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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.

302 pages | 23 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 1990

Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology

Asian Studies: South Asia

Music: Ethnomusicology

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Preface
Note on the Text
1. Introduction
2. Becoming a Musician
3. Being a Musician
4. The Social Organization of Specialist Knowledge
5. Gharanas: The Politics of Pedigree
6. Adaptive Strategies of Hindustani Music Culture
7. The Ecology of Hindustani Music Culture
8. The Cultural Structure and Social Organization of a Music Tradition
Tables
Notes
Glossary
References
Index

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