Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Prof. R. Thiagarajan Presidency College, Chennai. Prof. Suneera Kasliwal Vyas Delhi University, New Delhi. Prof. Anjali Mittal Delhi University, New Delhi. 1 Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Indian Aesthetics and Fine Arts Module Name/Title Vocalists and Scholars of North India - 2 Module Id I C / IAFA / 29 Pre requisites An interest to know about the famous musicians who were expert vocalists and scholars of North Indian Classical Music. Objectives To know a short biographical sketch and achievements of some eminent vocalists and scholars of North Indian Classical Music who were monumental in bringing the glory of Hindustani classical music art to the world through their performances. Keywords Narayanrao Vyas, Ram Chatur Mallik, Siddheshwari Devi, Mallikarjun Mansoor, Gajananrao Joshi, Amir Khan, Gangubai Hangal, Prof. Sumati Mutatkar, D.V.Paluskar, Bhimsen Joshi, Kumar Gandharva, Premlata Sharma, Girija Devi, Jasraj, Kishori Amonkar, Dagar Brothers. E-text (Quadrant-I): Introduction In this module, let us get familiar with some of the greatest vocalists and scholars who lived in the past years. The biographical details, tutelage and achievements of some the vocalists and scholars have been provided. This list is not exhaustive and is presented in a chronological manner. Narayanrao Vyas (1902 - 1984) Narayanrao Vyas was a vocalist of Gwalior gharana. He was born in 1902 in Kolhapur. He was a disciple of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Narayanrao Vyas started performing in music festivals from 1929 to1982, he cut over 150 records in the 78-rpm format for the Gramophone Company HMV in Mumbai. The recorded songs are classical khayals, thumris and semi-classical bhajans. He also sang ragas using Marathi bandishes. The popularity of his records earned him HMV`s best seller gold medal several times. Narayanrao used to sing on radio too. He toured and traveled extensively and sang in prestigious music conferences and concerts throughout north India. He was also proficient in playing the harmonium, tabla, sitar and jaltarang. The Vyas Sangeet Vidyalaya was set up in 1937 by his brother and him, to impart lessons to students both in vocal and instrumental music. The school continues to function to this day. His duets with his gurubhai Vinayakrao Patwardhan were very popular. Narayanrao Vyas was honoured with several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Tansen Award of the Madhya Pradesh Government. Among his disciples are his own son, Vidyadhar Vyas, his guru’s son, D.V.Paluskar, the legendary Carnatic vocalist, M S Subbulakshmi and several others. Narayanrao Vyas remained active even in his old age and passed away in 1984. 2 Ram Chatur Mallik (1902 - 1990) Ram Chatur Mallik was born in 1902 in Darbhanga, Bihar. He was an exponent of the Darbhanga gharana of the Dhrupad tradition, one of the oldest genres of Hindustani vocal music. Known to be the last of the court musicians of the Darbhanga court, he was a member of the Mallik family of singers. Apart from his father, Ram Chatur Mallik was trained under Kshitipal Mallik, a renowned musician of those days, who was also his father's teacher and later under Rameshwar Pathak. Ram Chatur Mallik was awarded the Padma Shri. He was also given the title “Dhrupad Samrat”. He passed away in 1990. Siddheshwari Devi (1908 - 1977) Siddheshwari Devi was a vocalist in hindustani classical music.She was born in Varanasi in 1908. Siddheshwari Devi had her initial training in hindustani classical music from Siyaji Maharaj. Later, she also trained under Bade Ramdasji of Banaras. Siddheshwari Devi's music represented Banaras Gharana style of Thumri, which laid more emphasis on the intensity of feelings and expression of emotions through musical notes and voice modulations. A stalwart of thumri, Siddheshwari Devi’s music also included khayals, dhrupads, dadras, tappas, kajris, chaitis, horis and bhajans. In thumris she specialized in "Poorabang" thumri, which is also known as the "Bol-Banav-ki thumri". Reliance on ragas was a distinctive feature of Siddheshwari Devi’s thumris. She helped in raising thumri to a classical form. She earned the title of "Thumri-Queen" and was presented the much coveted Padma Shri award. Siddheshwari Devi strongly believed in "Guru Shishya Parampara" which has been kept alive by her daughter Vidushi Savita Devi. Savita established "Smt Siddheshwari Devi akademi of Indian Music" in the loving memory of her mother in 1977, the year in which Siddheshwari passed away. Mallikarjun Mansoor (1910 - 1992) Mallikarjun Mansoor was born in Karnataka in 1910. His music was a blend of three influential musical traditions. He was trained in Carnatic Music in his childhood. In his youth, he was introduced to hindustani classical music under Neelkanth Buwa Mirajkar (Alurmath) who belonged to Gwalior gharana and had settled in Miraj and finally he migrated to Jaipur- Atrauli gharana and became the disciple of Manji Khan and Bhurji Khan who were the sons of the famous Alladiya Khan. Mallikarjun Mansur was known for his command over rare (aprachalit) ragas. His khayal repertoire featured a judicious mix of rare ragas like Basanti Kedar, Nat Bihag, or Khat, moderately uncommon raga-s like Sughrai, Kukubh Bilawal, or Kamod, and popular raga-s like Yaman Kalyan, Deshkar, and Adana. His vilambit and madhyalaya khayal bandishes were mostly drawn from the Jaipur-Atrauli tradition, while his drut khayal bandishes were often from other gharanas. He performed regularly on radio and television and participated in numerous music conferences. He was director of HMV for a few years. He later joined Dharwad Radio Station as Music Director. His musical excellence earned him the Kalidas Samman, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and several other titles. Mallikarjun Mansur wrote an autobiographical book in Kannada, which was translated into English as a book titled “My Journey in Music” by his son, Rajshekhar Mansur. Amongst his children, Rajashekhar Mansur (son) and Neela Kodli (daughter) are vocalists. He passed away in 1992. Gajananrao Joshi (1911 - 1987) Gajananrao Joshi also known as Gajananbuwa Joshi came from a family of musicians. He was born in 1911 in Mumbai. Gajananrao Joshi was an eminent vocalist and violinist in 3 hindustani music. He took training under many illustrious gurus of different gharanas like Vazebuwa (Gwalior), Bhurji Khan (Jaipur- Atrauli) and finally from Vilayat Khan (Agra) at various stages of his musical developments. Gajananrao Joshi was extremely tuneful in both vocal or instrumental music. He was a master of laya and taal, his knowledge about ragas was based on firm footing and his presentations were methodical. He was a pioneer in establishing a close performing relationship between hindustani music and the violin. Gajananrao Joshi was a part of all the major music conferences, festivals and events all over India. He was also invited to go to Nepal and Pakistan to take part in Music Programmes. He worked as a Professor of Music in Bombay University and was Music Advisor to All India Radio. Gajananrao Joshi received prestigious awards for his contribution to hindustani classical music both as a violinist and a vocalist. He was conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani Instrumental Music, Tansen Samman by the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh . He was also honoured by ITC Sangeet Research akademi. He was a great composer and teacher. His students include vocalist and violinist Madhukar Joshi, Arun Kashalkar, Vikas Kashalkar, Ulhas Kashalkar, Padma Talwalkar, and violinist Shridhar Parsekar. He also taught vocalists like Kaushalya Manjeshwar, Shubhada Paradkar, Veena Sahasrabuddhe and Jayashree Patnekar. His daughter Malini, sons Manohar, Madhukar and Narayan are also trained musicians. He passed away in 1987. Amir Khan (1912 - 1974) Amir Khan was a very well known vocalist in hindustani classical music. He was born in Indore in 1912 and belonged to the Indore gharana. He received his early training in sarangi and vocal music from his father who was a sarangi and veena player of the Bhendi Bazar gharana in the courts of Indore. He also learnt some basic tabla from one of his maternal uncle. Although he referred to his style as the Indore Gharana, he was a firm believer of absorbing elements from various gharanas.His style was marked by an ati-vilambit or very slow khayal, often in the 14-matra Jhumra taal. Without any trace of flamboyance, the brooding and introspective nature of his music enveloped the listeners. But later, his rapidfire Merukhand taan patterns using sargam or solfège and aakaar or the vowel "aa" left listeners marvelling at the variety of permutations. Amir Khan believed that poetry was important in khayal compositions, and with his pen name, “Sur Rang” (colored in swara), he composed several compositions. He believed in competition between the genres of classical music and film and other popular music, and he felt that classical renderings needed to be made more beautiful while remaining faithful to the spirit and grammar of the raga. Apart from concerts, Amir Khan also sang film songs in ragas, in a purely classical style, most notably for the films Baiju Bawra, Shabab and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. This attempt to introduce classical music to the masses through films significantly boosted Amir Khan’s visibility and popularity. Amir Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1971. Some of his well known disciples include Amarnath, A. Kanan, Ajit Singh Paintal, Akhtar Sadmani, Amarjeet Kaur, Bhimsen Sharma, Gajendra Bakshi, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Kamal Bose, Kankana Banerjee, Mukund Goswami, Munir Khan, Pradyumna Kumud Mukherjee and Purabi Mukherjee, Shankar Mazumdar, Singh Brothers, Srikant Bakre and Thomas Ross. Amir Khan died a premature death in a car accident in Calcutta in the year 1974.