Bhimsen Joshi
Background information
Birth name Bhimsen
Born February
Gadag , Ka India
Died January 2
Pune , Mah Genres Hindustani classical music
Occupations singer
Years active 1941–2
Website
Signature
Bhimsen
Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
( pronunciation );
February 4, 1922 – January
24, 2011) He was an Indian
vocalist in the Hindustani
classical tradition. He was
born in Gadag, Karnataka
to a Kannada Madhwa
family. [1] He is known for
the khayal form of singing,
as well as for his popular
renditions of devotional
music ( bhajans and
abhangs ).
In 1998, he was awarded
the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Fellowship the highest
honour conferred by
Sangeet Natak Akademi ,
India's National Academy
for Music, Dance and
Drama. [2] Subsequently
received the Bharat Ratna,
India's highest civilian
honour, in 2008. [3]
Early life
Bhimsen Joshi was born in
Gadag Karnataka in a
Kannada Madhwa Brahmin
family [4] to Gururaj Joshi,
a teacher and Sanskrit
scholar who had authored
a Kannada-English
dictionary and
Godavaraibai, a home-
maker. [5][6][7]
↑Jump back a section
Musical training
His first music teacher was
Channappa Kurtakoti, who
had trained with the
veteran singer Inayat Khan.
After learning ragas Bhairav
and Bhimpalasi, Bhimsen
Joshi left him for Pandit
Shyamacharya who hailed
from Badami and was a
priest and classical singer.
Pandit Shyamacharya
taught him to sing as well
as play the harmonium. [8]
Search for a guru
Joshi heard a recording of
Abdul Karim Khan's Thumri
"Piya Bin Nahi Aavat Chain"
in Raga Jhinjhoti when he
was a child, which inspired
him to become a musician.
During this time, he also
heard Pandit Sawai
Gandharva at a
performance in Kundgol. In
1933, the 11-year-old Joshi
left Dharwad for Bijapur to
find a master and learn
music. [9][10] With the
help of money lent by his
co-passengers in the train
Bhimsen reached Dharwad
first and later went to
Pune. Later he moved to
Gwalior and got into
Madhava Music School, a
school run by Maharajas of
Gwalior, with the help of
famous sarod player Hafiz
Ali Khan . He traveled for
three years around North
India, including in Delhi ,
Kolkata, Gwalior , Lucknow
and Rampur, trying to find
a good guru. [11]
Eventually, his father
succeeded in tracking him
down in Jalandar and
brought young Bhimsen
back home.
Sawai Gandharva
In 1936, Sawai Gandharva ,
a native of Dharwad,
agreed to be his guru. Joshi
stayed at his house in the
guru-shishya (teacher-
student) tradition. Joshi
continued his training with
Sawai Gandharva till 1940.
↑Jump back a section
Career
Joshi first performed live in
1941 at the age 19. His
debut album, containing a
few devotional songs in
Marathi and Hindi , was
released by HMV the next
year in 1942. Later Joshi
moved to Mumbai in 1943
and worked as a radio
artist. His performance at
a concert in 1946 to
celebrate his guru Sawai
Gandharva's 60th birthday
won him accolades both
from the audience and his
guru. [12]
Hindustani classical
music
Joshi's performances have
been acknowledged by
music critics such as S. N.
Chandrashekhar of the
Deccan Herald to be
marked by spontaneity,
accurate notes, dizzyingly-
paced taans which make
use of his exceptional voice
training, and a mastery
over rhythm.[13] The
Hindu, in an article written
after he was awarded the
Bharat Ratna, said:
Bhimsen Joshi was ever the
wanderer, engendering
brilliant phrases and tans
more intuitively than
through deliberation . [14]
Joshi occasionally employed
the use of sargam and
tihaai s, and often sang
traditional compositions of
the Kirana gharana. His
music often injected
surprising and sudden
turns of phrase, for
example through the
unexpected use of
boltaans. Over the years,
his repertoire tended to
favor a relatively small
number of complex and
serious ragas; however, he
remained one of the most
prolific exponents of
Hindustani classical music.
Some of Joshi's more
popular ragas include
Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki
Todi, Puriya Dhanashri,
Multani , Bhimpalasi,
Darbari , and Ramkali. He
was a purist who has not
dabbled in experimental
forms of music, except for
a series of Jugalbandi
recordings with the
Carnatic signer M.
Balamuralikrishna .
Joshi's singing has been
influenced by many
musicians, including Smt.
Kesarbai Kerkar, Begum
Akhtar and Ustad Amir
Khan. Joshi assimilated into
his own singing various
elements that he liked in
different musical styles and
Gharanas. [15]
Devotional music
In devotional music, Joshi
was most acclaimed for his
Hindi , Kannada and Marathi
Bhajan singing. He has
recorded bhakti songs in
Marathi, Santavani and
Kannada, Dasavani. [16]
Patriotic music
Bhimsen Joshi was widely
recognized in India due to
his performance in the Mile
Sur Mera Tumhara music
video (1988), which begins
with him. The video was
created for the purpose of
national integration in
India, and highlights the
diversity of Indian culture.
Bhimsen Joshi was also a
part of Jana Gana Mana
produced by A. R. Rahman
on the occasion of 50th
year of Indian Republic.
Playback singing
Joshi sang for several films,
including Basant Bahar
(1956) with Manna Dey,
Birbal My Brother (1973)
with Pandit Jasraj. He also
sang for the films Tansen
(1958) and Ankahee (1985)
where latter fetched him
National Film Award for
Best Male Playback Singer .
[17] His song
‘Bhagyadalakshmi
baaramma’, a Purandara
Dasa composition, was
used by Anant Nag and
Shankar Nag in the
Kannada film Nodi Swami
Naavu Irodhu Heege. [18]
Sawai Gandharva Music
Festival
Joshi along with his friend
Vasantrao Deshpande
organized the Sawai
Gandharva Music Festival
as an homage to his guru,
Sawai Gandharva, along
with the Arya Sangeet
Prasarak Mandal in 1953,
marking Gandharva's first
death anniversary. The
festival has been held ever
since, typically on the
second weekend of
December in Pune,
Maharashtra and has
become not only a cultural
event for the city, but an
annual pilgrimage for
Hindustani Classical Music
lovers all over the world.
Joshi conducted the festival
annually since 1953, until
his retirement in 2002.
↑Jump back a section
Legacy
Bhimsen Joshi was known
for his powerful voice,
amazing breath control,
fine musical sensibility and
unwavering grasp of the
fundamentals, representing
a subtle fusion of
intelligence and passion
that imparted life and
excitement to his music.
[19] A classicist by training,
and temperament,
Bhimsen Joshi was
renowned for having
evolved an approach that
sought to achieve a
balance between what may
be termed as "traditional
values and mass-culture
tastes" and as such he
went on to have
supposedly the largest
commercially recorded
repertoire in Hindustani
vocal music. Pt. Joshi's
iconic status in the music
world has earned him a
whole generation of suni
shagirds who by merely
listening to him have
picked up his style and not
through any formal
tutelage. His greatest
endeavour in perpetuating
his legacy could be the
Sawai Gandharva Festival
held at Pune. annually
since the year 1953 which
seeks to promote a certain
music culture. [19]
Madhava Gudi , Narayan
Deshpande, Shrikant
Deshpande and Upendra
Bhat are some of his more
well-known disciples. [20]
↑Jump back a section
Personal life
Joshi was twice-married.
His first wife was Sunanda
Hunagund, daughter of his
maternal uncle, whom he
married in 1944. He had
four children from
Sunanda; Raghavendra,
Usha, Sumangala, and
Anand. His married Vatsala
Mudholkar his co-actor in
the Kannada play Bhagya-
Shree in 1951. Although
bigamous marriages
among Hindus were
prohibited by law in the
Bombay Presidency, he did
not divorce or separate
from Sunanda. With
Vatsala, he had three
children; Jayant, Shubhada,
and Shrinivas. [21]
Joshi had a passion for
cars. He was a swimmer,
an enthusiast of yoga and a
football player. He had
acknowledged his weakness
for alcohol but became a
teetotaller after it started
affecting his career. [19]
↑Jump back a section
Illness and death
Joshi was admitted to
Sahyadri Super Speciality
Hospital on December 31,
2010 with gastrointestinal
bleeding and bilateral
pneumonia . Due to
difficulty in breathing, he
was put on ventilator
support. He suffered
convulsions and was put on
dialysis too during his stay
in hospital. Though he
recovered briefly for three
days when he was taken off
the ventilator, his condition
deteriorated thereafter. He
died on 24 January 2011 .
[22] He was cremated at
Vaikunth Crematorium in
Pune with full state honors.
Background information
Birth name Bhimsen
Born February
Gadag , Ka India
Died January 2
Pune , Mah Genres Hindustani classical music
Occupations singer
Years active 1941–2
Website
Signature
Bhimsen
Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
( pronunciation );
February 4, 1922 – January
24, 2011) He was an Indian
vocalist in the Hindustani
classical tradition. He was
born in Gadag, Karnataka
to a Kannada Madhwa
family. [1] He is known for
the khayal form of singing,
as well as for his popular
renditions of devotional
music ( bhajans and
abhangs ).
In 1998, he was awarded
the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Fellowship the highest
honour conferred by
Sangeet Natak Akademi ,
India's National Academy
for Music, Dance and
Drama. [2] Subsequently
received the Bharat Ratna,
India's highest civilian
honour, in 2008. [3]
Early life
Bhimsen Joshi was born in
Gadag Karnataka in a
Kannada Madhwa Brahmin
family [4] to Gururaj Joshi,
a teacher and Sanskrit
scholar who had authored
a Kannada-English
dictionary and
Godavaraibai, a home-
maker. [5][6][7]
↑Jump back a section
Musical training
His first music teacher was
Channappa Kurtakoti, who
had trained with the
veteran singer Inayat Khan.
After learning ragas Bhairav
and Bhimpalasi, Bhimsen
Joshi left him for Pandit
Shyamacharya who hailed
from Badami and was a
priest and classical singer.
Pandit Shyamacharya
taught him to sing as well
as play the harmonium. [8]
Search for a guru
Joshi heard a recording of
Abdul Karim Khan's Thumri
"Piya Bin Nahi Aavat Chain"
in Raga Jhinjhoti when he
was a child, which inspired
him to become a musician.
During this time, he also
heard Pandit Sawai
Gandharva at a
performance in Kundgol. In
1933, the 11-year-old Joshi
left Dharwad for Bijapur to
find a master and learn
music. [9][10] With the
help of money lent by his
co-passengers in the train
Bhimsen reached Dharwad
first and later went to
Pune. Later he moved to
Gwalior and got into
Madhava Music School, a
school run by Maharajas of
Gwalior, with the help of
famous sarod player Hafiz
Ali Khan . He traveled for
three years around North
India, including in Delhi ,
Kolkata, Gwalior , Lucknow
and Rampur, trying to find
a good guru. [11]
Eventually, his father
succeeded in tracking him
down in Jalandar and
brought young Bhimsen
back home.
Sawai Gandharva
In 1936, Sawai Gandharva ,
a native of Dharwad,
agreed to be his guru. Joshi
stayed at his house in the
guru-shishya (teacher-
student) tradition. Joshi
continued his training with
Sawai Gandharva till 1940.
↑Jump back a section
Career
Joshi first performed live in
1941 at the age 19. His
debut album, containing a
few devotional songs in
Marathi and Hindi , was
released by HMV the next
year in 1942. Later Joshi
moved to Mumbai in 1943
and worked as a radio
artist. His performance at
a concert in 1946 to
celebrate his guru Sawai
Gandharva's 60th birthday
won him accolades both
from the audience and his
guru. [12]
Hindustani classical
music
Joshi's performances have
been acknowledged by
music critics such as S. N.
Chandrashekhar of the
Deccan Herald to be
marked by spontaneity,
accurate notes, dizzyingly-
paced taans which make
use of his exceptional voice
training, and a mastery
over rhythm.[13] The
Hindu, in an article written
after he was awarded the
Bharat Ratna, said:
Bhimsen Joshi was ever the
wanderer, engendering
brilliant phrases and tans
more intuitively than
through deliberation . [14]
Joshi occasionally employed
the use of sargam and
tihaai s, and often sang
traditional compositions of
the Kirana gharana. His
music often injected
surprising and sudden
turns of phrase, for
example through the
unexpected use of
boltaans. Over the years,
his repertoire tended to
favor a relatively small
number of complex and
serious ragas; however, he
remained one of the most
prolific exponents of
Hindustani classical music.
Some of Joshi's more
popular ragas include
Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki
Todi, Puriya Dhanashri,
Multani , Bhimpalasi,
Darbari , and Ramkali. He
was a purist who has not
dabbled in experimental
forms of music, except for
a series of Jugalbandi
recordings with the
Carnatic signer M.
Balamuralikrishna .
Joshi's singing has been
influenced by many
musicians, including Smt.
Kesarbai Kerkar, Begum
Akhtar and Ustad Amir
Khan. Joshi assimilated into
his own singing various
elements that he liked in
different musical styles and
Gharanas. [15]
Devotional music
In devotional music, Joshi
was most acclaimed for his
Hindi , Kannada and Marathi
Bhajan singing. He has
recorded bhakti songs in
Marathi, Santavani and
Kannada, Dasavani. [16]
Patriotic music
Bhimsen Joshi was widely
recognized in India due to
his performance in the Mile
Sur Mera Tumhara music
video (1988), which begins
with him. The video was
created for the purpose of
national integration in
India, and highlights the
diversity of Indian culture.
Bhimsen Joshi was also a
part of Jana Gana Mana
produced by A. R. Rahman
on the occasion of 50th
year of Indian Republic.
Playback singing
Joshi sang for several films,
including Basant Bahar
(1956) with Manna Dey,
Birbal My Brother (1973)
with Pandit Jasraj. He also
sang for the films Tansen
(1958) and Ankahee (1985)
where latter fetched him
National Film Award for
Best Male Playback Singer .
[17] His song
‘Bhagyadalakshmi
baaramma’, a Purandara
Dasa composition, was
used by Anant Nag and
Shankar Nag in the
Kannada film Nodi Swami
Naavu Irodhu Heege. [18]
Sawai Gandharva Music
Festival
Joshi along with his friend
Vasantrao Deshpande
organized the Sawai
Gandharva Music Festival
as an homage to his guru,
Sawai Gandharva, along
with the Arya Sangeet
Prasarak Mandal in 1953,
marking Gandharva's first
death anniversary. The
festival has been held ever
since, typically on the
second weekend of
December in Pune,
Maharashtra and has
become not only a cultural
event for the city, but an
annual pilgrimage for
Hindustani Classical Music
lovers all over the world.
Joshi conducted the festival
annually since 1953, until
his retirement in 2002.
↑Jump back a section
Legacy
Bhimsen Joshi was known
for his powerful voice,
amazing breath control,
fine musical sensibility and
unwavering grasp of the
fundamentals, representing
a subtle fusion of
intelligence and passion
that imparted life and
excitement to his music.
[19] A classicist by training,
and temperament,
Bhimsen Joshi was
renowned for having
evolved an approach that
sought to achieve a
balance between what may
be termed as "traditional
values and mass-culture
tastes" and as such he
went on to have
supposedly the largest
commercially recorded
repertoire in Hindustani
vocal music. Pt. Joshi's
iconic status in the music
world has earned him a
whole generation of suni
shagirds who by merely
listening to him have
picked up his style and not
through any formal
tutelage. His greatest
endeavour in perpetuating
his legacy could be the
Sawai Gandharva Festival
held at Pune. annually
since the year 1953 which
seeks to promote a certain
music culture. [19]
Madhava Gudi , Narayan
Deshpande, Shrikant
Deshpande and Upendra
Bhat are some of his more
well-known disciples. [20]
↑Jump back a section
Personal life
Joshi was twice-married.
His first wife was Sunanda
Hunagund, daughter of his
maternal uncle, whom he
married in 1944. He had
four children from
Sunanda; Raghavendra,
Usha, Sumangala, and
Anand. His married Vatsala
Mudholkar his co-actor in
the Kannada play Bhagya-
Shree in 1951. Although
bigamous marriages
among Hindus were
prohibited by law in the
Bombay Presidency, he did
not divorce or separate
from Sunanda. With
Vatsala, he had three
children; Jayant, Shubhada,
and Shrinivas. [21]
Joshi had a passion for
cars. He was a swimmer,
an enthusiast of yoga and a
football player. He had
acknowledged his weakness
for alcohol but became a
teetotaller after it started
affecting his career. [19]
↑Jump back a section
Illness and death
Joshi was admitted to
Sahyadri Super Speciality
Hospital on December 31,
2010 with gastrointestinal
bleeding and bilateral
pneumonia . Due to
difficulty in breathing, he
was put on ventilator
support. He suffered
convulsions and was put on
dialysis too during his stay
in hospital. Though he
recovered briefly for three
days when he was taken off
the ventilator, his condition
deteriorated thereafter. He
died on 24 January 2011 .
[22] He was cremated at
Vaikunth Crematorium in
Pune with full state honors.
No comments:
Post a Comment