Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar (IPA: [ˈrɔbi ˈʃɔŋkɔr]; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012), his name often preceded by the title Pandit, was an Indian musician who was one of the best-known exponents of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century as well as a composer of Hindustani classical music.

Shankar was born in Varanasi (Kashi) and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy bySatyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.

In 1956 he began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Beatles guitarist George Harrison. Shankar engaged Western music by writing compositions for sitar and orchestra, and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. He continued to perform up until the end of his life. In 1999 Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[ edit] == Shankar was born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury (Bengali: রবীন্দ্র শঙ্কর চৌধুরী)[2]  on 7 April 1920 in Varanasi, to a Bengali family as the youngest of seven brothers.[2] [3] [4] His father, Shyam Shankar,was a Middle Temple barrister and scholar from East Bengal. A respected statesman, lawyer and politician, he served for several years asdewan (chief minister) of Jhalawar,Rajasthan and used the Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part.[2] [5]  Shyam was married to Shankar's mother Hemangini Devi who hailed from a small village named Nasrathpur in Mardah block of Ghazipur district, near Benares and her father was a prosperous landlord. Shyam later worked as a lawyer in London, England and [2]  there he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Varanasi, and did not meet his son until he was eight years old.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip48_2-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[2]  Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip48_2-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[2]  Shankar had six siblings, only four of whom lived past infancy: Uday, Rajendra, Debendra and Bhupendra. Shankar attended the Bengalitola High School in Benares between 1927 and 1928.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.1999998092651px;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]
 * 2 Career
 * 2.1 Training and work in India
 * 2.2 1956–69: International career
 * 2.3 1970–2012: International career
 * 3 Style and contributions
 * 4 Recognition
 * 4.1 Indian governmental honours
 * 4.2 Other governmental and academic honours
 * 4.3 Arts awards
 * 4.4 Other honours and tributes
 * 5 Personal life and family
 * 6 Illness and death
 * 7 Discography
 * 8 Bibliography
 * 9 Notes
 * 10 References
 * 11 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">At the age of ten, after spending his first decade in Varanasi, Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp55_7-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7]  By the age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance and play various Indian instruments.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_3-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Massey_4-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[4]  Uday's dance group toured Europe and the United States in the early to mid-1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, cinema and became acquainted with Western customs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip50_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  Shankar heard the lead musician for the Maihar court, Allauddin Khan, in December 1934 at a music conference inKolkata and Uday convinced the Maharaja of Maihar in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip50_8-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and come to Maihar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip50_8-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8] ==Career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Training and work in India<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar's parents had died by the time he returned from the European tour, and touring the West had become difficult due to political conflicts that would lead to World War II.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip51_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar, learnedragas and the musical styles dhrupad, dhamar, and khyal, and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena, rubab, and sursingar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip52_10-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]  He often studied with Khan's children Ali Akbar Khan andAnnapurna Devi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip51_9-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip53_11-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar completed his training in 1944.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_3-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3]  Following his training, he moved to Mumbai and joined the Indian People's Theatre Association, for whom he composed music for ballets in 1945 and 1946.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_3-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  Shankar recomposed the music for the popular song "Sare Jahan Se Achcha" at the age of 25.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Sharma_13-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Arunabha_14-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14]  He began to record music for HMV India and worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 to January 1956.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_3-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3]  Shankar founded the Indian National Orchestra at AIR and composed for it; in his compositions he combined Western and classical Indian instrumentation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip56_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[15]  Beginning in the mid-1950s he composed the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, which became internationally acclaimed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Massey_4-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[4] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[16]  He was music director for several Hindi movies including Godaan and Anuradha.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[17] ===1956–69: International career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Tabla player Alla Rakha, who was a frequent accompanist of Shankar, photographed in 1988<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">V. K. Narayana Menon, director of AIR Delhi, introduced the Western violinist Yehudi Menuhin to Shankar during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip47_18-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[18]  Shankar had performed as part of a cultural delegation in the Soviet Union in 1954 and Menuhin invited Shankar in 1955 to perform in New York City for a demonstration of Indian classical music, sponsored by the Ford Foundation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip57_19-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[19] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip58_20-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[20]  Shankar declined to attend due to problems in his marriage, but recommended Ali Akbar Khan to play instead.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip58_20-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[20]  Khan reluctantly accepted and performed with tabla (percussion) player Chatur Lal in the Museum of Modern Art, and he later became the first Indian classical musician to perform on American television and record a full raga performance, for Angel Records.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip5859_21-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[21]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar heard about the positive response Khan received and resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip61_22-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22]  He played for smaller audiences and educated them about Indian music, incorporating ragas from the South Indian Carnatic music in his performances, and recorded his first LP albumThree Ragas in London, released in 1956.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip61_22-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22]  In 1958, Shankar participated in the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO music festival in Paris.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  From 1961, he toured Europe, the United States, and Australia, and became the first Indian to compose music for non-Indian films.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  Chatur Lal accompanied Shankar on tabla until 1962, when Alla Rakha assumed the role.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip61_22-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22]  Shankar founded the Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai in 1962.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brockhaus_23-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[23]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip61_22-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22] The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of the Beatles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip62_24-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[24]  Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Schaffner_25-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[25] This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and created the raga rock trend.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Schaffner_25-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[25]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Harrison met Shankar in London in June 1966 and visited India later that year for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar in Srinagar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Arunabha_14-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Glass_26-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kozinn_27-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[27]  During the visit, a documentary film about Shankar named Raga was shot by Howard Worth, and released in 1971.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[28]  Shankar's association with Harrison greatly increased Shankar's popularity and Ken Hunt of AllMusic would state that Shankar had become "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by 1966.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_3-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Glass_26-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26]  In 1967, he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[29] and won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Glass_26-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grammy_30-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30]  The same year, the Beatles won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which included "Within You Without You" by Harrison, a song that was influenced by Indian classical music.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kozinn_27-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[27] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grammy_30-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30]  Shankar opened a Western branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, in May 1967, and published an autobiography, My Music, My Life, in 1968.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brockhaus_23-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[23]  In 1968, he scored for the movie Charly. He performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and found he disliked the venue.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Glass_26-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26]  In the 1970s Shankar distanced himself from the hippie movement.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Mahony_31-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[31] ===1970–2012: International career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === George Harrison, US PresidentGerald Ford, and Ravi Shankar in the Oval Office in December 1974<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In October 1970 Shankar became chair of the department of Indian music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York, theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp56_32-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[32] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip66_33-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[33]  In late 1970, the London Symphony Orchestra invited Shankar to compose a concerto with sitar. Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra was performed with André Previn as conductor and Shankar playing the sitar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Massey_4-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[4] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip221_34-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[34]  Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has criticised the usage of the orchestra in this concert as "amateurish".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Neuhoff_35-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[35]  George Harrison organised the charity Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, in which Shankar participated.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Glass_26-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26]  After the musicians had tuned up on stage for over a minute, the crowd broke into applause, to which the amused Shankar responded: "If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy the playing more."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[36]  Although interest in Indian music had decreased in the early 1970s, the concert album became one of the best-selling recordings to feature the genre and won Shankar a second Grammy Award.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grammy_30-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip66_33-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[33]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">During the 1970s, Shankar and Harrison worked together again, recording Shankar Family & Friends in 1973 and touring North America the following year to a mixed response after Shankar had toured Europe with the Harrison-sponsored Music Festival from India.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip195_37-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[37]  The demanding schedule weakened Shankar, and he suffered a heart attack in Chicago in November 1974, causing him to miss a portion of the tour.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip196_38-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[38]  In his absence, Shankar's sister-in-law, singer Lakshmi Shankar, conducted the touring orchestra.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip196_38-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[38] The touring band visited the White House on invitation of John Gardner Ford, son of US President Gerald Ford.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip196_38-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[38]  Shankar toured and taught for the remainder of the 1970s and the 1980s and released his second concerto, Raga Mala, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in 1981.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[39] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip222_40-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[40]  Shankar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on the 1982 movie Gandhi, but lost to John Williams' ET<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Oscar_41-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[41]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, from 12 May 1986 to 11 May 1992, after being nominated by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Arunabha_14-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[42]  Shankar composed the dance drama Ghanashyam in 1989.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brockhaus_23-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[23]  His liberal views on musical co-operation led him to contemporary composer Philip Glass, with whom he released an album, Passages, in 1990.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar underwent an angioplasty in 1992 due to heart problems, after which George Harrison participated in a number of Shankar's projects.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip197_43-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[43]  Because of the positive response to Shankar's 1996 career compilation In Celebration, Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala, with Harrison as editor.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip197_43-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[43]  He performed in between 25 and 40 concerts every year during the late 1990s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  Shankar taught his daughter Anoushka Shankar to play sitar and in 1997 became a Regents' Professor at University of California, San Diego.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[44] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[45]  In the 2000s, he won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 and toured with Anoushka, who released a book about her father, Bapi: Love of My Life, in 2002.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grammy_30-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip417_46-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[46]  Anoushka performed a composition by Shankar for the 2002 Harrison memorial Concert for George and Shankar wrote a third concerto for sitar and orchestra for Anoushka and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[47] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[48]  In June 2008, Shankar played what was billed as his last European concert,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Mahony_31-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[31]  but his 2011 tour included dates in the United Kingdom.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[49]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On 1 July 2010, at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, London, England, Anoushka Shankar, on sitar, performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Murphy what was billed the firstSymphony by Ravi Shankar. This performance was recorded and is available on CD. It is 40:52 minutes long and is composed of 4 movements (in the tempi allegro (fast), slow, scherzo (fast), finale (fast)) like a classical Western symphony but uses an Indian raga as the mode for each movement: I. Allegro (Kafi Zila) 9:21 minutes, II. Lento (Ahir Bhairav) 7:52 minutes, III. Scherzo (DoGa Kalyan) 8:49 minutes IV. Finale (Banjara) 14:50 minutes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[50]  The website of the Ravi Shankar Foundation provides the information that "The symphony was written in Indian notation in 2010, and has been interpreted by his student and conductor, David Murphy."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[51]  The information available on the website does not explain this process of "interpretation" of Ravi Shankar's notation by David Murphy, nor how Ravi Shankar's Indian notation could accommodate Western orchestral writing. ==Style and contributions<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Shankar plays the raga Madhuvantiat the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran in the 1970s<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  His performances begin with soloalap, jor, and jhala (introduction and performances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tablaaccompaniment featuring compositions associated with the prevalent khyal style.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  Shankar often closed his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumrigenre.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Neuhoff_35-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[35]  He popularised performing on the bass octave of the sitar for the alapsection and became known for a distinctive playing style in the middle and high registers that used quick and short deviations of the playing string and his sound creation through stops and strikes on the main playing string.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Neuhoff_35-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[35]  Narayana Menon of The New Grove Dictionary noted Shankar's liking for rhythmic novelties, among them the use of unconventional rhythmic cycles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Menon_52-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[52]  Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has argued that Shankar's playing style was not widely adopted and that he was surpassed by other sitar players in the performance of melodic passages.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Neuhoff_35-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[35]  Shankar's interplay with Alla Rakha improved appreciation for tabla playing in Hindustani classical music.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Neuhoff_35-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[35]  Shankar promoted the jugalbandi duet concert style and claims to have introduced new ragas Tilak Shyam, Nat Bhairav and Bairagi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] ==Recognition<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Indian governmental honours<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Other governmental and academic honours<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Arts awards<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Other honours and tributes<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ==Personal life and family<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar married Allauddin Khan's daughter Annapurna Devi in 1941 and his son Shubhendra Shankar was born in 1942.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lavezzolip52_10-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]  Shankar separated from Devi during the 1940s and had a relationship with Kamala Shastri, a dancer, beginning in the late 1940s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-PTI030513_68-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[68]
 * Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[53]
 * Padma Bhushan (1967)
 * Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1975).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[54]
 * Padma Vibhushan (1981)
 * Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1987–88<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[55]
 * Bharat Ratna (1999)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[56]
 * Ramon Magsaysay Award (1992) and the .<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[57]
 * Commander of the Legion of Honour of France (2000)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[58]
 * Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Elizabeth II for "services to music" (2001)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[59]
 * Honorary degrees from universities in India and the United States.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]
 * Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
 * Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2010)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[60]
 * 1964 fellowship from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund
 * Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival (for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[61]
 * UNESCO International Music Council (1975)
 * Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (1991)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[62]
 * Praemium Imperiale for music from the Japan Art Association (1997)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NewGrove_6-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]
 * Polar Music Prize (1998)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[63]
 * Three Grammy Awards
 * Nominated for an Academy Award.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ghoshp57_12-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grammy_30-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Oscar_41-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[41]
 * Recipient of the lifetime achievement Grammy (December 2012; posthumous)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[64]  like Glenn Gould, Charlie Haden, Lightnin' Hopkins, Carole King, Patti Page and the Temptations.
 * Posthumous nomination in the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for his album "The Living Room Sessions Part 2".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[65]
 * First recipient of the Tagore Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony and universal values (2013; posthumous)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[66]
 * American jazz saxophonist [John Coltrane] named his son [Ravi Coltrane] after Shankar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[67]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-PTI030513_68-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[68]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After Shankar separated from Kamalaa Shastri in 1981, Anoushka Shankar was born to Shankar and Sukanya Rajan. Shankar, however, lived with Sue Jones until 1986. He married Sukanya Rajan, whom he had known since the 1970s<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-PTI030513_68-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[68]  in 1989 at Chilkur Temple in Hyderabad, India.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[69]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar often accompanied his father on tours.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LAT920921_70-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[70]  He could play the sitar and surbahar, but elected not to pursue a solo career. He died in 1992.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LAT920921_70-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[70]  Norah Jones became a successful musician in the 2000s, winning eight Grammy Awards in 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Venugopal_71-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[71]  Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Venugopal_71-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[71]  Anoushka and her father were both nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards for separate albums.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2013grammynom_72-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[72]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar was a Hindu and in his later years of life, a vegetarian.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[73] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[74]  He wore a large diamond ring which he said was "manifested" by Sathya Sai Baba.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[75]  He lived with Sukanya in Encinitas, California.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[76]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Shankar performed his final concert, with daughter Anoushka, on 4 November 2012 at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California. ==Illness and death<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On 6 December 2012, Shankar was admitted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, San Diego, California after complaining of breathing difficulties. He died on 11 December 2012 at around 16:30 PST after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-77" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[77]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Swara Samrat festival organised on 5–6 January 2013 was dedicated to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan where musicians like Shivkumar Sharma, Birju Maharaj, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Girija Devi etc. performed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Classical_legends_leave_their_mark_78-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[78]