On September 19, Indian music lost one of its finest and youngest ambassadors, U Srinivas. Mandolin Shrinivas, as he was more often called, was single-handedly responsible for bringing the mandolin to the prestigious status it enjoys in Carnatic music.
Many would be surprised to know that the music educationist and vocalist Vishnu Digambar Paluskar trained some of his students to play this stringed instrument and featured them in his orchestra way back in the early twentieth century. Similarly, his disciple BR Deodhar introduced the mandolin in his School of Indian Music in Bombay. There were other instances of amateurs taking to the mandolin, but it still did not reach a level of acceptance on the concert stage.
It was Sajjad Hussain (1917-1995), well-known music director and a virtuosic mandolin player, who gained public acknowledgement for his Hindustani music recitals on the instrument. This was at a time when the electric mandolin had yet to make its entry. Here, Sajjad Hussein plays on the acoustic mandolin an aalaap or introductory movement to raag Chandrakauns followed by a composition in the seven-matra Rupak taal. The next piece in the same clip has been edited and moves to an aalaap in raag Kirwani at around 51 minutes. At 57 minutes into the edited recording, you can hear Sajjad Hussein play a composition in raag Jansanmohini set to the 16-count Teentaal, with departures from the original raag at times. This is followed by an aalaap in raag Darbari Kanada at approximately 1.07.00 minutes, which is followed by a composition in the same raag set to the 12-matra Ektaal.
The second clip (click to play) features raag Mishra Shivranjani.
Many would be surprised to know that the music educationist and vocalist Vishnu Digambar Paluskar trained some of his students to play this stringed instrument and featured them in his orchestra way back in the early twentieth century. Similarly, his disciple BR Deodhar introduced the mandolin in his School of Indian Music in Bombay. There were other instances of amateurs taking to the mandolin, but it still did not reach a level of acceptance on the concert stage.
It was Sajjad Hussain (1917-1995), well-known music director and a virtuosic mandolin player, who gained public acknowledgement for his Hindustani music recitals on the instrument. This was at a time when the electric mandolin had yet to make its entry. Here, Sajjad Hussein plays on the acoustic mandolin an aalaap or introductory movement to raag Chandrakauns followed by a composition in the seven-matra Rupak taal. The next piece in the same clip has been edited and moves to an aalaap in raag Kirwani at around 51 minutes. At 57 minutes into the edited recording, you can hear Sajjad Hussein play a composition in raag Jansanmohini set to the 16-count Teentaal, with departures from the original raag at times. This is followed by an aalaap in raag Darbari Kanada at approximately 1.07.00 minutes, which is followed by a composition in the same raag set to the 12-matra Ektaal.
The second clip (click to play) features raag Mishra Shivranjani.
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