The theme music of AIR and the composer who wrote it

[PUNARVASU]

I came across this and found it interesting. Hence sharing it with you all.

http://qz.com/287319/remembering-the-je ... ller-tune/

[mahavishnu]

Very interesting. Thank you very much!
I had heard that Pt. Omkarnath Thakur had something to do with that, but might have been apocryphal.

[Rsachi]

Yes, I also came to know of this long back.it is also written up in Wikipedia.

Some time back, (although at that time I didn't make the connection), I was curious about a book by a westerner on ragas, and got hold of Kaufmann's book on Hindustani ragas. Here is a page:

[munirao2001]

Composer was Pandit Ravishankar. He did discuss with Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu Gaaru and GNB Sir, Atchuta Sastri Gaaru ( brother of Emani Shankara Sastri Gaaru) and the composition was the result of good collaboration. DVN Gaaru was the lead Violinist, acceding to the request of Panditji.

munirao2001

[Pratyaksham Bala]

The signature tune of All India Radio was composed by Walter Kaufmann.
Pandit Ravi Shankar composed the signature tune for Doordarshan.

[Lakshman]

The AIR signature tune was played by Mehli Mehta, father of conductor Zubin Mehta.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

I have heard that the tune was played by V G Jog.

(It is in Sivaranjani in South)

GRG.RSD.RSDP.DSDP thus goes the raga notes perhaps.

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan used to bring in this tune in his concerts (of course in the tukkada segment) as intro to the old Hindi hit number 'Kahi Deep kahi Dil'.

[mahavishnu]

Very interesting discussion. Yes, Sivaramakrishnan those are indeed the right swarams!

Some twenty + years ago, at the Wesleyan library's audio archives, Sri T. Viswanathan introduced me to a Jazz-opera called "Escalator over the Hill" by Carla Bley and Paul Haines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator_over_the_Hill), featuring some very interesting musicians like Jack Bruce (of Cream), Don Cherry (trumpet player par excellence), the ridiculously talented Linda Ronstadt among others.

And I was extremely giddy to discover one of the tracks in the album called "All India Radio" and here is the track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQzDGwEuUQ

I was blown away by the fact that this was the same G RSD RSDP DSDP tune! I am reliving all these memories thanks to this thread and to Sri Sivaramakrishnan's swara gyanam

[Rsachi]

Maha Vishnu,
Great find. Thanks!

I think we should rule out VG Jog as the violinist for the signature tune as he was born in 1922 and would have been in early teens at that time. In fact I remember that when Zubin Mehta came to India some years ago, it was mentioned in several papers that his father was a violinist who had lived on Bombay and played the AIR signature tune.

Walter Kaufmann had studied Indians ragas and it is no surprise for me he took up Sivaranjani for the tune.

By the way Kaufmann has written about Nietzsche. He was more than a musician, also a liberal thinker.

[Rsachi]

Interesting story here:
http://travel.cnn.com/mumbai/play/mehli ... ion-261459

[mahavishnu]

Sachi: Walter Kaufmann the philosopher (who wrote about Nietzsche) is a different person. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kau ... ilosopher)
We are talking about this Walter Kaufmann here in this thread: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kaufmann_(composer)

[munirao2001]

I checked, I had committed a mistake. Signature tune for Doordarshan only was by Pandit Ravi Shankar.

munirao2001

[Rsachi]

Herr Maha Vishnu,
Wirklich?

[Sivaramakrishnan]

mahavishnu & Rsachi,
I never thought so much of history is piled up behind this simple morning tune!
Thanks for the interesting study.

[mahavishnu]

Herr Maha Vishnu,
Wirklich?

Ja. Das is gut. Wunderbar!

[sivachinta1965]

Dear Rasikas

I read somewhere that T K Jayarama Iyer had some contribution in the Akasha-raga

Siva