Classical Music Legends II

Girija Devi

Born in the musical city of Varanasi in 1929, Girija Devi’s early musical training commenced at the tender age of five under Pandit Sarju Prasad Misra. Later, she received advanced training for several years under Pandit Sri Chandra Misra from whom she imbibed a rich repertoire of Khayals, Gul, Naksh, Prabandhas, Tappas, Tap-Khayals, Bhajans and Thumris. To these, she added Dadras, Kajris, Chaitis and Jhoolas and other varieties of the music of Uttar Pradesh through her research and efforts. Today, she is considered the foremost exponent of the Punjab ‘ang’ light classical music.

Girija’s pleasing personality, aesthetic presentation of classical as well as light classical varieties, her versatile repertoire, and her richly timbered and widely ranged voice are the main factors for her country-wide popularity. Although light classical is considered to be her forte, Girija Devi is equally in her element in Khayal-singing.

Hirabai Barodekar

Srimati Hira-bai Barodekar has been an artiste of all-India repute and a leading exponent of the Kirana school of Hindustani music. Gifted with a soft beautiful voice, skilful artistry and attractive presentation which were the highlights of her performances and spoke volumes for her art – after a long and exciting career as a professional musician, she was a popular in a later period as she had been in her youth.

Born in 1905 at Miraj in Maharashtra, Hirabai’s musical training started whilst she was still a child under the tutelage of late Waheed Khan Sahib and her talented brother late Sureshbabu Mane, himself a noted singer of the Kirana ‘gharana’. To Hiarbai goes the credit to a large measure, for popularising Classical music amongst the masses and there was hardly a home in Western India where she was not known and regarded with affection.

Although khayal singing was her forte, Hirabai excelled in ‘thumri’ and ‘bhajan’ as well. Hirabai had also distinguished herself on Marathi stage as an actress of no mean repute.

Pandit Jagdish Prasad

To hear the young, gifted vocalist Pandit Jagdish Prasad, is sheer delight. Utmost classical purity, an abundance of melodic content, crystal-clear intonation, deep awareness of the profound values of aesthetic presentation and, above all, all the characteristic devoutness of temper and charm of feeling – all these have put his music in a class by itself.

Born in Bilaspur in 1941, Pandit Jagdish Prasad received his initiation into music from his father, Pandit Badri Prasad-, who was the court musician of the erstwhile princely state of Rajgarh. He also drew his inspiration from the late Patiala maestro, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

Music to Pandit Jagdish Prasad is a family inheritance. Son of a Rajasthani mother and Punjabi father, it is only natural that his style would reflect a spontaneous mingling of two musical streams. This mingling, incidentally, has also invested his style with a distinct stamp of individuality. Endowed with a mellifluous voice, he unfolds his ‘khayal’ caressingly, revealing a tasteful design, while the faster number is marked by an astonishing variety of rhythmical, sparkling ‘taans’, all fluently executed.

Pandit Jasraj

Pandit Jasraj is much-acclaimed artiste looming large in the present-day horizon of Indian Classical vocal music. Endowed with a marvellous voice, Pandit Jasraj has the rare ability to control its reach and richness in a manner essentially his own. The charm of his expression, as also the felicity with which he shapes his ideas and intuitions, marks him out as an executant par excellence in the traditional domain.

Born at Hisar in 1930, Pandit Jasraj inherited his musical propensities from his father, Pandit Motiram of the Mewati tradition. But it was his eldest brother, Pandit Maniram, who groomed Jasraj in the true ‘guru-shishya parampara’. Pandit Jasraj’s style of singing is marked by communicative ‘alap’, imaginative ‘bol-taan’, playful ‘sargam’ and a variety of sprightly, cascading ‘taan’ patterns. Pandit Jasraj’s presentation of ‘bhajan’ is marked with devotional fervour.

Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar is acclaimed to-day as a leading exponent of the Jaipur ‘gharana’. She is the daughter of the celebrated vocalist Moghubai Kurdikar, the disciple of the late Ustad Alladiya Khansahib of Jaipur ‘gharana’. Groomed and nurtured by her famous mother, Kishori has blossomed into a very promising artiste. In the young charge of Kishori, the traditional form of Jaipur ‘gayaki’ has acquired a new form and a new grace. She experiments but does not to with tradition. She has lent to the conventional ‘khayal’ an emotional content which it lacked in orthodox hands. But grace and emotion do not sum up her art. A spirit of invasion characterises the complicated patterns of her ‘taans’.

Kishori imagination knows no bounds. For her, the sky is the limit. She feels no condescension in combining in her style the best of the other ‘gharanas’. Her aspiration is not a rigid adherence to a convention but to put before her listeners a thing of beauty to recreate a dream.

Kumar Gandharva

Known as a child prodigy five decades ago, Kumar Gandharva has blossomed into a veteran performing artiste of today. The great thinker that he is now, his creative genius is constantly striving to explore wider and deeper in the field of Classical music and every few months, he springs a surprise on his listeners by presenting a fresh experiment. One perceives in his raga expositions a happy blending a ‘three’ gharanas. The flow of the Gwalior School, the melody of the Kirana School and the intricate play of ‘laykari’, characteristic of the Jaipur School, all these highlight its performances. The coherence in his rendering keeps an intimate relationship with tempo and rhythm at all levels. His perfect diction and a clever play of modulated voice are an added charm to his performances.

A purist by nature, but a progressive vocalist in outlook, Kumar Gandharva wants to march with the changing times. An innate desire to contribute substantially goads his creative genius to constantly experiment. This has led him to study the folk music through which he created his Geer Varsha, geet Hemant, Triveni and the like. He has also evolved entirely new ragas like Malavati, Beehad Bhairav and Gandhi Malhar, dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. His renderings of ‘bhajans’ have a special attraction for lovers of devotional music.

Malini Rajurkar

A rich voice, fecund imagination, acute observation and the uncanny ability to grasp a---n-d -assimilate the subtleties and refinements of various contemporary vocal traditions – these are Malini Rajurkar’s distinctive attributes as a performing vocalist.

Born at Ajmer in Rajasthan, modest, unassuming Malini Rajuskar is a Mathematics graduate of Rajashtan University and a ‘Sangeet Nipun’ from the Ajmer Sangeet Natak Akademi. She also has to her credit a publication entitled “Subodh Sangeet Shastra”.

Malini’s love for music revealed itself right from her early childhood and her discerning parents actively encouraged her in this pursuit. Her real training began under Pandit Govindrao Rajurkar, a noted disciple of Pandit Rajabhayya Poonchhwale, the maestro of the Gwalior ‘gharana’. The veteran groomed her in the best tradition of ‘guru-shishya paramapara’. That is how, Malini Rajurkar has flowered to-day to rank high among India’s young top-notchers, who can render any theme – be it a ‘khayal’ or ‘tarana’ or ‘tappa’ or ‘thumri’, a Marathi stage song or devotional piece – with felicitous ease.

Manik Varma

Born in 1962, Manik Varma inherited a large treasure of artistic talent from her mother who was a distinguished artist herself. She started her music career at a very early age and cut her first disc when she was hardly twelve years old. She had her initial training in Classical music from the late Sureshbabu Mane and Ustad Inayat Khan. Later, she came under the tutelage and guidance or Pandit Jagannathboa Purohit ‘goonidas’.

Gifted with a sweet voice, Smt. Varma gives very lucid expositions of ragas by employing fascinating note-combinations, and she was evolved arresting, expressive style of her own which has hoisted her high in fame and popularity.

Classical Music

A Brief Introduction of Vocalists & Instrumentalists of Indian Classical Music