Sawai Gandharva
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| Sawai Gandharva | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rambhau Kondgolkar[1] [2][3] [4] Kundgol Ramrao |
| Born | 1886 |
| Origin | Kundgol, Karnataka |
| Died | September 12, 1952 |
| Genre(s) | Hindustani Classical Music - Khayal and light forms |
| Occupation(s) | Hindustani Classical Vocalist |
| Years active | ?? |
| Label(s) | ?? |
Rambhau Kundgolkar, better known as Sawai Gandharva (Kannada: ರಾಮಾಭಾವ್ ಕುಂದಗೊಲ್ಕರ್, (1886 – September 12, 1952), was a well known Hindustani vocalist. He was a disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and helped make the Kirana Gharana famous.
Sawai Gandharwa was born in Kundagol, near Dharwad, in Karnataka in 1886. Although not from a musical family, he was keenly interested in music. He started his training in classical music under the tutelage of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan.
After completing his training, Gandharwa joined a drama company and became a big hit as a singing star in Marathi theatre. He was with Govindrao Tembe's Shivraj Natak Mandali for some time.
Although he became a well known classical vocalist, his most enduring legacy is that he trained great artists who would carry on the magic of the Kirana Gharana, like Gangubai Hangal, Bhimsen Joshi, and Feroze Dastur.
Bhimsen Joshi holds the annual Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in Pune, in memory of his guru Sawai Gandharva. The festival was held on a modest scale for first two decades. In 1970s and 1980s, its popularity skyrocketed, and from 1990s it has seemed unmanageable to those who knew its quality during quieter years. Now it is a status symbol for artists to perform there and for listeners to attend it. It is held in a big ground, a most inappropriate venue for Indian Classical Music, and is altogether unmanageable. Sadly its popularity is its worst enemy now.
[edit] References
- Sawai Gandharva. Musical Nrivana.com, August 1, 2000. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- Where north meets south. Sunday Magazine-The Hindu, November 29, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
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