Suprabhatam in the Supreme Court, and F1 facts | #104
Also, Billy Joel's connection to the UP elections ➡️
Hello friends
This past week India lost an absolute gem - Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Hailing from Jammu, he took a little known instrument - the santoor, and made it synonymous with high class classical music. His collaboration with another classical music doyen Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is the stuff of legend. Listen to their first collaboration together - Call of the Valley.
This week’s we attempt to infuse some culture into our lives as we take a look at interesting stories from the world of Indian Classical music.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia composed music under the banner of Shiv Hari. They frequently collaborated with Yash Chopra and provided music for 8 films. Another interesting tidbit about the duo, they met each other while they were plying their trade as session musicians for other composers. If you hear the background portion of this classic SD Burman song from Kati Patang, you can hear Hariprasad Chaurasia on the flute and Shiv Kumar Sharma playing his Santoor.
A true legend of Carnatic Music is MS Subbulakshmi. Many South Indian homes wake up to the sound of the Venkatesa Suprabhatam, which she recorded for HMV. It is a hymn recited to awake the Lord in the mornings. In 2015, the Supreme Court had to hear this interesting case - can the Suprabhatam be played at the Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram? Reason - the deity in Thiruvananthapuram is in yoga-nidra, a state of relaxation and sleep, and should not be woken up, in spite of the divine rendition by MS. The Supreme Court wisely did a ‘well-left’ and asked the priests at the Thiruvananthapuram temple to settle the matter.
We cannot talk about classical music and not mention Pandit Ravi Shankar. After Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Pandit Ravi Shankar was asked to play something mournful on the radio. Inspired by the surname Gandhi, Pt. Shankar took the notes that were closest to the surname - Ga,Ni,Dha and developed a melodic theme. He called the raga Mohankauns and this raga was used as a recurring verse in the film Gandhi.
From IWTK, with love 💌
It’s been 72 years since Formula One world championships began. Here is an incredible thread written by Merin Mandanna.
Billy Joel is connected to the UP elections. See how here.
IWTK Recommends 💯
‘The Disciple’ - Keeping with the theme of classical music, do watch Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple. The movie is about how one student of classical music devotes his life to becoming a classical music vocalist, only to start questioning whether it’s possible to achieve what he’s striving for. Measured, hypnotic and gorgeous, this is a worthy follow-up to Tamhane’s earlier film - the National Award Winner Court.
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