Singing the Himalayan Crossroads

Traditional Songs of Ladakh

Noé Dinnerstein

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Paperback

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English

State University of New York Press
02 December 2025

Theory of music & musicology; Folk & traditional music; Asian history; Tibetan Buddhism; Islam

Introduces the traditional songs of Himalayan Ladakh through their history, ethnology, poetry, and Tibetan Buddhism beliefs.

Singing the Himalayan Crossroads places the traditional song repertoires of the former Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh in both their historical and modern contexts. Although scholarly, it is aimed at a broad general audience, including people interested in ethnomusicology, Tibet, Buddhism, the Silk Road, or the music and cultures of Central and South Asia.

While many songs contain texts that evoke Buddhist meditative visualization practices, at the same time, Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, were prominent in Silk Road caravans that enriched the Buddhist aristocracy. Songs from these Muslim traders often mention important religious sites in Kashmir while having nostalgia for the sights of the Ladakhi capital, Leh. Interweaving these themes, author Noé Dinnerstein mixes a relaxed, conversational narrative with the music and poetry of the songs to evoke the crossroads of High Asia.

A separate anthology of recordings is available online.

By: Noé Dinnerstein
Imprint: State University of New York Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9798855802559
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 02 December 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Noé Dinnerstein is Adjunct Associate Professor of Music at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. He is coeditor, with Lawrence Beaumont and Somangshu Mukherji, of Trends in World Music Analysis: New Directions in World Music Analysis.

Reviews for Singing the Himalayan Crossroads: Traditional Songs of Ladakh

""A welcome addition to the relatively small amount of English-language scholarship on Himalayan music. It will be useful as a resource for a wide variety of scholars interested in comparing Ladakhi music with that of other nearby regions and as a resource on musical and historical/cultural basics for scholars intending to look at facets of Ladakhi musical life from varied perspectives."" — Anna Stirr, University of Hawaii at Manoa ""This is a very valuable book on a region's music that is barely researched. While there is quite a lot of anthropological work on Ladakh, there is scarce work on music. The book is also valuable as it is written by someone with a deep knowledge of the area and the music, someone who has learned instruments and many of the genres he describes."" — Anna Morcom, Director, Center for India and South Asia, UCLA