Classical and Folk Music from India (non-Bollywood!) rapidshare
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:16 am
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Not India proper, but not too far away culturally: Balochistan in Northwestern Pakistan.
Abdulrahman Surizehi
Love Songs and Trance Music from Balochistan
Etnisk Musikklubb EM17 2006, 2006
CD 1
1. Madok
2. Mate Watan
3. O mani dost
4. Malle balocha bin me Rodbari Zahirig
5. Ya Rasool
6. Yad
7. Dost
8. Sherwandi
9. Min Gudbransdal
CD 2
1. a) Allah hu
b) Allah hu
c) Morida
d) Simor
2. a) Allah maan faqira
b) Noorshah
c) Leiro
3. Sasuli Khorasani Qalandari zemor
4. a) Qalandar lal marwandi (namidanam)
b) Keblai Simorg
c) Bawan shah
d) Qalandar-e-meda
The "vina" is one of the most important musical instruments used in Carnatic music, which today is still a living musical art and an essential cultural aspect of South India. Rajeswari Padmanabhan and Karaikudi Sambasivayer Subramanian are playing the "vina" in the 9th generation and the remarkable percussionist Tanjore Upendran accompanies them on the "mridangam".
The recordings for "Sambho Mahadeva" (Great god Sambhu) were made in June 1975 in the studios of Sender Freies Berlin and the Ethnological Museum in Berlin and include 7 first recordings of a total of 17 pieces.
The extensive booklet contains - besides descriptions of the compositions and their respective musical styles - numerous examples of notations and many photographs.
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O, great god Sambhu is the latest release in Wergo's Museum Collection Berlin series. The album features the South Indian vina (lute), one of the most important instruments in Carnatic music, as played by Rajeswari Padmanabhan and Karaikudi Sambasivayer Subramaniam, with percussion accompaniment by Tanjore Upendram on the mrdangam. These studio and concert recordings were made in Berlin in 1975. As is the norm in this series, the booklet (128 pages German/English) is incredibly detailed and informative.
320 kbps mp3; including full 128 page German/English booklet scans
“Although guitar is a foreign instrument, he has a tremendous command over it. He has given a new dimension to it by merging the sound and style of guitar, sitar and sarod. The effect of his playing is unique.” — Padmavibhushan Ravi Shankar
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt was born in 1952, of a musician family of Jaipur in Rajasthan. He received his initial training from his older brother Shashi Mohan, and is now a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He has modified his guitar by adding several chikari (drone strings tuned to the tonic), and eight sympathetic strings tuned to the scale of the raga being played, which ring out in the background when their note is struck on the main strings. This hybrid instrument, which Vishwa calls the Mohan Veena, is played like a Hawaiian slide guitar, and is ideally suited for the sustained, sliding notes of vocal style Indian classical music.
Sukhvindar Singh, from Ludhiana in the Punjab, is one of today's leading young tabla players. Learning first to play the pakhawaj (the large double headed drum used to accompany Dhrupad vocal music) under Nihal Singh, he received a thorough training in the Banares tradition from his guru Kishan Maharaj.
Rag Bihag is an important evening raga. The rasa (mood) is romantic combined with pathos, as in longing for one's lover. Basically following a major scale, it omits the second and sixth while ascending, and goes through both a natural and augmented fourth: S m G M P N S, S N D P M G m G R S (C F E F# G B C, C B A G F# E F E D C). There is an andolan (slow vibrato between microtones) on the sharp fourth, and the second, used only in descent to the tonic, is soft. The heart of the rag is the phrase P M G m G (G F# E F E). Vadi and samvadi (most important) notes are the third and seventh.
Rag Desh is a rainy season rag, and played in the evening at other times. Mood is pathos and joy. Its ascending/descending stucture goes: N S R m P N S, R S n D P D m G R G N S. (B C D F G B C, D C Bb A G A F E D E B C). Vadi and samvadi are the second and fifth.
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Chances are they won't be offering this on the Nashville Network, but this is a release of steel guitar music with a difference: the music being played on it is Indian classical music. Guitarist Bhatt takes an archtop guitar, adds drone and sympathetic strings, and plays it lap-style with a steel bar. The result sounds no more like Sol Hoopii than it does Buddy Emmons, though the basic technique is one common to bar pushers worldwide. Anyone familiar with the technique will be properly floored by Bhatt's playing on the "fast tintal" section of "Rag Bihag," a work that clocks in at a full hour. Recorded live in Pittsburgh, the two performances here represent serious Indian classical music (Ravi Shankar even endorses Bhatt's music and hybrid instrument) which will be of interest to lovers of guitar (and steel guitar) music in their many-splendored forms. ~ Mark Humphrey
Young Maestro KALA RAMNATH, the contemporary torch bearer of the Mewati Gharana, stands today amongst the most outstanding instrumental musicians in the North Indian classical genre. Born into a family of musical talent, Kala began playing the violin at the tender age of three under the tutelage of her grandfather Vidwan Narayan Iyer. Simultaneously she received training from her aunt Dr. N. Rajam. For the past eleven years she has put herself under the training of Mewati vocal maestro, Pandit Jasraj. This has brought a rare vocal emotionalism to her art.
Kala's violin playing is characterized by an immaculate bowing and fingering technique, command over all aspects of laya, richness and clarity in sur. All this innate artistry and technical brilliance combined with a rare and exquisite emotional quality are the hallmarks of the style. She has completely revolutionized the technique of playing the violin by taking this instrument so close to vocal music that today her violin is called "the singing violin".
Kala has performed at all major music festivals in India, such as the Dover Lane Music Conference and others.
In 1984, she won the first prize in the prestigious AIR music competition. In 1988, she became the first ever-Hindustani musician and violinist to record for CBS India Ltd. Besides being a brilliant and charismatic musician; Kala has also an outstanding academic record. A University first in her graduation and post graduation, she won the junior and senior government scholarships in the year 1979 and 1984 respectively. She is also an A-grade artist in Radio and Television.
KALA has won the acclaim of discerning audiences and critics worldwide. She has extensively toured the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Middle East, Mauritius, Nepal, Bangladesh etc. Her lecture demonstrations and workshops in Music have been highly appreciated in these countries. She is the principal of the Pandit Jasraj School of Music Foundation in Tampa, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia and Los-Angeles, California. She is also a guest professor at the Sangit Academy, Brussels and Neufchâteau in Belgium.
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Exactly what happened when the violin fell into the hands of Indian musicians is a story that many of Jazzwise's readers will think they are familiar with, through violinists L. Subramaniam and his brother L.Shankar. As ever, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, for they represent but part of the tale. What they represent is what happened when the violin fell into South Indian hands. Kala Ramnath represents what happened when one multi-minded man called A. Narayana Iyer decided to steer two branches of his family in different directions, in order that they would not compete with each other. His son T.N. Krishnan took the southern path; his daughter N. Rajam the Northern one. Rajam's niece, Kala, follows the Northern tradition. If you have never heard violin played in the Northern Indian style, do yourself a favour and try Kala out. Her repertoire here comprises 'Jogkauns' played as three original compositions in, respectively, a slow, medium and fast tempo. A 10-minute 'Bhatiyar' concludes the proceedings. If Mozart had been transported to the South Asian subcontinent this is what he and improvised Western classical music might have sounded like.
The comparison is not thrown in to befuddle or impress. Kala Ramnath is a musician of giant-like qualities. - Ken Hunt
Devabrata "Debu" Chaudhuri - sitar
Shafaat Ahmed Khan - tabla
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Pandit Devabrata (Debu) Chaudhuri today is the foremost exponent of the Senia gharana. Initially trained under the late Panchu Gopal Datta, he trained for a fruitful 38 years under Sangeet Acharya Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan, Sitar Sudhakar of the Senia gharana. His romance with the sitar started when he was all of 4 years old, he made his public debut at the age of 12 and his first broadcast for All India Radio was in the year 1948.
Debu Chaudhuri is a man of many talents. He is India`s foremost sitar maestro, respected teacher and guru, composer of numerous mellifluous symphonies, creator of eight new ragas, author of three books and several monographs, eminent musicologist (successfully guiding 33 Ph. D. Scholars) and winner of numerous awards and honours. He has been conferred the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India`s highest civilian honours bestowed by the President of India and the most coveted Sangeet Natak Award for his invaluable contribution in the field of Indian classical music. He has also recorded many albums and cassettes with companies all over the world.
In 1960, Debu Chaudhuri left Kolkata to join the newly established Department of Music at the University of Delhi in search of his mission to promote the purest traditional form of sitar playing being played by his revered Guruji, propagating its special techniques and quality not only in India, but all over the world. Here he taught for 40 years. His zeal for the propagation of Indian classical music has been boundless and he has delivered lectures at more than 130 Universities around the world, chaired various international seminars on music and has represented India at numerous cultural festivals.
He has recently started a unique project to document rare instrumental compositions, which are being forgotten or overlooked by the present generation - a project so dear to his heart that his only ambition is to complete it during his lifetime. As the founder Chairperson of the Delhi University Culture council and as the former Dean and Head of the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, Debu Chaudhuri`s contribution to the field of education places him on an exalted pedestal of respect in the domain of music all over the world. He enjoys wide popularity both as a Maestro of Sitar and as a learned teacher of music, a unique combination and achievement indeed. (ITC Sangeet Research Academy)
two amazon reviewers:
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Raga Desh is one Raga that I could recognize even before I knew anything about classical music, and I believe every Indian irrespective of familiarity with classical music will know it by it's sound. It is the Raga to which the National Song of India, "Vande Mataram" is set. It is an amazingly beautiful Raga, full of inspiring, uplifting sentiment and Shri Debu Chowdhuri does not disappoint with an exquisite Alaap. The Sitar that Debu Chowdhuri uses has a nice shimmering sound to it that sounds very nice as well.
I very much like Panditji's performance of raag Desh.
As one of the few well known sitar playing representatives of the Senia gharana, Pt. Debu Chaudhuri is an important musician. But he is also one of the best sitarists of the 20th. Century, in my opinion (along with Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Manilal Nag, Rais Khan, and perhaps Shahid Parvez).
For more info on the artist see his website: http://www.debuchaudhuri.com/
Born on 6th November, 1942 Lalith Rao, showed an uncanny fondness for classical music right from her childhood. Perhaps her tryst with the Agra Gharana began at the age of 3, she sat through an entire four-hour recital of Ustad Faiyaz Khan, completely fascinated and spellbound.
She began training under Pandit Rama Rao Naik, a disciple of this gharana. Lalith gave her first public performance at the Bangalore Sangeet Sabha in 1955 at the age of 12. In 1957, while still in school, she participated in Sur Singar Sansad`s All India Classical Music competition in Mumbai for budding musicians under the age of 30, and won the first prizes even though she was only just over 14. The same year she participated in the Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan and became the youngest participant of this prestigious event. She received rave reviews.
A brilliant and versatile student, after she finished her B.Sc. she undertook a degree course Electrical Communication engineering and went on to do her post graduation abroad. However, during the arduous engineering course, music had to be relegated somewhat to the background.
Her marriage to Jayavanth Rao in 1967 brought her to Delhi. Lalith was keen on pursuing a career in her very specialized field of engineering, but her husband`s coaxing finally took her back to classical music. It began with a short stint with Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, who initiated Lalith`s return to her musical roots. Soon after, Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, the doyen of the Agra-Atrauli Gharana, came into her life. He thoroughly polished her singing style and taught her the finer aspects of the Gharana, as well as numerous ragas and bandishes.
However, having virtually given up music for a number of years, she had to start all over again from the bottom rung of the musical ladder. So she decided to perform at the same Sangeet Sammelan in whose music competition she had won the first prize more than two decades ago. Her rendering was acclaimed as the best recital of the Sammelan and the newspapers announced that a new star had arrived in the musical firmament.
That was probably the turning point in her career, as engineering slowly but surely started to recede into the background and music became her full-time pursuit. Thereafter she went on to perform in the Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan and later in almost all the music circles and major musical events all over the country. She regaled her audiences with her rich repertoire comprising Khayal, Dhrupad, Dhamar, Thumri, Tarana, Hori, etc. She was particularly acclaimed for her delineation of a wide variety of ragas bringing out their aesthetics and purity. She also developed her own unique style of singing taranas under the guidance of her Ustad. In 1981 she undertook her first concert tour abroad, performing in France, the UK and all over USA and Canada. Since then she has performed abroad several times. A Top Grade artiste of the AIR, she performs regularly on the Radio and Television. She has many commercial albums to her credit.
In the mid `70s Lalith, along with other disciples and admirers of Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, started a music organisation in Mumbai called Sajan Milap, named after Sajan Piya the nom de plume of the Ustad. She also spent a few years (1989-91) with ITC Sangeet Research Academy as their first Chief Co-ordinator for an archival project funded by the Ford Foundation. Later, in 1993, at the invitation of the Ethno-Musicology Department of the University of Washington in Seattle, she herself rendered nearly 500 traditional Agra-Atrauli Gharana compositions in a wide variety of ragas for their archival project.
Sometime in 1993-94, Lalith faced one of the most traumatic periods of her career when she lost her voice on the eve of a tour of Europe. Under the guidance of Peter Harrison, she slowly regained her voice. She has now resumed her musical pursuits, having relocated to Bangalore and is also actively grooming talented disciples.
"Kaushiki Chakrabarty is one of the very few classical vocalists who will make a mark in the 21st century…." This was the assessment made by Bhimsen Joshi, one of India's greatest classical vocalists of the modern era.
The qualities which have given rise to this level of commendation were certainly evident in this captivating performance of Khayal singing given at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, London on the 30th of August 2003.
Born in 1980 in the campus of Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, Kaushiki Chakrabarty is now a scholar of this great centre of lndian Cultural learning. The gurus of the Academy repose a great hope in Kaushiki and have blessed her for a glorious musical future.
Kaushiki's mother, Chandna Chakrabarty was her first guru noting that she could reproduce virtually any musical and rhythmic phrase when she was only two years old. Kaushiki then became a "ganda-bandh" shagird (disciple) of her father's guru, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, according to India's ancient system of guru-shishya parampara. On account of the old age of her guru and with his consent, she resumed her training under her father, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. The guru-shishya system of teaching is the most intensive and effective route of musical learning in North Indian Classical music. It is the very soul of the oral tradition of India, and embodies the living and learning relationship between master and pupil. Evolving from the era of the great Indian seers, what the tradition signifies is the complete emotional, intellectual and spiritual surrender of the ardent shishya (trainee) to the guru (teacher).
Kaushiki has already proved herself as a versatile artist. One of the central tenets of Kaushiki's music is voice culture. She doesn't like to be typecast into groves like classical or light musician, her flexible voice means that she is capable of adapting to any style. Kaushiki recently performed at Pandit Jasraj's celebration of his distinguished musical career in Kolkata. Jasrajji was so moved by her performance that he was prompted to make an announcement on stage that he found in Kaushiki the one who will keep the lamp burning as the worthiest successor of the classical vocal music tradition of India.
Kaushiki began this concert performance with a khayal composition in Raga Madhuvanti, a raga with calming and peaceful qualities usually rendered in the late afternoon. Madhuvanti is a relatively new raga. Although it is not possible to determine the time of creation of most ragas, we can say that there are no traces of the existence of Madhuvanti earlier than 50 years. Khayal is the main Hindustani classical music genre. In Hindi, Khayal literally means imagination or thought, and its effectiveness depends very much on the singer's ability to improvise on the chosen raga, more so than the lyrical content of the text. She begins with a short alap, skilfully outlining characteristic phrases of the raga sung to the backdrop of the tanpura drone. Alap is followed by the first composition (track 2) 'Shyam bhaee, Ghanashyam nahi aye more dware' which is set to a slow rhythmic cycle of twelve beats (ektaal) played on tabla. The second composition (track 3) 'Kahe maan karo sakhiri ab' is sung in teentaal, a medium tempo rhythmic cycle of sixteen beats. Kaushiki concludes the performance with a devotional thumri 'Morey Saiyan Bedardi'. Thumri is a romantic classical form which often depicts the depth of love for Lord Krishna. Raga Mand is associated with the rich folk music of Rajasthan in India. Most all the musicians of India have depicted Mand in the light classical forms of music in their own way.
In thumri, the singer is allowed to take a more flexible approach to the raga. Notes outside of the framework of Raga Mand are added with great effect, and for this reason it is considered as Misra (or mixed) Mand.
For this recital Kaushiki was accompanied by tabla player, Yogesh Samsi, son of the renowned vocalist Dinkar Kaikini. Yogesh is a highly respected artist of the younger generation and one of the foremost disciples of the late tabla virtuoso Ustad Alla Rakha Khan. He is known in the world of Indian music, as one of the most sensitive accompanists, demonstrating both an understanding of vocal music and virtuosic tabla skills. Kaushiki's father Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty provides excellent harmonium accompaniment with supporting harmonium accompaniment by Sri Chiranjib Chakrabarty. Chiranjib is an Indian vocal singer himself, having trained under Pandit Arun Bhaduri at the Sangeet Research Academy. He has performed and accompanied both in India and the UK, and has established himself as a respected singer and teacher in the UK. Kaushiki was accompanied on the tanpura by Ranjana Ghatak, a vocal student of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty based in the UK.
The late Gopal Shankar Misra, who died in 1999, was one of the masters of the voicelike vichitra veena, one of India's oldest and most expressive instruments. He was also one of the few to take its sound outside classical music, performing with Ananda Shankar and State of Bengal, exploring the possibilities of fusion. This disc, however, shows him in a more contemplative mood, performing four parts of "Darzabi Kanbra" with thundering tabla as accompaniment on part 4 and "Mishra Pilu." His command of the veena is nothing short of staggering, executing precise phrases at the fastest tempo, but also letting it sing in a way few could. Misra (who was also an adept sitar player) never let technique win out over feel, however, and to hear his playing is to encounter virtuosity on a rare level. This is a quiet, gorgeous gem of a record to be enjoyed many times. - Chris Nickson
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The expressive, liquid sound of the vichitra veena - an instrument older than the sitar, associated with Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning - is perfectly suited to Indian classical music's instrumental ideal: to emulate the subtle nuance and fluidity of the human voice. Traditionally used to support the Drophal style of singing, various types of veena are found throughout India - but few players there or elsewhere can play the ancient vichitra veena with any degree of proficiency, and the instrument has rarely travelled beyond the Indian Subcontinent.
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Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra (b. 1957, Kanpur, d. Aug.13, 1999, Bhopal) is an Indian musician and music teacher. He is well remembered for a cryptic comment in a television interview when he remarked that of the 1,000,000,000 Indians, he was the only one to play and teach the vichitra veena. He aspired to put a veena in every willing hand. Enthusiasts the world over contacted him for training in this ancient instrument, hailed for its ability to create the "music of the Gandharvas".
Barely did anyone realize in 1920s with birth of Dr Lalmani Misra, Gopal's father and guru that history of Indian music had received a new author. Adept in Dhruv-pad and Khayal singing, he played several instruments, making his mark equally in tabla and sitar and in his later years revived the vichitra veena. He could balance his performing schedule with an intense academic life, that kept him busy with teaching assignments, policy-making and administrative affairs as Dean of the Faculty of Performing arts at Banaras Hindu University until his death in 1979.
This shattered the 22-year-old Gopal, leaving him a huge challenge of work unfinished. The family eventually attained Gharana status when the third generation - Gopal and Padmaja's son and daughter, Gandharva and Shruti - began to excel at the veena. It was much later on that the Uday Shankar connection was to lead directly to this disc, when Gopal was invited to join the 1998 UK touring and Real World recording project made by State of Bengal and Ananda Shankar, Uday Shankar's son.
Gopal was born in Kanpur, India in 1957. With the birth of a sister, Ragini, some years later, the authority of the eldest child crowned young Gopal. His grandmother, Rani Devi whose musical urge ran in the family, doted on him. His mother Padma, also showered love and care on both her children. Surrounded by and growing up with music, his interest deepened following an international tour with his father. He had studied vocal music and sitar since the age of four but grew up as a normal healthy boy with interest in cricket and other sports.
At the age of 15 his interest in music turned serious. After testing him thoroughly the proud father introduced the worthy son in 1975 at Varanasi. Dr. Chhotelal Mishra disciple of Pt. Anokhelal, accompanied Gopal who enthralled the august audience with an accomplished rendering of Marwa, Chandrakauns and Pahadi on sitar.
Gopal was fated to encounter ruthlessness of life. The loving mother was claimed by cancer and on 5th April 1977, the small family of four was reduced to three. The shocked father, Dr. Lalmani Misra tried his best to lessen the children's grief. Together they travelled around the country, relaxing here, performing there and meeting academics, musicians and enthusiasts all over the country. As a visiting Professor at Penn University, Dr. Misra had to leave for a semester (January to June 1978). He recorded ample music lessons for Gopal and Ragini so that both excelled in their respective examinations. On his return, he developed an ache in his back and had to rely more on his children. Gopal and Ragini thereby received training in academics of music, which served them much later on.
After the passing away of his mother, Gopal had become passionately devoted to his father and sister. When his father died, he had a sister, his legacy and the whole world set to test him. He faced the challenges with least hesitation or fear and soon proved that in talent as in knowledge he was a true heir to his father. Ragini and Gopal had taken lessons from their father together, but the elder brother would assist the sister and consequently started training his first disciple while he himself was learning. Music to them was a source of joy.
Today Ragini is the sole exponent of Misrabani. She plays the complex Misrabani compositions on Jhoomra Tal. Ragini credits her brother for instilling the innovation of their father so well, that she can play the toughest of compositions almost instantaneously. She presented 16 Pearls (at a seminar organised by Bhatkhande Deemed Music University at Lucknow in 2005) a non-stop string of sixteen compositions in sixteen different Raga-s, starting from sixteen consecutive beats on Trital. Gopal Shankar also inspired his sister to take up another instrument - jal tarang when she was in school. Ragini has also been recognized as the first woman playerof jal-tarang following Sitar gatkari in her presentation.
At this juncture, his devotion to the veena intensified. In playing it, he felt closer to his father, and from this was able to draw much comfort in the coming years. Having observed his father's chaste style of living, Gopal bid adieu to his natural youthful manner and strictly followed almost an ascetic life-style. At the age of 22 he was appointed lecturer in music at Banares Hindu University and shortly afterwards became Doctor of Music in sitar. He had also studied Sanskrit for M.A. degree. Over the years he became a "Grade A" Indian musician, making several radio recordings and giving concerts while encouraging a number of students to take up veena.
Teaching at Banaras Hindu University exposed him to many potential learners. Having inherited the art of imparting tid-bits of skill as well as wisdom about the swaroop (nature) of Raga, he had already taught his sister Ragini. Now, his ability to teach with patience was fully exploited. His students were not limited to a single instrument. Dr. Kamala Shankar played guitar while Dr. Taranga Vilasini sports a santoor. Berndt Pichelbauer, apart from playing the instrument is a musicologist exploring construction of sitar.Benoit Gerstmans from France studying Vichitra Veena. Students from Korea, Srilanka, Canada, Germany etc. would come to Varanasi to learn with him. He was equally at home with theory and demonstration and would often repeat his father's advice, "Don't explain, do it". Completely at home with technology he his visual sensibility were equally strong. He would capture finger movements and other postures accurately on video which proved immensely useful to his students. All his students would record their sessions with him and return only after they had perfected the phrase or melody. His teaching was effective as it was inspiring. Many of Gopal Shankar's students are now teaching music at various levels.
He toured extensively in India, USA and Europe and was fulfilling his father's wishes by introducing the instrument to new situations and audiences. It was through Gopal Shankar Misra that the vichitra veena finally found wider international fame. The veena is associated with Saraswati, the Goddess of learning in Hindu mythology. In Hindi "vichitra" means peculiar and the veena is part of a family of chordophone or stringed instruments said to predate the sitar. It evolved from the ancient Ban and later was known as Batta-Been. Gopal inherited the style known as Misrabani, from his father who had brought the instrument to prominence in Northern Indian music. Gopal perfected it to such a degree that it is hard to distinguish between the music of father and the son.
Gopal Shankar Misra was an acclaimed artiste of Sitar who was invited all across Indian and abroad. But because Vichitra Veena held a special meaning for his father, he could not let it lie silent. The vichitra veena is made of a broad, fretless, horizontal arm or crossbar (dand) around three feet long and six inches wide, with two large resonating gourds (tumba), which are inlaid with ivory and attached underneath at either end. The narrow ends of the instrument are fashioned into peacock heads, the national bird of India - a most appropriate carving as Gopal often drew a metaphor between the colours in the bird's tail and the musical range that the veena offers.
There are four main playing strings and five secondary strings (chikaris), which are played openly with the little finger for a drone effect. Underneath them are 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the appropriate raag. The veena has a five-octave range. Two plectrums (mizrab) identical to those used for sitar are worn on the middle and index fingers of the right hand to pluck the strings, and a glass ball (batta) is moved with the left across the main strings to create melody (there can be a distance of up to two inches between notes). Olive oil or butter is put on the strings to ease the playing action. The veena was often used to accompany the Dhrupad style of singing and this did not allow for much intricacy or embellishment around the notes. Along with portamento passages (meend) where the notes glide effortlessly into each other, the dramatic and vigorous plucking style, the jumping from note to note (krintan), was a stylistic departure developed in Gopal's family tradition, Misrabani.
Through the efforts of Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra, a course of D.Mus. in Vichitra Veena was to be started by College of Music and Fine Arts, B.H.U. when his sudden demise at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) on August 13th 1999 while attending a function (an annual feature of Madhukali) held in the memory of his father, Dr. Lalmani Misra bereaved besides his family, a number of existing and potential disciples. He had authored the third part of Sangeet-Sarita, a series started by his father for middle-school students. His major work dealing with compositions of vocal and instrumental music together in a single volume is yet to see the light of day. Those learning Vichitra Veena with him have turned to sister Dr. Ragini Trivedi who has been a guardian mentor to children, Shruti and Gandharva.
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