A Decade of Indian Sound: The Complete 1910 Sessions

This collection captures 1910 at the apex of a transformative decade. By this year, the gramophone had recorded over 5,000 Indian songs—an archive created in service of profit but proving invaluable as a historical document. The singers in this collection—Abdul Karim Khan, Gauhar Jaan, Janki Bai, Zohra Bai—were at the height of their powers. The technologies of recording had matured. The double-sided disc had just been invented, doubling the content of every record. The market was booming. The catalogue was organized according to Indian musical logic, making music accessible to millions of consumers. Yet this collection also marks a threshold. What came after 1910 would be different. Film would arrive. New genres would emerge. The pure traditions—Khayal, Thumri, Bhajan—would eventually be overshadowed by hybrid forms. This collection, therefore, represents the apogee of something: the moment when classical traditions achieved their greatest documentation and preservation, before film music would begin to reshape Indian music culture entirely. In 1910, these recordings represent India's entire musical voice—before that voice was fractured, amplified, and remade by cinema.