Lalmani Misra

Laimani Misra
Born	11 August 1924 Kanpur, India
Died	17 July 1979
Genres	Indian classical music
Instrument(s)	Sitar, vichitra veena

Lalmani Misra (11 August 1924 – 17 July 1979) was an Indian musician and scholar of musicology in Hindustani classical music. Misra played the sitar and the vicitra vīṇā (vichitra veena).

Misra worked on preserving and developing vichitra veena techniques and created new musical notation systems within Indian classical music.

Biography

Misra was born in Kanpur, India. He received training in Dhrupad and Dhamar under Shankar Bhatt and Munshi Bhrigunath Lal. He also studied Khayal singing with Ustad Mehndi Hussain Khan, a disciple of Ustad Vazir Khan of the Rampur Seni Gharana. In addition to these vocal styles, Misra trained on various instruments, studying sitar under Shri Shukdev Roy and tabla under Swami Pramodanand.

At the age of 12, Misra was appointed assistant music director at Shehanshahi Recording Company in Calcutta where he remained for two years.

Misra returned to Kanpur in 1940, following his father's death. He founded music schools for children in Kanpur, known as "Bal Sangeet Vidyalaya." He also founded the institution "Bharatiya Sangeet Parishad," and a music college, "Gandhi Sangeet Mahavidyalaya." He adapted syllabi for students in both academic and informal settings. Around this time, he also founded an orchestra society.

Creating Ragas

Dr. Pushpa Basu documented the following Ragas in her book:

1. Madhu Bhairava: Hexatonic Raga of Bhairava Ang performed in the early morning.
2. Shyam Bihag: Penta-heptatonic Raga of Kalyan Thaat and Ang, performed in the late evening.
3. Madhukali: Penta-heptatonic Raga blending Madhuvanti, Multani and Ramkali, played in the early evening.
4. Sameshwari: Penta-heptatonic Raga blending Rageshri and Kalavati, played in the early evening.
5. Baleshwari: Hexa-hexatonic Raga blending Bageshwari and Bilaskhani Todi, played before noon.
6. Jog Todi: Hexa-heptatonic Raga blending Jog and Todi, played any time due to its light nature.
7. Anand Bhairavai: Revived through research; a type of Bhairavi called Madhyam-Pradhan (subdominant centric), which shuns Rishabh (supertonic).

General references and external links

• Nada Rupa, Sharma, Dr. (Miss) Premlata, Ed. College of Fine Arts, B.H.U., Varanasi: 1961. Special Issue with Supplement, Vol I, No. 1, January 1961.
• Sangeetendu Pandit Lalmani Ji Misra: Ek Pratibhavan Sangeetagya, Tewari, Laxmi Ganesh. Swar Sadhana, California, 1996.
• Shruti Aur Smriti: Mahan Sangeetagya Pandit Lalmani Misra, Chourasiya, Omprakash, Ed. Madhukali Prakashan, Bhopal, August 1999.
• Sangeetendu Acharya Lalmani Misra. Vidushi Premlata Sharma
• Ethnomusicologist Dr. Laxmi Ganesh Tewari
• Sindura on Vichitra Veena, a short movie clip on Online Music Education
• Celestial Music of Pandit Lalmani Misra. DVD. Santa Rosa, California: Svar Sadhana, 2007.
• Raga-Rupanjali. Ratna Publications: Varanasi. 2007. A collection of Compositions of Sangeetendu Dr. Lalmani Misra by Dr. Pushpa Basu.
• Raga Vibodh: Misrabani. Dr. Ragini Trivedi. Hindi Madhyam Karyanvaya Nideshalaya: Delhi. 2010.
• Sitar Compositions in Ome Swarlipi. Dr. Ragini Trivedi. 2010.
• Links to musical pieces
• Madhukali – Organization in memory of Sangeetendu Dr. Lalmani Misra