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New Strains
Musicians have always moulded the tastes of listeners, but artistes such as T M Krishna are challenging the social compact between performers and their publics.
As a historian who has been interested in writing the social history of Carnatic music, including its reconstruction in the 20th century, its representation and circulation, I have been following recent controversies with some interest.
In this context, the article by Kamala Ganesh, “Crossing the Vindhyas” (EPW, 13 January 2018), has been useful and timely to think of the larger question of the role played by musicians in creating their public. My response, therefore, is not to single out the interventions of the vocalist T M Krishna, who, by choosing to go public with his reservations about the exclusivist spaces in which Carnatic music has circulated, has seemingly upset some while winning kudos from others.
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