Govindrao Tembe
Govind Rao Govind Sadashiv Tembe, popularly known as Govindrao Tembe (June 5, 1881-October 9, 1955) was a harmonium player, stage actor, and music composer.
Narayan Sitaram Phadke had called Govindrao Tembe the architect of Marathi Natya Sangeet. Bal Gandharva considered Tembe his guru.[1]
He grew up in Kolhapur and became attached to music early in life. He was largely self-taught as harmonium player. He has acknowledged the debt of Deval Club for his initial forays into Hindustani classical music.[2]
Tembe learnt his art from Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale[1] and, although he never received direct tuition from Alladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana, Tembe considered Khansaheb as his guru.
He used to accompany the legendary singer Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale, and would often perform solo, but later gave up harmonium for the most part.
He composed music for the drama Manapman in 1910, and also for the first Marathi talkie Ayodhyecha Raja (1932). He also acted in both these productions. His musical score of Manapman remains popular till the date.
He was a personal friend of Late Yuvaraja of Mysore, HH Sri. Kanteerva Narasimha Raja Wadiyar. Prof. Tembe was part of a large entourage of Yuvaraja during his trip to Europe in 1939. The Troupe performed before Pope and at other places during this trip. As World war broke out, they stayed at London for a long time ultimately returned in Jan 1940 but Yuvaraja passed away soon at his Palace Anchorage (next to Hotel Taj) in March 1940 and Prof. Tembe lost his patron.
He was part-owner of Gandharva Natak Mandali when it was formed in 1913. Two years later, he started his own company named Shivraj Natak Mandali. He wrote dramas and also the padas (songs) in them.
He has left behind more than thirty 78 rpm records of his harmonium playing, some songs sung by him, many more composed by him, and a few books of reminiscences which are hard to find today.
Authorship
Tembe's total published work runs into more than two and half thousand pages.[1]
- (in Marathi) "माझा संगीत व्यासंग" (My Study of Music) 1939 (Note- This book was selected as one of the top 150 Marathi books in a readership survey in 1986)
- (in Marathi) Songs
References
- Bhimsen Joshi singing a song in Rag Pahadi written and composed by Tembe
- http://www.chembur.com/anecdotes/govind.htm
Further reading
- "Between Two Tanpuras" by Vamanrao H Deshpande ISBN 0-86132-226-6
- Book by Vasant Shantaram Desai 'Years of Glory', The Marathi Theatre: 1843-1960 (Bombay, 1961)
- In Marathi: 'सांस्कृतिक महाराष्ट्राचे शिल्पकार : गोविंदराव टेंबे', 2006 लेखक: डॉ. सौ. चारुशीला दिवेकर ("Sanskritik Maharashtrache Shilpkar : Govindrao Tembe", 2006 by Dr. Mrs. Charusheela Divekar)
External links
|