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 Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

. 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 language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

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

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), 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. In ...

, by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

Early life and training

Deodhar was born in

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city that is part of the Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad metropolitan region in Sangli district, Maharashtra. Founded in the early 10th century, Miraj was an important jagir of the Bijapur Sultanate. Chhatrapa ...

in present Sangli district 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 (1872–1931), and a disciple of Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar of Gwalior gharana. Thereafter, he also received training under Abdul Karim Khan of Kirana gharana and Vinayakrao Patwardhan, another disciple of Paluskar. Later he joined the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, 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,

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...

-player Majeed Khan,

Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan (; 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 students ...

, Ganpatrao Dewaskar, Pt. Sadashivbuwa Jadhav of Gokhale gharana, Shinde Khan of Talwandi gharana, binkaar Murad Khan of Indore gharana, and most importantly, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiala gharana, 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 musi ...

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, 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 Musicologists from British India 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 Indian musicologists