Finding the Raga

By turns essay, memoir and cultural study, <i>Finding the Raga</i> is Amit Chaudhuri's singular account of his discovery of, and enduring passion for, North Indian music: an ancient, evolving tradition whose principles and practices will alter the reader's notion of what music might - and can - be. Tracing the music's development, <i>Finding the Raga</i> dwells on its most distinctive and mysterious characteristics: its extraordinary approach to time, language and silence; its embrace of confoundment, and its ethos of evocation over representation. The result is a strange gift of a book, for musicians and music lovers, and for any creative mind in search of diverse and transforming inspiration. By turns essay memoir and cultural studyFinding the Raga is Amit Chaudhuri's singular account of his discovery of and enduring passion for North Indian music an ancient evolving tradition whose principles and practices will alter the reader's notion of what music might - and can - be. Tracing the music's developmentFinding the Raga dwells on its most distinctive and mysterious characteristics its extraordinary approach to time language and silence its embrace of confoundment and its ethos of evocation over representation. The result is a strange gift of a book for musicians and music lovers and for any creative mind in search of diverse and transforming inspiration. Review Supple intricate and uncompromising full of delicate observation and insight Amit Chaudhuri's FINDING THE RAGA immerses us in the rigorous beauty and cosmology of Indian classical music. It is also a loving memoir about relationships and places dedication and vocation. -- Geoff DyerAmit Chaudhuri excels in writing about music and its pleasure. ―The Guardian About the Author Amit Chaudhuri is the author of seven novels including most recently Friend of My Youth as well as a work of non-fiction Calcutta and collections of short stories poetry essays and a critical study of D. H. Lawrence's poetry. He has received the Commonwealth Writers Prize the Betty Trask Award the Encore Prize the LA Times Book Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Award among other accolades. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.Chaudhuri is Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of East Anglia and Professor of Creative Writing at Ashoka University. Alongside this he is an admired singer in the North Indian classical tradition and a composer and performer in a celebrated project that brings together the raga blues and jazz with a variety of other musical traditions. He received the Sangeet Samman from the government of West Bengal. Chaudhuri is regularly featured on radio and TV his version of 'Summertime' was featured on the BBC 4 documentary Gershwin's Summertime the Song that Conquered the World.