Readings

This page lists the assigned readings from the textbook and other sources, plus some supplemental materials.

Textbook

Ruckert, George. The Classical Music of North India. New Delhi, India: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2004. ISBN: 9788121508728.

Textbook Readings

WEEK # TOPICS TEXT READINGS
1-2 Unit 1 - Introduction: The Vedic heritage pp. 1-31, 247-251
3-4 Unit 2 - The legacy of Dhrupad pp. 215-227, 251-289, and 317-341
5-7 Unit 3 - The glories of Khyal pp. 297-303
8-10 Unit 4 - Instrumental music pp. 309-317
11-12 Unit 5 - Music of South India pp. 309-317
13-14 Unit 6 - Light classical music pp. 303-309
15 Final exam  

Course Reader

Students are required to read the contents of a course reader, containing photos of instruments and performers plus papers from various sources.

An Image Gallery of Indian Instruments and Musicians

The image in the course reader cannot be presented here due to copyright restrictions, but the following list will hopefully be of value to guide one's studies.

Bin

  • Rudra bin played by Himmat Khan (1825)
  • North Indian bin
  • South Indian vina

Performers on sitar

  • Jangi Khan (c. 1820)
  • Zakir Khan (c. 1820)
  • Ravi Shankar
  • Vilayat Khan, with Imrat Khan, surbahar

Performers in the sarod family

  • Md. Ali Khan (c. 1910)
  • Ali Akbar Khan
  • Amjad Ali Khan
  • Allauddin Khan, sursringar

Performers on bowed instruments

  • Abdul Majid Khan, sarangi (c. 1956)
  • Bundu Khan, sarangi (c. 1880-1955)
  • Allauddin Khan, chandrasarang

Miscellaneous chordophones

  • Santoor
  • Svaramandal
  • Bin
  • Seni rabab
  • Vocal tanpura

Aerophones

  • Shehnai
  • Nagasvaram
  • G. S. Sachdev, Hindustani flute
  • T. Viswanathan, Karnatak flute

Tabla performers

  • Alla Rakha
  • Zakir Hussain
  • Khalifa Abid Hussain Khan (c. 1867-1936)
  • Faiyaz Khan

Miscellaneous percussion

  • Ghatam
  • Pakawaj
  • Ceremonial and modern nagara (naggera)
  • Mrdanga

Readings in the Course Reader

Tagore, Rabindranath. Stanzas III and XIII in "Gitanjali."

Ives, Charles. "Proem." In A Descriptive Catalog of the Music of Charles Ives. Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780300076011.

Khan, Hazrat Inayat. "The Ancient Music." Chapter 4 in The Music of Life. New Lebanon, NY: Omega Publishers, 1998. ISBN: 9780930872380.

Wulff, D. M. "On Practicing Religiously: Music as Sacred in India." In Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice. Edited by J. Irwin. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780891306559.

Map of Sanskrit-derived languages of North India [source unknown]

Kaufmann, Walter. "The Vedic Chant." In Involvement with Music: The Music of India. New York, NY: Harper's College Press, 1976. ISBN: 9780061610165.

Danielou, Alain. Commentary booklet for "Vedic Recitation and Chant." Record I in The Music of India. UNESCO Collection - A Musical Anthology of the Orient. 33 1/3 rpm disc. Barenreiter-Musicaphon BM30L2006, 1965.

Rowell, Lewis. "Introduction." Chapter 1 in Music and Musical Thought in Early India. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780226730325.

Arnold, E. James. "A Mathematical Model of the Shruti-Swara-Grama-Murcchana-Jati System." [source unknown]

Vatsyayan, Kapila. "History of Dance," "Theory and Technique," and "Kathak." In Indian Classical Dance. New Delhi, India: Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1974 (reprinted 1992). ISBN: 9788123005898.

Gottlieb, Robert S. "Origins of the Tabla," "The Major Traditions of Tabla," "Construction and Nomenclature," and "The Drum Strokes." In Solo Tabla Drumming of North India. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998. ISBN: 9788120810952.

Wade, Bonnie. "Performance Genres of Karnatak Music." In Music in India: The Classical Traditions. East Rutherford, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980. ISBN: 9780136070368.

———. "Historical and Social Contexts of Khyāl." In Khyāl: Creativity Within North India's Classical Music Tradition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780521256599.

Manuel, Peter. "The Music Industry and Film Culture Up To 1975." In Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780226504018.

Benary, Barbara. "Composers and Tradition in Karnatic Music." Asian Music 3, no. 2 (1972): 42-51.

Mehta, Gita. "A Musician's Story." Chapter 13 in A River Sutra. New York, NY: Knopf, 1993. ISBN: 9780679752479.

Supplemental Material

Tabla and its Ancestors (PDF)

Major Figures of the Bhakti Era (PDF)

In and Around the Courts of Lucknow -- Thumri and Classical Dance (PDF)

Mughal Emperors (PDF)