Music
The Origin of Raga
An attempt has been made to trace out the most popular and common term 'raga', its origin, techniques and also the course of its development from the Vedic period to this modern age of science. It also narrates raga in actual forms and its development through ancient and medieval times and as it is practised and performed by musicians of the present times. The style of expression is easy to understand and didactic.
The Musician and His Art
In this book, the author relentlessly pursues his intellectual aims by borrowing ideas from a wide range of disciplines : sociology, linguistics, cultural anthropology, acoustics, aesthetics, demography, economics, marketing finance, psycho-analysis, mythology, philosophy and even mathematics. Despite its diverse intellectual canvas, the book retains the essential ''Indian-ness'' of the author's argument, and simultaneously addresses an international readership.
Hindustani Ragas Index
Hindustani Raga-s Index will prove quite useful to all musicians, scholars and students of music who need to consult the main contemporary Devanagari texts on Raga-s descriptions, compositions and Vistara-s. Browsing through the many tables of contents of these works in order to extract required information, is a time-consuming activity and Moutal's book, although non- exhaustive, will be a tremendous time-saver for consultation.
Essays in Indian Ethnomusicology
The Grammar of Carnatic Music
This book argues that Carnatic music as it is practiced today can be traced to the musical practices of early/mid-eighteenth century. Earlier varieties or ''incarnations'' of Indian music elaborately described in many musical treatises are only of historical relevance today as the music described is quite different from current practices.
Music of the Nations
The Music of the Nations is a comparative study of music and musical systems of the civilized nations of the world. Besides, music of India was not limited within the corners of India, but it crossed the borders of India, and contributed her art and culture to other countries. The Buddhist age was a golden one, and in this age, India had a contact with Mesopotemia.
Fundamentals of Hindustani Classical Music
This approach Fundamentals of Hindustani Classical Music is aimed for readers who have some elementary knowledge of Hindustani Music, but wish to delve deeper into the subject to understand the science and art of music. This book essentially aims at explaining to the reader all aspects of Indian music through simple language.
The Music of India
This is an attempt to bring, to bear a ''scientific'' attitude to Indian musicological problems. Tools and methods of modern science have been employed to probe into musical phenomena and Indian music history. No other term is perhaps so operatively basic as the tonic-drone in melodic music and today the tambura is the most important drone in Indian music. Importance of the emergence of the drone in Indian music history has been discussed at length, in terms of neuro-physiological dynamics.
A Practical Guide to North Indian Classical Vocal Music
This book is a step-by-step practical guide to North Indian music. With the help of this book, the reader can understand the basic aspects of North Indian music and learn to appreciate it better. It describes the ten basic ra.gs of North Indian classical music. It also gives instructions on how to sing and how to play the musical instruments. This book describes the tonal patterns and the tonal embellishments.
Universal History of Music
Music pervades all nature. There is nothing in nature that arouses our attention of effects our feelings so quickly as a sound. The book furnishes an account of the music of various nations-civilized to uncivilized, on the faces of the habitable globe. A few facts concerning Hindu music are given a place in the Appendix.
Hindustani Sangeet And a Philosopher of Art
The book is decidedly the very first of its kind. It seeks to weigh some basic facts and concepts of Hindustani sangeet (music, rhythm and Kathak dance) against the art theories of Susanne K. Langer, an eminent aesthetician of the recent past; But now here without meticulious attention to the text of her writings. In the chapter on music, while discussing Langer's emphasis on 'commanding form' in a total performance, the author proposes a quit new defination of raga which seeks to integrate the various points in its traditional characterizations. The third chapter too, which deals with Langer's view of rhythm, is not merely explanatory, but ventures to propose a fresh and fairly defensible definition of rhythm.
Sitar and Its Music
Sitar and Its Music is a revised and enlarged edition of a much sought after reference book on instrumental music, appeared as Sitar and its Techniques, in 1981. It is a serious attempt to convey the basic principles and allied information on sitar and its music, keeping in mind its absolute usefulness for the students who want to learn sitar and our great tradition.The book vividly deals with gharana, especially its contribution to the existing and traditional Indian classical music.