One of the most prolific, yet very little known composers in Hindustani classical music was Kunwar Shyam, whose real name was Goswami Shri Lal. Born in Vrindavan in 1860, Kunwar Shyam lived his entire life in Delhi, where he died in 1910. Some say he was the most prolific khayal composer after Shah Sadarang, but the provenance of many of his over 400 compositions that are sung by all the great khayal singers of today (including Pt Jasraj, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt Ajoy Chakravorty) is not known, and he is not acknowledged as the composer in many cases.
His diaries of works are now available in a website under his name, meticulously collated by his grand daughter, Meenakshi Sharma but many of these are only in lyrics form, without the notes or taal mentioned. She is keen to make his compositions available to any musician or student of music, so the website can be accessed by all, and is free.
Bombay-based Pt Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale is said to be Kunwar Shyam’s direct disciple but as he was born in 1915, after the death of Kunwar Shyam, this is not possible. But he sang and taught several compositions of Kunwar Shyam to his many disciples, so perhaps he learnt from a disciple, Gottu Gopal. The great Ustad Bundu Khan used to accompany Kunwar Shyam on the sarangi and he too absorbed many of the compositions which he passed on.
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) as a continuing part of its concerts held on Purnima every month (full moon night) is holding a vocal recital by Pune based Manjusha Patil on May 25 at 730pm, at IGNCA, and the focus of the concert will be compositions on Shri Krishna, from Kunwar Shyam and other composers in “braj bhasha”. Manjusha Patil is one of the finest singers in her generation, acclaimed as much for her dexterous voice as her authentic training. On the tabla she will be accompanied by artists Prashant Pandav, and on the harmonium by Shriram Hasabnis; both Pune based artists.
One of the composers whose works Manjusha will be singing is an unusual composer, being a Sikh Prince. Raja Sir Daljit Singh (died in 1946) amazingly was a Krishna bhakt despite being a “kesh dhari” (one who maintains the tradition of uncut hair) Sikh.
A lot of his works on Shri Krishna are available in a text published in 1941, called Tri Dhara. (representing the three streams of worship; Bhakti, Karma and Gynan).
For Manjusha Patil “the concert is a challenge, as one is not often asked to focus on a theme to sing to, in a classical music concert. This imposes a limitation on one’s creativity.
I have worked to present compositions dealing with the Lord, but the style will be in strictly classical tradition, Raga based, which is my “taalim”. I discussed how to approach the concert with my current Guru, Pt Ulhas Kaskalkar ji, and I hope the audience of Delhi like my presentation”.
The concert will be for an hour and a half, starting from 7.30 pm onwards, at IGNCA, Janpath.
