(A curtain raiser of the Haridas Sammelan music festival of 1959) By MOHAN D. NADKARNI writing as LALITMOHAN DUTTA The Bombay Sentinel, February 25, 1959 THE Shahanai, like the nadaswaram of the South has, from time immemorial, been associated with ceremonial occasions. Today, it enjoys the status of a concert instrument. Eminently due to its master-player, Bismillah Khan. His classical as well as light...
(A curtain-raiser on the Sur Singar Sansad music festival of 1959) By MOHAN D. NADKARNI writing as LALITMOHAN DUTTA The Bombay Sentinel, February 24, 1959 SIXTY-YEAR-OLD Omkarnath Thakur is undoubtedly a musical personage of dynamic character. A disciple of that great evangelist of Hindustani music, the late pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Omkarnath looks upon music as a great heritage of human spirit and he...
By MOHAN D. NADKARNI The Bombay Sentinel, January 20, 1958 THE death of Pandit Shankarrao Vyas in December 1956 is a grievous loss to the world of music, coming as it did at a time when the older generation of giants in music was gradually dying out. He personified in himself various aspects of musical activity. He was not merely a vocalist of repute...
By MOHAN D. NADKARNI The Bombay Sentinel, January 10, 1956 ALTHOUGH the origin and sources of Indian music are not positively known, the tradition of contemporary Hindustani music is traced back to the age of dhrupad, which came into vogue during the reign of Akbar. Haridas Swami, Dagar Tansen, Nayak Gopal and Nayak Baiju were the earliest exponents of this form of musical expression....
The Sur Singar Samsad Festival starting in the city on Friday is about the right time for all of us to know something about the great musicians taking part in it. Here are thumbnail sketches (and other material) by one who knows the music and musicians well. By MOHAN D. NADKARNI The Bombay Sentinel, January 3, 1956 Ustad Allaudin Khan of Maihar Has given us...
By MOHAN NADKARNI The Bombay Sentinel, January 5, 1956 Of all the prevalent forms of classical composition, Khayal has received the special attention of the best musical talent during the last hundred years. Today it is synonymous with the classical style with which our ears are familiar. The credit for its continued popularity in the concert hall and the radio even to this day,...