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The expressive, liquid sound of the
vichitra veena - an instrument older than the sitar, associated with
Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning - is perfectly suited to
Indian classical music's instrumental ideal: to emulate the subtle
nuance and fluidity of the human voice. Traditionally used to
support the Drophal style of singing, various types of veena are found
throughout India - but few players there or elsewhere can play the
ancient vichitra veena with any degree of proficiency, and the
instrument has rarely travelled beyond the Indian Subcontinent.
"The
veena is just like an ocean." Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra (1957-1999) was esteemed as a master of the vichitra veena, playing in the unique tradition of his respected musical family in Benares, Northern India. A child prodigy, he was the son of Dr. Lalmani Misra, a gifted multi-instrumentalist who brought the vichitra veena to prominence in North Indian classical repertoire. Following his father's death, Gopal's devotion to the instrument intensified - playing made him feel closer to his father - and his mission crystallized: to introduce the rarely-heard instrument to the world outside of India. Touring and then recording at Real World Studios with Ananda Shankar and State of Bengal after a wildly successful WOMAD/UK gig together in 1998 was a revolutionary new step in the long history of the difficult stringed instrument, and a triumph for Gopal. Sadly, a month after recording his beautiful traditional album, Gopal Misra Shankar died - at a concert in Bhopal dedicated to his late father. This CD is a unique and timeless testimony to his lifetime of work. "(He)
conveyed a new aesthetic language of music." |
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