NCPA@home – Ulhas Kashalkar – presenting compositions of Anant Manohar Joshi & S. N. Ratanjankar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coK5z3x_F3k

Supported by Suresh Talwalkar (tabla) Sudhir Nayak (harmonium)

Vocal support: Nishad Bakre and Aditya Khandwe

This event was staged at the Tata Theatre on July 6, 2012 as a part of NCPA’s annual festival titled Bandish: Celebrating the Legendary Composers.

Ulhas Kashalkar has had the privilege of learning from many reputed vocalists including his father N. D. Kashalkar, Ram Marathe and Gajananrao Joshi. Endowed with a mellifluous voice and command over a wide repertoire of well-known and rare ragas, his music reflects a harmonious blend of Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur traditions.

Anant Manohar Joshi, popularly known as Antubua (1881-1967), was an eminent vocalist and composer who had trained with the legendary Gwalior gharana maestro, Balakrishnabua Ichalkaranjikar. He was also privileged to have been influenced by another iconic vocalist, Rehmat Khan. With a harmonious blend of svara (musical note), sahitya (text/lyric) and tala (rhythm), his compositions are veritable treasures. Notable among his compositions are Chalo ri mayee (Shree), Rain kari daravan (Malgunji), Sumar nam ko (Miya Malhar) and such others.

S. N. Ratanjankar (1900-1974) alias ‘Sujaan’ was a distinguished vocalist, exceptional scholar, inspiring teacher, and a composer par excellence. A foremost disciple of Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Faiyaz Khansaheb of Agra gharana; in their footsteps, he went on to compose over 700 compositions that include diverse genres ranging from dhrupad, dhamar, sadra, khayal and hori, to lakshangeet, tarana and bhajan (in Hindi & Sanskrit). His compositions are known to reveal the personality of the raga in an unambiguous manner, and therefore valued as precious source material for any musician desirous of understanding a raga and its various improvisational possibilities. He also composed new ragas such as Gopika Basant, Sawani Kedar, Salag Varali etc. and popularised ragas of Carnatic origin.

Please note: The videos will be available for a week post the streaming.