Show Notes
We are resharing this episode in memory of Michael Harrison, who passed away on April 17, 2026. He was 67.
In this episode, we discuss the life and work of musician and Sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan with composer/pianist and Inayat Khan scholar Michael Harrison.
Hazrat Inayat Khan ( July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani (d. 1907) of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism (the Sufi Order) in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.
Michael Harrison (October 24, 1958 - April 17, 2026) forged a new approach to composition through just intonation (the system of tuning based on pure harmonic proportions). His works blend classical music traditions of Europe and North India. He is a Guggenheim Fellowship and NYFA Artist Fellowship recipient.
Michael created dedicated tuning systems for many of his works. He pioneered a structural approach to composition in which the proportions of harmonic relationships organically determine other musical elements such as pitch, duration, and dynamics. He also invented the “harmonic piano,” a grand piano that plays 24 notes per octave, documented in the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Harrison seeks expressions of universality via the physics of sound – music that brings one into a state of concentrated listening as a meditative and even mind-altering experience.
At the time of his death he was working on “The Raga Cycle”, a series of albums charting the hours of the day through Hindustani raga. The first installment, Evening Light, was released in March 2026 on Cantaloupe Records. More albums in the series were recorded before he became too ill to continue. They will be released in the years ahead.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Michael Harrison Foundation for Just Music at JustMusic.org.
Topics
00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:22 Encore Tribute
02:28 Mysticism Book Intro
02:49 Spiritual Music Path
04:32 Conservatory And Tonality
06:37 Daily Raga Practice
12:55 Voice Breath And Wazifa
16:48 Creation As Vibration
20:14 Harmony East And West
24:07 Math Of Consonance
25:32 Temperament Versus Just
28:24 Tuning The Soul Quote
32:03 Piano Retuning Journey
35:54 432 Versus 440
39:56 Music As Universal Religion
46:02 Cage Oliveros Deep Listening
51:16 Commentary And Curriculum
53:08 Teaching Programs
55:26 Closing Thanks And Outro
Links
Michael Harrison — His Own Work
Evening Light: Raga Cycle I — Cantaloupe Music (2026)
Seven Sacred Names — Bandcamp (2021)
Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation — Cantaloupe Music (2007)
From Ancient Worlds — michaelharrison.com
Time Loops with Maya Beiser — Cantaloupe Music (2012)
Michael Harrison website
Episode Music
Michael Harrison — "Mureed" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music)
Michael Harrison — "Alim: Polyphonic Raga Malkauns" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music)
Michael Harrison — "Qadr: Etude in Raga Bhimpalasi" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music)
Hazrat Inayat Khan — "Purvi Khal: Kamli Wale Tope Sabkuchhvare" (2022, Primitiv)
Michael Harrison – “Sami: The Acoustic Constellation” from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music)
Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Mysticism of Sound and Music — Goodreads
Inayat Khan 1909 78rpm Recordings — YouTube
Hazrat Inayat Khan — Wikipedia
The Inayat Order — Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Turning Toward the Heart — SAND Podcast with Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Teachers & Lineage
Pandit Pran Nath — Wikipedia
La Monte Young — Wikipedia
Terry Riley — Wikipedia
Pir Vilayat Khan — Wikipedia
Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan — Wikipedi
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