Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Hariprasad Chaurasia under the collaborative name Shiv–Hari and composed music for such hit Indian films as '' Faasle'' (1985), '' Chandni'' (1989), and '' Lamhe'' (1991). Sharma was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: 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 recogni ...

in 1986 and 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 ...

and Padma Vibhushan (India's fourth and second highest civilian awards) in 1991 and 2001.

Early life

Sharma was born to a

Dogra __NOTOC__ Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic community of Pakistan and India. Dogra, Dogras or Dogri may also refer to: * Dogra dynasty, a Hindu dynasty of Kashmir * Dogri language, a language spoken by Dogras and other ethnic commu ...

family on 13 January 1938, in

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His father Uma Dutt Sharma was a vocalist and a

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. His father started teaching him vocals and

, when he was just five. His father saw an opportunity to introduce him to the santoor, a

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

, which was a folk instrument that traced its origins to ancient

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, but was played in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. He saw the styles that integrated Sufi notes with traditional Kashmiri folk music and had his son play the instrument that was then new to

. Sharma started learning santoor at the age of thirteen and gave his first public performance in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in 1955. The one-hour-long rendition of Raga Yaman at his first live performance in 1955, left his audience in Mumbai shouting ‘Encore!’

Career

Starting his career playing the santoor with his father, Sharma is credited with introducing the santoor as a popular Indian classical music instrument. He recorded his first

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

in 1960. Sharma took the santoor as an Indian classical musical instrument playing at various music venues. He collaborated with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain and with

Hariprasad Chaurasia on many of his performances as well as on his albums. In 1967, he teamed up with Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, '' Call of the Valley'' (1967), which turned out to be one of Indian classical music's greatest hits. Sharma composed the background music for one of the scenes in V. Shantaram's film '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje'' (1955) where Gopi Krishna performed a

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

dance piece. Further, he composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Chaurasia, starting with ''

Silsila ''Silsila'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of :wikt:lineage, lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfe ...

'' (1981). They came to be known as the Shiv–Hari music duo. Some of the movies they composed music for were musical hits, such as '' Faasle'' (1985), '' Chandni'' (1989), '' Lamhe'' (1991), and '' Darr'' (1993). Sharma also played tabla including in the popular song "Mo Se Chhal Kiye Jaaye" sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

in the 1965 film ''

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

'', on the insistence of music director S. D. Burman. However, Sharma's focus remained on classic music rather than film songs; he said, "Classical music is not for entertainment. It is to take you on a meditative journey, ''ye toh mehsoos karne ki cheez hai'' (This has to be experienced)." Sharma’s 1968 concert in Los Angeles was his first performance abroad. He followed this with a tour of England in 1970. In 1996, Sharma and his son Rahul played the santoor on a stage in Norway, as 'equals' for the first time. Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akadeemi Award in 1986, the

, India's fourth highest civilian award in 1991, and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian award in 2001.

Personal life

Sharma married Manorama and had two sons, Rohit, who learned Sitar and is currently an executive with Sony India and Rahul, who started learning at the age of 13 to become a santoor player, and they performed together since 1996. In a 1999 interview, Sharma stated that he chose Rahul as his '' shishya'', because he thought he had the "gift of God". He became a staunch devotee and follower of Sathya Sai Baba after starting off as a sceptic. Sharma died on 10 May 2022 from a cardiac arrest. He was 84 years old. He had kidney failure for the last few months and went through regular dialysis. He received a state funeral at Pawan Hans Juhu aerodrome, Mumbai, on 11 May 2022.

Discography

Albums

Source:

Contributing artist

''Source''

Awards

Sharma was the recipient of national and international awards, including an honorary citizenship of the city of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, USA, in 1985, the

in 1986, the

in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. Some of his other awards included: * Platinum Disc for '' Call of the Valley'' * Platinum Disc for music of film ''

'' *

Gold Disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for music of film '' Faasle'' * Platinum Disc for music of film '' Chandni'' * Pandit Chatur Lal Excellence Award – 2015

References

External links

www.santoor.com – Official Site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Shivkumar 1938 births 2022 deaths Hindustani instrumentalists Indian male classical musicians People from Jammu (city) Musicians from Jammu and Kashmir Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Santoor players Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Dogra people