Showing 13 articles

Making Music from the Heart: In Conversation with Fali Pavri

Author: Manjula Nanavati (compiled by)

October 1, 2024

Born in Mumbai, trained in Moscow and London, Fali Pavri is the Associate Head of Keyboard and the Professor of Piano at the Royal Conservatoire, of Scotland. He joined a New Acropolis Culture Circle audience in Mumbai through a video conference call, from Glasgow, where he both spoke and played for us, passionately, from his [...]

Harmony in the Orchestra of Life!

Author: Gauri Dhawan

May 1, 2024

Harmonia, in Greek Mythology, is the goddess of Harmony and Concord. She is the daughter of Ares, the God of War; and Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. At first glance, this could seem strange: a force of war, and a force of love coming together to create harmony.  But, let’s take a deeper look at [...]

Farewell to Delia Steinberg Guzmán

Author: Sabine Leitner

September 8, 2023

I would like to dedicate this article to my teacher Delia Steinberg Guzmán, International President of New Acropolis from 1991 till 2020, who passed away peacefully on August 15. A few years ago, she said in an interview: “We should all take time to think: why are we in the world? Not because we feel [...]

Qawwali: Call of the Spirit

Author: Harianto Mehta

October 9, 2022

This article serves only as an introduction to the legendary origins, metaphysical purpose, and the traditional form used in the practice of Qawwali. It would be impossible to capture the cultural nuances, complex history, and social impact of the genre in this brief work, but I hope to share some principal themes that have emerged [...]

A Sufi Transformation: Baba Bulleh Shah

Author: Sukesh Motwani

November 7, 2021

Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch (Bahawalpur, Punjab) in present-day Pakistan, where his father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a Paish Imam and teacher. Most historians confirm that Bulleh Shah worked as an adolescent herder in the village. Despite his poverty, however, he was [...]

Music and I

Author: Kurush Dordi

June 29, 2021

Today we live in a world dominated by thousands of music streaming apps catering to a variety of genres. Although Pop, Rock, Jazz, Hip hop, and Electronic Dance Music are all popular, for me Western Classical Music is the shining jewel of the treasure box. It has its own language, awakens emotions, and rehabilitates me [...]

The Power of Sound

Author: Paul Cummings

May 12, 2021

Paying attention to what you hear is a way to relax. The sounds of nature provide a great deal of meditational calmness, such as listening to the rolling of ocean waves or bird song in the garden. Our ancestors strived to achieve entering altered states of mind by making sounds. They did this by chanting [...]

Reflections on the Metaphysics of Music with Shubha Mudgal

Author: Manjula Nanavati

October 19, 2017

“When the soul hears music, it drops its best guard.” – Socrates Music is perhaps the most philosophically puzzling of all the arts. Unlike painting or sculpture it does not culminate in a physical object. Unlike literature and drama, instrumental music has no semantic value. Yet every tune, melody, theme, raga or symphony is steeped [...]

More than Melody – Boethius’ Music of the Spheres

Author: Siobhan Farrar

August 27, 2017

The Music of the Spheres begins in Ancient Greece with Pythagoras who, upon passing a blacksmiths is said to have heard consonance in the different sounds of the hammer. By this he was inspired to discover the connection between vibration, frequencies and pitch. For Pythagoras the octave ratio of 1:2 is considered a symbol of [...]

A Classical Voyage: Music and Life

Author: Shraddha Shetty

October 13, 2015

“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in the mirror. But you are the eternity, and you are the mirror.” – Kahlil Gibran The sunrise, or sunset of course, doesn’t care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, whether we look at it, recognize it, or not. It follows that there [...]

Custodians of Culture: In Conversation with Padmashri Shekhar Sen

Author: Harianto Mehta

July 27, 2015

Padmashri Shekhar Sen, accomplished actor, singer, lyricist, and music director, is perhaps most celebrated for his unique mono-act theatrical renditions, through which he brings to life master poet-philosophers Tulisdas, Kabir, Surdas, and Vivekananda. Last February, New Acropolis (Mumbai) had the privilege to host an evening performance of a medley of Shekhar ji’s moving works. Ever [...]

Two Ways of Beating a Drum

Author: Anonymous

November 21, 2014

Once upon a time there was a drummer living in a small country village. He heard there was going to be a fair in the city of Benares. So he decided to go there and earn some money by playing his drums. He took his son along to accompany him when playing music written for [...]