Stuti Dey
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Stuti Dey |
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Stuti is one of the most respected proponents of the Sarod. She has composed two brilliant raagas called the Surashree and the Trivenisangam. She has given Sarod recitals in music concerts in many places in India and abroad and has been awarded the title of Sur Mani. She is a regular participant in broadcasts over All India Radio (AIR) and her recitals have been broadcast over television in Germany and India. Stuti's career in music began at the age of five. She graduated in classical vocal music and was awarded the University medal for standing first. Thereafter, she obtained the Senior Diploma in music with distinction. She is an M.A. from Allahabad University and a gold medallist in Fine Arts. Despite her achievement in vocal music, she was inspired at an young age by the sarod recitals of the great Ustad Alauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan and Bahadur Khan. Under the influence of an intrinsic urge she took to Sarod under their able guidance. She is also proficient in Sitar and Tabla in which she has been awarded Merit Certificates besides bagging several prizes in competitions in her younger days. But her first love is Sarod in which she excels. Richer with a foundation in classical values, she took up teaching Sarod and Sitar on a regular basis. She was a senior teacher of Sitar and Sarod in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India. She has been empanelled in ICCR's Reference Panel of Artistes for Sarod. She also has a flair for composing and directing Indian folk dance and dance ballet in which she has participated several times on stage with credit. With her ambition to research and learn the intricacies of Indian classical music through Sarod, which is generally considered a male-dominated musical instrument, she has made efforts all through the past thirty years to attain a high level of competence and confidence in Sarod playing. The success she has achieved is proven by the appreciation she has received from the discerning public and the press. |
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The Times of India Sarod player Stuti Dey is a senior disciple of the late Ustad Bahadur Khan. Currently she is under the tutelage of Annapurna Devi, the renowned guru of the Maihar gharana... The most welcome feature of her performance was her selection of popular ragas... Her alaaps were unhurried and graceful. [Stuti] Dey brought out the quintessence of the vespertime melody through her gentle strokes. Evening News of India In effect and achievement, Stuti showed a commendable command over the complex mechanics of sarod-playing - and something more. The presentations were delightfully brief, neat and streamlined. There were quite a few flights of imagination which were all intelligently fitted into the general scheme of depiction in each case. Indian Post Stuti Dey... is a leading disciple of Ustad Bahadur Khan and Annapurna Devi. The sarodist performs with a deep sense of involvement. The tone of her sarod was soothing yet arresting... She played alaaps, jod and gats in the raag Yaman Kalyan. Her meends were well-shaped and taans were full of vitality. She could bring out the placid and persuasive mood of the melody through her interpretation.
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This text has been borrowed from S.P Bhattacharya's excellent work on this subject. The Senia (Maihar) gharana originated from Tansen (1520-1589), a musical genius from Gwalior whom the Emperor had appointed as one of the Nine Jewels of his court. Tansen composed many new Ragas, such as Miya-ki-Malhar, Darbari Kanhra and Miya-ki-Todi, and laid down the foundations of North Indian classical music through 300 Dhrupad compositions. Although Akbar had a policy to convert talented people to Islam his reverence for Tansen was such that he never forced him to convert, but tactfully gave him the title Miya Tansen. Tansen had a Hindu wife as well as a Muslim wife, called Mehrunissa. From the latter he got a son Bilas Khan (composer of the Raga Bilaskhani Todi) and from the Hindu wife he had three children Tan-Taranga,Suratsen and Saraswati Devi. Suratsen founded the Jaipur Sitar Gharana. Saraswati was a famous Dhrupad singer who married Raja Misar Singh, a noted Beenkar (Veena player) of Rajasthan. Misar Singh eventually became a state musician in Akbar's court and was converted to Islam and renamed Naubat Khan. The descendants of Saraswati and Misar Singh were Beenkars as well Dhrupadiyas and they continued and developed the traditions of instrumental (in particular Veena, Sitar) music as well as vocal music. They established what is now known as the Seni Beenkar Gharana, the most important musical family in North Indian music. Although they officially had Muslim names, they also had dual Hindu names; thus Wazir Khan, for example was also called Chhatrapal Singh and Dabir Khan was also Dayal Singh. These descendents and disciples of Saraswati and Misar Singh include Niyamat Khan (vocalist, also known as Sadarang in many Khayal compositions), Amritsen (Jaipur Sitar Gharana, 1814-1894) , Omrao Khan (Vina, Surbahar, Sarode), Gholam Mohammed Khan (Lucknow Sitar Gharana), Bahadur Hussain Khan (inventor of Tarana) and Ustad Wazir Khan. The descendants of Bilas Khan, Tansen's son were Rababiyas and Dhrupadiyas and include Jafar Khan the inventor of the Sursringar (see the chart depicting the Seni Gharana). These two branches constitute the Senia Gharana. Ustad Wazir Khan was a brilliant teacher, performer and composer and the leader of the Seni Gharana in the last century. He was a Beenkar (Veena player) and Dhrupadiya. His family line could be traced back directly to Tansen and his musical knowledge included many of Tansen's original Dhrupad compositions. Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan was one of his disciples. Perhaps the most important occurence in the history of Sarode playing is the fact that the foremost Sarodiya of the last generation, Allauddin Khan came to be a disciple of Wazir Khan. Thus the full power and accumulated musical knowledge of the Seni Gharana was incorporated into the Sarode art of the genius that was Allauddin Khan. The result was that a style of Sarode playing developed in which the vocal traditions of Dhrupad and Khayal and the instrumental traditions of Veena (slides and glides) and Rabab (rhythmic, staccato and plucked) came to be blended beautifully and aesthetically into this one majestic instrument. This is why today's Sarode playing has such a wide dynamic range from the tenderest Meends to thunderous Jhalas and lightning speed Taans (musical sentences). Ustad Baba Allauddin Khan (1862-1972) as we know is a legendary figure in Indian music. He was born in Tripura, East Bengal and from a very young age developed a thirst for music and musical knowledge that eventually led to one of the most incredible musical journeys of this century. He mastered many instruments including Tabla, Violin, Sursringar and Surbahar but finally turned to the Sarode and became a student of the Sarode wizard Ahmed Ali Khan. After six years of living with Ahmed Ali, Baba had learnt everything that Ahmed Ali had to offer and Baba decided to seek training from Ahmed Ali's Guru the great Wazir Khan of Rampur, scion of the Seni Beenkar Gharana. Baba had to confront many difficulties in becoming Wazir Khan's disciple, but eventually Wazir Khan opened up his treasure house of musical compositions and taught Baba for 12 years after his eldest son, who was being trained to succeed him, died suddenly. It is remarkable that Baba, although an outsider to the Sarode as well as the Seni Gharanas in terms of family lineage, became the most important figure in North Indian music in this century because of his sheer talent, determination and relentless pursuit of his goal of attaining perfection in music. Baba Allauddin lived only to serve the cause of music. He was a lifelong devotee of Goddess Kali and later as a court musician in Maihar worshipped Sharda Devi, also known as Maihar Devi. He avoided fame and wealth, pursued music as a path to spiritual salvation and offered his creations at the feet of Sharda Devi, in order to obtain her blessings and attain Nirvana through musical Sadhana. In later years Baba's salary was paid from the earnings of the Sharda temple. He was regarded throughout India as a musical saint and many students journeyed to Maihar to learn from him. He himself remained a student of music till the age of 70 completely mastering the Dhrupad and instrumental compositions of the Seni Gharana and adding innumerable new compositions and many new Ragas, such as Hemant, Shobhavati and Durgeshwari. His eventual contributions are so outstanding that today this Gharana is known as the Seni Baba Allauddin Gharana. Baba openly and generously transferred the vast wealth of his musical knowledge to a large number of disciples. Of these the most famous are his son the supreme Sarodist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, daughter Annapoorna Devi and nephew Ustad Bahadur Khan. The dazzling virtuosity, musical depth and brilliance of these musicians and their extensive touring over the last 40 years have exposed audiences all over the world to the treasures of the Senia Gharana, the art and magic of Sitar and Sarode, and the exquisite beauty, creativity and sophistication of North Indian classical music. |
| Raga Sindhu Bhairav | 00:05:35 |  |
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| Raga Malika | 00:05:00 | |
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| Raga Ramdasi Malhar | 00:06:02 | |
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| Raga Durga | 00:05:00 | |
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Contact Stuti Dey by email |
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