American singer (née Alice Richardson) who married Ananda Coomaraswamy and became a celebrated performer of Indian classical music in both India and the West — one of the first Westerners to master and perform Indian art music at a high level.
Represents the possible integration of Western and Indian musical traditions — as a Western-born woman who mastered Indian classical vocal music, Ratan Devi demonstrated that the encounter between Western seekers and Indian traditions need not be superficial.
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