Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music [Hardcover]

Ludwig Pesch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

This is a comprehensive guide that details not only the history and development of Carnatic Music, but also its ragas, its instruments, composers, leading practitioners and schools. It is written in an approachable style which clarifies fairly difficult matters in a simplified, but not simple, manner. It contains a detailed "discography" of recordings and bibliography, and biographical notes on musicians and composers. It will benefit the learned connoisseur, interested amateur, as well as the student.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This volume is a welcome addition to the list ... contains some excellent material, clearly presented in a scholarly fashion ... a handy reference volume on Karnatak music. British Journal of Ethnomusicology

About the Author

Ludwig Pesch, widely regarded as an authority on South Indian classical music, is a practicing Karnatic musician with training from Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts, Chennai, and elsewhere. He has performed widely, both with his guru, the late H. Ramachandra Shastry, and solo. He has lectured and performed at several Max Mueller Bhavans in India and universities in the US. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195643828
• ISBN-13: 978-0195643824
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,019,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough and very readable book, June 15, 2001

By 

Rahul Siddharthan (Chennai, India) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (Hardcover)

For someone already familiar with South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, this book will be a wealth of additional historical, technical and biographical information. For someone who doesn't know much about the music, I would recommend reading the book in conjunction with listening to the music (as much of it as possible) and reading other material. This book combines the detailed information of a reference book with the approachability of a popular introduction; it may be heavy reading initially for the newcomer (since the nature of the music is so different from western music), but will be very rewarding.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable reference book, October 28, 2003

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (Hardcover)

This book provides an overview of the field of Carnatic music, the classical music of South India. In includes chapters on a wide range of topics, such as variety in Carnatic music, music education for children, instrumental music, voice training traditions, types of audiences, sruti (tones and tunings), gamaka (ornamentations), music education, melakarta (organization of the ragas or modes), classification of the ragas, tala (rhythms), concert music, and dance music. In its scope and details, the book is somewhat reminiscent of Sambamurty's standard music theory series. However, this book is not as repetitive, a little more organized, and a little more clear about terminology than Sambamurty's texts, making the material easier to understand for Western readers. The book includes extensive appendices, including a very informative glossary of musical forms with explanations that often run to 3 or 4 paragraphs or more. There is also an annotated biographical list of composers and musicians, a reference list of mudra (names included in the lyrics of classical compositions that identify the composer, raga, tala, etc.), a bibliography, a discography, and a list of ragas.

From the title of the book, one might expect to find the text full of illustrations on every page. Illustrations are indeed used where necessary to explicate a point, but you won't find one on every page- -this is not a coffee table book. In addition to drawn illustrations, there are some black and white photos and 8 color plates of paintings of famous composers. All in all, the book is a good resource for dipping into, but it doesn't provide a sequenced introduction to Carnatic music.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My thoughtson Ludwig Pesch's book,Illustrated companion.., April 13, 2002

By 

Prema Bhat (Atlanta,Ga,U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (Hardcover)

I am a carnatic vocalist,and I found this book extremely valuable for both newcomers and somebody who has knowledge in this art form.Actually I have asked my students in the University to use it as a reference.It is easily readable and written in a way that the author understands the deapth of culture and tradition of South India and its musical tradition, along with many pictures to illustrate the ideas.I personally feel that we really needed this book,since there are not many books written by westerners on carnatic music and will be highly appreciated by anybody who buys this book.