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Tansen (c. 1500 – 1586), also referred to as Tan Sen or Ramtanu, was a prominent figure of Hindustani classical music.[4] Born in a Hindu family, he learned and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pradesh. He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (r.1555–1592), where Tansen's musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame.[4] This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sent messengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tansen to join the musicians at the Mughal court. Tansen did not want to go, but Raja Ramchandra Singh encouraged him to gain a wider audience, and sent him along with gifts to Akbar. In 1562, about the age of 60, the Vaishnava[5] musician Tansen joined the Akbar court, and his performances became a subject of many court historians.[4]
Tansen (Tan Sen, Ramtanu)
Birth name
Ramtanu Pandey
Born
c. 1493 or c. 1500
Gwalior
Died
April 26, 1586 (aged 92–93)[1] or April 25, 1589 (aged 95–96)
Agra, Delhi[2]
Genres
Hindustani Classical Music
Occupation(s)
musician, instrumentalist, vocalist, music studies
Years active
Till 1562: Raja Ramchandra Singh, Rewah
After 1562: Emperor Akbar
Numerous legends have been written about Tansen, mixing facts and fiction, and the historicity of these stories is doubtful.[6] Akbar considered him as a Navaratnas (nine jewels), and gave him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man.[7]
Tansen was a composer, musician and vocalist, to whom a large number of compositions have been attributed in northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. He was also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved musical instruments. He is among the most influential personalities in North Indian tradition of Indian classical music, called Hindustani. His 16th century studies in music and compositions inspired many, and he is considered by numerous North Indian gharana (regional music schools) as their lineage founder.[8][9]
Tansen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions, creating several new ragas, as well as for writing two classic books on music Sri Ganesh Stotra and Sangita Sara.[10]Ravi Shankar 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012), born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury[2] (Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury in Hindi),[3] his name often preceded by the title Pandit (Master) and "Sitar maestro", was a Bengali Indian musician and a composer of Hindustani classical music. He was the best-known proponent of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many other musicians throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1999.
Pandit
Ravi Shankar
Shankar performing at Woodstock in 1969
Background information
Birth name
Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury
Born
7 April 1920
Benares, Benares State, British Raj
(now Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Republic of India)
Died
11 December 2012 (aged 92)
San Diego, California, United States
Genres
Indian classical music
Occupation(s)
Musician composer
Instruments
Sitar vocals
Years active
1930–2012
Labels
World Pacific Angel HMV Apple Dark Horse Private Music East Meets West Music[1]
Associated acts
Uday Shankar Allauddin Khan Ali Akbar Khan Lakshmi Shankar Yehudi Menuhin Chatur Lal Alla Rakha George Harrison Anoushka Shankar Norah Jones John Coltrane
Shankar was born to a Bengali Brahmin family[4][5] in India,[6] and spent his youth touring India and Europe with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.
In 1956, Shankar began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Beatles guitarist George Harrison. His influence on the latter helped popularize the use of Indian instruments in pop music in the latter half of the 1960s. Shankar engaged Western music by writing compositions for sitar and orchestra, and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992, he served as a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. He continued to perform until the end of his life.