Sumati Mutatkar (10 September 1916 – 28 February 2007) was an Indian

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

vocalist and musicologist from the

Agra gharana The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi. The first known musician 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, sita ...

, and a Professor of Department of Music in

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. She was awarded the highest award of the

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 be ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, for lifetime achievement, the 1979

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

and the

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

in 1999, 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, c ...

. She was also awarded the

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman ( hi, कालिदास सम्मान) is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The ...

by the

Government of Madhya Pradesh Government of Madhya Pradesh also known as the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 52 districts. It consists of an executive, ...

in 2001-2002.

Early life and training

She was born in Balaghat in the then province of C.P. and Berar, the oldest child of Gajanan Amberdekar, a judge, and Sundari Subedar. She received training in Hindustani classical music from various teachers, including Pandit Rajabhaiya Poochwale of

Gwalior gharana The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605). The favourite singers of t ...

, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan of

, and Pandit Anant Manohar Joshi and Ustad

Mushtaq Hussain Khan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (1878–1964) was an Indian classical vocalist. He belonged to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. Early life Mushtaq Hussain was born in a family of traditional musicians in Sahaswan, a small town in Budaun District of U ...

(d. 1964) of the Rampur gharana. She was, however, primarily a student of Pandit

S. N. Ratanjankar Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar born 31 December 1899 and died 14 February 1974. He was a distinguished scholar and teacher of Hindustani classical music, from the Agra gharana. Foremost disciple of Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Faiyaz Khan of B ...

. Ghosh, p. 29 at the

Bhatkhande Music Institute Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (BSVV), formerly Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University, Bhatkhande College of Hindustani Music and Marris College of Music, is a state university in Lucknow. Established in 1926 by Vishnu Narayan Bhatk ...

—earlier known as the Marris College—in Lucknow.

Career

In 1953, she joined as the Director of Music at the

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 a ...

(AIR) and subsequently became Deputy Chief Producer of Music. Later, in 1968 she joined the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, at the

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

, eventually retiring in September 1981 as the Dean of the Faculty. During her tenure, she supervised numerous research programs in the field of music, as well published several books on the subject.OBITUARY: In Memoriam Professor Dr. Sumati Mutatkar
She died on 28 February 2007, at a private hospital in Kolkata, after a brief bronchial illness at the age of 91; she was survived by her daughter.

ITC Sangeet Research Academy ITC Sangeet Research Academy is a Hindustani classical music academy run by the corporate house, ITC Ltd. It is located in Kolkata, India. Noted musicians associated with the academy include Ulhas Kashalkar, Falguni Mitra, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Ust ...

Bibliography

* '' Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar 'Sujan': a many splendoured genius''. Lotus Collection, 2001. . * ''Geet Nijhari : Sumit Mutakar Rachit Bandisho Ka Sangrah'' ( Hindi) . Kanishka Publishiners, 2002. * ''Aspects of Indian music''. Sangeet Natak Akademi, 2006. . * ''Sumati-Sangitabharanam: Gems of Indian Music and Musicology (Prof. Sumati Mutatkar Felicitation Volume)'', by Abha Kulshreshtha, Sumati Mutatkar, Jagdish Sahai. 1994. .

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mutatkar, Sumati Hindustani singers 1916 births 2007 deaths Indian women musicologists Indian musicologists Delhi University faculty Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Agra gharana 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian educational theorists Singers from Madhya Pradesh All India Radio people Scholars from Madhya Pradesh Women musicians from Madhya Pradesh All India Radio women 20th-century Indian women singers Women educators from Madhya Pradesh Educators from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century musicologists 20th-century women educators 20th-century Khyal singers Women musicians from West Bengal