Host: Wallace Collection
Date: Tuesday 3rd February
Join Professor Katherine Schofield to discover Lucknow’s vibrant musical culture. Learn about the famed courtesan Khanum Jan, who performed classical North Indian music and dance at the court of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula in the 1780s. You will understand how Khanum Jan regained prominence in the 20th century through her musical exchanges with Englishwoman Sophia Plowden, who documented many of her songs.
Professor Schofield will examine Plowden’s illustrated collection of Persian and Indian “Hindustani Airs,” along with melody notations by Plowden and Goan musician John Braganza. We will also learn how writings by Indian musicians and patrons reveal views of Europeans and their music, giving us a much richer understanding of Lucknow courtesan culture between late Mughal and early colonial patronage.
Book here.
