As once expressed so vividly by a western composer Franz Joseph Liszt, ‘Music personifies subtle and in-depth sensitivities and at once presents the intensity and the expression of feeling’. Spontaneity and expression are the features of Pt.Nikhil Banerjee’s music and our Panditji’s music is so entrancing yet enigmatic.Pt. Nikhil Banerjee was born in Calcutta on October 14th, 1931 as the 7th child to Jitendranath Banerjee and Durgarani Devi. Pt.Nikhil Banerjee’s prodigious affinity towards Sitar music was sensed by none other than his father Jitendranath Banerjee, who himself was an amateur sitarist. Jitendranath owing to his son’s dedication and deep liking for Sitar music started teaching young Nikhil. Nikhil Banerjee was also initiated into the illustrious Imdadkhani-Etawah Gharana under the tutelage of Andrew Gomez.
Nikhil Banerjee became the youngest performer on the All India Radio, at the age of nine. Instantaneously, young Nikhil secured the first position among all the contestants in all categories in the All Bengal Music Competition on October 1939. As a token of appreciation for his feat, Nikhil was given the chance to play in his first major concert in the 7th All Bengal Music Festival (4-day long festival which featured the greatest vocalists and instrumentalists of India).
Nikhil was soon recognized in the music circles as a child prodigy. Boosted by his son's talent, Jitendranath decided to take him to a proper guru. Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan had also heard Nikhil's music being one of the judges in the All Bengal Music Competition. So Jitendranath took Nikhil to the Ustad. Nikhil's tutelage started under his first guru. Nikhil learned from Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan for about three months. His next guru was Kumarbahadur Birendrakishore Roy Chowdhury. Kumarbahadur's forte was his extensive knowledge of Dhrupad music. During this time, Nikhil was also introduced to one of Enayat Khan's leading disciples, Jitendramohan Sen. Birendrakishore encouraged Nikhil to listen to other musicians in order to broaden and enrich his musical knowledge.
Gathering knowledge and information from different artistes, Nikhil was able to assimilate the finer details of their musical styles. Nikhil was influenced by a number of musicians including Omkarnath Thakur, Faiyaz Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar, Roshanara Begum, Ustad Allauddin Khan and the young Amir Khan, who was also his sister's teacher. He also took vocal and tabla lessons from Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Nikhil was deeply touched by the musicality of this towering figure in Indian Classical Music. Another great musician, from whom Nikhil learnt at this time was the sarod maestro Pandit Radhikamohan Maitra.
Birendrakishore's tutelage had exposed Nikhil to the pure and devotional aspects of Dhrupad. But the master was not an expert on sitar, so he suggested Nikhil to his next guru Ustad Allauddin Khan of Maihar, widely known as Baba.
Nikhil had already been exposed to Baba's teaching through concerts by two of his foremost students, son Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and son-in-law Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar). He was spellbound by the depth and richness of the Maihar style. He had dreamt of learning from Baba. When Nikhil decided to approach Baba for lessons, the maestro was already seventy. Nikhil went to Maihar in 1948 to seek tutelage under the illustrious guru.Baba was very strict in his training - rigorous learning and practice day in and day out. He had decided to mould Nikhil is an unique way - completely different from the musical style of his other sitar disciple, Ravi Shankar. 'Nikhil's style will be his identity, otherwise he will be regarded as just another follower of Ravi Shankar', he believed. It is said that Baba taught Nikhil in the style of Ustad Barkatullah of Lucknow.Nikhil learnt from Allauddin Khan for five years.
The next two decades were an unending saga of Nikhil's performances and rise to fame. Nikhil cared little for wealth and popularity. He never catered to popular tastes but instead maintained the purity and divine character of raga music. Soon, he created an identity of his own, marked by his own inimitable style which was an amalgamation of his devotion, extraordinary practice and above all his meditative approach. Nikhil Banerjee performed at all the prestigious musical events and conferences and also conducted lecture-demonstrations in India. Nikhil's international tours started in 1955. He had toured China, Afghanistan, Nepal, USSR, and East Europe as a member of Indian Cultural delegation and also the U.S.
Nikhil was sought after by the leading recording companies. But he did not like to be recorded. He believed that the studio setting creates a barrier for the artist and somewhat compromises the inner meditative quality of his music. Though he recorded a number of LP's, few were of live concerts, in which his leisurely, majestic raga development was unsurpassed; hence his high-fidelity live recordings are rare. Some recording companies such as Raga Records and Chhandadhara have released some series of concert recordings to help preserve Nikhil babu’s bequest. Like his guru Ustad Allauddin Khan, Nikhil Banerjee did not believe in having students just for the sake of teaching. Hence, he never systematically taught anyone. In 1968, he was awarded the high civilian order of the "Padmashree" by the Government of India and in 1974, he won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy Award. Pandit Nikhil Banerjee had an untimely death at the age of 54 (27th January, 1986) is probably one of the biggest tragedies in the history of Indian Classical Music and was posthumously awarded the "Padmabhushan", the second highest Civilian award in India, in 1986.
Nikhil Banerjee – Music from within to beyond
While for the most, music is a combination of notes giving rise to a beautiful melody, very few approach music as means to realize the supreme….
For them the notes or swaras are vehicles to transcend beyond the mundane and move towards Godliness..a medium for self – realization.
They had neither distances to travel in their path of music nor any peak to rise. On contrary their travel was inwards. They never minded popularity or glamour but lived in their own world of nAdabramhA.
Such was the approach of Pt Nikhil Banerjee to music which is evident from his own words...
“My approach to music is very deep. I do not compromise. Indian music is based on spiritualism and was practiced and learned to know the Supreme Truth. A musician must lift up the souls of the listeners and take them towards Space. This is the history of Indian music. "
Nikhil Babu, as he was fondly called by his rasikas, was an introverted, unassuming, moderate and shy personality and probably that is the reason why babu never tried to be pompous and pretentious. In fact he disliked being in limelight. As was his own nature Babu’s music was very contemplative.
Spontaneity and emotiveness were the watchword of his music. ..
Probably the biggest revolution that everyone, but for a polite Nikhil banerjee himself, recognized is that Nikhil babu created a music and a style that is totally different from that of the 2 biggest doyens of sitar of his times. Ustad Vilayat Khan and Pt Ravishankar.
Though a keen observer and admirer of both these masters, Nikhil banerjee carved a separate niche for himself that is truly distinct in terms of the presentation of music.
Long unaccompanied alaps were characteristic of NB’s concert presentation. Babu ji says that since music is worship and for worshiping the avaahan or invocation of presiding deity is necessary similarly the raga that has to be played needs to be invoked and that the invocation has to be as meditative as possible. One could understand the import of these words listening to his unhurried raga exploration unfolding the beautiful nuances of the raga step by step. Some of his alaps would last for as long as an hour before he could get his musical meditation disturbed to land into the gat section.
Babu ji’s amalgamation or synthesis of music without trying to emulate the style makes his music total and wholesome. Deeply emotive in nature and devoid of gimmicks NB’s alaps, cutting across the Gharana lines, were an assimilation of the best of what his predecessors and contemporaries established at the same time carried his own distinct stamp of his mastery.
Alaps with long meends ( pulling of the string at the same fret to varying levels to produce different notes) which was characteristic of Ustad Vilayat khan’s playing was very evident in Nikhil Babu’s playing which is not the case of his contemporary Maihar Gharana Sitarist like Pt. Ravishankar . But incorporated the using of Gharaj or bass strings in his playing which is not the case of Ustad Vilayat Khan’s style of playing. Pt ji’s usage of bass strings traversing across the lower octaves and sub lower octaves (manthra and athi manthra saptak) were truly amazing. By increasing the duration of meends in the bass strings Pt ji created a resonating effect that added to his naturally serious nature of his music. (Listen to the audio sample in raga maru bihag)
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As much as the development of melodic progression was given importance so much focus was also paid to the layakari or the rhythmic progression. Dazzling thihais were regular feature of NB’s Gat presentation most of them arising impromptu and do not hear like a pre-planned presentation.(listen to the audio sample)
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Expressing Technical prowess and virtuosity while still not compromising on the contemplative and bhava laden faces of the raga is a challenge for any artist and in this balancing act NB showed extreme acumen. He could generate breathtaking speed with the fingers almost becoming invisible as they traverse across the fret board, jumping from one octave to the other. NB was always an artist of inspiration rather than organization. Hence his taans were so spontaneous that they always threw surprises..they were straight, sometimes zig-zag, move in circles or suddenly changing the direction without warning !!!
NB did not believe in self-composed ragas. Other than Manomanjari which he played on a few occasions, he chose to play ragas that suited his temperament and mood on the day of the presentation. NB popularized some of the rare ragas that were the treasure of maihar Gharana.. Manjh Kamaj, Sindura, Surdasi malhar, Hem lalit, Hem Bihag, Sindu Kamaj, Hem Hindol, Shyam Kedar etc.
It is ironical that a musician of his caliber enjoyed less repute and recognition in his own country in comparison to the esteem he was held at, at the West. A padmashri award was all that he was awarded during his lifetime. It was much later that we could wake up in thought of a great musical master awarding him a posthumous Padma Vibhushan. Neither did Nikhil babu seek such awards nor does his ardent rasikas for whom Pandit Ji’s music remains in their blood…
THE RAAGA
The raga that is being presented here is Yaman Kalyan. The raga is the same as Yaman other than the inclusion of Shudh Madyam in the scale of Yaman.
Though there is no defined arohi and avarohi for the raga, and only pakads or the phrases are important the raga moves like N R G M D N S in ascent, S N D P M2 G M1 G R S in the descent.
The use of shudh madyam is very sparing and is introduced in a way that makes the listeners yearn for it.
The mood of the raga is devotional. The vadi and sam vadi or the prominent notes are N and G respectively.
The presentation starts with an unaccompanied and slow alap starting from the lower octave M D N S(lower). The subtle nuances of the raga are gradually unfurled conveying the poignant nature of the raga. Timely introduction and usage of Shudh madyam captivates the listener as the alap reaches the upper Sadjam by around 8.45 min into the alap leading to the next part called Jor at 12.15 min , where a constant drone tuned to the Upper Sa or C# is played by striking the chikari strings. This gives a rhythmic progression to the alap without employing the percussions.
Pandit ji’s mastery in handling the Bass or gharaj strings in the lower Sadjam and Sublower sadjam becomes evident as he effortless traverses in the manthra and athi manthra saptak strings. The alap gains momentum gradually and there are freely flowing passages and densely packed notes that demand very fine control of the left hand and simultaneous right hand co-ordination which is noticeable during 29.10 min.
After the Jor-Jhala, starts the Madyalay Gat or the medium paced composition where Pandit ji is joined by tabla accompaniment. The composition is set to an unfamiliar 11 beats cycle called Char Taal Ki savari, with N R G M being the four notes and the subsequent Pancham being the sam. Pandit ji’s mastery over layakari or rhythm control can be understood in his deft handling of such a rare tala pattern. Pandit ji fascinates the listeners with intricately woven taans and interesting thihais.
Some of the striking features of pandit ji’s music as explained in the article above can be heard in the gat Section. Some of them include high speed taans that jump from lower to upper octaves as the one from 47.28 to 47.40 min. Thereafter till 49.12 his extreme command over the right hand Da Ra playing techniques can be understood.
Pandit ji continues the second part of the Gat with fast compostion or Drut set to 16 beats pattern, the popular teental and towards the end plays the Jhala Drut where at around 57.00 min he handles two strings simultaneously producing an effect of harmony and continues with some high speed chikari based playing patterns before the recording fades out much to the displeasure of an yearning listener.
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Acknowledgements
- Ira Landgarten - Raga Records - www.raga.com
- John Cosgrave's Tribute Site - http://staff.spd.dcu.ie/johnbcos/Nikhil_Banerjee.htm
- Steven Baigel - http://www.stevenbaigel.com/banerjeedoc/index.html
