Songs in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu; an alphabetical list with raga, tala, and name of the composer.

“I too have a dream”, says V.S. Narasimhan, author of this book. Someday the sound of St. Thyagaraja’s compositions should be heard in places like Carnegie Hall! It is my desire and vision that cello should become a prominent instrument of Carnatic music both as solo and accompanying instrument just as the violin is. The grandeur of the tone of a cello in Carnatic music is something I hear in my head. Similarly bass players could incorporate Carnatic music ornamentation techniques. Viola should also become a featured component of Carnatic music as a solo and as accompaniment. If these instruments which cover a wide range of frequencies get into the hands of skillful artists, the result would be a novel symphonic style of arrangement that would gain a broader international audience and would be a transformative event bringing new dimensions to Carnatic music. What I hear in these tracks is the voice on the other side of the world, seemingly divergent yet at the same time oddly familiar, using the same classic instrumentation to provide yet another compelling new musical paradigm in the continuing evolution of the string quartet form. One can only wonder what Papa Haydn would have thought if somehow by a miracle of time travel he were to hear this music!…Grammy award winner, David Balakrishnan, Founder/ Member of Turtle Island String Quartet: Together, the musicians of the Madras String Quartet played authentic, grace oriented Carnatic music, setting off its beauty against the harmonic richness of the Western classical idiom. It was beautiful. Bangalore Mirror, March 1, 2010 A Capella twist to Thyagaraja kriti “Brova Bharamma” gets a new sound, thanks to ace violinist V. S. Narasimhan The Hindu, Chennai, Friday, July 22, 2016

Contribution of Svātitirunāḷ, 1813-1846, Maharaja of Travancore and exponent of Carnatic music to Indian classical music.

Songs in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu; an alphabetical list with raga, tala, and name of the composer.

Most classical musicians, whether in orchestral or ensemble situations, will have to face a piece by composers such as Ligeti, Messiaen, Varèse or Xenakis, while improvisers face music influenced by Dave Holland, Steve Coleman, Aka Moon, Weather Report, Irakere or elements from the Balkans, India, Africa or Cuba. Rafael Reina argues that today’s music demands a new approach to rhythmical training, a training that will provide musicians with the necessary tools to face, with accuracy, more varied and complex rhythmical concepts, while keeping the emotional content. Reina uses the architecture of the South Indian Karnatic rhythmical system to enhance and radically change the teaching of rhythmical solfege at a higher education level and demonstrates how this learning can influence the creation and interpretation of complex contemporary classical and jazz music. The book is designed for classical and jazz performers as well as creators, be they composers or improvisers, and is a clear and complete guide that will enable future solfege teachers and students to use these techniques and their methodology to greatly improve their rhythmical skills. An accompanying website of audio examples helps to explain each technique. For examples of composed and improvised pieces by students who have studied this book, as well as concerts by highly acclaimed karnatic musicians, please copy this link to your browser: http://www.contemporary-music-through-non-western-techniques.com/pages/1587-video-recordings

This book is an endeavor to represent the mind of a musician seeking the ideal. In the process there has been a journey into the past and a peep into the future to arrive at a balance for an ideal present. Dr. Pantula Rama has been bestowed with the greatest of boons in form of her family background of music and her Guru Sri Ivaturi Vijayeswara Rao, who created an insight required for this work. Rama, chose to interview 13 maestors of the field who are the bridging brigade for the past and the present. Their valuable views have been presented in this research work.