Chintaman Raghunath Vyas (9 November 1924 – 10 January 2002), popularly known as C. R. Vyas, was an Indian classical singer. He was known for singing khyal style.[1][2]

Chintaman Raghunath Vyas
Birth nameChintaman Raghunath Vyas
Born9 November 1924
OriginOsmanabad, Maharashtra, India
Died10 January 2002 (aged 77)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
GenresHindustani classical music
Occupationsinger

Early life

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Vyas was born in Osmanabad, Maharashtra, into a family of Sanskrit scholars and Hari kirtankars. He was influenced by the singing of his father and grandfather, episodes from Ramayan and Mahabharata.

He had his initial music training from Govindrao Bhatambrekar of the Kirana gharana for a decade. Then he learnt from Rajarambua Paradkar of Gwalior. While he was training in the Gwalior style of singing, he was impressed by Jagannathbuwa Purohit who belonged to the Agra gharana and started learning from him. He also got guidance from Yeshwantbuva Mirashi. He also benefited from association with other scholars/musicians, namely S N Ratanjankar, Chidanand Nagarkar, S.C.R. Bhat and K. G. Ginde.

Career

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C. R. Vyas had an open-throated voice and sang a blend of all the different gharanas he was trained in, but the influence of the Gwalior gayaki is quite prominent.

He had been employed at ITC in a white collar job. Music was not a primary vocation. In his own words, "In our time we did not think of earning either fame or money through music". He was a leading artist in AIR and on TV. He has participated in major musical events in India as well as abroad.

Among his disciples are Shripad Paradkar (son of his own guru Legendary Gwalior gharana vocalist Pt Rajarambua Paradkar), Prabhakar Karekar, Sriram Parasuram, Sanjeev Chimmalgi, Ganapati Bhat and his son Suhas Vyas. Jitendra Abhisheki was his student for almost ten years.

Personal life

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He was married to Smt Indira Vyas. They have three sons-Suhas Vyas, a veteran classical vocalist himself, Satish Vyas, prominent Santoor Player and Shashi Vyas, a Chartered Accountant by profession and now the Managing Director of Pancham Nishad, the leading most event management/organising company of Classical Music.

He also researched traditional ragas and bandishes and composed more than 200 bandishes in different ragas under the pen-name Gunijaan.[3] As a tribute to his Guru Gunidas he started the Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan [4] in 1977. He has written a book Raag Sarita which sums up his work in the field of music. The updated edition of the book was recently released in 2019 by his son Suhas Vyas.

Awards and recognition

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Discography

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  • Etched in Time — Pandit C. R. Vyas (VCD — Released in 2007)
  • Tapasya — Vol 1 & 2 (2005) This album features Live recordings of Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi & Vyas
  • Sangeet Sartaj - C R Vyas (Vocal) This double volume album will feature the great Hindustani classical vocalist Vyas. The maestro has rendered in this album ragas like Bihag, Bimpalasi and Ahiri Lalit to name a few.
  • Eternal Rhapsody - C R Vyas Live Recording In Mumbai

References

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  1. ^ "Reluctant Master". India Today. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  2. ^ "A matter of the swaras". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Pt. Satish Vyas I Anecdote I Guni Das I Guni Jaan I Anshul Aggarwal I Aashirwad Part-6, archived from the original on 15 December 2021, retrieved 17 June 2020
  4. ^ Swaminathan, Chitra (5 February 2010). "Santoor strains". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  5. ^ "Tansen Samman for Pandit Vyas". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India). Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards — Hindustani Music — Vocal". Sangeet Natak Akademi. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/fan-of-classical-music-raag-sarita-2-0-is-your-chance-to-grab-original-compositions-by-vocalist-pandit-cr-vyas-in-pune-on-feb-9/story-C4HNJmkiCnuZNaeAe602gL.html

https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/unwind/the-river-flows-on/articleshow/67872673.cms Archived 8 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine