From The DVD Artist: Pandit Purushottam Walawalkar Format: DVD Duration: 146 Min. 388 Sec. Approx
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts presents “Masters of Hindustani Classical Music”, a series of recordings reverberating the subcontinent’s unbroken lineages in music. The repertoire of Hindustani classical music has been enriched by the contribution of various gharanas or schools of music for centuries. This ambitious project has been envisaged as a befitting tribute to the glorious masters of Hindustani classical music with a view to establishing periodicity, musical acumen and strengths of gharanas in an all-inclusive approach.
Under the aegis of this research project, a series of recordings were undertaken to map out the rich repertoire of Hindustani classical music. The recordings establish India’s perennial traditions of music that have lived on through the efforts of artists, scholars, scions of gharanas, as also dedicated disciples of legendary gurus. This legacy has also been constantly enriched by contemporary influences, the crosscurrents of newer genres and performance styles, as Hindustani classical music is an evergreen art form founded on the bedrock of traditions. It constantly blossoms into refreshing formats that carry a whiff of the past even as it responds to newer stimuli. Fully aware of the need to respect the rich continuum in Hindustani classical music, an overarching concern therefore is to propagate these ceaseless traditions to a wider public as also to create a platform of engagement with an audience already receptive of its appeal.
The objective of this series is to document and preserve the traditional heritage of vocal or instrumental styles represented by senior exponents of the gharana, and those who have received their talim directly from their gharana guru. This selectivity has made the series unique and distinguishes the project as a precious addition to the treasury of Hindustani classical music. In this way, the core merits of the gharana legacy have been presented through its authentic living source in which the musicians themselves have generously shared their inheritance.
The present DVD of master musician Pandit Purushottam Walawalkar is being released on the occasion of his 91st birthday. Pandit Walawalkar speaks in Marathi-and this has been translated into English by his long time disciple Shri Sudhir Paranjape. Pandit Walawalkar talks extensively on various aspects about the harmonium; how it came to India, how it caught the popular imagination, the style of playing the instrument, the style of accompanying vocalists belonging to different gharanas, how the finger movements vary in different genres is different, qualities of good accompaniment, the difference of playing thumri, and the art of playing solo.
To give the project a roundedness, personal memorabilia, available with IGNCA (photographs, recordings of live mehfils etc) have been generously shared by the artist. In addition, an uncompromising excellence of recording is ensured through appropriate digital carriers and archiving the performances for posterity.
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