Eternal India Encyclopedia

MUSIC

Eternal India

encyclopedia

HINDUSTANI VOCALISTS

Pandit Ramakrishnabu wa Vaze

(1871-1945)

Born in Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, he

received training chiefly from Ustad Nissar

Hussain Khan of

Gwalior gharana. He

had a flair for play-

ing a number of in-

struments but is

chiefly remembered

as a vocalist. He en-

riched the raag-rep-

ertoire in effective

circulation to a considerable extent. He also

presented an alternative approach towards

solving the puzzling phenomenon of the

aprachalita raag. His singing of the Jhaptaal-

compositions showed a perceptive mind.

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan

(1872-1937)

Born in Kairana in Saharanpur district in

Uttar Pradesh. Initially trained by his father

Kalekhan and Uncle Abdullakhan. In the

1890s, served in the princely state of Baroda

for some time; then

moved through Bom-

bay, Miraj and Hubli

successively; founded

Aarya Sangeet Samaaj

in Pune (1913) and

opened a branch of the

same

Bombay

(1917); collaborated

with M/s Clements and Deval in carrying out

research on the Sruti-problem in Indian musi-

cology. He was one of the major Hindustani

vocalists to win acceptance in the South.

After closing the Bombay branch of the

Aarya

Sangeet Samaaj in 1920, he settled perma-

nently in Miraj.

Ustad Faiyaz Hussain Khan

(1886-1950)

Bom in Agra, he received training

mainly

from

Ghulam

Abbas (grandfa-

ther) and Kollam

Khan

(grand

uncle), both of

Agra gharana. He

was

appointed

state musician in

Baroda in 1912

and

was awarded the title of Aaftaab-e-mousiki

("Sun in the world of music") by the

Maharaja

of Mysore in 1925; known for his ability to

sing a variety of musical forms; immensely

successful in mehfils.

Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar

(1892-1977)

Born

Keri

(Goa) received train-

ing

from Pandit

Vazebuwa,

Ustad

Barkatullah

Khan

and Ustad Aliadiya

Khan of the Jaipur

gharana for about

fifteen years from

1920 onwards. Perhaps the most striking fea-

ture of her singing was an almost masculine

breadth of voice. She was awarded the title

Surashree by Ravindranath Thakur in 1938;

was also recipient of many other honours.

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur

(1897-1967)

Born in Jahaaj in District broach Thakur

in Gujarat. He had his musical training

from Pandit Vishnu

Digambar

Paluekar

of the Gwalior ghar-

ana. He was primar-

ily responsible for

instituting the faculty

of music in the Be-

naras Hindu Univer-

sity in 1950 and was its Dean till 1957. He

represented India in many international confer-

ences. He was a performer, composer, educa-

tionist as well as theoretician. Important pub-

lished musicological works include six parts

of Sangeetanjali which came out during the

period 1938-1962, and Pranav Bhaarati in

1956. He was solemn in his maalkauns and

shuddha kalyaan, and serene but joyful in

shudhanat. He could also be melodramatically

emotional in his bhajans (e.g.,

'Mat jaa jogi')

and full of fervour in the rendering of the

'Vande maataram'.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

(1901-1969)

Born in Kasoor in the Punjab, he received

training chiefly from his uncle, Kale Khan.

Initially earned his living as a saarangi-player;

egarded today as the

main exponent of the

Patiala gharana, mi-

grated to India after

1948; possessed good

knowledge of folk-

music

Kashmir,

Sindh and the Punjab

regions. His music

possessed an exceptional and lucidity. The

values of the individual notes remained intact

irrespective of the length, the tempo of the

taans and proportion of gamaks.

Bhimsen Gurraj Joshi.

Born on 14th Feb, 1922, he studied under

Rambhau Kundgolkar, and became a Hin-

dustani vocalist. He is also the singer of

Khayal of Kirana Gharana and Thumri. As

an honour he received Padma Shri in 1972

and SangeetNatak Academy Award in 1975.

Mallikarjun Mansoor :

Also known as Bhimarayappi he was

born on 31 Dec. 1910 in Mansur village

(Dharwar) of Karnataka. He had studied

under Neelakanthaboa and later under Manji

Khan and Burji Khan. Mainly akhyalist, he

served as Sangeet Salahkar at different AIR

stations of India. He received the Karnataka

Sangeet Natak Akademi and also Sangeet

Natak Akademy award in 1972, U D. Litt

(Hon.) from Karnatak University, he served

as Hon. Director of Music and Fine Arts,

Karnatak University.

Other Eminent vocalists:

Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Rajab Ali Khan,

Anant Manohar Joshi, Rajabhaiya Poon-

chhwale, Rasoolan Bai, Ganesh Ramchandra

Behere, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Altaf

Hussain Khan, Y.S. Mirashi Buwa, Rahimud-

din Khan Dagar,.Hirabai Barodekar, Siddhes-

wari Devi, Amir Khan, Mogubai Kurdikar

(L), Ramchatur Mallick, Nisar Hussain

Khan, Begum Akhtar, Gangubai Hangal (L),

Kumar Gandharva, Narayanrao G. Vyas,

Girija Devi (L), Khadim Hussain Khan,

Sarachchandra Arolkar, Nivruttibua Samaik,

Basavaraj Rajguru, Vasantarao Deshpande,

Mahadev Prasad Mishra (L), Sharafat

Hussain Khan, Kishori Amonkar (L), Nasir

Aminuddin Dagar (L), Asgari Bai (L), Firoz

B. Dastur (L), Manik Varma (L), C.R. Vyas

(L), Pandit Jasraj (L), Shobha Gurtu (L),

Padmavati Gokhale Shaligram (L), Jitendra

Abhisheki (L), K.G. Ginde (L), Dhondutai

Kulkarni (L), N. Zahiruddin Dagar, Prabha

Atre (L), Ramarao V. Naik (L), Shiv Kumar

Shukla (L), Bala Saheb Poochwale (L),

Rahim

Fahimuddin Dagar (L).

*(L) Living

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