The unmaking of a musical world

Few subjects in Pakistan’s cultural history invite as much reflection as the changing place of music—and few are as rarely examined with clarity. There are two books that approach the condition of music and culture in Pakistan from different but deeply connected angles. A Modern Introduction to Indian Music and Other Essays by Anjum Altaf in one and the other by Kabir Altaf is A New Explanation for the Decline of Hindustani Music in Pakistan. While one investigates the historical decline of Hindustani classical music in Pakistan with a focused explanatory framework, the other examines broader cultural transformations shaping how music is produced, circulated, and experienced. Read together, the books form an intergenerational dialogue that moves from diagnosing a historical rupture to examining the structural changes that define contemporary musical life.

Kabir Altaf’s work begins with a methodological clarity that sets the tone for the book’s argument. Instead of accepting the common lament that classical music has declined, the author insists that decline must first be defined with analytical precision. He introduces a dual framework of “quantitative and qualitative” decline, arguing that both the number of practitioners and the level of artistic excellence have diminished in Pakistan’s Hindustani classical music tradition. This conceptual framing allows the discussion to move beyond nostalgia toward measurable indicators of change.

The early chapters establish evidence for this decline through institutional and material indicators rather than anecdotal impressions. One striking example is the “virtual decimation of the craft industry,” referring to the disappearance of instrument makers who once supplied musicians with sitars, tablas, and other classical instruments. When the demand for instruments collapses, the author suggests, it signals a deeper collapse of musical practice itself. Decline becomes visible not only in concert halls but in the disappearance of the ecosystem that once sustained musicians.

A key insight in the book is that the decline of classical music is selective rather than universal. Other musical genres, such as ghazal, film music, and popular forms, continue to thrive. This observation becomes central to the author’s inquiry: if music itself has not disappeared, why has Hindustani classical music been particularly marginalised? The answer requires examining the cultural and political narratives that have shaped musical legitimacy in Pakistan.

To address this question, Kabir Altaf surveys three widely cited explanations for the decline. The first is the religious argument, which claims that classical music became suspect within an increasingly Islamised public sphere. The second explanation relates to national identity formation after Partition, in which certain cultural forms were reclassified as “Indian” rather than Pakistani. The third explanation focuses on the collapse of elite patronage following the migration of Hindu and Sikh patrons to India.

Each of these explanations is examined carefully but ultimately found insufficient. The religious argument struggles to explain why other musical forms have continued to flourish despite similar theological debates about music. Likewise, the national identity explanation is weakened by the persistence of many cultural practices that share similar historical roots. If identity politics alone determined cultural survival, these other traditions would also have disappeared.

The patronage explanation appears more persuasive at first glance, since the departure of wealthy patrons during Partition undoubtedly disrupted the support system that sustained classical musicians. The author demonstrates that state institutions, particularly radio and television, continued to support classical music well into the post-independence period. Despite this institutional backing, the tradition still failed to reproduce the same level of artistic excellence across generations.

The book therefore proposes an alternative explanation rooted in the demographic consequences of Partition. Although the migration between India and Pakistan was numerically balanced, it was socially uneven. The population that left Pakistan included many members of the urban elite who had historically supported classical music as patrons and connoisseurs. Their departure altered the social composition of audiences and weakened the cultural infrastructure that sustained high art.

Central to this argument is the concept of “patronage from below.” Rather than focussing solely on elite sponsorship, the author emphasises the everyday network of students who learned music from professional musicians. These learners paid teachers, supported instrument makers, and eventually became knowledgeable audiences. When this network disappeared after Partition, the entire ecosystem of classical music began to erode.

Gender plays an important role in this process. The book notes that many of these learners were women who studied music privately within households. Over time, changing social norms and concerns about respectability discouraged such practices. The social surveillance surrounding women’s musical activity contributed to the gradual disappearance of this informal yet vital system of musical transmission.

Kabir Altaf also connects these developments to broader processes of modernisation and commercialisation. As urban economies shifted toward profit-oriented cultural production, forms of music requiring long training and sustained listening became less economically viable. Popular music, with its shorter formats and wider appeal, adapted more easily to commercial media environments.

In response to these pressures, classical musicians increasingly adapted their repertoire and performance styles. Many moved toward ghazal singing, while others incorporated classical elements into popular or fusion formats. These adaptations allowed musicians to survive professionally, but they also transformed the context in which classical techniques were practiced and understood.

The author is careful to distinguish between adaptation and revival. Even when classical elements appear in contemporary music, they do not necessarily recreate the conditions of a living classical tradition. Techniques such as alaap or sargam may persist, but they operate within a different cultural framework that prioritises accessibility and spectacle over the immersive listening environments associated with classical performance.

The book ultimately concludes that the decline of Hindustani classical music in Pakistan cannot be attributed to a single cause. Instead, it results from a complex interaction of demographic change, cultural politics, gender norms, and economic transformation. The erosion of the supporting ecosystem, teachers, learners, patrons, and audiences, has gradually weakened the tradition’s capacity to reproduce itself.

While Kabir Altaf’s work focuses on diagnosing this historical process, Anjum Altaf’s book engages with the broader cultural landscape in which such transformations occur. Rather than concentrating solely on classical music, it explores how artistic forms evolve as they move through different social and technological environments. The emphasis shifts from explaining decline to understanding transformation.

Anjum Altaf pays particular attention to the ways in which media and technology reshape musical experience. The transition from live performance to recorded and digitally circulated music changes not only how audiences encounter music but also how musicians structure their work. The conditions of listening become fragmented, mobile, and increasingly mediated by technological platforms.

This shift has profound implications for musical form. When music circulates through recordings and digital media, it must adapt to shorter attention spans and new patterns of consumption. Musical structures that once unfolded gradually within extended performances must now compete with formats optimised for speed and repetition.

The book also examines how authority in music is changing. Traditional systems of validation, such as lineage, apprenticeship, and institutional recognition, are increasingly supplemented or replaced by new forms of legitimacy based on visibility and reach. Artists gain prominence through media exposure and audience metrics rather than through traditional hierarchies of training.

Anjum Altaf does not present these developments as purely negative. While acknowledging the risks of superficiality and fragmentation, he also recognizes that new platforms create opportunities for experimentation and wider participation. Music becomes accessible to audiences who might never have encountered it in traditional settings.

At the same time, the book remains attentive to the tensions created by these changes. When musical traditions are detached from their original contexts and repackaged for broader audiences, they may lose some of the depth and discipline that once defined them. The challenge becomes finding ways to sustain artistic rigor within rapidly changing cultural systems.

The book also examines how audiences are reconfigured. Rather than stable communities of listeners, audiences become fluid and dispersed, shaped by algorithms, trends, and platform dynamics. This affects not only reception but production strategies. The closing sections suggest that the future of music lies not in preserving static forms, but in understanding how systems of production, circulation, and reception interact. Sustainability is framed not as resistance to change, but as the ability to navigate it.

While this review focuses on the shared historical and thematic intersections of both works, it should be noted that Dr Altaf’s volume also offers an extensive and unique exploration into the physics of sound — a technical depth that merits its own dedicated study, which I have not covered in this review.

Read together, the two books illuminate different aspects of the same historical process. Kabir Altaf’s analysis reveals how the social foundations of a classical tradition were gradually eroded in the decades following Partition. Anjum Altaf’s reflections, meanwhile, explore how contemporary cultural environments reshape the possibilities for music in a rapidly evolving media landscape.

What emerges from this combined reading is a broader understanding of how musical traditions survive or disappear. Music does not exist independently of its social environment; it depends on networks of learning, listening, and support. When those networks weaken or transform, the music itself inevitably changes.

The two books therefore offer complementary perspectives on cultural continuity and change. One traces the dismantling of a classical ecosystem, while the other examines the new systems that are emerging in its place. Together they suggest that the future of music will depend not only on preserving traditions but also on understanding the evolving structures through which music continues to live.

The writer is a music enthusiast and cultural critic. He writes about the intersection of music, society, and the human condition. He can be reached at brian.bassanio@gmail.com

All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer