Obituary | Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam: With Prabha Atre’s death, we have lost a rebel master

Hindustani classical music doyenne Prabha Atre died, aged 92, after a heart attack on January 13 in Pune.

Prabha Atre passed away, aged 92, at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune today, January 13, 2024, and with her passing, the void in the Indian classical music created by the passing of Ustad Rashid Khan just a few days ago has grown bigger. We stare into the abyss, having lost one more of the best musicians of our time.

The very first time one heard her on stage she gently explained, ‘The raga that I’m going to sing is called Shyam Kalyan, but there’s no connection to Kalyan raga. It is called Shyam Sarang.’

A musician from the famed Kirana gharana actually said this. In the Indian classical tradition, every raga is bound by the notes, then the musician is bound by the gharana, and the style of singing — the gayaki — is also typical. Prabha Atre was fearless when it came to these boundaries. She was like the proverbial high wire act, her voice so magical, even the best of them could not find fault with her rendition of any raga. She could tie you to the seat with her khayals and then seduce you with thumris and then when you’d wonder how she could invent ragas like Madhur Kauns, Apurva Kalyan, Darbari Kauns, Patdeep-Malhar, Shiv Kali, Tilang-bhairav and Ravi Bhairav, you would be yanked out from inside the rabbit hole by her singing ‘Balma Matwale’ in Mishra Shivranjani.

Her exasperation with Shyam for leaving her, the ache of the separation and the pleading in her voice asking sakhi to tell her if she knows… She made this composition her own. And her fans will swear that she sounded exactly the same even when she was older. The strength of her renditions is matchless even when the audience is drowning in the love for krishna.

Now take Atre’s rendition of ‘Kal naahi aaye’ in Maru Bihaag will snatch your heart and wring it in an attempt to remove a thousand arrows of love that wound it… See how her voice is now so sweet and filled with shringar ras. The yearning in her voice will get you somewhere. Who is this lover who can abandon someone who is so sweet?

How would you tell Krishna to come play the raas with you? You give him your address of course! ‘Jamuna kinare mora gaon, sanvare ai jaiyo’ (my village is by the river river, darling please come!

There are many versions of this Maanj Khamaj on the net, but this version will show how Atre could mould herself into the words, sounding like a young lovelorn teenager. Her mastery over the raga is evident.

Brought up in the Kirana Gharana in the strict guru shishya parampara, Prabha Atre received training under Sureshbabu Mane and Hirabai Badodekar. She is influenced by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb and Amir Khan Saheb. Her creativity knew no bounds. She studied Kathak, a Bachelor of Science from Pune’s Fergusson College and a degree in Law from Pune University. As if that wasn’t enough, her PhD in music called Sargam is perhaps the most incredible work of music theory. Not to forget her work with the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music (London). She has authored 11 books on music as well.

But when she acted and sang in Marathi for the musical plays called Natyasangeet, you can only hear with awe. Hear how she weaves emotion into the words of the poetic song just effortlessly when performing. This song is from Sangeet Saubhadra:

She has been awarded The Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan for her service to music. Her legacy is large and we are now bereft of her beautiful voice. Perhaps the Gods want her to sing this plea in the heavens.