HINDUSTANI SANGEET: SOME PERSPECTIVES, SOME PERFORMERS

The second book by S.K. Saksena, the distinguished Professor of Philosophy, collects his essays on western philosophy and Hindustani music. There are a range of meditations on Hegel, Kant and Croce and how their theories illuminate Indian musics. But I want to draw attention to the second part of the book which collects portraits and appraisals of classical vocalists, many of which were published in the journal Sangeet Natak and are now classics. Their compilation in one volume makes them easily accessible to the lay music enthusiast. There is a charming account of Altaf Hussain Khan Khurjawale whom the author met in the 1960s in Chandni Mahal, the abode of Delhi gharana musicians in Suiwalan, Delhi. The maestro was then in his nineties but had not lost his zest for life and music.