Product Description

The concept of raga, the traditional basis of melodic composition and improvisation in Indian classical music, has become familiar to listeners and musicologists throughout the world, but its historial origins and early development have been little explored. This book draws on written documents from the pre-Islamic period in India, including musical treatises (expecially that of the thirteenth-century theorist, Sarngadeva), literary works, and a remarkable inscription comprising musical notation. These documents bear witness to the development of the earlies ragas, which they name, classify, define, and in some cases illustrate with melodic examples. The melodies, which have not previously been studied in detail, are the focus of the book. This book analyzes their notation, musical structure and relationship to the theoretical tradition in which they are embedded, as evidence for the early history of melodic compostion and improvisation in the Indian tradition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1781365 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Review

"Richard Widdess' magnificent and painstaking study provides us with details of the emergence and metamorphosis of the raga system, and...may be viewed as a huge and indispensable piece of the puzzle...This is a beautifully presented volume, elegantly and expressively wirtten, meticulous in every aspect of musicological detail."--Journal of the American Oriental Society

About the Author
Richard Widdess, Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology with reference to South Asia, School of Oriental and African Studies, London.