Pandit Pran Nath (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

: पंडित प्राणनाथ) (3 November 1918 – 13 June 1996) was an Indian classical singer and master of the

Kirana gharana Kirana gharana is one of the Indian classical khyal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes ( swara). Singing style The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tuni ...

singing style. Promoting traditional

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

principles, Nath exerted an influence on notable American

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians, including

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for i ...

, and Don Cherry. He began performing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in the 1970s, and established the Kirana Center for Indian Classical Music in 1972; he subsequently taught in various universities across the US and Europe.

Early life

Pran Nath was born into a wealthy family in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

in present-day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

. While they were avid devotees of music, inviting musicians into the house to perform nightly, his family did not approve of his desire to become a musician, so he left home at the age of 13 and took up residence with the reclusive singer

Abdul Wahid Khan Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan (1871–1949) was an Indian subcontinental singer from the Kirana gharana. He died in 1949 in Saharanpur, India.

of the

, cousin of the more widely known

Abdul Karim Khan Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Devanagari: उस्ताद अब्दुल करीम ख़ान, Persian: ) (11 November 1872 – 27 October 1937)Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, to

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

; and Nath, a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, to a

Shaivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rang ...

sect in

Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative ...

. It is said that Nath lived in a cave near the Tapkeswhar temple to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hind ...

for five years, serving his guru intermittently. He eventually married and reentered the world at the request (guru dakshana) of his guru, in order to ensure the preservation of the Kirana style. In 1937, he became a staff artist with

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. However, Nath stuck to Abdul Wahid Khan's extra-methodical and austere singing style, with a heavy emphasis on

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

and slow tempo, which suited his voice well but was not very popular. Like his teacher, Pran Nath's singing emphasized precise intonation and the gradual, note-by-note exposition of tone and mood in the alap section of the music. Nath supported himself as a music teacher, and worked at the University of Delhi from 1960 to 1970.

Life in the United States

In 1970, Pran Nath travelled to New York to visit the American composer

and visual artist Marian Zazeela, who heard his first issued recording, ''Earth Groove: The Voice of Cosmic India'' (1968). In 1972, he established the Kirana Center for Indian Classical Music in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and lived in the US for the rest of his life. He was a visiting professor of music at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was re ...

, teaching one semester a year from 1973 to 1984. Pran Nath attracted a strong following among the American

composers, including

, Marian Zazeela,

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various ...

, Catherine Christer Hennix,

Charlemagne Palestine Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine (born 1947), known professionally as Charlemagne Palestine, is an American visual artist and musician. He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school of minimalist music, first initiated by La M ...

, and

Henry Flynt Henry Flynt (born 1940 in Greensboro, North Carolina) is an American philosopher, musician, writer, activist, and artist connected to the 1960s New York avant-garde. He coined the term "concept art" in the early 1960s, during which time he was a ...

. Jazz musicians such as Don Cherry and

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jaz ...

also drew influence from his teaching.

Notable students

Discography

* ''Earth Groove'' (1968),

Raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

s Bhupali and Asavari * ''India's Master Vocalist'' (1972), Ragas Yaman Kalyan and Punjabi Berva * ''Ragas of Morning and Night'' (1986), Ragas Miya ki Todi and Darbari Kanada, two ragas for which Pran Nath was particularly noted * ''Midnight'' (2003), Raga Malkauns, two separate recordings made in 1971 and 1976 * ''The Raga Cycle'' (2006), Ragas Shudh Sarang and Kut Todi, recorded in 1972

Unreleased recordings

Like his teacher Abdul Wahid Khan, Pran Nath did not emphasize recording or the releasing of records, preferring live performance. While only three recordings of Pran Nath were released during his lifetime, a large number of recordings exist under the care of

. In Pran Nath's will, Young, as executor of his estate, was instructed to begin releasing recordings.

Films

*1986 – ''In Between the Notes: A Portrait of Pandit Pran Nath''.''In Between the Notes: A Portrait of Pandit Pran Nath''
Produced by Other Minds. Directed by William Farley. *1995 – ''Musical Outsiders: An American Legacy - Harry Partch, Lou Harrison, and Terry Riley''. Directed by Michael Blackwood.

References

External links

MELA Foundation: Pandit Pran Nath
* ttp://www.henryflynt.org/aesthetics/on_pandit_pran_nath.htm On Pandit Pran Nathby

Other Minds: Pran Nath
By Marcus Boon
Pandit Pran Nath: A Short Biography
By Joan Allekotte
Lord of the Drone: Pandit Pran Nath and the American Underground
By Alexander Keefe {{DEFAULTSORT:Nath, Pran 1918 births 1996 deaths Hindustani singers Singers from Lahore Mills College faculty Delhi University faculty 20th-century Indian male classical singers Kirana gharana 20th-century Khyal singers Indian emigrants to the United States