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Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee () is an Indian classical
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
and
surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, i ...
maestro of the
Imdadkhani gharana The Etawah gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music and named after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan (1848–1920) lived. It is also known as Imdadkhani gharana in the honour of its founder, Imdad Khan. Imdad Kha ...
(school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of being the ever first artist (not just musician) in history to perform in the House of Commons, London. Famously proclaimed the "sitar artist of the century" by veena great Balachander, he has performed in thousands of concerts since the 1970s in India, America, Australia, the UAE, and almost all of Europe.


Early years

He was born in a musical family in
Bhilai Bhilai is a city in Durg district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. Along with its twin-city Durg, the urban agglomeration of Durg-Bhilai Nagar has a population of more than a million, making it the second-larges ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, in 1955, where his father was a senior official of the
Bhilai Steel Plant The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...
. His father Acharya Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee was trained in a plethora of instruments including the
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
,
sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...
,
surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, i ...
,
rudra veena The ''rudra veena'' () (also spelled ''rudraveena'' or ''rudra vīnā'') — also called the ''bīn'' in North India — is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music, especially dhrupad. It is one of the major types of '' vee ...
,
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 ...
, and vocal music. The senior Mukherjee often hosted veteran musicians at his home. In a video, Budhaditya recollects having sat on the lap of the legendary singer Ustad
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was a Pakistani vocalist, from the Kasur Patiala Gharana.
. When Budhaditya was five years old, Bimalendu Mukherjee started teaching him on a small sitar and trained him for several decades thereafter. In 1970, he won two national-level music competitions, and soon after was famously endorsed in glowing terms first by legendary film maker
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...
and then
South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
n veena great Balachander, who proclaimed him "sitar artist of the century." In 1975, Budhaditya became a grade-A artist with
All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
(he was promoted to top grade in 1986). During the 70s he became the first ever sitarist to play the tappa, a form of vocal music rolling with repeated high speed taans, and as of 2018, is probably the only sitarist to have effectively presented the tappa. He graduated as a First Class Metallurgical Engineer from National Institute of Technology, Raipur, while already a performing artist. During college, he is said to have written an exam right after arriving from the airport after performing. His son, Bijoyaditya, was born in 1984, and started training with Bimalendu and Budhaditya at the age of 5.


Career

Mukherjee has toured the world extensively, giving concerts in over 25 countries, and from 1983 and 1995, respectively, taught from time to time at the Istituto Interculturale di Studi Musicali Comparati in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
(alongside
tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...
player Sankha Chatterjee) and the
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
Conservatory. He has also recorded widely, and at the age of 47, his discography spanned exactly 47 CDs, LPs and cassettes. In 1995, he started recording on the
surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, i ...
(bass sitar), first as a two-part series (''Brilliance of Sound'') for Beethoven Records in Kolkata (ragas Yaman and Marwa), then raga Komal re Asavari for
RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
/
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
on ''Tribute to My Father, My Guru'' (STCS 850362). In 2003, he was the first Indian classical musician to have an
enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both CD-Audio and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the ''enhanced CD'' cate ...
published: ''Thumriyan'' (RCD-2224), on
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
labe
Rhyme Records
in Kansas, containing
raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...
s Piloo and Bhairavi.


Playing style

Pandit Budhaditya belongs to the
Imdadkhani gharana The Etawah gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music and named after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan (1848–1920) lived. It is also known as Imdadkhani gharana in the honour of its founder, Imdad Khan. Imdad Kha ...
, the name coined by himself, to credit Ustad Imdad Khan, who created the unique style and had named it after
Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...
, where he lived. His
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 unaccomp ...
consists of deep and fine meends (gliding across notes) for which he pulls the string up to five and a half notes on a given fret. This technique is part of executing the gayaki or vocal style of playing, Budhaditya is particularly known for his high speed and clarity, which he says is a product of good control over the instrument, and should be played only for complementing the music. However, he has mentioned that in his early years, when he was still in search of a good sitar, he had to play high speed to make a career as a musician. Budhaditya's typical concerts have been full length renditions of the ragas starting from developing through alap, jor, and then improvising over a composition with tabla accompaniment, before playing a high speed composition and jhala, and finishing with a shorter rendition in a different raga. He often develops the raga in the khayal gayaki ang, or the way a vocalist would do in the khayal style of singing. Pt. Budhaditya Mukherjee's rendition of Ustad Imdad Khan Saheb's Razakhani gat in Raag Bihag:


Quest for tone: 15 years of research

Pandit Mukherjee said that he changed 9 sitars in his initial 20 years of performing, while looking for the tone he wanted. By the mid 90s, he realized it was time for him to research the sitar making process to bring out the tone he had in his mind. There started his research along with a sitar maker, during which they damaged several sitars and built 2 sitars on opposing principles alongside a third one with favorable principles learned from the other two. After the 15 years of research, he can now produce the exact tone of his choice by modifying any sitar. Also, as seen in many videos beginning about the year 2000, his modifications include the permanent installation of Suzuki-style fine tuners for the chikari (drone) strings on his sitar.


Surbahar

Very few sitar players play the surbahar, a bass version. Panditji has recorded relatively very few albums on the surbahar and there a few more recordings available online, all of which show deep alaps, and a solid command on the instrument. In a concert video, he has demonstrated tough taans (fast phrases) on the surbahar, involving pulling the string to over 5 notes at a time.


Performances

Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee has performed all over the world for more than five decades. Most recently, he performed twice at the
Aga Khan Museum The Aga Khan Museum is a museum of Islamic art located at 77 Wynford Drive in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is dedicated to Islamic art and objects, and it houses approximately 1,200 rare objects assembled by Sh ...
in Toronto, Canada in 2016 and 2019 for the Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Budhaditya Surbahar players 1955 births Living people Sitar players Hindustani instrumentalists Indian male classical musicians Bengali musicians Etawah gharana Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Indian classical musicians of Bengal National Institute of Technology, Raipur alumni Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award