Sruti, they said, was its mother, and Laya, the father. Like the other great mahavakyas, this aphorism on music too admits of endless exposition. Almost everyone knows today what sruti and laya mean: sruti, of course, is the … Continue reading Diapason of Rhythm →

While most of the singers and instrumentalists of Andhra today are young and probably under thirty-five, there is one distinguished figure who by age belongs to an older generation but by temperament and by his way of singing is as youthful as the younger singers. He has not, like Yayati, exchanged old age for youth, … Continue reading Age Does Not Wither →

The word "tradition" has two meanings as applied to Indian music generally, and to Karnatak music particularly. Unfortunately these two meanings are not always distinctly held apart. In one, tradition is used as the equivalent of “sampradaya.” In this sense tradition represents the complex of various usages in course of time which have contributed to … Continue reading Semantics and Sahridayas →

Patronage in arts was in the past the prerogative of the leisured class. The Mahratta rulers of Tanjore, the rajas of Sivaganga and Ettayapuram, the Maharajas of Mysore and Travancore were some of the enlightened patrons of music in he last century and half, to whom Karnatak music owes a great deal. The Ponniah brothers … Continue reading Ethics of Patronage →

Should a critic, while reviewing a music performance for his newspaper or journal, be concerned about "the standard of performance of that day" or should he draw on the wider principles of criticism which would be essential if he wished to put the musical event in perspective? In other words, should he evaluate a work … Continue reading Anatomy of Criticism →

Conservation of tradition is a legitimate principle in art. But when tradition is equated with a diehard formalism, there would seem to be very little worth conserving in it. Most people have the vaguest notions about tradition, and look upon it as an inviolable dictate of the past to the present. To them tradition is … Continue reading Ersatz Classicism →

Musicologists say that the Karnatak and the Hindusthani systems of music had a common origin, probably in the tritonal scale of the Sama Veda, or the heptatonal scale that had found acceptance even in the time of Narada and Bharata. They also aver that till the time of the Muslim advent in India, these two … Continue reading Integration and Individuality →