Vaishnava Temple Music in Vrindaban: the Radhavallabha Songbook

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This is a collection of 108 songs from the Radhavallabha tradition, a major North Indian bhakti tradition dating from the 16th century. The songs have been collected by ethno-musicologist Guy L Beck over a period of thirty years during which time he paid many visits to the religious headquarters of the sect, in Vrindaban, UP, India. In the book, Beck analyzes each song, discussing its rhythmic characteristics and its melodic structure within the raga system of classical Indian music. The verbal text for each song is given along with a faithful translation into English. In a long introduction, Beck discusses the development of religious music in India with reference to the special history and contributions of the Radhavallabha tradition. Two CDs filled with recordings of sample music are available free to purchasers of the book and the entire collection of recordings covering 18 expertly mastered CDs is available for purchase separately.