Texts on Music & Dance

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TARJUMA-I-MANAKUTUHALA & RISALA-I-RAGADARPANA

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ISBN : 81-208-1282-4
Edited By :SHAHAB SARMADEE

(1996 lxviii+314pp)
Rs.500.00
This is the first Persian text brought out in the Kalāmūlaśāstra Series. The volume presents a combined text on music in Persian that was compiled during the seventeenth century CE. The fact of its being a combined text has gone unnoticed till recently. Read More
This work is important from various points of view.It was through the first part of this text i.e. up to chapter two that an important compilation on the identification of Rāgas accomplished under the supervision of Rājā Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior entitled Mānakutūhala is preserved for posterity in Persian translation, which was till now considered lost in original. The appended treatise incorporates further details on the development of contemporary music.

It is undoubtedly one of the few important texts which sheds significant light on the music of the Mughal period. Also, a unique feature of this work is that it covers the period during which the internal and the external forces worked together resulting in a new synthesis. In this configuration, music played a significant role to integrate diverse views.

Book Excerpt – article published in Newsletter

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DATTILAM of DATTILA MUNI

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ISBN : 81-208-0586-0
Edited By :MUKUND LATH

(1988, xvii+236pp, textual notes., com., appen., bibl.)
Rs.300.00
The Dattilam, ascribed to Dattila Muni, is a remarkable treatise from the earliest known period of organized systematic writing on music in India. The work can be placed in the same period as that of the available recension of the Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata MuniRead More
(c. first century CE) and it presents a well-developed Śāstric tradition of analytical thinking on music.

The treatise is devoted to the description of gāndharva, a sacred corpus of music, derived from the still more ancient sāman, the sacred Vedic form. gāndharva was also the source of later musical forms from which the present forms have descended. As a text the Dattilam is not merely important in the historical context but also as a text of perennial significance for it articulates a framework and approach in musicology with which our understanding of musical forms is still impregnated. This edition presents the only available manuscript of the text, along with its translation and a commentary.

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THE PUSPA-SUTRA: A PRATISAKHYA OF SAMAVEDA

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ISBN : 81-208-1792-3(set)
Edited By :G. H. TARLEKAR

(2001, 2 vols., xxxii+415pp, appen. bibl.)
Rs.1,550.00
The Puṣpa-Sūtra is one of the major ancillary works in the Sāman technical literature attributed to the Kauthuma and Rāṇāyaṇīya schools. It deals with the Sāman melodies and their structure.Read More
The term pa, in the present context, means t syllabic expansion that takes place when a melody is formed out of a verse. The Puṣpa-Sūtra was written long after the Sāman melodies had been developed.

It is difficult to fix the exact date of the Puṣpa-Sūtra. There were additions to the original nucleus, like the vikalpas (alternatives), remaining bhāvas, the detailed treatment of prastāva and the first two prapāṭhakas. Its present form of having ten prapāṭhakas is a great help to the scholars working in the field of the study of Sāmavedic chants. The explanation of the technical terms provided in this edition could also be of great help to the readers.

The present edition prepared by G.H. Tarlekar who was a living authority on the science of Sāman-chanting, contains the accurate text in Sanskrit with English exposition bringing out all the intricate points discussed in the Sūtras in a highly technical language. This important text on the Sāman-chanting has been exposited in English in this edition for the first time.

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BRHADDSI of SRI MATANGA MUNI

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ISBN : 81-208-1031-7
Edited By :PREM LATA SHARMA

(1992, Vol.I, xviii+193pp)
Rs.275.00
The Bṛhaddeśī ascribed to Mataṅga Muni, and most probably belonging to the sixth century CE, is a landmark in Saṅgītaśāstra for more than one reason. It is the solitary text that forges a link between Nāṭyaśāstra and Dattilam Read More
on one hand and Abhinavabhāratī on the other, the gap extending over more than 500 years. Its direct influence on later texts like Saṅgītaratnākara and its commentaries is obvious in various ways, be it nāda from the tantric stream or the etymology of various terms or the description of rāgas.

Speaking of saṅgīta, the Bṛhaddeśī is the first extant text to describe Rāga, to introduce sā ri gā mā notation, to usher in a fresh approach towards śruti, svara, grāma, mūrcchanā, etc. and to introduce prabandha, the compositional form independent on drama, to establish the concept of deśī and its counterpart mārga and to mention ethnic groups like śabara, pulinda and nāga in the context of bhāṣās (varieties) of grāma-rāgas.

The volumes present the first critical edition of this well- known, but almost inaccessible text, along with variant readings, an English translation, textual notes and annotations.

Volume ISBN Price

1992, Vol.I, xviii+193pp. 81-208-1031-7 Rs. 275

1994, Vol. II, xviii+320pp. 81-208-1032-5 Rs.300

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CATURDANDIPRAKASIKA of SRI VENKATAMAKHIN

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ISBN : 81-208-1851-2
Edited By :R. SATHYANARAYANA

(2006, xxv+472 pp)
Rs.3,000.00
The Caturdaṇḍīprakāśikā (c. CE 1650) of Venkatamakhin is a fundamental treatise of Karnataka music and marks the rearguard in the renaissance of Indian music. It has launched a crucial, conceptual revolution which has metamorphosed this musical system into an enduring and attractive paddhati…Read More
It has been profoundly influencing every musician, musicologist and composer of south India ever since it was written. This influence will remain undimmed in the foreseeable future.

The Caturdaṇḍīprakāśikā is written in ten chapters: Sruti, Svara, Mela, Rāga, Ālāpa, Ṭhāya, Gīta, Prabandha and Tāla. It is being issued in two volumes: The first volume consists of the critically edited text, English translation, text-critical comments, critical and explanatory notes, several indices and a
detailed critical introduction. The second volume contains a critical study of rare commentary of this text called Makhihṛdaya.

Volume ISBN

2006,xxv+472pp., (Vol. I) 81-208-1849-0

xxviii+666 (Vol. II) 81-208-1850-4

1998 Vol. III, xi+557pp. :81-208-1219-0

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MATRALAKSANAM

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ISBN : 81-208-0585-5
Edited By :WAYNE HOWARD

(1988, xvi,+98 pp,musical notations, bibl)
Rs.150.00
The publication of this volume has laid the foundation of the IGNCA’s programme of publishing fundamental texts of the Indian traditions in original with translations. The importance of this text is enhanced by the fact that it represents two very important śakhās (recensions) of the Sāmaveda – Rāṇāyanīya and Kauthuma-on chanting. Read More
The contents of the Mātrālakṣaṇam are of fundamental importance because this is perhaps the first text to discuss the concept of a time-unit measure (mātrā). The importance of mātrā as measure with mathematical syllabic time value of vowels in their aspects of elongation, tempo, pitch and interval cannot be understood without taking into account sound as measure. In delineating the semantic relationship between syllable and letter, vowels and consonants, it lays the foundation of disciplines today recognized as phonetics, linguistics and prosody. Equally important is the discussion on sound and notes, in doing so it is a proto fore-runner of the “modal” system of lndian music.

As an exacting system of oral articulation and recitation this text was used for recitation with hand gestures like ārcika. In relating the articulation of sound with body language, gesture, especially hands and fingers, the system of orally rendering a text according to its manuals, provides the basis of the emergence of a structure of artistic expression through the body (viz. āṅgikābhinaya). In more senses than one Vedic intonation is a precursor of both theory and practice (śāstra and prayoga) of the arts, in their original framework of interrelatedness.

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NARTANANIRNAYA of SRI PANDARIKA VITTHALA

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ISBN : 81-208-1217-9
Edited By :R. SATHYANARAYANA

(1994, Vol. I, xiii+357pp.)
Rs.450.00
The Nartananirṇaya is one of the notable Sanskrit treatise on Indian music and dance, appearing after the Saṅgītaratnākara of Śārṅgadeva. Its author Śrī Paṇḍarīka Viṭṭhala (sixteenth century) was a profound and versatile scholar who had also written Ṣaḍrāgacandrodaya, Rāgamālā, Rāgamañjarī, Dūtīkarmaprakāśa and Śīghrabodhinī-nāmamālā.Read More
He adorned the courts of Hindu and Muslim kings, including those of the rulers of Jaipur and Mughal Emperor Akbar.

With a unique methodical plan, the Nartananirṇaya progresses through stepwise contributions of the cymbal player, the mṛdaṅga-player and the singer to dancing, in the first three chapters before culminating in its longest and fourth chapter on the dancer. This chapter contains many novel features in the performance conventions and repertoire including some dance forms of both the south and north India. Its delineation of bandha nṛtya and anibandha nṛtya deserves serious attention of both traditionalist and innovative dancers.
The presentation is based on extensive and wide-ranging critical apparatus; it offers detailed text-critical and exegetical comments. The text is supported by a readable translation as well as comprehensive and erudite commentary and numerous indices.

Perspective – article published in Newsletter

Volume ISBN Price

1994,Vol. I, xiii+357pp. 81-208-1217-9 Rs. 450

1996,Vol.II,xi+491pp 81-208-1218-2 Rs.650

1998 Vol. III, xi+557pp. :81-208-1219-0 Rs 800

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RAGALAKSANA SRI MUDDHUVNKATAMAKHIN

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ISBN : 978-81-208-3408-8
Edited By :R. SATHYANARAYANA

(2010, xvii + 376 pp)
Rs.900.00
The Rāgalakṣaṇam was composed by Mudduveṅkaṭamakhin in Tanjore in the early eighteenth century CE. It is an important text of Karnataka music and appeared in an effervescent epoch in the development of this music system of which it deals only with rāga…Read More
It collects, classifies, codifies and characterizes the entire music base of the Indian peninsula. The author was a musician, musicologist and music composer of high order. His contribution to the world of music is twofold; systematization of the theory of rāga content of his times and creating music to crystallize the character and scope of each rāga described.

The author derived his inspiration from his great-grandfather, Veṅkaṭmakhim who revolutionized the theory and practice of Indian music through his scheme of seventy-two melas. His Caturdaṇḍīprakāśīkā illustrates the four fun dam en tal components ( daṇḍī of music-gīta, ālāpa, ṭhāya and prabandha, which his paramaguro (teacher’s teacher) Tanappa postulated and illustrated. His own guru was his father Govindadīkṣita who made the first daṇḍīs in practice in his Saṅgītasudhā.

Thus a line of four important musicians musicologists-composer of south India – Tānappā, Govindadiīkṣita, Veṅkaṭamakhin and Mudduveṅkaṭamakhin -built up or reorganized a textual tradition which supported a living dynamic tradition of performed music in which hundreds of composers, thousands of performers and countless listeners endeavoured to continuously strengthen and nourish it. The Rāgalakṣaṇam marks an important phase of this great evolution.

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RAGAVIBODHA

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ISBN : 978-81-208-3794-2

(2014, xlv+391pp.)
Rs.600.00
The Ragavibodha is a masterpiece on musicology from the 17th century. It was composed by SomanŒtha to address the existing contradictions between the ancients’ theory and prevailing performance practices; thus making it an indispensable treatise, to be included in the Kalamulasastra series of the IGNCA.

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SANGITANARAYANA of SRI PURUSOTTAMA MISRA

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ISBN : 978-81-208-3289-3
Edited By :Mandakaranta Bose

(2009, xix + 968 pp)
Rs.2,100.00
The Saṅgītanārāyaṇa is a Sanskrit text on music and dance written in the seventeenth century by Puruṣottama Miśra, a minister at the court of King Gajapati Nārāyaṇadeva of Parlākimiḍi in Orissa and his instructor in musicology, with the assistance of the king…Read More
While the precise date of the Sang”itaniiriiya1Ja is not known, its relationship to Puruṣottama Miśra and Gajapati Nārāyaṇadeva prompts us to place it in the first half of the seventeenth century.
One of the most valuable and extensive texts on music and dance from eastern India, the Saṅgītanārāyaṇa consists of four chapters, the first on vocal music (gītanirṇaya), the second on instrumental music ( vādyanirṇaya), the third on dance and dramatic art (nāṭyanirṇaya), and the fourth chapter that provides examples of musical compositions (śuddhaprabandhodhāraṇa).

Altogether fifteen manuscripts of the text are known to exist, some full and some fragmentary. An edition of the text comprising all the four chapters was published first by Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1966 under the joint editorship of Pandit Vanambaracarya, Kavichandra Kalicharan Patnaik and Shri Kedarnath Mahapatra. A more recent edition of the three musicological chapters was accomplished in 1987 by Jonathan Katz at Oxford but remains yet unpublished. Present edition is the first critical edition, which also provides an English translation of the text.

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