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The Life of Music in North India: The Organization of an Artistic Tradition
Daniel M. Neuman offers an account of North Indian Hindustani music culture and the changing social context of which it is part, as expressed in the thoughts and actions of its professional musicians.
Drawing primarily from fieldwork performed in Delhi in 1969-71—from interviewing musicians, learning and performing on the Indian fiddle, and speaking with music connoisseurs—Neuman examines the cultural and social matrix in which Hindustani music is nurtured, listened and attended to, cultivated, and consumed in contemporary India. Through his interpretation of the impact that modern media, educational institutions, and public performances exert on the music and musicians, Neuman highlights the drama of a great musical tradition engaging a changing world, and presents the adaptive strategies its practitioners employ to practice their art. His work has gained the distinction of introducing a new approach to research on Indian music, and appears in this edition with a new preface by the author.
Drawing primarily from fieldwork performed in Delhi in 1969-71—from interviewing musicians, learning and performing on the Indian fiddle, and speaking with music connoisseurs—Neuman examines the cultural and social matrix in which Hindustani music is nurtured, listened and attended to, cultivated, and consumed in contemporary India. Through his interpretation of the impact that modern media, educational institutions, and public performances exert on the music and musicians, Neuman highlights the drama of a great musical tradition engaging a changing world, and presents the adaptive strategies its practitioners employ to practice their art. His work has gained the distinction of introducing a new approach to research on Indian music, and appears in this edition with a new preface by the author.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 12, 2024
It is a masterpiece. The book covers everything from how to become a musician (tradition) to how life has changed as a musician as social changes have occurred. I personally enjoyed reading Chapter 6 a lot, Adaptive Strategies of Hindustani Music Culture, where Daniel talks about the Patrons, the diversified audience base, and the public performances and discusses how the lives of musicians have changed and how music education has changed. It seems that no matter where we are, we all face the same question: how can we keep traditions alive?
June 6, 2020
A pivotal book for anyone who wants to understand how musical expression and societal structure are related...and for anyone who loves the sinuous melodies and captivating forms of Hindustani music.
September 28, 2021
Excellent scholarly work
February 4, 2015
This book is not really about the music itself but about the musicians and the conditions of performance. To quote the preface,
"This is an inquiry into the relationship between a people and their music. It sets out to explore this relationship by interpreting the art, or classical, music of North India as a cultural phenomenon and reporting its connections to a number of social domains it calls its own. Specifically, it is an anthropological account of the culture of North Indian (Hindustani) music and the changing social context of which it is a part, as expressed in the thoughts and actions of its professional musicians. As an analysis of musical life in North India, it is also intended to reveal part of a major drama being unfolded in India today: a great musical tradition engaging a modern world."
Much of the book is about the traditional gharanas, or families of hereditary musicians and their disciples. This subject is very complicated, and in a process of transition. I think it would be necessary to read the book more than once to really follow the details. The general impression I got is that the present classical tradition in India, contrary to what I had assumed, is actually fairly recent (nineteenth century), although elements of it are much older, and constantly changing.
"This is an inquiry into the relationship between a people and their music. It sets out to explore this relationship by interpreting the art, or classical, music of North India as a cultural phenomenon and reporting its connections to a number of social domains it calls its own. Specifically, it is an anthropological account of the culture of North Indian (Hindustani) music and the changing social context of which it is a part, as expressed in the thoughts and actions of its professional musicians. As an analysis of musical life in North India, it is also intended to reveal part of a major drama being unfolded in India today: a great musical tradition engaging a modern world."
Much of the book is about the traditional gharanas, or families of hereditary musicians and their disciples. This subject is very complicated, and in a process of transition. I think it would be necessary to read the book more than once to really follow the details. The general impression I got is that the present classical tradition in India, contrary to what I had assumed, is actually fairly recent (nineteenth century), although elements of it are much older, and constantly changing.
August 20, 2014
A somewhat dated but nevertheless fascinating and detailed exposition of many sociocultural aspects of North Indian classical music. Notably, many chapters discuss phenomena that an outsider might well not even realize exist. I appreciated the (secondary) opportunity to apply these new (to me) "idea-worlds" to Western classical music life.
November 4, 2015
I read this book in college for a ethnomusicology / anthropology class on South Asian Music. Its a good overview of how music has evolved in India and Pakistan, how classical music has changed over time, how popular music has changed the patron-artist relationship and the struggle of traditional musicians in keeping and preserving historical cultural rituals.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews