Indian Classical Vocalist
Bhaskar Raghunath Bakhale
(17 October 1869 ? 8 April 1922) (also known as Bhaskarrao or Bhaskarbua or Bhaskarbuwa) was a
Hindustani classical
vocalist
, a composer, and a teacher.
[1]
[2]
Education
[
edit
]
Bhaskar Bakhale was born in a
Karhade Brahmin
family in
Kathor
, a village in
Gujarat
,
India
. His early training was in
dhrupad
and
kirtan
from Vishnubuwa Pingale in
Vadodara
. The royal family of Vadodara arranged for musical lessons in the school run by its court musician Maula Baksha.
[3]
He then became a child artist at Kirloskar Natak Mandali, a
musical theatre
troupe of
Annasaheb Kirloskar
where he had the ganda-bandhan ceremony with Bande Ali Khan, a
Rudra Veena
performer from
Kirana
employed by the court of
Indore
.
[3]
Faiz Mohammed Khan of
Gwalior gharana
taught him in
Vadodara
1886?1897 and then recommended further training from Natthan Khan of
Agra gharana
, a court musician at
Jaipur
and
Mysore
, and the father of
Vilayat Hussain Khan
.
[2]
This apprenticeship continued in Mysore and
Dharwad
till the demise of Natthan Khan in 1901. In 1899, Natthan Khan recommended further training from
Alladiya Khan
, the founder of
Jaipur-Atrauli gharana
and a court musician of
Kolhapur
. Starting in 1901, Bakhale learnt from Alladiya Khan, his brother Haider Khan, and his nephew Natthan Khan. His apprenticeship with Alladiya Khan continued interrupted until Bakhale's own death in 1922.
[4]
Overcome with Bakhale's memories, Alladiya Khan broke down and abruptly ended his 1922
Mumbai
recital at the residence of Seth Vitthaldas; the recital was to celebrate the birthday of Seth Vitthaldas and was attended by
Shahu Maharaj
, the king of
Miraj
, the king of
Dewas
, and other dignitaries.
[4]
[5]
Dilip Chandra Vedi has noted that, like
Abdul Karim Khan
, Bakhale was influenced by the style of Rahimat Khan (1856?1922), the younger son of Haddu Khan of
Gwalior Gharana
.
[6]
Career
[
edit
]
During 1883?1885, Bakhale performed as a child artist in the stage plays of Kirloskar Natak Mandali where Bhaurao Kolhatkar, Moroba Wagholikar, and Balakoba Natekar earned much fame as singers of folksy and light classical stage songs. After completing his training in classical music, Bakhale returned as a classical vocalist in 1899 or so.
[4]
During 1897?1901, he served as a professor of music at a training college in
Dharwad
. Starting in 1901, he was based in
Mumbai
and
Pune
but performed throughout
India
and
Nepal
. He was given the honorary title "Deva Gandharva" (God Among Celestial Musicians).
[7]
His notebook lists
dhrupads
and
dhamars
learnt by him but he rarely performed those in public. His typical recital comprised
khyal
ragas
and an assortment of
dadra
,
tappa
,
thumri
,
bhajan
, songs from Marathi stage plays, and traditional Marathi light classical forms. He also had a successful career as the music director of Kirloskar Natak Mandali and, afterwards, of Gandharva Natak Mandali.
[8]
Govindrao Tembe
benefited from Bakhale's advisement in composing music for the stage play Sangeet Manapman (1911).
[9]
Bakhale then composed music for new
Marathi
musical theatre
stage plays such as Sangeet Vidyaharan (1913), Sangeet Swayamwar (1916), and Sangeet
Draupadi
(1920) by adopting compositions from classical Hindustani music. These compositions continue to be performed on stage and in
Hindustani classical
recitals. Several musicians, including
Kumar Gandharva
,
Vasantrao Deshpande
, and
Anand Bhate
, have released recordings presenting their interpretations of
Bal Gandharva
's renditions of these compositions. Bakhale taught and mentored Bal Gandharva from 1906 until his own death, and also brought
Ahmed Jan Thirakwa
to Gandharva Natak Mandali as its
tabla
maestro. In 1911, Bakhale started Bharat Gayan Samaj, an institute to teach music in Pune; the institute had its centenary in 2011.
Disciples
[
edit
]
Disciples to receive Bakhale's full formal training were
Bal Gandharva
, Tarabai Shirodkar, Dattatray Bagalkotkar (Dattoba), Bapurao Ketkar, and Master
Krishnarao Phulambrikar
; among these, Bal Gandharva received training specifically for stage songs (semi/light classical) only and not for classical vocal. He also taught others including Dattatreya Bagalkotkar, Narahar Patankar, Gundopant Walawalkar, Ganapat Purohit, Harishchandra Bali, Bhai Lal Amritsari, and Dilip Chandra Vedi. He also taught Ganesh Ramachandra Behare, a disciple of Abdul Karim Khan, for one year. Govindrao Tembe, who was his close associate starting 1901, had no interest in career as a vocalist and, instead, adopted Bakhale's teachings for
pump organ
harmonium
playing. Bakhale taught
Kesarbai Kerkar
for 10 months ( learn only one raag '
sindhura
' in " bharat gayan samaj ") in 1914 and occasionally assisted
Alladiya Khan
in teaching her after she became Alladiya Khan's student in 1921. He also taught
Vilayat Hussain Khan
on a limited basis. Among these, Govindrao Tembe had a 50-year-long career as a harmonium player, as a music composer for stage plays and films, as an author of 5 books and several articles on music and musicians, and as a member of the central audition board of
All India Radio
. Bal Gandharva, Master Krishnarao, Vilayat Hussain Khan, and Kesarbai Kerkar had long careers as musicians and eventually became recipients of
Padma Bhushan
and
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
instituted by the
Government of India
. Around 1920, Tarabai, held in high regards by many including Kesarbai Kerkar,
[2]
renounced singing and retired to private life at a young age of 30;
[9]
starting 1946, she made a few live recordings for
All India Radio
before passing away in 1949. Dilip Chandra Vedi became a disciple of
Faiyaz Khan
of
Agra gharana
after Bakhale's death and had a long career as a vocalist and as an instructor of music at Bharatiya Kala Kendra,
New Delhi
.
[6]
Pt Ram Marathe was the famous disciple of Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar. Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar not only taught Pt.Ram Marathe his own classical music compositions but also taught him the traditional classical music compositions which he learnt from Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale.
[
citation needed
]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Bakhale was one of the first vocalists to receive traditional training from multiple
gharana
systems.
[2]
Since the start of the 17th century, Hindustani classical music had become a stronghold of
Muslim
musicians and
Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar
(1840?1926) was one of the few
Hindu
vocalists to earn fame at it in the 19th century.
[2]
[4]
He toured and taught extensively in the states of
Maharashtra
,
Gujarat
, and
Karnataka
. The next generation of Hindu musicians from these states included Bakhale,
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
, Ramakrishna Vaze, and
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
who did much to liberate the teaching and dissemination of classical music and to create an honorable social status for professional musicians.
[1]
[2]
Unlike Paluskar and Bhatkhande, Bakhale introduced no radical reforms in the teaching methodology or in organizational aspects of this movement. However, his personal concerts, rapport with other musicians, and compositions for stage plays ? rendered popular by Bal Gandharva, Keshav Bhosale,
Dinanath Mangeshkar
, and others ? was a major factor in cultivating a taste for classical and semi-classical music in Marathi speaking population of India.
[9]
B. R. Deodhar
has observed that this contribution is one of the reasons why western India developed and remained as a major force in classical Indian music starting the turn of the 19th century.
[2]
Bakhale was universally regarded an ideal and perfectly balanced vocalist.
[1]
[2]
[4]
[10]
[11]
Bakhale has left no recorded legacy.
[2]
[3]
[8]
[12]
Gramophone Company
had unsuccessfully arranged for two sets of his recordings in 1911.
[7]
No trace of his style or musical approach exists today apart from what can be discerned from his
semi-classical
compositions for stage plays.
[1]
[13]
His manuscript on all Hindustani classical compositions learnt by him, including the full repertoire of Faiz Mohammed Khan of
Gwalior gharana
, was in preparation at the time of his death. Shaila Datar, a musician married to his grandson Sudhir, has since completed this project and has released the book. After Bakhale's death in 1922, his disciple Master Krishnarao became the director of Bharat Gayan Samaj and wrote seven volumes of Raagsangrahmala as curriculum of its music course. Bharat Gayan Samaj, set up by Bakhale in
Pune
, organizes musical recitals in his memory and observes his anniversaries. Kalyan Gayan Samaj, set up in
Kalyan
in 1926 as a homage to Bakhale, is active in music circles and organizes a conference titled "Deva Gandharva Mahotsav" annually. Pracheen Kala Kendra in
Chandigarh
holds a conference titled "All India Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan" annually.
Pune University
annually confers a Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale Award on the student standing first in its
Bachelor of Arts
program in the
music
discipline.
Mumbai University
annually confers a similar award on the student standing first in its
Master of Arts
program in the music discipline.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
V.H. Deshpande. Between Two Tanpuras. Popular Publication, 1989.
ISBN
978-0-86132-226-8
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
B.R. Deodhar. Pillars of Hindustani Music. Popular Publication, 1995.
ISBN
978-81-7154-555-1
- ^
a
b
c
Bonnie C. Wade. Khyal: Creativity Within North India's Classicial Music Tradition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, U.K., 1984.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
N. M. Kelkar. The Life of Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale. Popular Publication, Mumbai, 1959.
- ^
N.N. Shukla. Alladiya Khan: As I Knew Him. Journal of the Indian Musicological Society, ii/3 (1971), 14?25.
- ^
a
b
Wim Van Der Meer. Hindustani Music in the 20th Century. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (through Kluwer Academic Publishers Group), The Hague, Netherlands, 1980.
- ^
a
b
Shaila Datar. Devagandharva. Rajahansa Prakashana, Nasik, 1991.
- ^
a
b
H.V. Mote. Vishrabdha Sharada: Volumes 1?4. H.V. Mote Publication, Mumbai, 1972.
- ^
a
b
c
Govind Tembe. Maza Sangeet Vyasanga (My Pursuit of Music). 1939.
- ^
Vilayat Hussain Khan. Sangeetagyon ke Sansamaran (Memories of Learned Musicians). Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi, 1959.
- ^
V.C. Moudgalya. Bhaskar Rao Bakhale. Indian Music Journal, pp. 46?49, 1971.
- ^
Tapasi Ghosh. Pran Piya Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan: His Life and Contribution to the World. Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, 2008.
- ^
P.L. Deshpande. Guna Gaeen Awadee. Mouj Publications, Pune. 1972.
External links
[
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]