Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

In news : The Prime Minister has paid homage to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Ji on(February 4) his birth anniversary.

The birth centenary of Pt Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011), a doyen of Hindustani classical music and Bharat Ratna laureate is being celebrated in a befitting manner from 4th February, 2021 to 2022 by the Government of India by organising various events as a tribute to the maestro.

A brief note on Pt Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011)

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi was an Indian vocalist from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
He was born on 4th February 1922 in Ron, Gadag district, Karnataka
He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music.
Bhimsen Joshi belongs to the Kirana gharana tradition of Hindustani Classical Music.
His first guru was Channappa of Kurtakot; later he trained under Pandit Shyamacharya Joshi
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi trained with Sawai Gandharva and stayed at his house following the guru-shishya parampara in 1936
His first album of devotional songs was released by HMV in 1942
Pt. Joshi is noted for his concerts, and between 1964 to 1982 Joshi toured Afghanistan, Italy, France, Canada and USA.
He was the first musician from India whose concerts were advertised through posters in New York city, United States
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is remembered for his famous ragas including Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki Todi, Puriya Dhanashri, Multani, Bhimpalasi, Darbari, Malkauns, Yaman, Asavari Todi, Miyan Ki Malhar and others
Bhimsen Joshi was instrumental in organising the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival annually, as homage to his guru, Pandit Sawai Gandharva

Awards

In 1998, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.
Subsequently, he received the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 2009

What is Gharana?

In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a gharānā is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular musical style.
The word gharana comes from the Hindi word ‘ghar’ which is derived from the Sanskrit word Griha, which means ‘house’.
It typically refers to the place where the musical ideology originated; for example, some of the gharanas well known for singing khyals are: Agra, Gwalior, Indore, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, and Patiala. Four famous kathak gharanas are: Lucknow, Jaipur-Atrauli, Benares and Raigarh.

Kirana gharana

Kirana gharana is one of the most prolific Indian classical khayal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes(awara)
In the 19th-century the Kirana gharana coalesced around Miyan Bande Ali Khan, a player of the rudra veena.
The gharana’s style was further developed, and established as one of the prominent styles in modern Indian classical music in the late 19th / early 20th centuries by the musicians Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan
The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tuning and expression of notes.
In the Kirana Gayaki (singing style), the individual notes (swaras) of the raga are considered not just random points in the scale but independent realms of music capable of horizontal expansion.
Highly emotional pukars in the higher octaves form a part of the musical experience.
Another unique feature of this gharana is the highly intricate and ornate use of the sargam taan (weaving patterns with the notations themselves) introduced by Abdul Karim Khan under influence from the Carnatic classical style.
In the late nineteenth century Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan revolutionized the khayal gayaki by introducing the vilambit (a slow tempo section) to delineate the structure of the raga note by note.
Frequently performed ragas by musicians of the gharana include Todi, Lalit, Multani, Patdeep, Puriya, Marwa, Shuddha Kalyan, Darbari Kanhara, and Komal-Rishabh Asavari