Riyadh hosts fraternal meeting of GCC, Jordan, and Egypt leaders    Saudi Arabia celebrates Founding Day on Saturday, marking three centuries of a proud legacy    Saudi foreign minister meets South African president on G20 sidelines in Johannesburg    Saudi FM at G20: Ensuring Palestinian self-determination key to lasting peace    Saudi airports record 128 million travelers in 2024    Riyadh Air to launch operations by end of 2025, CEO confirms Douglas expresses confidence in Boeing amid supply chain challenges    Al-Falih: Saudi Arabia is one of major countries attracting foreign investment    Netanyahu takes aim at West Bank after bus explosions near Tel Aviv    Body returned from Gaza is not Bibas mother, Israeli military says    Trump 'very frustrated' with Zelensky, says adviser    Hong Kong's main opposition party announces plan to dissolve    'Neighbors' canceled again, two years after revival    Al-Tuwaijri: Not a single day has passed in Saudi Arabia in 9 years without an achievement Media professionals urged to innovate in disseminating Kingdom's story to the world    Proper diet and healthy eating key to enjoying Ramadan fast    Saudi Media Forum panel highlights Kingdom's vision beyond 2034 World Cup    AlUla Arts Festival 2025 wraps up with a vibrant closing weekend    Al Hilal secures top spot in AFC Champions League Elite, set to face Pakhtakor in Round of 16    Al-Ettifaq's Moussa Dembélé undergoes surgery, misses rest of the season    'Real life Squid Game': Kim Sae-ron's death exposes Korea's celebrity culture    Al Ahli defeat Al Gharafa to seal AFC Champions League Elite knockout berth    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Shiv Kumar Sharma: The maestro who straddled classical and popular music Indian classical music legend dies aged 84
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 10 - 05 - 2022

Indian classical music legend Shiv Kumar Sharma has died at the age of 84.
Sharma was an exponent of santoor, a dulcimer-like instrument. He suffered a heart attack at his residence in Mumbai on Tuesday morning.
Sharma is credited with converting the santoor, which was mainly played in Kashmir, into a major instrument of Indian classical music.
Sharma was also part of a duo - along with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia - who worked on classical and film music.
Shiv-Hari, as they were called, composed music for at least eight Bollywood films, including Silsila, Chandni, Darr and Lamhe.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes to Sharma.
Sharma was born and raised in Jammu in a house by a river where, in his words, "from dawn till dusk, someone or the other was singing or playing an instrument".
His father, Uma Dutt Sharma, came from a family of priests, and was himself a classical vocalist and played the tabla, the traditional Indian drum.
In the early 1950s, when he was handling music programmes for a state-run radio station, Uma Dutt began researching the santoor, a traditional instrument of Kashmir used in local Sufi music.
He bought home a 100-string santoor and encouraged his young son to try playing it.
Years later, Sharma recounted that he had initially resisted playing the instrument.
"My father told me, 'You have no idea what is going to happen with your name and the santoor. They are going to become synonymous. So you have to play this', Sharma told interviewer Ina Puri.
By 17, Sharma was playing both the santoor and the tabla for the local radio station. He flowered into a versatile musician, later playing the tabla for maestros such as Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod).
Singer Vijay Kichlu once said Sharma made the santoor a major component of Indian classical music.
"Unlike the santoor, the sarod, the shehnai and the violin were considered major instruments, with the sarangi being used as an accompanying instrument to vocalists," Kichlu said.
Also, playing the santoor was not easy: the instrument is not played with the fingers. Instead, its strings have to be struck with a mallet held in each hand.
Sharma once said he had modified the instrument to "suit the requirements of Indian classical music - specifically to enhance its tonal quality". Interestingly, he was also the first musician to play the instrument, weighing eight kilograms, on his lap for hours at a time - traditionally the santoor was kept on a wooden stand when played.
Some critics were "harsh", saying the santoor would never be accepted as a classical instrument, and told his father that his son had chosen the "wrong instrument", Sharma recounted in his autobiography, Journey with a Hundred Strings.
But Sharma persevered.
In 1955, when he was 17, he had turned down an offer from V Shantaram, a Bollywood director, to compose a song in his film - saying his calling lay elsewhere.
But five years later, he arrived in Mumbai looking for music-based jobs in the film industry - by then, he had also acquired a master's degree in economics.
"His work, for much of the sixties and some of the seventies, kept running like a train on two tracks - his work in cinema, and his opus on the [classical] concert stage," said Manek Premchand, a historian of film music.
Over the years, he played to packed audiences at classical shows, where he would never play his popular music. Ravi Shankar once called Sharma a "superstar" who would be always "mentioned as a pioneer in elevating santoor to the height of classical refinement".
A rare musician who effortlessly straddled both classical and popular music, Sharma played the santoor for least 40 popular Hindi film songs sung by greats such as Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh.
In the eighties, his collaboration with Chaurasia spawned many hits, beginning with Silsila, starring superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Bachchan once remembered a New Year's eve during the shooting of Silsila when the duo played well past midnight at the hotel they were staying in Delhi.
"When it was all over, we could see not just a physical exhaustion on the part of Sharma but as though his very soul had got exhausted," Bachchan recalled.
In 1998, Kumar and Chaurasia became the first Indian musicians to play at a Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo alongside Alanis Morissette, Elton John and Phil Collins. The duo also performed in the central hall of India's parliament.
Sharma received some of India's greatest honours: the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.
He is survived by his wife and two sons. One of his sons, Rahul, is also a santoor player of repute who has recorded with Richard Clayderman and Kenny G. — BBC


Clic here to read the story from its source.