Bhimsen Joshi - Ragas Malkauns, Maru Behag
EMI India - ECLP-2276 - P. 1962 (rec.1961)
(also EMI-Odeon - MOCE 1029)
Side 1
Raga Malkauns
- Pag lagan de - Bilampat - ektal
- Rang raliya karat - Drut - teental
Side 2
Raga Maru Bihag
- Rasiya ho na - Bilampat - ektal
- Tarapat raina dina - Drut - teental
After a fantastic productive life with an enormous contribution to Indian Classical and devotional music the last living of the older tradition carriers and one of the truly great exponents of the Kirana Gharana Bhimsen Joshi passes away earlier today January 24, 2011 in a hospital in Pune after a long time of weak health. Having listened to his music since the sixties I feel as if someone very close has left us. Although anyone that is dear to us and that moves on does leave us grieving, but one must still remember what a rich life both in experience and artistic achievement that he must have led.
I feel both really sad and in a strange way also very happy, that unlike many others, he was able to share so much of his art and that there are so many recordings that we can listen to as compared to several other artists of his stature.
Let me share a few of his early albums with you and start with one of the very first that I heard. This is his third LP on Indian EMI with beautiful renderings of the ragas Malkauns and Maru Behag. On the back of the LP he is described as: "Probably one of the most promising and talented amongst the younger set of classical singers today! "
It was recorded when he was 39 years old, and had been singing in the AIR concerts already since 1941, when he was only 19 , and since he was born 1922 that makes the year of recording 1961... exactly fifty years ago...
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Kannada: ಪಂಡಿತ ಭೀಮಸೇನ ಗುರುರಾಜ ಜೋಷಿ, Marathi: पंडित भीमसेन गुरुराज जोशी), (February 4, 1922 - January 24, 2011) was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He is the most recent recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, awarded in 2008. (from Wikipedia)
Pune, Jan 24 (PTI) The mortal remains of Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi were consigned to flames this evening with state honours in the presence of tearful mourners ... (link)
