$75.00
THIS IS A RARE AND USED ITEM. IT IS NOT MANUFACTURED ANYMORE. NO RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED
Pandit Omkarnath Thakur’s death in 1967 truly marked the end of an era: the era of “monarchs” in music. He was one of the most colourful personalities who loomed large in the music world for some three decades – during which for some three decades – during which no music conference in India was complete without him. In his long and eventful career, he was able to realize the collective ambitions of many of his “confreres”.
Both at home and abroad, public recognition came naturally to him. At home, he was honored with titles and awards (including Padma Shri and President’s Award for Hindustani Vocal Music). He was probably the only Indian musician to have gone West as far back as in the early ‘thirties and win acclaim in the international “soirees” in many world capitals. He rendered the national anthem and devotional songs at political conventions and recited vedic hymns at literary conferences. He delivered illuminating lectures on musicology, profound though-provoking theories and wrote authoritative books on the subject. More than once had he announced his retirement from active musical life – and that, too, for political reasons.
There was something elusive about Panditji’s personality. He was something of a gate-crasher. He was prodigy to some and enigma to others. Although he was steeped in the old shastras and claimed that he was orthodox in his vocalism, his approach to music sounded unconventional. The novel shape he gave his melodies evoked much animated controversy in the musical “milieu”. His was the music that pleased the ear but baffled the mind. This indeed was the secret of the tremendous vogue he enjoyed among the people.
Panditji’s rise to fame was as dramatic as a thriller. His forbears were military men but he was born in a penury in a far-off Gujarat village and orphaned at 14. He earned his living as a cook and then as a mill-worker. The vicissitudes of life hardly dampened his spirit and his burning passion for music asserted itself in many ways. He tried to learn music from temple-musicians and street-singers till he came face to face with Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Young Omkarnath’s association with the great evangelist of Hindustani music was destined to prove notable in the years to come and be never looked back.
Connoisseurs will welcome this new disc for many reasons. It is a venture neither conceived nor attempted before. Besides the musical genius of Panditji, the disc unfolds, from Side One, another shining facet of his commanding personality: Omkarnath as an equally inimitable orator.
THE MUSIC
SIDE ONE: The topic of Panditji’s lecture is “Bilawal”, the fundamental made from which a plentitude of ragas have derived through the centuries. It was Panditji’s firm conviction that Bilawal never evolved itself into an independent raga – as a theme suitable for vocal or instrumental rendition. It was essentially a “that” from which emanated a rich variety of “janya” ragas like Alhaiya Bilawal, Devgiri Bilawal, Kukubh Bilawal and a host of others.
And Panditji exudes profound scholarship as he stresses his point of view. His argument is marked by incisive analysis, sound judgement and forthright advocacy. There is also in it the familiar rhetoric and ebullience of manner, too – all of which wins the listeners over to his side.
SIDE TWO presents Panditji’s exposition of the raga Alhaiya Bilawal. It is a brilliant revelation of the diverse aspects of his consummate artistry: his crushing sonority of voice; his accurate intonation; his typical ardour and fervour; his natual expressiveness; his penchant for dramatization; and, above all, his power to move his listeners.
Alhaiya Bilawal is a celebrated morning melody with a complete scale (sampurna raga). The sith (dha) is the dominant (vadi) note and third (ga) or the second (re) is the sub-dominant (samvadi) note. All the notes are natural (Shuddha). But the raga also makes use of the flat seventh (komal nishad) in the descent (avroha).
Artists:
Pandit Omkarnath Thakur (Vocal)
Tracks:
SIDE ONE
Raga Bilawal A lecture on
SIDE TWO
Raga Alhaiya Bilawal Khayal - Daiya Kahan Gailo
Artist | Pandit Omkarnath Thakur |
---|---|
Condition | Used |
Format | Vinyl |
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