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Bharatiya Sangeet = भारतीय संगीत

(New Delhi, 1965-1966)

Prepared by Benjamin Knysak
Online only (2022)

Only four issues of Bharatiya Sangeet = भारतीय संगीत (Indian Music) were published in New Delhi from August 1965 to May 1966. Appearing largely in two column format, each issue contained between 35 and 40 pages. Published by the vocalist and educator Shashikala Kaikini, no specific editor is named, though two Honorary Editors, Dinkar Kaikini and Premlata Puri, are listed. The journal’s Advisory Board lists a number of prominent names in Indian music and musicology, including the vocalist and musicologist Sumati Mutatkar, the scholar Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar, the musician and composer Ravi Shankar, in addition to C. R. Raja, Padmanabha Shastri, and Shantilal Gujar. The first issue contains congratulatory messages for the publication of Bharatiya Sangeet by Indian Vice-President Zakir Hussain, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Indira Ghandhi (later Prime Minister), and the politician B. V. Keskar. Although six articles appear in Hindi, nearly all content was published in English.

Each issue begins with a short editorial. Following articles, short contributions are found under the “Trends and Topics” rubric. Each issue contains a Book Review column; summaries of foreign musical activities appear in the “Music Abroad” column. Limited, largely non-musical advertising, appears in each issue.

Bharatiya Sangeet reflects a period of cultural modernization in India, described by the playwright J. C. Mathur in the first issue as a “problem of keeping young people within the general influence of music” while “media and mass communication such as the film and the radio, have become a pervasive experience in modern life.”[1] Studies of genres of classical Indian music and dance, including Thumri, Khayal, Dhrupad, and many forms of Raga (Raag) are found. The musicologist R. L. Roy contributes a study of the 2000-year old Natya Shastra of Bharata, a text on the performing arts; Maheepinder Kaur writes about the Guru Granth Shabib manuscript complied by Arjan Dev (1563-1606). Chittaranjan Raja writes of the devotional music of Haveli Sangeet. Multiple articles reference differences of between folk and classical genres of music. The American-born violinist Yehudi Menuhin offers an appreciation of Indian music in the first issue. S. N. Ratanjankar’s “Music and Musical Terms,” a dictionary of Indian music, appears at the end of each issue. Unfortunately, the author was unable to complete a list of terms beyond the letter A before the journal ceased publication. No reason is given for the journal’s demise.

This RIPM index was produced from a copy of the journal held by the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University.

 

[1] J. C. Mathur, “A Call to the Leaders of Indian Music.” Bharatiya Sangeet 1, no. 1 (August 1965): 6.

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