Deben Bhattacharya
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Deben Bhattacharya (1921–2001) was a
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 ...
radio producer, record producer,
ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
,
anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
, documentary filmmaker, photographer, translator, poet, writer, broadcaster, lecturer, and
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
consultant. He produced over 100 records, 23 films and published more than a dozen books in his lifetime and much of his work was carried out under the auspices of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
.


Early life

Bhattacharya was born to an old Bengali
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family that was settled in
Benares Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...
for over 130 years. As a young man, he was influenced by the work of English poet Lewis Thompson, which prompted him to move to England, where he worked for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
as a radio producer. Knowing a lot of Indians in London, he started to record Indian musicians on a Baird
tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...
. When Bhattacharya had the idea to do field recordings in India, he was met with a financial dilemma of needing £80 for the tape recorder, £20 for the transformer, £25 for 20 blank tapes, plus about £60 for a one-way boat ticket to Bombay. Sunday Wilson – a producer for the overseas service, commissioned him for six five-minute programmes, which garnered £30.6.0. Weeks after that, the poet
Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...
, who had started his new magazine '' Encounter'', approached Bhattacharya to write an article on Indian poetry and advance him on two further articles. The London-based company Argo Records Ltd. that specialized in classical music also advanced £25 and paid for the
Gaumont-British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was a British company that produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of France's Gaumont (company), Gaumont. Film production Gaumo ...
machine, and the tapes against future royalties. He returned with enough material to make four or five records, and one of them was published, called "Songs from Bombay". This led to a trip through the Middle East, recording music in every country, as well as other projects.


Career

Bhattacharya continued to earn international recognition as an expert on
ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
folk music, dance and poetry and was employed to help teach ethnic music and bring ethnic musicians to Sweden. Living for periods of time in London and
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
he began making films in 1962 when his BBC Third Programme producer, Robert Leighton, introduced him to
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...
, who was then an executive at BBC Television. When Bhattacharya told him that he would be going to India with an experienced cameraman, Attenborough offered him £1,000 to help with his expenses. Upon his return, the BBC edited the material into two films: ''
Kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...
'', the classical dance drama of
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 ...
, and ''Storytellers From Rajastan''. Following this,
Swedish Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...
gave him money to make a film in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. This led to film making in
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, Tibet, China,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
,
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and many other countries. Towards the end of his career, Bhattacharya had archived over 16,000 photographs related to his various projects.


Partial filmography

* ''Waves of Joy: Anandalahari'', director and producer * ''The Chanting Lama'', director * ''Silk and Strings: Taiwan'', director * ''Raga'', director * ''Painted Ballad of India'', director * ''Krishna in Spring'', director * ''Jesus and the Fisherman'', director * ''Faces of the Forest: The Santals of West Bengal'', director and producer * ''Echoes From Tibet'', director * ''Buddha and the Rice-Planters'', director * ''Ecstatic Circle: Turkey'', director (1972) * ''Adaptable Kingdom: Music and Dance in Nepal'', director (1972) * ''The Land of Smiles: Thailand'', director and producer (1973) * ''Bali: The Isle of Temples'', director and producer (1973) * ''Chinese Opera'', director (1983) * ''Uighurs on the Silk Route'', director (1985) * ''The Cosmic Dance of Shiva'', director (1986)


Partial discography

* ''Music on the Desert Road: A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya'' – Angel Records, recorded 1955, released 1958 * ''Bedouins of the Middle East, 1955–60'' –
ARC Music ARC Music is a world music and folk music label based in West Sussex, England, that was established in 1976. Naxos acquired ARC in 2019. Film and television ARC Music has been used in the films '' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crysta ...
* ''The Living Tradition: Songs and Dance from Nepal by Deben Bhattacharya'' – The Decca Record Company, released 1974 * ''Sounds of West Sahara: Mauritania'' – ARC Music, recorded 1978, released 2004 * ''Maqams of Syria'' – ARC Music, released 2001 * ''River Songs of Bangladesh'' – ARC Music, released 2001 * ''Treasures in Sound – India'' – UA International, 1967 * ''Classical Ragas of India'' – Philips and
Limelight Records Limelight Records was a jazz record label and subsidiary of Mercury Records started in 1962. The catalogue included music by Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Milt Jackson, Gerry Mulligan, and Oscar Peterson. Originally headed by Quincy Jon ...
, 1968 * ''Santūr, Tunbūk, And Tār (Music and Drum Rhythm of Iran) –'' Philips and Limelight Records, 1968 * ''Inde: Musique populaire du Rajasthan (Music From the Indian Desert)'' – Disques Ocora, OCR 47, recorded January 1968 * ''The Living Tradition – Music From Turkey'' – Argo Records Ltd., 1968 * ''2 Ragas'' –
Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...
, 1969 * ''The Living Tradition – Music From Iran'' – Argo, 1971 * ''The Living Tradition – Songs of Krishna'' – Argo, 1971 * ''The Living Tradition – Music From Bangladesh'' – Argo, 1972 * ''The Living Tradition – Songs and Dances From Macedonia'' – Argo, 1972 * ''Folkmusik Från Rumänien'' – Caprice Records, 1972 * ''Musique folklorique du monde: Yougoslavie'' –
Musidisc Musidisc is a French record label that provides music and home video distribution. It was founded in 1927, and purchased by Universal Music Group in 1999. History Musidisc is known for having produced a rare recording of Jeanne Calment, who has ...
* ''Musique folklorique du monde: Iran'' – Musidisc * ''Musique folklorique du monde: Hongrie'' – Musidisc * ''Sacred Temple Music of Tibet'' – ARC Music, 1998 * ''Religious Music - Holy Land / Terre Sainte'' - Nord Sud Music – NSCD 1180


Books

* * * *


References


External links


Interview with record producer Kevin Daly

The World Jukebox field recordings
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Deben 1921 births 2001 deaths Bengali writers British radio producers BBC radio producers Indian documentary filmmakers British ethnomusicologists Indian ethnomusicologists British documentary filmmakers British broadcasters British record producers British male poets 20th-century British poets 20th-century British translators 20th-century British male writers 20th-century musicologists 20th-century British businesspeople British male non-fiction writers