Page 42 - Seniorstoday April 2022 Issue

Music

Bengali music:

A kaleidoscope of

genres

There’s something for everyone in Bengali music, writes Narendra Kusnur

An era was over. On February 15, lovers ridden with grief, listening to songs by these
of Bengali music were shocked to hear of artistes, and narrating nostalgic anecdotes.
the death of 90-year-old singer Sandhya After all, West Bengal has had one of the
Mukherjee. One of the most versatile most vibrant and diverse musical cultures
vocalists, she was equally at ease with film in India, with many singers and music
songs, folk songs, Rabindra Sangeet, bhajans
and modern Bengali songs, having recorded
since 1945. Just a few weeks before, she had
refused to accept the Padma Shri on the
grounds that it was offered too late.
Mukherjee passed away on the same day
as 69-year-old Bollywood music director
Bappi Lahiri, also from West Bengal. This
happened nine days after the sad news
of Lata Mangeshkar, who had also sung
extensively in Bengali, with music directors
Salil Chowdhury, Hemant Kumar, S.D.
Burman, R.D. Burman, Sudhin Dasgupta
and Bappi Lahiri. Even Kishore Kumar
composed the song ‘Priyotomo, Ki Likhi
Tomay’ for Lata.
For a few days, Bengali aficionados were

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