intro to carnatic music
check out this intro to carnatic music. it contains a short breakdown of song structure, concert structure, and a few links to artists and recordings you can pick up as a start:
South Indian classical music is known as Carnaatic music (we’ll be using this term henceforth in this article). This article describes the basics of the music, tells us what to listen for, and provides links to a few starter albums.
Part 2 of this article expands on the concepts and briefly describes the structure and mechanics of the music system and includes a list of links to resources for more information.
There are several books and articles already available about South Indian classical music. Most of them get technical very quickly, drowning the reader in Sanskrit terms. This article makes an attempt to stay with the gestalt, getting into details only when necessary.
ajoy chakrabarty on bbc
asianclassicalmp3.org has a recording of ajoy chakrabarty from an india independance day live bbc concert, along with a short 3-minute interview with panditji. here’s an excerpt of him speaking about why most indian classical musicians are much older than professional-level musicians of other classical music forms throughout the world.
“...even if the musician is sixty years [old], still he is learning. because indian music, you have to learn for maybe two or three generations. one lifetime is not sufficient to learn it, i believe.”
check out ajoy chakrabarty at his concert in the chicago suburbs coming up on july 22, and check out maahaul’s next house concert featuring one of his students on the 23rd.
listening to classical music, by purbayan chatterjee
at a house concert in st. charles, il last night, purbayan chatterjee spoke a bit about how he approaches his music, and how as an audience, you can stay involved as an active listener. a few of the points he touches upon were points that were discussed at the lecture given before our april 9th concert, so check it out. it’s an interesting lecture:
purbayan chatterjee: listening to classical music
and here’s a little info on purbayan chatterjee:
“Purbayan Chatterjee is one of the most promising young sitar maestros.
Purbayan Chatterjee was born in a musical family in Calcutta in 1976. His father, Parthapratim Chatterjee is a disciple of Pt Nikhil Bannerjee and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Purbayan has been trained by his father and recently by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He has also received guidance from vocalist Pt Ajoy Chakraborty and tabla maestro Pt Anindo Chatterjee.
At such a young age, Purbayan displays remarkable maturity and has been performing in various concerts and music festivals all over India and abroad. He serious and meditative style shows the influence of legendary sitarist Pt Nikhil Bannerjee.”
from musicalnirvana.com
maahaul presents: rahul neuman and maninder singh
we presented our first concert in collaboration with cardamom on april 9th, and it went really, really well! check out what some people had to say about it:
“i had a most wonderful time at the concert … and everyone appreciated it too.”
“A very successful event, and the vibe brings tears to the eyes.”
“it was heartwarming to see a room of mostly young people enjoying indian classical music presented by their peers. i was very touched.”
“it was fantastic.”
“muy espirituale y profundo.”
“it’s great that maahaul sessions have both guys and girls so that people can party in style and in an informal gathering where you can actually have a real conversation. it’s also nice to see different generations in the same room.”
