Thursday, August 15, 2013
NIKHIL RANJAN BANNERJEE (14
October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an eminent Indian classicalsitarist of
the Maihar Gharana. A student of the legendary Baba Allauddin Khan,
Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was known for his technical virtuosity and clinical
execution. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan,
he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the Sitar and is regarded as a
legend of Indian Classical music.
In 1947 Banerjee met Ustad Allauddin Khan, who was to become
his main guru along with his son, Ali Akbar Khan. Both were sarod players.
Banerjee went to Allauddin Khan's concerts and was desperate to have him as his
teacher. Allauddin Khan did not want to take on more students, but changed his
mind after listening to one of Banerjee's radio broadcasts. Allauddin Khan was
Banerjee's main teacher, after he left Maihar he also learned from Ali Akbar
Khan, the son of Allaudin Khan, for many years.
The discipline under Ustad Allauddin Khan was legendary. For
years, Nikhil's practice would start at four in the morning and, with few
breaks, continue to eleven o'clock at night. Among others, Ustad Allauddin
Khan also taught his son Ali Akbar Khan, grandson Aashish Khan, and
nephew Bahadur Khan on the sarod; Ravi Shankar on thesitar;
his daughter, Annapurna Devi, on the surbahar; Pannalal Ghosh on
the flute; and Vasant Rai the sarod.
Ustad Allauddin Khan was passing on not only playing technique but
the musical knowledge and approach of the Maihar gharana (school);
yet there was a definite trend in his teaching to infuse the sitar and sarod
with the been-baj aesthetic of the Rudra veena, surbahar and sursringar—long,
elaborate alap (unaccompanied improvisation) built on
intricate meend work (bending of the note). He was also well
known for adjusting his teaching to his particular students' strengths and
weaknesses. Consequently, under his teaching, Shankar and Banerjee developed
different sitar styles.
After Maihar, Banerjee embarked on a concert career that was to
take him to all corners of the world and last right up to his untimely death.
All through his life he kept taking lessons from Ustad Allauddin Khan and his
children, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Smt. Annapurna Devi. Perhaps
reflecting his early upbringing, he always remained a humble musician, and was
content with much less limelight than a player of his stature could have vied
for. Even so, in 1968, he was decorated with the Padma Shri, and in 1974
received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Nikhil Banerjee frequently toured Europe and the USA, with
prominent tabla players including Swapan Chaudhuri and Anindo
Chatterjee.
Although he was often resident at the Ali Akbar College of
Music in California he taught few pupils on a one-to-one basis,
for his stated reason that he did not feel he had adequate time to devote to
his students, as he was still learning and performing. He hoped that developing
a proper disciple relationship with students would become possible later in his
life, but, sadly, his early demise meant it did not happen. Nevertheless, a
number of prominent sitarists have been influenced by his teaching and
distinctive style.
Banerjee recorded only a handful of recordings during his lifetime
but a series of live performance recordings continue to be released
posthumously making sure that his musical legacy is preserved for posterity. He
did not always enjoy recording within the confines of the studio, though his
early studio recordings with EMI India such as Lalit, Purya Kalyan and Malkauns
are now considered to be classic renditions of these ragas. The posthumous live
albums, many of which were brought out around the turn of the 21st Century
by Raga Records in New York, and Chhandadhara of Germany, are
widely considered to be the finest documents of his playing. Many of his
unpublished concert recordings are available which are testimony to his musical
thought.
Nikhil Banerjee was in failing health through the 80s, having
survived three heart attacks. On January 27, 1986, on the birthday of his
younger daughter, at the relatively young age of 54, Nikhil Banerjee died of a
fourth heart attack. At the time of his death, he was a faculty member at the
Ali Akbar College of Music in Calcutta. He was posthumously awarded
the Padma Bhushan title by the Government of India in the same year
as his death.
He is survived by his wife Roma and two daughters. His elder
daughter is married into the Tagore family. His younger daughter Debdutta/Arya is
a model and actress in Kolkata.
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