>Ser Amantio di Nicolao at 17:49, 27 June 2021

2021-06-27T17:49:00Z

New page

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Gopeshwar Banerjee
| image =
| image_size =
| landscape = 
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| alias =
| birth_date = 1880
| birth_place = [[Bishnupur, Bankura]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| origin =
| death_date = 28 {{death year and age|1963|1880|7}}
Family - Ganesh Chandra Banerjee( Son)
Bishwaranjan Banerjee (grandson)
Dev Ranjan Banerjee (grandson)
Swaraj Ranjan Banerjee (grandson)
Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (grandson)
Indraneel Banerjee (grandson)
Krishna Adhikary (granddaughter)
Archana Maitra (granddaughter)

death_place = Bishnupur, [[Bankura district|Bankura]], [[West Bengal]]
| genre = [[Hindustani classical music]]
| occupation = vocalist, musicologist
| instrument = [[surbahar]], [[sitar]]
| years_active = 1895–1963
| label = [[Gramophone Company of India]]
| associated_acts =
| website = 
}}
'''Gopeshwar Banerjee''' or Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay (1880–1963) was an [[Indian classical music|Indian classical]] singer and musicologist, belonging to [[Bishnupur gharana]] of [[Hindustani music]], which originated in [[Bishnupur, Bankura|Bishnupur]] in West Bengal.<ref name="KuppuswamyHariharan1979">{{cite book|author1=Gowri Kuppuswamy|author2=Muthuswamy Hariharan|title=Readings on Indian music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_QHAQAAMAAJ|page=126|year=1979|publisher=College Book House}}</ref> He was known for his [[khyal]] and [[dhrupad]] renditions, besides [[Rabindra Sangeet]]. He also sang [[thumri]], and most notably the thumri, ''Kon Gali Gayo Shyam'', in Raga [[Khamaj|Mishra Khamaj]], which he popularised.<ref name="tele">{{Cite web |title =Sweet tributes to music|author=M. Ganguly | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080507/jsp/jharkhand/story_9235797.jsp | publisher = The Telegraph | date = 7 May 2008 | access-date = 19 July 2013 }}</ref> As a musicologist, he published several books of rare compositions with [[musical notation]]s, including ''dhrupad'' and Rabindra Sangeet.

He started his career as a court musician of the [[Maharaja of Burdwan]] in 1895, and worked there for 29 years till 1924. Thereafter he shifted to Kolkata. Towards the end of his career, he was awarded the [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]] in 1962, the highest honour conferred by [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]], India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

==Early life and background==
Born in 1880, in [[Bishnupur, Bankura]] in Bengal<ref>{{cite book|title=Sangeet Natak, Issues 11–14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZmfAAAAMAAJ|page=64|year=1969|publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi}}</ref> He was the second son of his father Anantalal Banerjee (anglicised version of [[Bandopadhyay]]), who was court musician in of Ramkrishna Singhadev of Bishnupur. He was disciple of Ram Shankar Bhattacharya,<ref name="Society1986"/> later became the first teacher of the residential music school of Bishnupur, Bishnupur Sangeet Vidhyalaya, later renamed Ram Saran Music College.<ref name="DasguptaBiswas2009">{{cite book|author1=Samira Dasgupta|author2=Rabiranjan Biswas|author3=Gautam Kumar Mallik|title=Heritage Tourism: An Anthropological Journey to Bishnupur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0_o9Qj1LOEC&pg=PA110|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2009|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-294-3|pages=110–}}</ref> All his three sons, Ramprasanna Banerjee, Gopeswar Banerjee and Surendranath Banerjee were all singers and also musicologists. They did valuable documentation and music notation work in the field of Indian classical music.<ref name="Society1986"/><ref name="śarmā1993">{{cite book|author=Amal Das Sharma|title=Musicians of India: Past and Present : Gharanas of Hindustani Music and Genealogies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FKWfAAAAMAAJ|pages=176, 213|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1993|publisher=Naya Prokash|isbn=978-81-85421-18-6}}</ref> The eldest, Ramprasanna Banerjee wrote, ''Sangeet Manjari'' (1935), which contained theoretical treatise on musical concepts, besides favoured practices in vocal recitals, and notations of various genres, like dhrupad, khyal, thumri, and [[tappa]].<ref name="Society1986">{{cite book|author=Indian Musicological Society|title=Journal of the Indian Musicological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JskJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=20 July 2013|page=56|year=1986|publisher=Indian Musicological Society}}</ref>

His younger brother Surendranath Banerjee was also a noted musicians and one of the pioneers of the Bishnupur gharana. Later remained Principal of the Ramsaran Music College in [[Bishnupur, Bankura|Bishnupur]]. He died on 28 July 1963 in Bishnupur.<ref>{{cite web|title=Obituary|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19630730&printsec=frontpage|newspaper=The Indian Express|access-date=25 April 2017|page=5|date=30 July 1963}}</ref>

He received his music training from musicians of [[Bettiah Raj#Bettiah Raj and music|Betiya gharana]] of Bihar, as did another contemporary singer of the Bishnupur gharana, [[Radhika Prasad Goswami]].<ref name="Karnani2005">{{cite book|author=Chetan Karnani|title=Form in Indian music: a study in Gharanas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGIJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=19 July 2013|page=20|year=2005|publisher=Rawat Publications|isbn=978-81-7033-921-2}}</ref>

==Career==
Early in his career, in 1895 he was appointed a court singer, by the [[Maharaja of Burdwan]], here he worked here for the next 29 years, till 1924. This turned out to be most fruitful period of his career. He devoted his time in the research of the theory and history of Indian music.<ref>[[#Na|Sangeet Natak, p. 67]]</ref> He travelled across India with the Maharaja and became acquainted with several noted musicians of the time, which expanded his knowledge of various musical traditions and genres.<ref name="Sangeet Natak, p. 68">[[#Na|Sangeet Natak, p. 68]]</ref> He also learnt to play ''[[surbahar]]'' from Sayed Mohammed working at the court of Maharaja [[Jatindramohan Tagore]], thereafter he also learnt [[sitar]] from [[Imdad Khan]]. His ''surbahar'' recital along with Khan, where even commercially recorded.<ref name="Sangeet Natak, p. 68"/> While still in Burdwan, he published ''Sangita Chandrika'' in two volumes, an early and important study of musicology in India.<ref name="Bose1960">{{cite book|author=Narendra Kumar Bose|title=Melodic types of Hindusthān: a scientific interpretation of the rāga system of Northern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3acHAQAAMAAJ|page=160|year=1960|publisher=Jaico Pub. House}}</ref> It also included a collection of Bengali and Hindi songs set to music.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sangita Chandrika |url= http://www.nationallibrary.gov.in/ResultKeyword.php?start=13&p_f=13&id=sangit&id1=title|publisher=National Library of India |access-date=19 July 2013}}</ref> His other books on musicology include ''Geet-Darpan'', ''Geet-Praveshika'' and ''Sangeet-Lahari'', all in Bengali language.

Once his term as Burdwan came to end, he shifted to Calcutta, where he spent his next 20 years, till 1943.<ref>[[#Na|Sangeet Natak, p. 69]]</ref> By now from singing, in time, he had become an eminent musicologist. He along with his cousin Surendranath Banerjee, compiled a large number of [[Dhrupad]] compositions, complete with their [[musical notation]]s. Later, he not just sang,<ref>[[#Gh|Ghosh, p. 108]]</ref> but also reproduced some of the well known [[Rabindra Sangeet]] songs, that is songs composed by [[Rabindranath Tagore]], especially those in the ''Dhrupadanga''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmZjAAAAMAAJ|access-date=19 July 2013|page=20|year=1973|publisher=Sahitya Akademi.}}</ref> Prior to 1917, Banerjee had published the first volume of ''Sangeet Chandrika'', which included the notations for Tagore's composition, ''Patha ekhan kela alasita anga''.<ref name="Ghosha2006">[[#Gh|Ghosh, p. 222]]</ref>

Today, he is amongst the few singers from Bengal of the period, who performed the dhrupad-genre of singing, besides Radhika Prasad Goswami, Gopal Babu and Aghor Chakravarti.<ref name="Agarwala1966">{{cite book|author=Viney K. Agarwala|title=Traditions and trends in Indian music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7MHAQAAMAAJ|page =24|year=1966|publisher=Rastogi}}</ref>

His son Ramesh Banerjee also became a singer, while his notable disciples include Rita Ganguly.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sruti,Issues 196–207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QC0qAQAAIAAJ|page=15|year=2001|publisher=P.N. Sundaresan}}</ref>

In 1962, he was awarded the [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]] the highest honour conferred by [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]], India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |title=SNA: List of Sangeet Natak Akademi ''Ratna Puraskar''winners (Akademi Fellows) |publisher=SNA Official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023617/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Discography==
* ''Tarana – Adana Kewali (1908) – Gramophone Company, Calcutta (Hindustani)<ref name="Kinnear1994">{{cite book|author=Michael S. Kinnear|title=The Gramophone Company's First Indian Recordings, 1899–1908|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3DjL3WcQ2kEC&pg=PA131|access-date=19 July 2013|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-728-9|pages=131–}}</ref>
* ''Langar Deet Mohe Gheri – Behag Kawali'' (1908) – Gramophone Company, Calcutta (Hindustani)<ref name="Kinnear1994"/>
* ''Brahomomoyee Parashtopara'' (1908) (Bengali)<ref name="Kinnear1994"/>

==Works==

* ''Sangita-chandrika: A Treatise on Hindu music'', Vol. I., 2nd Ed. Pub. Vijay Chand Mahtab Bahadur, Burdhwan. 1925.<ref name="Study1996">{{cite book|author=Indian Institute of Advanced Study|title=Cultural reorientation in modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BluAAAAMAAJ|page=341|year=1996|publisher=Indian Institute of Advanced Study|isbn=9788185952376}}</ref>
* ''Sangita-chandrika: A Treatise on Hindu music'', Vol. II. Pub. Vijay Chand Mahtab Bahadur, Burdhwan. 1925.
* {{cite book|title=Sangit-lahari|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFKLGwAACAAJ|year=1927|last1=Banerjee|first1=Gopeswar}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|title=Sangeet Natak, Vol. 16|chapter=Gopeshwar Banerjee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZmfAAAAMAAJ|year=1969|pages=67–75|publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi|ref=na}}
* {{cite book|author=Santidev Ghosh|author-link=Santidev Ghosh|title=Rabindra Sangeet Miscellany|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3prNyZ7SKwC&pg=PA316|year=2006|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-305-2|ref=Gh}}
{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Gopeshwar}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male classical musicians]]
[[Category:Singers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Hindustani singers]]
[[Category:Hindustani instrumentalists]]
[[Category:Indian musicologists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:People from Bankura district]]
[[Category:Rabindra Sangeet exponents]]
[[Category:Indian music educators]]
[[Category:20th-century musicologists]]
[[Category:19th-century male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century male singers]]

Gopeshwar Banerjee - Revision history

>Ser Amantio di Nicolao at 17:49, 27 June 2021