Indian Music: Media/Recordings
Guide to Indian music collections in Columbia University Libraries
Musical Recordings
Columbia University Library has various recordings of Indian music. To locate them, search the catalog with format set to "music recording."
Here are a few representative recent acquisitions:
- Immortal music of the great masterBalasubramaniam, G. N., 1910-1965, Chennai : Kosmic Music, p2008 [Offsite CD92841]
- God's own breath, Raga on fluteChaurasia, Hariprasad, Delhi : Doordarshan Archives, 2009, v. 1-3 [Offsite CD93368]
- Flowers of Southern India: classical carnatic music[Baton Rouge, La.] : Centaur, 2011 [Music Sound Recordings CD22540]
- Footprints in the desertMumbai : De Kulture Music, 2011 [Music Sound Recordings CD21170]
- Pandit Shankar Ghosh & Bickram Ghosh: classical instrumental, tabla duetGhosh, Shankar, Kolkata : Saregama India, p2008 [Offsite CD92828]
- Gundecha Bandhu (Chorus group), Sacred chants of JainismMumbai : Times Musi, 2010 [Offsite CD93095]
- Inde du sud: Musiques des Monts Nilgiri, Kota, Toda, Irula, Kurumba = South India: music of the Nilgiri HillsParis : Ocora Records, p2013 [Music Sound Recordings CD23283]
- Indian ragas & medieval song: modal melodies from east to westSan Lorenzo de El Escorio : Glossa, 2012 [Music Sound Recordings CD21431]
- Hare Krishna, hare Rama: the mahamantra for higher consiousnessJain, Ravindra, Mumbai : Times Music, 2009 [Offsite CD92835]
- Tribute to M.S. SubbulakshmiJayashri, Bombay S., New Delhi : Living Media India, 2009 [Offsite CD92844]
- Hindustani VocalJoshi, Bhimsen, 1922-2011, New Delhi : Sangeet Natak Akademi, 2011 [Offsite CD93318]
- Nach Goa nach: Mande, Dulpods, Dekhanis, KunnbisPanjim, Goa : V.P. Sinari & Sons, p2008 [Offsite CD93348]
- Scintillating sounds of nadaswaramRājarattin̲am Piḷḷai, Ṭi. En̲., 1898-1956, Chennai : Kosmic Music, 2008 [Offsite CD92836]
- Kalyāṇap pāṭalkaḷ = Marriage songsRamanujam, R. (Musician), Chennai : Kosmic Music, 2008 [Offsite CD92843]
- Ranjishen: magnificient expression of ghazalsRathod, Roop Kumar, Mumbai : Times Music, India, p2010 [Offsite CD93082]
- Khayal: classical vocalShankar, Lakshmi, 1926-, Kolkata : Saregama India, 2008 [Offsite CD92826]
- The Living Room Sessions, part 1Shankar, Ravi, 1920-2012, Encinitas, Calif. : East Meets West Records, 2012 [Music Sound Recordings CD22167]
- The Living Room Sessions. Part 2Shankar, Ravi, 1920-2012, Encinitas, Calif. : East Meets West Music, p2013 [Music Sound Recordings CD23670]
- Sufi kalamMumbai : De Kulture, p2009 [Music Sound Recordings CD21169]
- The tribal rhapsodies: [musical treasures of Rajasthani tribes]Mumbai : De Kulture Music, [2011], 2009 [Music Sound Recordings CD21273]
- Avināśī Āśā : sadābahāra Āśā Bhosalenā kaṇṭhe Avināśa Vyāsanā yādagāra gītoVyāsa, Avināśa, 1912-1984, Kolkata : Saregama India, 2011 [Offsite Available]
Online Streaming
Online streaming of Indian music is available via Columbia University libraries. Here is a subject search for "music India" with "online" format selected.
Columbia University subscribes to various online music resources, such as the following:
- Contemporary world music . This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
"Contemporary world music will contain 50,000 tracks that delivers the sounds of all regions from every continent. The database will contain important genres such as reggae, worldbeat, neo-traditional, world fusion, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, Arab swing and jazz and other genres such as traditional music - Indian classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, zydeco, gospel, gagaku and more. This database is a complementary database to Smithsonian global sound for libraries - it includes a blend of contemporary and traditional world music recordings from many labels throughout the world." Use "places" facet for country specific links, such as India. Additional facets using the advanced search interface allow for searches by cultural group such as Indian, Tibetan, Hindustani, Hindu, Punjabi, Persian, Northern Indian, Rajasthan Gypsy, South Indian, and Bengali.
- Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings
- This link opens in a new window
The audio recordings, videos, field notebooks and journals in this resource document musical traditions and how music interacts with different societies and cultures all over the globe. There are recordings from Alaska to the Pacific Islands, West Africa to Indonesia, including religious music, secular music, celebrations and funerals. There are interviews with musicians, slides and photographs of field sites and photographs of instruments being played and in isolation. This resource provides a wealth of materials for the interdisciplinary study of ethnomusicology; whether the focus is on music, anthropology, dance, religion or spirituality.
- Smithsonian global sound for libraries . This link opens in a new windowOffers audio and video downloads, streaming media, educational resources, and detailed liner notes for traditional roots music. The collection includes the published recordings owned by the non-profit Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label and the archival audio collections of the legendary Folkways Records, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, Monitor, Paredon and other labels. Includes music recorded around the African continent for the International Library of African Music (ILAM) at Rhodes University and material collected on the South Asian subcontinent from the Archive Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE), sponsored by the American Institute for Indian Studies. Search by place for "India" specific results. Additional advanced search facets allow for searches by cultural groups such as Bengali, Deori, Hindu, Hindustani, Nath Jogi; by genres such as Indian Classical, Chutney, Dhrupad Kirtan, or Bhajan; and by languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tibetan, and Urdu.
Music Streaming Sites
- Archive of Indian MusicVikram Sampath. Repository of gramophone recordings of India which seeks to digitize and preserve for posterity the valuable slices of India’s cultural history cutting across various genres - Hindustani classical, Carnatic classical, theatre, early cinema, folk, etc.
- Gramophone Recordings from the Linguistic Survey of IndiaDigitized recordings originally collected in South Asia during a period from 1913 until 1929. Intended as a supplement to Sir George A. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India published between 1904 and 1927, the recordings of stories, songs and poems were collected by provincial and presidential governments of British-ruled India in cooperation with Grierson and the Gramophone Company, Calcutta.
- Music and Audio from the HimalayasDigital Himalaya. includes songs from Laya, Bhutan; Thangmi songs from Nepal; Yari Aso's songs, the Mangghuer Folktale Literature, and songs from Gcig sgril County, from Qinghai Province; the Jizong and Minyak collections from Sichuan and songs from Tha Rgyas in Tibet.
- Reng Patangko Thangmi songsRecorded in 2007, the lyrics were composed by Singh Bahadur Thami, Devendra Thami and Lok Bahadur Thami. The musical coordinator was Balram Samal, the recordist was Subarna Shrestha and the songs were recorded at Nishad Digital Studio, Anamnagar, Kathmandu.
Videos
Columbia University Library collections include videos related to the music of India.
Representative examples include:
- Ajaba śahara : Amarīkā meṃ Kabīra = Ajab shahar : Kabir in AmericaBangalore : Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, 2008
- Free to sing: the music of Suman ChatterjeeEpic Actors' Workshop & Choir
- Gimme somethin' to dance to! : what is bhangra?New York : New York University Program in Culture and Media, c1995
- Hardy, Ian, Singing between two worlds - learning traditional music in the heart of modern IndiaNew York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2002
- In between the notes: a portrait of Pandit Pran Nath, master Indian musicianSan Francisco, CA. : Other Minds, 2006
- Kalanjali (Dance company), Of beauty & deities: music and dance of IndiaBerkeley, CA : PALOMINO Productions, c2006
- Khyal: classical singing of North IndiaNew York, NY : Insight Media, [2012?], 1998
- Raga: a film journey into the soul of IndiaEncinitas, CA : East Meets West Music, c2010
- Ravi Shankar: tenth decade in concert : live in Escondido[Encinitas CA] : East Meets West Music, ©2012
- There'll always be stars in the sky: the Indian film music phenomenonVideodisc release of the 1983 Harcourt Films production for Channel 4
- A voice from heaven: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the most beautiful voice in the worldTribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Includes performance footage, a look at Nusrat's life, and interviews with friends and colleagues. New York, NY : Winstar TV & Video, c2001
Persian Music
- The Golha radio programmesThe Golha (‘Flowers of Persian Song and Music’) radio programmes were broadcast on Iranian National Radio between 1956 and 1979. The programmes consist of a mixture of musical pieces, poetry, and literary commentary.