About Book
Khayala Vocalism: Continuity Within Change presents stylistic perspectives on the music of nineteen modern and contemporary Khayala vocalists, representing various legacies which have guided vocal music for about 200 years. The book is the result of over five years of research, involving the painstaking analysis of over 500 recordings spanning almost a hundred years of Khayala vocalism. The nineteen vocalists are classified into five stylistic legacies, based on their history of tutelage and the stylistic tendencies evident in their music: Agra legacy, Gwalior-Agra confluence, Jaipur-Atrauli legacy, Kairana legacy, and Patiala legacy.
Written by an author of impeccable credentials as a musician, researcher and writer, the book contains seven sections. While the first section serves as an introduction to the Khayala genre and to the various Gharanas, the last presents an annexure containing the various Khayala forms, a glossary of non-English terms rendered in italics, and an index. The intervening five sections deal with the history and stylistics of the five legacies and the music of the vocalists belonging to them.
The book makes complex musicological concepts accessible to non-academic readers and contributes significantly to widening the understanding of contemporary trends in Khayala vocalism.
About Author
The author is amongst the most respected writers in Hindistani music today. He works at repertoire analyst for Indian archive music Ltd. New York, and is closely associated with the academic and publishing activities of the ITC Sangeet research academy, and the Indian musicological society.
The author, a musicologist, is a sitar and surbahar player of the Imdad Khan/Etawah Gharana, and studies Khayala under Vidushi Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Deepak Raja took an Honours degree in Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science from Delhi University, a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Advertising Administration from the Watford College of Technology in Hertfordshire, UK. He has occupied important positions in the media industry, including Editor of Business India, and Secretary General of the Indian Newspaper Society.