Pandit Raghunath Seth (1931 – 15 February 2014) was a noted Indian exponent 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, sit ...

through the medium of

Bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the '' ...

, or bamboo flute; he was also a noted film score composer. He has received

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognit ...

in 1994, given 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.

Early life and training

Born in

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

in 1931, he started his music training from his elder brother Kashi Prasad, at age of 12, and went on to train under eminent musicologist Dr.

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 Bar ...

and principal of Bhatkhande Music Institute (Bhatkande Sangeet Sansthan) in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

. Later at the age of 19 he moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, where he learnt under Pandit

Pannalal Ghosh Pandit Pannalal Ghosh ( bn, পান্নালাল ঘোষ; 24 July 1911 – 20 April 1960), also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was an Indian flute ( bansuri) player and composer. He was a disciple of Allauddin Khan, and is credited with pop ...

Maihar gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princ ...

Career

As an Indian Classical Music Bamboo Flautist, he delighted his audiences and fans across the globe. His flute composition "Music to help you sleep" from the album Nidra has over 5.5 million views on YouTube. His filmography included songs by stalwarts like Yesudas, Lata Mangeshkar,

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

, Anuradha Paudwal, Chithra, Kavita Krishnamurty,

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India rep ...

, Bhupinder, Suresh Wadkar, Hariharan,

Udit Narayan Udit is an Indian masculine given name that may refer to: * Udit Narayan, Bollywood playback singer *Udit Narayan (politician) (born 1960), Fijian politician of Indian descent *Udit Narayan Singh (1770–1835), Indian monarch * Udit Patel (born 19 ...

and more. "Yeh Paudhay Yeh Pattay", from the film "Ek Baar Phir", has been documented as Anuradha Paudwal's first film song. His private albums included songs by Talat Mehmood, Asha Bhosle, Vani Jairam, Arti Mukherjee, Talat Aziz, Peenaz Masani, Sudha Malhotra, Hari Om Sharan and Sharma Bandhu. He scored music for around 2000 documentary films and many television serials. Several of them like, 'Ocean to Sky, 'The Last Tiger', 'Mughal Gardens' & 'Death Sentence' were widely recognised for their music scores as well. He also composed songs for the 1988 Malayalam film ' Aaranyakam', directed by Malayalam film director Hariharan, with lyrics by the late Malayalam poet O. N. V. Kurup. Pandit Raghunath Seth made many breakthroughs in the technique of flute making and playing. He is well known for adding a bamboo key to his bansuri that makes previously impossible phrases, such as the meend (Glissando) between Ma and Pa, easily playable. He also added an 8th hole which allows the player to extend the range of Indian bamboo flute, further into the lower octave. As a flute guru, he has gifted the world with many fine disciples including: his son Apurva Shrivastava, Steve Gorn, Rao Kyao, Chris Hinze, Clive Bell, Sunil Gupta, Krishna Bhandari, Joshua Geisler, Chetan Joshi, Atul Sharma and Datta Chaughule. He died on February 15, 2014 in Mumbai, at the age of 83.

References

External links

Rajhunath Seth
at last.fm * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Raghunath 1931 births 2014 deaths Indian flautists Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Hindustani instrumentalists Indian film score composers People from Gwalior Bansuri players Hindustani composers Indian classical composers 20th-century Indian musicians Suns of Arqa members 20th-century flautists