Darbar: 'Living Traditions' & Indian classical musicology

Various ‘outreach musicology’ projects with Darbar Arts & Heritage over the past few years, exploring how classical music with ancient roots is adapting to a fast-paced, interconnected modern world

• Living Traditions collection •

’21 articles for 21st-century Indian classical music’

Darbar are committed to demystifying India’s classical arts for a global audience. In Living Traditions I interview eleven of today’s leading artists on how they create, think, and live, spanning Hindustani, Carnatic, Dhrupad, and dance. Also featured are ten in-depth essays covering various technical, social, and mystical dimensions of the music itself, examining how it manifests in diverse new contexts.

The 21 articles, aimed at newcomers and connoisseurs alike, can be read in any order. No previous knowledge is required: we go far in, but explain along the way, matching the words to the sounds using clips from our 13-year Festival archive. Darbar does not believe in diluting or oversimplifying – to do so would be to disrespect our audience. Instead, we prefer to preserve the detail, taking more time to explain when needed.

All novel concepts are defined inline, and linked to dedicated pages from our separate bank of educational articles. I’ve also put together 140 new Artist Pages, containing brief biographies and videos of our past festival performers. These great creative forms are for everyone – all you need is a willingness to abandon preconceptions, and open your ears…

—Eleven artist interviews—

India’s leading classical masters in their own words

Ustad Shahid Parvez: ‘What you play spontaneously should be perfect’ – The Imdadkhani sitar genius discusses musical purity, his hyper-disciplined childhood, and following the green light when improvising

Ustad Bahauddin Dagar: ‘Dhrupad: flourishing branches, dwindling roots?’ – Reviewing the rudra veena master’s landmark solo set in London, and delving into Dhrupad’s curious modern context with him afterwards

Debasmita Bhattacharya: ‘It feels like nature is summoning you to play’ – Kolkata’s eloquent young sarod star discusses inspiration from the wind, music and gender, and the concept of raga as an illusion

Dr. Trichy Sankaran: ‘For every rhythm there is a counter-rhythm’ – The master mridangist takes us through his life in music, covering Carnatic collaborations, cross-cultural teaching, and the rhythms of the ocean

Dr. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande: ‘I want the raga to befriend me too’ – The Jaipur-Atrauli vocalist and former atomic scientist talks lost ragas, visualising rhythms as warrior-heroes, and the limits of approaching music analytically

Akram Khan: ‘Indian dancers place themselves in the shoes of gods as well as mortals’ – The trailblazing British-Bengali choreographer discusses classicism, the Mahabharata, and skipping school to dance in his garage

Pandit Sanju Sahai: ‘My ancestors retreated to the jungle with their tabla’ – Sitting down with the Benares maestro over curry to talk jazz, turning down the Sugababes, and the many links between rhythm and food

Begum Parveen Sultana: ‘Each raga is a mirror of all Hindustani music’ – The Patiala khayal superstar discusses her unique religious heritage, the power of physical expression, and how to lose yourself in the divine

Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya: ‘Art will always claim surrendered lovers to itself’ – The slide guitar pioneer discusses self-designed instruments, hidden harmony in ragas, and the interconnectedness of the natural world

Pandit Rupak Kulkarni: ‘The only thing you need is to be in tune internally’ – The bansuri maestro discusses therapeutic music, life with his guru Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and the primal, divine nature of the flute

Meeta Pandit: ‘My grandfather never allowed any student to copy him’ – The Gwalior vocal star discusses religious tolerance, changing teaching styles, and her recently-published book on the history of her family’s gharana

—Ten musical explorations—

Varied perspectives on the meanings of the sounds

Raag Chandranandan: Modern creations, metaphysics of raga – Ali Akbar Khan created Chandranandan in the 1940s, naming it hastily during a cigarette break and soon forgetting how to play it – but it is now regarded as a modern classic. What does its curious tale tell us about the nature of raga?

The power of threes: Hindustani rhythm’s tihai resolutions – Breaking down classical tabla’s playful rhythmic resolutions, and exploring why patterns of three have such a distinctive power to tell concise ‘stories’ in music, art, and literature

How your favourite genres chime with Indian classical – Discover Indian classical music via styles you already like, through some surprising points of confluence. This article builds sonic bridges for fans of jazz, rock, blues, jungle, hip-hop, house, techno, ambient, minimalism, Western classical, and more

Singing sculptures: India’s curious musical instruments – Examining the music and history of ten strange, beautiful instruments from India’s classical traditions: the surbahar, taus, chaturangi, rudra veena, sitar been, tabla tarang, jaltarang, sarangi, ghatam, and morsing

In-depth Carnatic Primer: South India’s mellifluous, mathematical music – Carnatic music’s unique wealth of ideas deserves far more global attention. Here’s a detailed primer on South Indian classical music, featuring sounds and stars from the past and present

Raag Malkauns: ‘He who wears serpents like garlands’ – Breaking down an ancient, auspicious raga, fabled to have been written by the goddess Parvati to calm Lord Shiva’s murderous rage and still feared by many modern musicians

Seven Days of Santoor: Hindustani music’s hundred-stringed box – The santoor’s icy sparkle is a comparative newcomer to Indian classical, arriving in the mid-20th century. Here’s a seven-part rundown of this uniquely captivating instrument

Twelve Days of Tabla: A 101 on the world’s most versatile drum – Hindustani tabla masters combine jaw-dropping knowledge and precision with a hugely imaginative approach to improvisation. Here’s a 12-part percussive taster…

The sitar from different angles (Pt. 1): Instrument basics, past masters – Examining the history & design of India’s most famous string instrument, through the stories of great innovators such as Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar, and Nikhil Banerjee

The sitar from different angles (Pt. 2): Modern players, global experiments – Tracing the music of modern maestros, examining the rise of fusion, and looking to the future. Features Shahid Parvez, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Mita Nag, and many more

Rupak Kulkarni & Ojas Adhiya – Raag Jog (Darbar 2018):

• Darbar YouTube channel •

Writing 300+ video texts, adding context & detail to Darbar’s vast performance archive – e.g.:

Aruna Sairam – Kalinga/Gambhiranata (Darbar 2016): “Kalinga Nartana Tillana recounts Lord Krishna’s mythical battle with Kaliya, the fearsome five-headed snake who boiled the waters of the Yamuna River around him as they fought. It is based on a 6th century composition by Oothukkadu Venkata Subba Iyer, complete with rhythmic vocalisations to describe Krishna’s battle dance, and the hissing sounds of the snake. The music is set to the pentatonic Raga Gambhiranata, in the 8-beat Adi Tala…”

Amjad Ali Khan – Megh & Miyan ki Malhar (Darbar 2016): “Malhar ragas, associated with rejuvenation, heroism, and growth, are said to summon the monsoon rains if sung correctly. Legend has it that Emperor Akbar once asked Miyan Tansen to sing Deepak, the light-bringing raga, causing all the lamps near him to ignite and burn so brightly that Tansen’s own body became scorched… Miyan Ki Malhar is said to be Tansen’s own variant of the basic Malhar structure. Both use Kafi as their base scale (SRgmPDnS), but Tansen’s version takes a shudh [natural] Ni in ascent, before reverting to a komal [flat] Ni for the descent – some say that the melodic contrast between the two swaras helps clouds to descend…”

Jyoti Hegde – Raag Poorvi (Darbar 2014): “Jyoti Hegde is among the world’s leading players of the rare rudra veena. Sitar was her first love, and she studied the instrument under Bindhu Madhav Pathak, starting training at the comparatively late age of 12. But on hearing her guru play the veena she became instantly drawn to its slow, low tones, and asked to learn. Her guru refused, telling her that women could not play it. After some persistence he offered to give her a trial lesson, but deliberately set her up on an old, difficult to play veena in the hope that she would be dissuaded. But she took to it with talent and determination, practicing hard enough that Bindhu soon asked her father to buy her a better quality instrument. But even from there, the path to mastery was not straightforward…”

• Darbar Artist database •

Profiling (almost) every Darbar artist from our 14+ Festival years

• More Darbar writings •

Other aspects of my ‘outreach musicology’ role:

What is ‘Darbar VR360’? Bringing Indian classical to the virtual realm: “Indian classical music has always adapted to changing times and audiences. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that its leading artists seem eager to adopt new technologies: far from being stuck in some imagined technophobic past, many have embraced any new chance to bring their ancient-rooted music to modern listeners…”

“VR allows you to put on ‘goggles’ which simulate an interactive, three-dimensional world around you. Darbar Festival 360 will teleport its viewers halfway across the world, dropping them in picturesque locations next to India’s temples, mountains, and lakeside sunsets…The experience is interactive and immersive too, aiming to recreate in the feeling of ‘being there’ in fine sensory detail. The sounds – including singers, sitars, and passing birds – will respond as you turn your head…”

P.S. Phalgun – Mridangam Solo (Darbar VR360, 2019):

Concert programmes: distributed at various Barbican, Southbank, & Sadler’s Wells shows – aiming to enthuse and inform, e.g.:

Bahauddin Dagar @ Purcell Room (Mar 2019):

Other Darbar projects: online raga profiles going into the musicological, historical, & spiritual detail (e.g. Darbari: Emperor of ragas), editing a collection of 80+ articles by Jameela Siddiqi & Jahnavi Harrison, community writings (e.g. awards & obituaries), various social media work, press releases, audience interaction, engagement with academics, etc

“Darbar Arts & Heritage believes in the power of Indian classical music to stir, thrill, and inspire. To find out more, get the Darbar newsletter, explore our YouTube channel, or sign up to the Darbar Player to watch extended performances in pristine HD quality.”

George Howlett is a London-based musician and writer. I play guitar, tabla, and santoor, loosely focusing on jazz, rhythm, and global improvisation. Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the human voices, cultures, and passions behind them.

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Recently I’ve worked long-term for Darbar, Guitar World, and Ragatip, and published research into tuning and John Coltrane’s raga notes. I’ve written for Jazzwise, JazzFM, and The Wire, and also record, perform, and teach in local schools. Site menu above, follow below, & get in touch here!