Wizard of the Woodwind

Photo: Ridwan Adid Rupon

Internationally-acclaimed Indian flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an artiste par excellence who is known for his outstanding contribution to popularising Indian classical music globally.  Pandit Chaurasia is a rare combination of an innovator and a traditionalist, who has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute-playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alap and jod to the flute. His skillful artistry distinguishes him as the greatest living legend of the North Indian Bamboo Flute. The maestro, returning to perform today at the third edition of the Bengal Classical Music Festival, is arguably the most-anticipated artiste of the festival among the general audience.

The stalwart spoke to The Daily Star about his musical philosophy, the flute and the festival. Excerpts:

“I do offer prayers while performing. I think I have been performing my duty –my worship. Pukar ang is the original flute. Flute has no leather or string to fit and it does not even require tuning. Praise to the Lord (Krishna) as he himself created the instrument. No other instrument expresses pukar ang the well as the flute does. Lord Krishna played that and all the creatures would hear. It is an instrument that belongs to Bangladesh. I'll urge all Bangladeshis to play the flute. Through my offering of Raga Prabhateshwari (mingling Bhairavi ang with the Ahir Bharav ang), raga Lalit and a devotional kirtan (at the 2013 festival), I called up the Lord to pour blessings on me and my large family in Bangladesh.  

“The festival should be continued every year so that younger generation can learn to understand the intricacies and the values of classical music. Proper learning, blessings of Gurus and rigorous practice are essential to evoke ragdari and the beautification of certain ragas. The future of classical music will remain ever bright as usual.”

Apart from his monumental contributions to classical music, Pandit Chaurasia has composed and directed music for many Indian films, partnering up with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, forming the duo Shiv-Hari. Besides, he has released numerous albums -- of thematic music, music for meditation, bhajans and folk music. For his outstanding contributions to Indian music, Pandit Chaurasia has been recognised and conferred with many national and International awards and honours including “The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-1984”, “Padma Bhushan-1992”, “Padma Vibhushan- 2000”, “Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau-Netherlands-2008”, “Ordres des Arts et Lettres - France-2008” and “Honorary Doctorate, North Orissa University-2008”.