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Rabindra Sangeet (Bengali: রবীন্দ্র সংগীত, IPA: rabindra sŋgit), also known as Tagore Songs in English, is a form of music composed by Rabindranath Tagore who added a new dimension to the musical concept of India in general and Bengal in specific.
Rabindra Sangeet use Indian classical music and traditional folk music as sources.[1] Tagore wrote some 2,230 songs.
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Influence and legacy
In Bengali cultural life Rabindra Sangeet have a strong influence.[1] These songs are regarded as cultural treasures of Bengal in both Bangladesh and West Bengal (India).
The Rabindrasangeet, which deal with varied themes are immensely popular and form a foundation for the Bengali ethos that is comparable to, perhaps even greater than, that which Shakespeare has on the English-speaking world. It is said that his songs are the outcome of 500 years of literary & cultural churning that the Bengali community has gone through.
In his book Caste and Outcaste, Dhan Gopal Mukerji has said that these songs transcend the mundane to the aesthetic and express all ranges and categories of human emotion. The poet had given a voice to all—big or small, rich or poor. The poorest boatman on the Ganges as well as the rich landlord find expression for their emotional trials and tribulations in Tagore's songs.
Rabindrasangeet has evolved into a distinctive school of music. Practitioners of this genre are known to be fiercely protective of tradionalist practice. Novel interpretations and variations have drawn severe censure in both West Bengal and Bangladesh. And like Beethoven's symphonies or Vilayat Khan's sitar, Rabindrasangeet demands an educated, intelligent & cultured audience to appreciate the lyrical beauty of his compositions.
He was among the first to recognize that cinema should have its own language. In 1929 he wrote, “The beauty and grandeur of this form in motion has to be developed in such a way that it becomes self-sufficient without the use of words.” The inherent beauty & depth of tagore's songs have persuaded a number of filmmakers to use Tagore’s songs in their films including Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Nitin Bose, Tapan Sinha and Kumar Shahani.His songs were also used in British, European & Australian movies just to capture the mood of a cinematic situation & to reveal a delicate interplay of relationships. Similarly, Hollywood film Siddhartha (1972) had Tagore's "O Nadi Re" sung by Hemant Kumar.
Ritwik Ghatak said of Tagore, “That man has culled all my feelings from long before my birth…I read him and find that...I have nothing new to say.” In his Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-capped Star) and Subarnarekha, Ghatak uses Rabindrasangeet to express the poignancy of post-Partition Bengal.
Two of the songs written by Tagore are the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. These are:
Uniqueness of Rabindrasangeet
Tagore died in 1941, but his sublimity and effect of his songs are eternal. In his songs, pure poetry has integrated the creator, nature and love. Human love (Prem) transforms into love and devotion for the creator (Bhakti). The collection of his 2000 odd songs is known as Gitabitan (garden of songs). The four major parts of this book are Puja (worship), Prem (love), Prakriti (Nature) and Bichitra (Diverse). However, the categorizations melt away in many songs. A song about rains may reveal longing for the lover. A love song may turn out to be love of the creator. Here are first two lines of one song:
দাঁড়িয়ে আছ তুমি আমার গানের ওপারে
আমার সুরগুলি পায় চরণ আমি পাইনে তোমারে
You are standing beyond my song. My melody reaches your feet, but I cannot reach you.
Singers of Rabindrasangeet
Some of the well-known singers of Rabindrasangeet are:
- Srikanta Acharya
- Ashoketaru Bandyopadhyay
- Kanika Bandyopadhyay: her original name was "Anima" but Tagore had renamed her "Kanika" and Abanindranath Tagore used to call her Mohar by which name she is known to many of her dedicated listeners.
- Debabrata Biswas: also known as the Second Man of Rabindrasangeet and the most popular among male voices.
- Arjun Chakrabarti
- Suman Chatterjee
- Chinmoy Chattopadhyay
- Sounak Chattopadhyay[2]
- Rezwana Chowdury Bonya
- Arundhuti Home Chowduri
- Purba Dam
- Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta
- Rajeswari Dutta
- Banani Ghosh
- Santidev Ghosh: direct disciple of Rabindranath Tagore and Dinendranath Tagore.
- Namita Ghoshal
- Swapna Ghoshal
- Rono Gohathakurota
- Ritu Guha
- Swapan Gupta[3]
- Mita Huq
- Gita Ghatak
- Kishore Kumar
- Rama Mondal
- Lopamudra Mitra
- Suchitra Mitra: like Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Suchitra is another female pioneer and virtuoso of Rabindra Sangeet. Many of the contemporary singers are disciples of Suchitra and Kanika.
- Dwijen Mukhopadhyay
- Purabi Mukhopadhyay
- Hemanta Mukhopadhyay: although he sang Bengali contemporary and Hindi songs also, Rabindrasangeet was his passion. He was among those who were instrumental in making Rabindrasangeet popular across all strata of Bengali population.
- Pankaj Mullick: also known as the First Man of Rabindrasangeet.
- Sushil Mullick
- Rajasree
- Subinoy Roy[4]
- Arghya Sen
- Nilima Sen: she was the Principal of Sangeet Bhavan and Swastika Mukhopadhyay was her student,who now teaches Rabindra Sangeet there.
- Sagar Sen
- Maya Sen
- Shruti Naha Sen
- Sraboni Sen: daughter of Sumitra Sen.
- Sreyashi Mitra
- Sumitra Sen
- Santosh Sengupta
- Swastika Mukhopadhyay
- Santanu Roy Chowdhury
Teachers of Rabindrasangeet
India
Some of the well-known teachers of Rabindrasangeet (barring Tagore himself) are:
- Dinendra Nath Tagore
- Shantideb Ghosh
- Ashoketaru Bandyopadhyay
- Dwijen Mukhopadhay
- Shailaja Ranjan Majumdar
- Maya Sen
- Ruma Guha Thakurta
- Suchitra Mitra
- Kanika Bandyopadhyay
- Subinoy Roy
- Nilima Sen
- Santanu Roy Chowdhury
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, prominent Rabindrasangeet trainers who have contributed immensely in developing new artistes include :
- Abdul Ahad Deceased
- Sanjida Khatun
- Wahidul Haq Deceased
- Kalim Sarafi
- Ajit Ray
- Anisur Rahman
- Papia Sarwar
- Rezwana Chowdhury Banya
- Mita Haq
- Sadi Mohammad
- Fazle Nizami Deceased
- Hamida Haq
- Aditi Mohsin
- Laisa Ahmed Lisa
- Lili Islam
- Atiqul IslamDeceased
- Sirajus Salekin
- Fahim Hossain Chowdhury
- Mohiuzzaman Chowdhury
- Shahjahan Kamal
- Sajed Akbar
- Maleka Azim Khan
- Khurshid Azim Siddiqui
- Abdul Wadud
- Suman Chowdhury
- Mujubul Quayyum
- Dodul Ahmed
- Kaderi Kibria
- Rokaiya Hasina
Institutes
Notes
- ^ a b Huke, Robert E. (2009). "West Bengal". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640088/West-Bengal. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ www.sounak.com
- ^ Swapan Gupta page
- ^ [1]
References
- Tagore rocks?, The Music Magazine
Further reading
- Som, Reba (2009). Rabindranath Tagore: The Singer and his Song. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books (Viking). ISBN 9780670082483. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL23720201M/Rabindranath_Tagore.
External links
- http://www.rabindrasangeet.org is a free and public repository of information on Tagore songs. It has the lyrics and scores of all Tagore songs. The lyrics are text searchable.
- http://www.rabindrasangeet.com More on Rabindra Sangeet
- Sangeet Bhuvan
- A good collection of free to download Rabindra Sangeet. Most of them are quite good as far as technical quality is concerned.
- One can listen to and download small clips of songs sung by Debabrata Biswas.
- One can listen to but not download songs from here. These are sung by various artists.
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