Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya

In my dreams I dream of recreating a huge college of flautists, a veritable Vrindaban in which students will arrive to learn and study with satchels full of flutes, live in mud huts, eat at a common langar.

A modern Vrindaban from which a thousand flutes will ring out everyday. For what else is there?

When my breath is gone and I cannot play anymore what do I leave behind?

Some dedicated students! When you leave nothing behind, you cry at the point of death, but I still dream, I dare to dream that through my playing and through my students my flute will be left behind as the memory of Krishna.

Biography:

Born on 1 July 1938, in Allahabad, India, Hariprasad Chaurasia began his musical training as a vocalist under Pandit Rajaram. Within a year, he switched to flute-playing after hearing Pandit Bholanath, a noted flautist from Varanasi. He tutored under Pandit Bholanath for eight years and in 1957, barely out of his teens, he became a regular member of All India Radio in Cuttack, Orissa where he worked as a performer and a composer.

Hariprasad Chaurasia received further guidance from surbahar player Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of the late Ustad Allaudin Khan and sister of Ali Akbar Khan.

Chaurasia has been amongst the few Indian classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music. As a musician, Chaurasia is a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist and has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alap and jor to the flute.

In 1984, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to music, he was given the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy. In 1992 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Konarak Samman. In 1994, he was bestowed the Yash Bharati Sanman.

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, the internationally renowned exponent of the bansuri or bamboo flute, surprisingly does not come from a long lineage of flautists. His father was a famous wrestler who had aspirations of his son following in his footsteps.

The younger Chaurasia had an early love of music, however, and by the age of 15 was taking his first steps toward a lifetime as a performer by studying classical vocal with Pandit Raja Ram of Benares.

Soon after, he heard a flute recital by Pandit Bholanath and was so impressed he changed his focus to studying the flute. When he was just 19, he got a job playing for All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa, and within five years he was transferred to their headquarters in Bombay. There he got the additional exposure of performing in one of India's cultural centers and also studied with Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of Ustaad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar School of Music.

There he established the creative peak of his career, developing a style that was respectful of tradition, yet full of innovation. Over a lifetime of performances, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has become one of India's most-respected classical musicians, earning several awards, including the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy, which he won in 1984.

In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Konarak Samman and in 1994, he was bestowed the Yash Bharati Sanman. He has collaborated with several western musicians, including John McLaughlin and Jan Gabarek, and has also composed music for a number of Indian films. He has performed throughout the world winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean Pierre Rampal.

He heads the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory.

He is one of the busiest and most sought-after contemporary musicians in the world today.

He is also a dedicated teacher with several devoted art music students world-wide, many of whom are beginning to make their mark on the concert stage.

Bansuri - The flute:
The Bansuri flute is one of the three original forms of rendering Indian Classical music according to ancient scriptures - Vaani (Vocal), Veena (String) and Venu (Flute). According to Hindu mythology, it is the instrument of Lord Krishna and is thus very popular for playing folk music. The introduction of the flute in modern Indian Classical concerts has been rather recent however, and the late Pandit Pannalal Ghosh has been widely recognized for this achievement.

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia further enhanced the bansuri playing style, with his innovative fingering and blowing techniques and took bansuri music to yet higher level.

The Hindustani bansuri flute usually consists of a blowing hole, six fingering holes and one tuning hole (though in some cases, flutes do not have tuning hole). The pitch of the bansuri varies depending on the length and diameter of the bore. The longer the flute, the deeper its pitch. However, longer flutes are also difficult to blow and finger. To balance this tradeoff, most Hindustani bansuri players tend to choose bansuri with pitch E (safed teen) and this flute is approximately 30" long.

Naturally, the bamboo suitable to make bansuri is not available freely. In its entire length, the flute bamboo should not have a node. If you think about it, it is not common to find a bamboo that is thin, straight and yet does not have a node for 30". Such bamboo species are only found in the jungles of Indian states of Assam and Kerala. Before making the flute, the bamboo is seasoned so that the natural resins strengthen it. It is then blocked with a piece of cork or rubber stopper from one end. Holes are then burned into it as drilling holes often breaks the bamboo. The proportions between bamboo length, bore, diameter of each hole and the location of stopper cork are extremely critical for getting the tuning of the bansuri right. Strings are then tied around the bamboo for both decoration and protection.

The Bansuri is a versatile instrument. It can easily produce all basic elements of Hindustani music variation such as meend (glide), gamak, kan. Versatile bansuri players also produce emotions in their music through variations in blowing style.

The Bansuri is a very simple instrument. Unlike string instruments, it does not need tuning once it is tuned by the flute maker. However, as Hariji puts it, it is Krishna's instrument and the Lord has made it deceptively simple. To become adept in the bansuri, one needs many months of practice.

Along with Pandit ShivKumar Sharma he composed music for these Bollywood Movies:

• Chandni
• Darr
• Lamhe
• Silsila

This is a BIG coincidence Anu!!!! 😲

I just finished answering some mails - put on 'Jhinjhoti' of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya in my music system and logged in IF - and found this post!!!

Thanks for the great article! 👏
Please PM Barnali di - Chaurasiya is her favourite!
PM Qwest da too please!

Originally posted by: soulsoup

This is a BIG coincidence Anu!!!! 😲

I just finished answering some mails - put on 'Jhinjhoti' of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya in my music system and logged in IF - and found this post!!!

Thanks for the great article! 👏
Please PM Barnali di - Chaurasiya is her favourite!
PM Qwest da too please!

Thanks anolda... I listened to Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya music today.. And i was really impressed and so started finding some articles on this great legend... I am so happy u liked and i will PM them too...

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

Hari Prasad, or "Blessings of the Lord", an appropriate name indeed. Hari Prasad Chaurasia's God gifted talent and hsi consummate artistry has distinguished him as the greatest living master of the North Indian flute today.

The simple bamboo flute transformed by the late Pannalal Ghosh into an important instrument for interpreting the finer nuances of Indian classical music has indeed found a guardian angel in Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Hariji, as his admireres call him, has not only nurtured Panna Babu's legacy but with his natural talent for music and diligent practice combined with his highly innovative approach has made the flute almost indispensable for a concert of Indian classical music, anywhere in the world.

Unlike many other great musicians of India, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia was not born in a family of musicians. In fact, his father, a noted wrestler, was bent upon making his son famous as a grappler. But young Hariji chose the path of music instead and began his musical odyssey at the age of 15, by learning the techniques of vocal classical music from Pandit Raja Ram of Benares. Later, a chance listening to a flute recital by Pandit Bholanath had such a profound impression on him that he switched to learning the art of flute playing from the Master.

While still in his teens, Hariji had achieved enough proficiency in the art of flute playing to join All India Radio, Cuttack as a performing artist. After a tenure of 5 years at Cuttack he was transfered to All India Radio, Bombay. It was here that he entered the most significant phase of his career under the guidance of the Sur Bahar virtuoso Shrimati Annapurna Devi, the illustrious daughter of the all time great teacher and musician, Ustaad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar school of music. Her influence not only gave his music new depth and dimension but also inspired him to pursue a new, unrestraned performing career.

Hari Prasad Chaurasia's appearance on the concert platform brought him instant acclaim all over India which was soon followed by invitations from music festivals in Iran, Europe and the USA, where he reaped a rich harvest of rewards.

Back home in 1984, he was given the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy in recognition of his outstanding contributions to music and later in 1990 he won the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar.

thanks for the wondeful post.Hari prasad Chaurasia is already a legend and taken the flute to amazing heights.

thanks again.

Here you go Anu Jhinjhoti by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia 😊

http://www.savefile.com/files/8380505

Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya has started a Brindavan Gurukul for the people to learn Flute...

I request all of you to visit this website..

Brindavan Gurukul - Learn Flute

You can listen to a piece of music in this website..

Yes anol he is my fav. Thanx anu fr starting this topic. I will surely contribute. hav lot of his recordings too. Try to upload thm all.

I have met this person many times. One thng abt him I can say is tht he is very simple, soft spoken and down to earth person. And whn he starts playing the flute he himself somehw luks like goes into tht music. At times it seems tht he maybe even dnt realise tht there r people sititng listening to him.

Originally posted by: soulsoup

Here you go Anu Jhinjhoti by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia 😊

http://www.savefile.com/files/8380505

Thank u so much anolda... 👏👏👏

Hope i can contribute something too

Hariprasad Chaurasia reinvents the 'alaap' Staff Reporter

RIGHT NOTES: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia performing at 'Swar Nritya Utsav' in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash BANGALORE: Hariprasad Chaurasia was in his elements at 'Swar Nritya Utsav' to mark the 81st birth anniversary of the late C.R. Vyas, a Hindustani vocalist, on Saturday. Pancham Nishad had organised event, co-sponsored by The Hindu MetroPlus. Pandit Chaurasia was constantly interacting with the audience and even cut a few jokes during his nearly two-hour long concert. He also reinvented the 'alaap.' The audience listened in rapt attention to his over 30-minute long 'alaap' of a raga, the name of which he did not reveal. He said he would initially promised ave the raga identified by the audience but he did not do so. The way he produced the tabla-like sound on flute during the 'alaap' was impressive. To complement the rainy day, the 'bansuri' maestro played 'Miya malhar raga.' But he did not forget to remind the audience that these days it hardly rained when musicians performed. He played 'vaatapi... ' in Hamsadhwani and 'pahadi' as suggested by the audience. Vijay Ghate, who accompanied Pandit Chaurasia on the tabla, too received appreciation many a time. The way he and Pandit Chaurasia arrived on 'sam' stole the day. But the flute maestro did not fail to chide the tabla player, who occasionally attempted to pull the concert to his side. Mandira Manish, a danseuse, gave her first Bharatanatya recital in the city.

Her dance to the 'Krishna Ni Begane Baaro... ' was a hit. So was the case with 'Bho Shambho, Shiva Shambho... ' The way, she told the story of entire Ramayana in 'Shabdam,' also won her admiration.