The death of classical music
Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana died on Jan 4. Classical music in Pakistan died earlier. Nothing epitomises that more than the headline on a leading news website:…
The soul of music
The passing of Sir Zakir Hussain, arguably the finest tabla nawaz of his generation, sparked waves of obituaries and tributes across the world. Yet in Pakistan, his death barely registered…
An elegy to music
“If music be the food of love, play on,/Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,/The appetite may sicken, and so die.” – Twelfth Night Act 1, Scene 1, 1–3 Shakespeare…
An ode to music
When I wrote ‘An elegy to music’ (Oct 21, 2018) last week, little did I realise that soon I would be writing an ode to music too. But before the…
An ode to music
When I wrote ‘An elegy to music’ (Oct 21, 2018) last week, little did I realise that soon I would be writing an ode to music too. But before the…
An elegy to music
“If music be the food of love, play on,/Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,/The appetite may sicken, and so die.” – Twelfth Night Act 1, Scene 1, 1–3 Shakespeare…
The dichotomy of music
Hindustani or North Indian classical music (shastriya sangeet) is a musical tradition of the Subcontinent. It originated in Vedic ritual chants and has been evolving since the 12th century CE.…
Did Gandhi hate music, cinema?
Wonder what Nietzsche — who famously claimed not to believe in a god that could not dance — would have said of Gandhi. The question arose when I went to…
Inspired by music
Hasan is a special child. He is autistic. Music inspires him and had it not been for his love of classical music which he shares with his grandfather, his mind…
A sad song for world music day
Everyone loves to sing and dance. There are songs for childbirth and there are very well-crafted compositions sung at death. There are victory dances. There are anti-war songs and blood-curdling…
