Professor B. R. Deodhar (11 September 1901 – 10 March 1990) was an Indian classical singer, musicologist and music educator. He was a vocalist of Khayal-genre of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

. He was awarded the 1964 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. Thereafter in 1976, he was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

Early life and training

Deodhar was born in

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city in Sangli District and also in Maharashtra, India, that was founded in the early 10th century. It was an important jagir of the Adil Shahi court of Bijapur. Shivaji Maharaj stayed in Miraj for ...

in present

Sangli district Sangli district (Marathi pronunciation: aːŋɡli is a district of Maharashtra state in India. Sangli city is the district headquarters. It is bordered by Satara district, Solapur district to the North, Karnataka state to South-East, by Kolh ...

of Maharashtra on 11 September 1901. He started his musical training with Nilkanth Buwa Alurmath, the ''guru bhai'' of noted singer and educator

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (18 August 1872 – 21 August 1931) was a Hindustani musician. He sang the original version of the bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, and founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya on 5 May 1901. He is also credited wit ...

(1872–1931), and a disciple of Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar of Gwalior gharana. Thereafter, he also received training under Abdul Karim Khan of

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 tunin ...

and

Vinayakrao Patwardhan Pandit Vinayak Narayan Patwardhan (22 July 1898 – 23 August 1975) was an Indian vocalist of Gwalior gharana (style of singing) of Indian classical music. __TOC__ Early life Vinayakrao's uncle Keshav Rao Koratkar was his first music ...

, another disciple of Paluskar. Later he joined the

Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya New Delhi is an institution established in 1939 to popularize Indian classical music and dance. The Mahavidyalaya (school) came into being to perpetuate the memory of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the great reviver of ...

, where he became a leading disciple of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the founder of institution. Deodhar was the only student of Paluskar who was allowed to also pursue formal education. Thus after matriculation he also pursued higher education and later received a B.A. degree. He also studied Western classical music. Deshpande, p. 168 In the coming years, he continued his musical education from leading musicians of various traditions including those from Agra gharana, Mohanrao Pakelar from

Jaipur Gharana The Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (also known as Jaipur Gharana, Atrauli-Jaipur Gharana, and Alladiyakhani Gayaki) is an Hindustani music apprenticeship fraternity ('' gharana''), founded by Alladiya Khan in the late-19th century. Evolved from the dhru ...

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

-player Majeed Khan,

Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his ...

, Ganpatrao Dewaskar, Pt. Sadashivbuwa Jadhav of Gokhale gharana, Shinde Khan of Talwandi gharana, binkaar Murad Khan of

Indore gharana Indore gharana is one of the vocal gharanas of Indian classical music. It was founded by Amir Khan, who studied the styles of Abdul Wahid Khan, Aman Ali Khan, Rajab Ali Khan and Abdul Karim Khan and amalgamated their style. Amir Khan grew up ...

, and most importantly,

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala gharana.Patiala gharana The Patiala ''gharana'' (, ) is one of the vocal (tradition, school, or style of music) of Hindustani classical music, named after the city of Patiala in Punjab, India where it was established. The ''gharana'' was founded in the mid to late 19th ...

, with whom he remained associated for many years, and became an important musical influence on his '' gayaki'', singing style. Thus, he incorporate styles of several traditions,

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 mus ...

s into his singing, and this also paved way for his career as a musicologist. In time, he also collected musical compositions, rare ragas from all the traditions he was associated with, through his career.

Career

He established the Deodhar School of Music in Mumbai, breaking from the gharana tradition. He also edited Hindi music monthly magazine, ''Sangeet Kala Vihar'', and also published several books on music and musicians. In 1964, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship the highest honour conferred by

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. This was followed by

, by

in 1976. Amongst his noted disciples, were singer

Kumar Gandharva Pandit Kumar Gandharva (pronunciation:, Kn: ಕುಮಾರ್ ಗಂಧರ್ವ; 8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992), originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style ...

, Saraswati Rane, and Laxmi Ganesh Tewari. In 1993, his monthly columns, in ''Sangeet Kala Vihar'', which included biographies of 19th-century Indian musicians, were published as book, ''Pillars of Hindustani music''. He died on 10 March 1990 in Mumbai.

Works

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deodhar, B. R. 1901 births 1990 deaths People from Miraj Hindustani singers Indian musicologists Indian magazine editors Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Indian music educators 20th-century Indian male classical singers Singers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century musicologists