Deben Bhattacharya

Deben Bhattacharya

Deben Bhattacharya (1921–2001) was a Bengali radio producer, record producer, ethnomusicologist, anthropologist, documentary filmmaker, photographer, translator, poet, writer, broadcaster, lecturer, and folk music consultant. He produced over 100 records, 23 films and published more than a dozen books in his lifetime and much of his work was carried out under the auspices of UNESCO.[1]

Contents

Early career

Bhattacharya was born to an old Bengali Brahmin family that was settled in Benares for over 130 years. As a young man, he was influenced by the work of English poet Lewis Thompson, which prompted him to move to England, where he worked for the BBC as a radio producer. Knowing a lot of Indians in London, he started to record Indian musicians on a Baird tape recorder. When Bhattacharya had the idea to do field recordings in India, he was met with a financial dilemma of needing £80 for the tape recorder, £20 for the transformer, £25 for 20 blank tapes, plus about £60 for a one way boat ticket to Bombay. Sunday Wilson – a producer for the overseas service, commissioned him for six five-minute programmes, which garnered £30.6.0. Weeks after that, the poet Stephen Spender, who had started his new magazine ‘Encounter’, approached Bhattacharya to write an article on Indian poetry and advance him on two further articles. Argo Records also advanced £25 and paid for the Gaumont-British machine, and the tapes against future royalties. He returned with enough material to make four or five records, and one of them was published, called "Songs from Bombay". This led to a trip through the Middle East, recording music in every country, as well as other projects.[2]

Career

Bhattacharya continued to earn international recognition as an expert on ethnic folk music, dance and poetry and was employed to help teach ethnic music and bring ethnic musicians to Sweden. Living for periods of time in London and Stockholm he began making films in 1962 when his BBC Third Programme producer, Robert Leighton, introduced him to David Attenborough, who was then an executive at BBC Television. When Bhattacharya told him that he would be going to India with an experienced cameraman, Attenborough offered him £1,000 to help with his expenses. Upon his return, the BBC edited the material into two films: ‘Kathakali’, the classical dance drama of South India, and ‘Storytellers from Rajastan’. Following this, Swedish Television gave him money to make a film in Hungary. This led to film making in Romania, Tibet, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and many other countries. Towards the end of his career, Bhattacharya had archived over 16,000 photographs related to his various projects.[3]

Partial filmography

  • Waves of Joy: Anandalahari - Director
  • The Cosmic Dance of Shiva - Director
  • The Chanting Lama - Director
  • Silk and Strings: Taiwan - Director
  • Raga - Director
  • Painted Ballad of India - Director
  • Krishna in Spring - Director
  • Jesus and the Fisherman - Director
  • Faces of the Forest: The Santals of West Bengal - Director
  • Echoes from Tibet - Director
  • Buddha and the Rice-Planters - Director
  • Chinese Opera - Director (1983)
  • Land of Smiles: Thailand - Director (1973)
  • Bali: Isles of Temples - Director (1973)
  • Ecstatic Circle: Turkey - Director (1972)
  • Adaptable Kingdom: Music and Dance in Nepal - Director (1972)[4]

Partial discography

  • Bedouins of the Middle East 1955-60 - ARC Music
  • Sounds of West Sahara: Mauritania - ARC Music
  • Maqams of Syria - ARC Music
  • River Songs of Bangladesh - ARC Music
  • Unknown Artist - Treasures In Sound - India UA International, 1967
  • The Living Tradition Music From Turkey - Argo Records, 1968
  • The Living Tradition Music From Iran - Argo, 1971
  • The Living Tradition - Songs of Krishna - Argo, 1971
  • The Living Tradition Music From Bangladesh - Argo, 1972
  • The Living Tradition - Songs And Dances From Macedonia - Argo, 1972
  • Various - Folkmusik Från Rumänien - Caprice Records 1972
  • 2 Ragas - Sveriges Radio
  • Musique Folklorique Du Monde: Yougoslavie - Musidisc
  • Musique Folklorique Du Monde: Iran - Musidisc
  • Various - Sacred Temple Music Of Tibet - ARC Music 1998

Books

  • Songs Of The Qawals Of India: Islamic Lyrics Of Love And
  • Songs Of The Bards Of Bengal
  • Love Songs of Vidyapati

References

  1. ^ Liner notes, Argo LP ZFB 52 "Songs of Krishna", 1971.
  2. ^ "Deben Bhattacharya interviewed by Kevin Daly". www.kevindaly.org.uk. http://www.kevindaly.org.uk/category/friends-colleagues/. Retrieved 17 February 2011. 
  3. ^ Music According to Deben Bhattacharya, A film by Stéphane Jourdain.
  4. ^ "Deben Bhattacharya filmography". www.allmovie.com. http://www.allmovie.com/artist/deben-bhattacharya-390703/filmography. Retrieved 17 February 2011. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chronologie des publications phonographiques BAM : Série LD 5000 — La chronologie des publications phonographiques BAM[1] : Série LD[2] 5000 à LD 6022[3] fait référence à la nomenclature d édition de la maison de disques BAM[3] et la numération al …   Wikipédia en Français

  • New Earth Records — is an independent record label focusing primarily on New Age Music and World Music. It was founded in 1990 in Munich, Germany, by European entrepreneurs Bhikkhu Schober and Waduda Paradiso under the auspices of the spiritual teacher known as Osho …   Wikipedia

  • Manitas de Plata — (Little Silverhands). (born Ricardo Baliardo, August 7, 1921) is a French Gitano flamenco guitarist[1]. Contents 1 Life 2 Selected albums 3 See also …   Wikipedia

  • La Huit Production — Création 1992 Siège social  Paris …   Wikipédia en Français

  • RFID — Una etiqueta RFID EPC en uso por Wal Mart Chip Rfid pasivo encapsulado para uso en uniformes y sector textil. Especial resistencia para lavanderías (ver sector textil). RFID (siglas de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Usos medicinales de las raíces — Diversidad de preparaciones de raíces en venta en un mercado cercano a la puerta monumental de Namdaemun, centro de Seúl. Los usos medicinales de las raíces vegetales son tan notorios que se han usado por siglos en la medicina humana y… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Cossipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) — For constituency with same name in Purulia district, see Kashipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Cossipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (Bengali: কাশীপুর বিধানসভা কেন্দ্র) was an assembly constituency in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. As …   Wikipedia

  • Ácido desoxirribonucleico — «ADN» redirige aquí. Para otras acepciones, véase ADN (desambiguación). «DNA» redirige aquí. Para otras acepciones, véase DNA (desambiguación) …   Wikipedia Español

  • Responsabilidad social corporativa — La responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC), también llamada responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE), puede definirse como la contribución activa y voluntaria al mejoramiento social, económico y ambiental por parte de las empresas, generalmente… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Vidyāpati — (ca. 1352–ca. 1448)    Vidyāpati was a Brahman court poet serving the kings ofMithila, just west of modern Bengal, probably in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. His poetry, though written in the local dialect, displays a scholar’s knowledge …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”