Pandit Ritwik Sanyal (born 12 April 1953) is an Indian classical singer and the Dhrupad maestro from Varanasi. He is a retired professor and Ex Dean from the department of vocal music at the faculty of performing arts at Banaras Hindu University. Pandit Ritwik Sanyal received the highest award for music in India, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from President of India Hon. Shri Pranab Mukherji, 2013

Early life

Pandit Ritwik Sanyal was born in

Katihar Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line. History Ka ...

. He was trained in the dhrupad style of vocal music of the Dagar Tradition, believed to be descendants of

Swami Haridas Swami Haridas (1480—1573) was a spiritual poet and classical musician. Credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today ...

, who lived in the fifteenth century and trained the legendary Tansen. Sanyal also composes dhrupad lyrics. Between 1963 and 1975, he received his training in Dhrupad under Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariddudin Dagar in Mumbai, India. He received an M. A. in philosophy from

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and a Masters in Music from Banaras Hindu University, securing the gold medal. He completed his Ph.D. in musicology from the same university, 1980 under the supervision of Prem Lata Sharma.

Career

Sanyal is a Retired Professor and Ex-Dean from the Faculty of Performing Arts at Banaras Hindu University. He has around 50 published papers in various journals, and also composes dhrupad lyrics. He is a "Top" grade (Dhrupad) artist at All India Radio & Doordarshan, Varanasi. He has assimilated the

Dagarvani The Dagar gharana (or Dagar vani) is a tradition of the classical dhrupad genre of Hindustani classical music spanning 20 generations, tracing back to Swami Haridas (15th century), and including Behram Khan of Jaipur (1753-1878). For some generation ...

tradition of Dhrupad and evolved a distinctive style of his own in the rendering of Dhrupad. He has specialized in advanced technique of ''Alap'' - ''Jod'' - '' Jhala'', ''laykari'', voice culture and pedagogy both traditional and institutional. He has performed both in India and abroad, including the UK, US, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Holland, South Korea, Israel, Croatia, Brazil, Australia, Mauritius and Japan. His performances in India include the National Programme of Music for AIR and Doordarshan, the Gwalior Tansen Samaroh, Anant Maral Shastri#Saluting the Legends the Varanasi

Dhrupad Mela Dhrupad Mela is an annual music festival held in Varanasi, India. It features performances in the dhrupad tradition of Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major tradit ...

, Harballabh Sangeet Samaroh Jallandhar, Saptak Ahmedabad, all the Dhrupad Festivals of the country and many other prestigious concert platforms of India.

Discography

* Hari Singari, Bihaan Music * Dhrupad Choir, Bihaan Music * Sound of Life Pt. Ritwik Sanyal, Bihaan Music * Pt. Ritwik Sanyal:Makar Records, France * Hori: Pt. Ritwik Sanyal, Makar Records, France * Pt. Ritwik Sanyal & Gianni Ricchizzi, Dhamar Raga Shree, Nomadism-Zahyrus Italy * Pt. Ritwik Sanyal, Nada Records, South Korea (SEM Nada DE 0267) * Pt. Ritwik Sanyal, Om & Raga Durbari, Dancing to the Flute, Australia

Dhrupad lyricist and composer

Some notable Dhrupad compositions are: * Raga Purvi (Sooltal) * Raga Abhogi (Dhamar) * Raga Saraswati (Sooltaal) * Raga Kirwani (Sooltaal) Pandit Ritwik Sanyal is also creator of many ragas which are very popular with the current generation of musicians. One of the raga that was created over 30 years ago by Panditji and Late Us. Zia Fariduddin Dagar is raga "Shruti vardhani" (श्रुतिज्ञान) 'Shrutigyan' is the pen name 'छाप' of Pandit Ritwik Sanyal on many of his Dhrupad lyrics and compositions. Recently his composition on Raga Kirwani was very well appreciated in Vicenza, Italy. You can watch this performance o
Youtube

Awards and honours

Felicitation by Honorable Governor of Uttar Pradesh Shri Ram Naik for lifetime dedication and commitment to Indian Classical Music under the auspices of Sangit Milon Lucknow, 14 Dec 2014.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

2013. Siti Vaijayanti Samman Siti Mahotsav Varanasi, 2004. Uttar Pradesh

2002 Honoured by Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi and Maharaja Travancore Svati Tirunal Award at the Dhrupad festival of Banaras for outstanding contribution to Dhrupad, 1995. Honoured by Indian Social & Cultural Lover's Organisation (ISCLO)-Varanasi/Calcutta 1990.

Bibliography

*''Dhrupad Panchashika'' -Indica Publications -Varanasi April 2015. *''Philosophy of Music'' - Somaiya Publication -Mumbai 1987. *''Dhrupad Tradition and Performance in Indian Music'' -Ashgate, UK, 2004.

References

External links

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Pandit Ritwik Sanyal selected for Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanyal, Ritwik 1953 births Banaras Hindu University alumni Dagarvani Hindustani singers Singers from Bihar Musicians from Varanasi Performers of Hindu music Living people 20th-century Indian male classical singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 21st-century Indian male classical singers