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Ravi Shankar. Indian musician, player of the sitar, composer, and founder of the National Orchestra of India, who was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of Indian music.. 

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Indian musician, player of the sitar, composer, and founder of the National Orchestra of India, who was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of Indian music.

Born into a Bengali Brahman (highest social class in Hindu tradition) family, Shankar spent most of his youth studying music and At age 18 Shankar gave up dancing, and for the next seven years he studied the sitar (a long-necked stringed instrument of the lute family) under the noted musician Ustad Allauddin Khan. After serving as music director of All-India Radio from 1948 until 1956, he began a series of European and American tours.

In the course of his long career, Shankar became the world’s best-known exponent of Hindustani (North Indian) classical music, performing with India’s most-distinguished percussionists and making dozens of successful recordings. Shankar composed the film scores for the Indian director  Satyajit  Ray’s famous  Apu  trilogy (1955–59). In 1962 he founded the  Kinnara  School of Music in Bombay (now Mumbai) and then established a second  Kinnara  School in Los Angeles in 1967; he closed both schools some years later, however, having become disenchanted with institutional teaching.

Beginning in the 1960s, his concert performances with the American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and his association with George Harrison, lead guitarist of the then wildly popular British musical group the Beatles, helped bring Indian music to the attention of the West. Indeed, especially remarkable among Shankar’s accomplishments is his equally expert participation in traditional Indian music and in Indian-influenced Western music. Most characteristic of the latter activity are his concerti for sitar and orchestra, particularly Raga-Mala (“Garland of Ragas”), first performed in 1981.

Ali Akbar Khan. composer, virtuoso sarod player, and teacher, active in presenting classical Indian music to Western audiences. Khan’s music is rooted in the Hindustani (northern) tradition of Indian music. 

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composer, virtuoso sarod player, and teacher, active in presenting classical Indian music to Western audiences. Khan’s music is rooted in the Hindustani (northern) tradition of Indian music

Khan was trained by his father, the master  Alauddin  Khan, and began performing at age 13, soon becoming the court musician to the maharaja of Jodhpur. He remained in that position for seven years, until the death of the maharaja, at which time the state conferred on him the title of master musician ( ustad ). In 1955 the violinist Yehudi Menuhin invited him to New York City, and thereafter he often performed and recorded in the West, frequently in collaboration with his brother-in-law, the composer and  sitarist  Ravi Shankar.

As a composer, Khan is known for his film scores—notably for  Satyajit  Ray’s Devi (1960) and the Ismail Merchant–James Ivory production The Householder (1963)—and as the creator of many ragas. Khan was the first Indian musician to record the long, elaborate manifestations of Indian music performances; among his many albums are The Forty-Minute Raga (1968) and Journey (1990). He founded music schools in Kolkata (Calcutta; 1956); San Rafael, Calif. (1967); and Basel, Switz. (1985). In 1991 he received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Tansen. The details of Tansen’s life are shrouded in legend, including his birth name, but he was probably born about 1500—some sources have the date as early as 1492 or as late as 1520—in Gwalior, possibly in the nearby village of Behata . He is said to have been a follower of the poet and musician Swami Haridas and served in the court of Rewa .. 

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The details of  Tansen’s  life are shrouded in legend, including his birth name, but he was probably born about 1500—some sources have the date as early as 1492 or as late as 1520—in Gwalior, possibly in the nearby village of  Behata . He is said to have been a follower of the poet and musician Swami  Haridas  and served in the court of  Rewa .

When  Tansen  was already a mature musician, he joined the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who was well known for his patronage of the arts.  Tansen  became one of the  navratnas  (“nine gems”), a collection of the most talented intellectuals and artists in the court. His skill was  honoured  with the title  Mian  (“Master”)

Although few compositions can be definitively attributed to  Tansen , he is thought to have frequently used the dhrupad form, which praises heroes, gods, and kings.  Tansen  was also probably an instrumentalist. Claims that he invented the  rabāb , a stringed instrument, and that he wrote several works of music theory, however, are unsubstantiated.

Hariprasad Chaurasia. Unlike most other noted musicians of his generation, Chaurasia was not born into a family of musicians. Although he studied stenography and wrestling to please his father, a professional wrestler, he took clandestine voice lessons in Hindustani classical music from noted Benares (Varanasi) vocalist Raja Ram. After hearing a performance in his early teens by Bholanath , a well-known flutist of Benares, Chaurasia became his disciple and underwent eight years of rigorous training.. 

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Unlike most other noted musicians of his generation,  Chaurasia  was not born into a family of musicians. Although he studied stenography and wrestling to please his father, a professional wrestler, he took clandestine voice lessons in Hindustani classical music from noted Benares (Varanasi) vocalist Raja Ram. After hearing a performance in his early teens by  Bholanath , a well-known flutist of Benares,  Chaurasia  became his disciple and underwent eight years of rigorous training.

In 1958 he performed and composed music for the All India Radio (AIR) in Cuttack, Orissa. When he was transferred by AIR to Bombay (now Mumbai),  Chaurasia  played prolifically both for the film industry and at concerts. He was further tutored by the surbahar (bass sitar) player Annapurna Devi, daughter of the late  Allauddin  Khan and one of the few uncompromisingly classical purists in the Hindustani tradition.

Chaurasia  belonged to the  Senia   gharana  (a community of performers who share a distinctive musical style), and he developed a rich personal style after years of experimentation and dedicated practice. His unique adaptation of raga forms for the flute reflect his complete mastery of the idiom.  Chaurasia’s  style popularized classical music and had a wide audience, but his critics considered his interpretation of ragas overly romantic.

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