Is tradition set in stone? Is not change even within a musician’s lifetime in the natural order of things? Does custom or convention in musical practice have to be held sacrosanct at the cost of organic modification or adaptation?An artiste creates and modifies, subtly or otherwise, his or her style for several reasons – physical, …
Category archives: Musicians and scholars
Subbulakshmi and contemporary feminism: Sunil Khilnani on BBC Radio 4 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives
Listen to this programme on BBC Radio 4 (15 minutes) >>Find song lyrics, translations and more (type “M.S. Subbulakshmi”) >> M.S. SubbulakshmiBorn 16 September 1916. Died 11 December 2004Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Tamil: மதுரை சண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலட்சுமி, Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi ? 16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004), also known as M.S., was a Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever …
All craftsmen in Miraj are musicians – the wonderfully resonant Tanpura (Tambura)
A view of the shop where tanpuras are made. Photo by Lakshmi Sreeram – courtesy The Hindu Miraj is famous for tanpuras made by its craftsmen, who honed their skills by first becoming trained musicians.How did it ever strike someone to stick a piece of wood on a dried pumpkin, build this bridge and that …
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