Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (Hindi: निखिल रंजन बैनर्जी) (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was one of India's most prominent sitar masters of the 20th century.
Early life and background
Nikhil Banerjee was born in Kolkata into a Brahmin family, where music as a profession was discouraged, although his father, Jitendranath Banerjee, who was a sitarist by hobby, taught him the instrument. Young Nikhil grew into a child prodigy, won an all-India sitar competition at the age of nine and soon was playing for All India Radio. At the time, his sister was a student of khyal great Amir Khan, who became a life-long influence. Jitendranath approached Mushtaq Ali Khan to take the boy as a student, and Banerjee studied with him for his initial training.[citation needed]
In 1947 Banerjee met Ustad Allauddin Khan, who was to become his main guru along with his son, Ali Akbar Khan. Both were sarod players. Banerjee went to Allauddin Khan's concerts and was desperate to have him as his teacher. Allauddin Khan did not want to take on more students, but changed his mind after listening to one of Banerjee's radio broadcasts. Though Allauddin Khan was Banerjee's main teacher, he also learned from Ali Akbar Khan, the son of Allaudin Khan, for many years.[citation needed]
Maihar gharana
The discipline under Ustad Allauddin Khan was legendary. For years, Nikhil's practice would start at four in the morning and, with few breaks, continue to eleven o'clock at night[1] – a schedule which was naturally hard on his fingers. Among others, Ustad Allauddin Khan also taught his son Ali Akbar Khan, grandson Aashish Khan, and nephew Bahadur Khan on the sarod; Ravi Shankar on the sitar; his daughter, Annapurna Devi, on the surbahar; Pannalal Ghosh on the flute; and Vasant Rai the sarod.
Ustad Allauddin Khan was passing on not only playing technique but the musical knowledge and approach of the Maihar gharana (school); yet there was a definite trend in his teaching to infuse the sitar and sarod with the been-baj aesthetic of the Rudra veena, surbahar and sursringar – long, elaborate alap (unaccompanied improvisation) built on intricate meend work (bending of the note). He was also well known for adjusting his teaching to his particular students' strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, under his teaching, Shankar and Banerjee developed different sitar styles.[citation needed]
Although Banerjee did not have many students and fewer disciples, his eldest and most prominent disciple, Pandit Sukhraj Jhalla, continues to live and teach in Ahmedabad, India today. He is currently teaching Sitarist Anand Vyas
Robert Palmer of The New York Times wrote of Mr. Banerjee's Carnegie Hall performance November(1985): "The extraordinary fluidity and assurance of his rhythmic ideas and phrasing set a pace and a standard that would have left most of the international 'stars' of Indian music far behind."
Performing career
After Maihar, Banerjee embarked on a concert career that was to take him to all corners of the world and last right up to his death. All through his life he kept taking lessons from Ustad Allauddin Khan and his children, Ustad Ali Akbar and Smt. Annapurna Devi. Perhaps reflecting his early upbringing, he always remained a humble musician, and was content with much less limelight than a player of his stature could have vied for. For him, music-making was a spiritual rather than a worldly path.[2] Even so, in 1968, he was decorated with the Padma Shri and posthumously received also the Padma Bhushan; at the time of his death, he was a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music in Calcutta. Banerjee recorded only a handful of recordings during his lifetime but a series of live recordings continue to be released posthumously making sure that his musical legacy is preserved for posterity. He did not like very much recording within the confines of the studio, though his early studio recordings with EMI India such as Lalit, Purya Kalyan and Malkauns are now considered to be classic renditions of these Ragas. The posthumous live albums, many of which were brought out around the turn of the 21st Century by Raga Records in New York, and Chhandadhara of Germany, are widely considered to be the finest documents of his playing. Today, he is regarded as one of the greatest sitarists of the 20th century.[citation needed]
His interpretation of ragas was usually traditional, although he would sometimes take liberties with the raga in a moment of inspiration. Some people say he created a raga Manomanjari of his own, mixing ideas from Kalavati and Puriya, while others attribute it to Ustad Allaudin Khan.[citation needed]
Partial discography
The following is a summary of some recent CD issues. A more comprehensive discography can be found in the external links.
- Afternoon Ragas (1970)
- Live: Misra Kafi (1982)
- The Hundred-Minute Raga: Purabi Kalyan (live) (1982)
- Immortal Sitar of Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ragas: Purabi Kalyan, Zila-Kafi, Kirwa (1986)
- Lyrical Sitar (1991)
- Live at De Kosmos: Amsterdam 1972 (1995)
- The KPFA Tapes: Berkeley 1968 (1995)
- Rag Hemant (1995)
- Le Sitar Du Pandit (1996)
- Raga Patdeep (1996)
- Live in Amsterdam 1984 (1997)
- Genius of Pandit Nikhil (live) (1998)
- Berkeley 1968 (1998)
- Live Concert, Vol. 2: India's Maestro of Melody (1999)
- Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (live) (1999)
- Total Absorption (2000)
- Banerjee Live in Munich 1980 (2000)
- Morning Ragas: Bombay Complete Concert 1965 (live) (2000)
- Musician's Musician (2001)
- India's Maestro of Melody: Live Concert, Vol. 5 (2002)
- Alltime Classic, Vol. 1: Raag Bageshree (live) (2004)
Notes
^ (Interview by Ira Landgarten, printed in the booklet for The Hundred-Minute Raga: Purabi Kalyan, Raga Records Raga-207)
^ Interestingly, Banerjee made a sharp distinction between religion and spirituality in this context:
Indian music is based on spiritualism; that is the first word, you must keep it in your mind. Many people misunderstand and think it's got something to do with religion – no, absolutely no! Nothing to do with religion, but spiritualism – Indian music was practiced and learned to know the Supreme Truth. Mirabai, Thyagaraja from the South, Haridas Swami, Baiju – all these great composers and musicians were wandering saints; they never came into society, nor performed in society. (Interview by Ira Landgarten, printed in the booklet for The Hundred-Minute Raga: Purabi Kalyan, Raga Records Raga-207)
^ Allauddin claimed he was teaching Banerjee the sitar "style of Nawab Kutubudaulla Bahadur of Lucknow", a player not otherwise remembered. (My Maestro As I Saw Him, essay by Banerjee printed in the booklet for Afternoon Ragas, Raga Records Raga-211)
^ San Francisco Chronicle:
Banerjee's technique is a phenomenon, faster than cheetahs, more secure than the dollar. But he does not lean on that as most players do. It is there, at the ready, a strength to be called on when needed. It is his gentle playing that is so singular. The ease of it, highlighted by atypical (for Indian music) bits of literal reiteration create a kind of euphoric effect. The result is remarkably individual. One could spot a Banerjee performance on a radio broadcast or tape, a thing of great difficulty among Oriental musicians.
Manomanjari - a variation: some argue it's a blend of Kalavati & Marwa. In a 1979/80 [not verifiable] Calcutta concert [@Kala Mandir], as per the announcement, Mr. Banerjee played two ragas of his own creation - Manomanjari & Chandrakaushiki.
Further reading
- Swapan Bandyopadhyay: "The Strings Broke Long Ago", Ananda Publishers, Kolkata
External links
