About the Book: A Southern Music: The Karnatik Story
T.M. Krishna, one of the foremost Karnatik vocalists today, begins his panoramic
exploration of that tradition with a fundamental question: what is music? Taking
nothing for granted and addressing diverse readers from Karnatik musics rich
spectrum and beyond it, Krishna provides a path-breaking overview of south
Indian classical music.
He advances provocative ideas about various aspects of its practice. Central to
his thinking is the concept of art music, the ability to achieve abstraction, as
the foundational character of Karnatik music. In his explorations, he sights the
visible connections and unappreciated intersections between this music form and
others-Hindustani music, Bharatanatyam,