Section Synopsis (July 2005)
 

MAIN FEATURE

Introduction: The selection of vocalists for coverage in this series of essays is guided by stylistic or historical significance rather than acknowledged stature or greatness as commonly understood. Selected vocalists will always represent a respectable level of musicianship, while the essays will attempt to justify their selection for the Sruti reader's attention. The order of release will be guided by the need to sustain reader interest through variety. -- Deepak S. Raja.

For over a century now, the Benares Hall of Fame has read like the "Who's Who" of Hindustani music. The last addition to it is Girija Devi. Born in 1929, she is amongst the most distinguished vocalists of our times, and the reigning queen of the Benares tradition of thumri and allied genres. In a career spanning almost six decades, she has charmed three generations of Indian music lovers. In the 1990s, she started performing abroad, and acquired an enthusiastic following in Europe and North America. 

Two Indian universities have conferred D. Litt. degrees on her. She has been decorated with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1978), and the Padma Shri (1973) and Padma Bhushan (1989). The Grand Dame of the thumri has served a long stint as a Guru at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, and continues to guide students at the institution..... 

The Benares tradition of semi-classical music

The sanctity of art  

Girija Devi spoke to the author on February 24, 2004
[Excerpts reproduced here -- for full interview see hard copy]

When I was five or six years old, my father placed me under the tutelage of Sarju Prasad Mishra. In those days, girls from genteel society did not go to the teacher's house to learn; they were taught music in their own homes. Sarju Prasad Mishra was a very good singer, but performed as a sarangi accompanist. For the first three years, I was taught the basics-- just the scale and its transpositions and transformations. Then, for a couple of years, I was taught khayal-s in the major raga-s: Yaman, Bhairav, Bilawal. Alongside the khayal, I was introduced to tappa-s and thumri-s.... Sarju Prasadji taught me by singing, but mostly accompanying me on the sarangi....

My second guru, Shrichand Mishra was a vocalist, and a master of the tabla, who also played several other instruments-- sitar and sarod-- as a hobby. He belonged to the Seniya tradition (lineage of Miya Tansen)....

I do not see any conflict between thumri and khayal. They are distinct genres, each with its own character....

My approach to the khayal is based on the "santa" rasa (the tranquil sentiment). My thumri renditions interpret "sringara" rasa (the romantic sentiment) in an Indian way, without explicit eroticism....

I get invitations to perform with "fusion" groups. The idea seems outrageous to me....

The music of Girija Devi

In the emerging paucity of specialist thumri performers after Independence, Girija Devi could have comfortably forgotten all about the khayal and encashed her scarcity premium. Instead, she struggled successfully to restore to the Benares tradition its prestige as a reservoir of multi-dimensional musicianship. 

I make these observations based on over four decades of hearing Girija Devi. By way of purposive and systematic analysis, however, I rely on two CDs recorded by her for India Archive Music in 1992, and two CDs of All India Radio broadcasts from 1967 and 1977 released by Super Cassette Industries (SVCCD 084 and 085). In addition, I studied two concert recordings from the 1970s lent to me by the archivist, Kishor Merchant. The study is based on about seven hours of her music spread over a sufficiently long period to enable defensible inferences. The sample includes five renditions of khayal, three renditions of tappa, one tarana, and nineteen pieces of semi-classical genres such as thumri, dadra, chaiti, kajri. The spectrum of raga-s covered is also large enough, though biased towards "Thumri raga-s": Madhuvanti, Abhogi, Poorvi, Devagandhar, Yaman, Behag, Kafi, Desh, Bhairavi, Ghara, and Pahadi.

Girija Devi, the khayal vocalist

Girija Devi's khayal repertoire is centred around popular raga-s..... Mechanistic and stereotypical taan patterns, commonly found in present-day khayal music, rarely appear in her renditions.....

Girija Devi in the semi-classical genres

As an exponent of the romanticist genres, Girija Devi is an original musician. In its detail, or even in its broad approach, her music
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