I have accompanied with kheyal many times though I have realised that the audience loved my accompaniment more with Thumri rather than Kheyal. I want to share my experience with two artists of BenarasGharana. In my early years of performances I have accompanied VidushiGirija Debi several times. She generally preferred to perform kheyal at the beginning of her performances. It was almost 15-20 years ago. She used to sing khayal first and then go for thumri, dadra, chaiti, kajri and other semi classical forms in the Concerts which was a specialization of BenerasGharana. She had a very unique voice, though sheused to avoid variations and embellishments those were commonly applied in Thumrirecitals, but on a sudden she often rendered some beautiful variations with hercontrolled gayekiwhich turned the whole recital into a new level. She always allowed her accompanists a fair chance to perform. She gave equal importance to harmonium and sarangi. She always granted one full abartan(one time circle) for harmonium, another for sarangiand then she would take one full avartan for herself. During her later performances sheusually allowed her disciplesto sing one whole avartan as she could not sing continuously because of her age. But giving a chance to her accompanists to express themselves independently in the concerts between her singings was a regular event since her initial days of performances.It was her style. So, I got enough space during accompanying her. During her performances when she rendered I used to follow her, and then sheused to give me clues to play on my own. I used to play freely but I had always kept her style in mind.
Vidushi Purnima Choudhury
After Girija Devi when Purnima Choudhury came to Kolkata, I became her regular accompanist till her last breath. It was almost10 to 12 years. She was also from Beneras gharana. If it is back calculated then the time must be 2001 or 2002. Sometimes I played with both of them during that time period. Though both of them were from Benaras gharana still Purnimadi’s style was different from Girija Devi. Her style of singing was little bit swift moving but she had established her signature style so fascinatingly that not only the connoisseurs but also the masses couldenjoy the renditions. She encouraged me lot. We used to travel together and formed a strong bond. She sometimes took Sarangi as an accompanying instrument. Once we were performing in Madhusudan Mancha where she had not taken Sarengi. There she gave me the opportunity to play at the beginning and then she started to sing. Sometimes she would openly comment in between the rendition that if I played so nicely then audiences might not listen to her any more.She used to joke a lot.
Once in a programme in Ballygunge where my wife was present she was singing a thumri on Khambaj raga named Mrignayani. Suddenly, she stopped and said that Debubhai is in a jovial mood as his Mrignayani is present right here and then pointed at my wife. Such was her sense of humour.
Pandit Debaprosad dey first started learning from Amiyaranjan Bandopadhyay during the days when he was a student of Rabindra Bharati University. He had taken private tuitions for the five years probably from 1973 to ’78. At that time Sangeetacharya Amiyaranjan Bandopadhyay used to live in a flat opposite to Rangana theatre and Sarkarina hall in North Kolkata. Later he also continued his talim when Amiyababu shifted to another flat in Vivekananda Park. Sangeetacharya Amiyaranjan Bandopadhyay had a very unique method of teaching specially presenting a bandish in 48 matra or time beats that many musicians are lacking of. He could knit any bandish so beautifully in a calculative way that anyone would present it without putting his effort onto it. Actually the beautifully arrangement of words lied beneath the setting of the bandishes would make the movement or chalan of the bandishes smooth in 48 matras so that the mukhra or the initial part of the bandish would come automatically in framed time cycle. It happened both in sthayi and antara of each bandish. We also used to write down those bandishes as the notation form covering whole 48 matras.
Ustad Amir Khan
Amiyababu used to carry out the style of vistar or improvisation of a Raga like Ustad Amir Khan. In spite of being a doyen of Visnupur gharana, he always took long time on elaboration by taking each note of a raga gradually and represented it with proper embellishmentsfollowing the style of Kirana gharana much like Ustad Amir Khan. His father was a renowned Dhrupad singer, Sangeetacharya Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay who is supposed to be the last one to represent the actual form of Visnupur gharana, though his descendants like Amiyaranjan, Niharranjan or even Santanu are much closer to Kirana gharana. Amiyababu had always consciously followed the style of Kirana gharana, that’s why he could beautifully perform tanas in fast laya and even what is more astonishing that in this old age also he is still performing such magnificent tanas with ease.
S.A.P. Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University, B.T. Road Campus.
About the speaker
Sitar Maestro, Chair Professor, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
Tags
Ali Akbar Khan, Sarod, Tuning, Listening, Strumming, Raga, Music, North Indian Classical Music, performance, 1983
Language
English
Pt. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay speaks :
Text version:
I would like to put forward why I see Riyaz very important. To tell you about that, I must refer to one of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Sahab’s , Ali Akbar Khan Sahab’s TV interview, where he was asked that, “Khan Sahab you are such a great Sarod player, such a great musician, how do you perform so good in music, such a good music and so beautiful music”. He said that ‘when I go to my sarod, it appears alien to me. Then I try to tune that, and if it tunes well then I go to the stage, and seat tight, start strumming, and then everything, if everything goes well, I become the listener. “
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
So I also believe that, this is the way, we the raga music performers, at least from north India, I would say musicians from India excepting the south, those who are doing raga music, I think this is the final message. This is the best message I have ever heard. But here comes why Riyaz is important, Riyaz makes, gives you a level of virtuosity, and that makes you comfortable you know, whatever comes in your mind that gets expressed through you, without any hindrance, without any difficulties. So and to achieve that level of virtuosity, you are free from any worries, that if some expression comes to your mind, it will get expressed, you require to practice , appropriate practice, I would say intelligent and appropriate practicing. Thank You.
