Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar born 31 December 1899 and died 14 February 1974. He was a distinguished scholar and teacher of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

, from the

Agra gharana The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi. The first known musician of ...

. Foremost disciple of

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (10 August 1860 – 19 September 1936) was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, an art which had been propagated for centuries mostly through oral traditions. ...

and

Faiyaz Khan Ustad Faiyaz Khan (8 February 1886 5 November 1950) was an Indian classical vocalist, an exponent of the Agra gharana of Hindustani classical music. According to SwarGanga Music Foundation website, "By the time he died at Baroda, he had earned ...

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...

, he also remained principal of

Bhatkhande Music Institute Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (BSVV), formerly Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University, Bhatkhande College of Hindustani Music and Marris College of Music, is a state university in Lucknow. Established in 1926 by Vishnu Narayan Bhatk ...

(''Bhatkande Sangeet Sansthan''),

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, for many years, where he trained many noted names in the field of music.

Early life

His father Narayan Govind Ratanjankar was born in Mumbai. Ratanjankar's grand father, Govindrao came to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in the middle of 19 th century. After graduation Shrikrishna's father, Narayanrao became a police officer in the then British regime. At the age of 7, S.N.Ratanjankar was trained under the guidance of Krishnam Bhatt of Karwar. He also received instruction from Anant Manohar Joshi (

Gwalior gharana The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605). The favourite singers of t ...

) and later under

. In 1911, he started training with musicologist

and is today his most well known disciple. He graduated from

Bombay 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 ...

in 1926.

Career

In the year 1925, Ratanjankar graduated (BA) from the

Wilson College, Mumbai The Wilson College, established in 1832 in Mumbai, is one of India's oldest colleges; its foundation precedes that of the University of Mumbai, to which it is affiliated, by 25 years. Wilson College was granted autonomy by Mumbai University in ...

. He was the Principal of Bhatkhande Music University (earlier known as Marris Music College), at Lucknow for several years, and later was appointed Vice-Chancellor at Indira Sangeet Kala Vishva Vidyalaya, Khairagarh, Madhya Pradesh. Later he was once again called to head the Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth on a two-year contract. His students include

K. G. Ginde Krishna Gundopant Ginde, better known as K.G. Ginde (26 December 1925 – 13 July 1994) was an Indian classical singer and teacher. His guru S N Ratanjankar was his biggest influence. Biography Ginde, called "Chhotu" (small) by family member ...

, SCR Bhatt, Chidanand Nagarkar,

V.G. Jog Vishnu Govind Jog, better known as V. G. Jog (22 February 1922 – 31 January 2004), was an Indian violinist. He was the foremost exponent of the violin in the Hindustani music tradition in the 20th century, and is credited for introducing ...

, Dinkar Kaikini,

Shanno Khurana Shanno Khurana (born 23 December 1927) is a noted Indian classical vocalist and composer, from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the doyen of the gharana, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (d. 1964), she is know ...

Sumati Mutatkar Sumati Mutatkar (10 September 1916 – 28 February 2007) was an Indian classical music vocalist and musicologist from the Agra gharana of Hindustani classical music, and a Professor of Department of Music in University of Delhi. She was awarded ...

, Prabhakar Chinchore, C R Vyas, Chinmoy Lahiri, Yashwant Mahale, S.N.Tripathi, Roshan Lal Nagrath (music director). As a vocalist he sang

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...

and

Khayal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfor ...

styles of Agra gharana. A known musicologist like his mentor Bhatkhande, Ratanjankar has more than 800 compositions under his pen name "Sujaan", notated and documented diligently by his disciple

. He also published books including ''Geet Manjari'', ''Taan Sangrah'', ''Sangeet Shiksha'', and ''Abhinava Raga Manjari''. He also composed some new

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

s such as Marga Bihag, Gopika Basant, Kedar Bahar, Sawani Kedar, Ranjani Kalyan, Hansaranjani, and Salagvarali. He was appointed Chairman of the Jury of Auditions of AIR (

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

) in the mid-1950s. In 1957 he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, and in 1963 the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, awarded him its highest honour for lifetime achievement, the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

References

* * '' Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar 'Sujan': a many splendoured genius'', by

. Lotus Collection, 2001. . * ''Pandit Bhatkhande ''. National Book Trust, 1967.
S. N. Ratanjankar: List of 78 rpm recordings, nsu.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratanjankar, Shrikrishna Narayan Indian musicologists 1899 births 1974 deaths Indian male composers Indian music educators Hindustani singers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship University of Mumbai alumni Musicians from Mumbai Hindustani composers Bandish composers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century musicologists 20th-century Indian male singers