Vamanrao H. Deshpande (1907–1990; also known as Vaman Hari Deshpande) was an Indian music critic,

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and a prolific writer on the subject 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, si ...

Career

While he was a practising chartered accountant of fifty years' standing and also a senior partner in the Batliboi Purohit chartered accountancy firm in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, India, he claimed music as his first love. Having been initiated into music in his early childhood by his father, he later received training from stalwarts in three major traditions: in the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

tradition by Yadavrao Joshi and Shankarrao Kulkarni, in the Kirana tradition by Sureshbabu Mane, and in the

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

tradition by Naththan Khan and

Mogubai Kurdikar Mogubai Kurdikar (15 July 1904 – 10 February 2001) was a renowned Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. Early years and background Mogubai was born in the village of Kurdi in Portuguese-ruled Goa. Little is known of her fat ...

. He shunned the concert stage, but performed regularly on the

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 ...

, Mumbai, from 1932 to 1985. For some years he was a member of the central audition board of the All India Radio and the panel of judges of the All India Radio's music competitions. He was also a member of the arts committee of the Maharashtra state Board of Literature and Culture and of the

University of Mumbai 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 h ...

for seventeen years. In addition, he was connected with many musical institutions in various capacities.

Writings

He is the author of 'Maharashtra's Contribution to Music' (Maharashtra Information Center, New Delhi, 1972). His Marathi book ''Gharandaj Gayaki'' (1961) won the Maharashtra State Award for the best work in aesthetic criticism in 1962. The

Sangeet Natak Academy 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 ...

, New Delhi, honoured it with the Best Marathi Book on Music during the period 1961–1969. ''Gharandaj Gayaki'' has since been translated into a number of languages, including the publications ''Indian Musical Traditions'' in English and ''Gharanedar Gayaki'' in Hindi. It is a recommended reading in the music syllabi of many educational institutions across the country. His second book, Alapini (1979) also received the Maharashtra State Award. It has been translated into a number of languages, including English, under the title ''Between Two Tanpuras''. Vamanrao H. Deshpande has also written several articles on musical subjects in Marathi and English and presented many acclaimed papers at seminars and conferences.

Colleagues

He and his friend Professor Deodhar are known to have started a new trend in

music criticism ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

. Vamanrao Deshpande was for many years closely associated with stalwart musicians, including Pt.

Kumar Gandharva Pandit Kumar Gandharva (pronunciation:, Kn: ಕುಮಾರ್ ಗಂಧರ್ವ; 8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992), originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style ...

, Pt.

Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khay ...

, Smt.

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre ' ...

among many others. He also acted as mentor and guide to many upcoming musicians of the time. His son Satyasheel Deshpande is also a singer and musicologist famous in India.

Selected bibliography

* ''Gharandaj Gayaki'' (1962) ** Translated into English by S. Deshpande, as ''Indian musical traditions; an aesthetic study of the gharanas in Hindustani music'' (1973) * ''Maharashtra's contribution to music'' (1972) ** Translated into Marathi as, ''Mahārāshṭrāce saṅgītātīla kārya'' (2010) * ''Alapini'' (1979) ** Translated into English by Ram Deshmukh, B.R. Dhekney as ''Between two tanpuras'' (1989)

References

External links