Spotlight
Hindustani Music At The Crossroads

A leading European
musicologist made the observation in the nineteen seventies that appreciating
Indian classical music requires tens of years of training of the ear, mind and,
indeed, the soul. It was a time when the towering musicians of the 20th
century, who had matured in the pre-independence era, still dominated the
concert platform.
Independence changed
everything. The patronage of the princely class and wealthy merchants all but
evaporated. Even for the greatest amongst musicians, music ceased to be a
secure way of life, and became a high-risk self-employed profession.