Ravi Shankar Overview

Shankar looks beatific, sitting on stage before his sitar, a 17-stringed instrument made of two gourds, teak wood, and silver-toned frets. We can almost envision the sultan's courts in Delhi filling with melodious strains. But once Shankar begins to play, his... [more]

Shankar looks beatific, sitting on stage before his sitar, a 17-stringed instrument made of two gourds, teak wood, and silver-toned frets. We can almost envision the sultan's courts in Delhi filling with melodious strains. But once Shankar begins to play, his asymmetrical rhythms delicately splintering tradition, we know we've entered the modern era. Ravi Shankar began performing as a dancer at age 12, when he joined his brother's touring troupe, Compaigne de Danse et Musique Hindu. At a well-traveled age of 19, he was performing his first musical solos. Soon after, Shankar decided to turn exclusively to music: he undertook rigorous sitar training under the master Ustad Allaudin Khan. After eight years of living and studying with the master in what has been described as "ascetic" conditions, Shankar embarked upon a solo career that has taken him to all corners of the globe. Before he achieved international renown, Shankar became well-known at home, in India. In his work as music director for All India Radio from 1949 to 1956, he composed film and radio soundtracks; the most famous are his scores for director Satyajit Ray's 'Apu Trilogy.' He also formed and played with the Vadya Vrinda chamber orchestra during these years. Shankar's name became increasingly familiar after he played the Soviet Union in 1954 and toured Europe in 1956. However, it was the '60s interest in the East that catapulted Shankar to fame. When the Beatles infused their pop tunes with the sitar sounds they'd first heard from Shankar, he immediately became fashionable. Shankar played before huge pop audiences alongside rock legends at Woodstock, the Monterey Pop Festival, and the Concert for Bangladesh; his unofficial position as India's cultural ambassador was sealed. Of course, this branching out has spawned criticism from musical purists. While Shankar's relations with Western pop musicians in the '60s and '70s led to much of his commercial success, critics back home accused him of polluting classical styles for the sake of easy listening. 'Sitar Concerto' (1970) was especially controversial for incorporating the music of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Whether his compositions are degradations or innovations remains open to interpretation. Many of the world's most highly acclaimed musicians name Shankar as an essential inspiration. Minimalist composer Philip Glass has singled him out as his greatest influence. And Yehudi Menuhin has founded something of a mutual admiration society with Shankar: over the years they've collaborated on various concerts and composed two sitar-violin pieces. Now in his 80s, Shankar says this about his lifelong aim: "You cannot just brush the surface of a culture and pretend that you have found the answer. We must turn inward to the deepest of our own roots to find the very best of who we are. But it is a constant search trying to reach something that I can almost touch but never hold on to. I believe in Nada Brahma, [that] sound is God." [show less]