‘Sweet, beautiful voices’: When a troupe of African American musicians sang at the Taj Mahal in 1889

The Fisk Jubilee Singers toured India and Bhutan for a few short months in 1889 and 1890, drawing cheers from listeners and praises from critics.

Patrick D. Rasico

· Aug 19, 2021 · 11:30 am

Music beyond language: Can a song be truly loved without understanding the lyrics?

My first language is Bengali, I read and write English for a living, and I understand Hindi. Why then do I love songs in other languages?

Devarsi Ghosh

· Nov 18, 2020 · 10:30 am

In ‘Then & Now’, Susmit Bose’s social blues create a time warp to reach the counterculture years

The compilation album features five decades of the Delhi singer-songwriter’s work.

Devarsi Ghosh

· Nov 12, 2020 · 02:30 pm

Music and lyrics: ‘Thodi Si Bewafaii’ and the magic of one-off collaborations

Gulzar and Khayyam joined forces for the 1980 movie, starring Rajesh Khanna, Shabana Azmi and Padmini Kolhapure.

Ganesh Vancheeswaran

· Aug 20, 2020 · 10:25 am

Music and lyrics: Songwriter Gulshan Bawra combined soul and depth with a sense of fun

Born Gulshan Kumar Mehta, but known by the name that captured his irreverent and freewheeling personality.

Ganesh Vancheeswaran

· Aug 13, 2020 · 03:00 pm

Notes scribbled in a 14th-century musical treatise trace Aurangzeb’s journey from Delhi to Kashmir

The handbook has relevance beyond the world of Arabic and Persian musicology.

Jenny Norton-Wright

· Aug 03, 2020 · 09:30 pm

Songs of solace: A playlist to take comfort in and words to live by

From ‘Sooha Saaha’ to ‘Yeh Honsla’, songs to help us navigate the coronavirus pandemic.

Rineeta Naik

· Apr 21, 2020 · 10:00 am

How film composers have used raag Maand to express love and longing

From sadness to elation, Maand has been used for a diverse set of situations.

Sruthisagar Yamunan

· Apr 14, 2020 · 02:30 pm

How techno music reunited Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall

After years of censorship, young people from both sides needed a new kind of nonconformist music. Techno rave parties filled that silence.

Beate Peter, The Conversation

· Nov 09, 2019 · 08:30 pm

Singers like Toby Keith have won Country a conservative label. But the genre has a progressive heart

Country greats have long tackled problems like inequality and racism.

Mark Allan Jackson, Aeon

· Jul 01, 2019 · 09:30 pm

Singing on a jet plane: A brief history of Pakistan International Airlines’ in-flight music

The evolution of PIA’s music gives a peek into Pakistan’s changing soundscape.

Natasha Noorani

· Mar 24, 2019 · 11:30 am

Gandhi Requiem: The link between a musical masterpiece and the death of the Mahatma

British composer Benjamin Britten’s famous ‘War Requiem’ was originally conceived as a requiem for Gandhi.

Luis Dias

· Oct 23, 2018 · 11:30 am