SOUTHERN MUSIC A

T.M. Krishna one of the foremost Karnatik vocalists today begins his panoramic exploration of that tradition with a fundamental question: what is music? Taking nothing for granted and addressing diverse readers from Karnatik music's rich spectrum and beyond it Krishna provides a path-breaking overview of south Indian classical music. He advances provocative ideas about various aspects of its practice. Central to his thinking is the concept of 'art music' the ability to achieve abstraction as the foundational character of Karnatik music. In his explorations he sights the visible connections and unappreciated intersections between this music form and others - Hindustani music Bharatanatyam fusion music and cine music - treading new often contentious ground. A Southern Music seeks to retrace the sources of Karnatik music even as it reflects on its self-renewing vitality today. To that end Krishna examines a number of issues that Karnatik music must face up to: questions of gender and caste the role of religion and of lyrics inspired by devotional sentiments the diaspora and its relationship with 'classical' music technology. Unquestionably the definitive book on Karnatik music.