My find of a unique 1957 Ravi Shankar recording at Radio Netherlands

On 4 January 2002 I made a sensational discovery in the archives of Radio Netherlands, where I work as an audio archivist. After doing some research I found an anonymously stashed away Radio Netherlands-recording of Ravi Shankar, made in May 1957 at Radio Netherlands in Hilversum. The world famous sitarist was in Holland for a few concerts during his first World Tour of 1956-1957 as a solo artist. He played with Nodu Mullick (tanpura) and Chatur Lal (tabla). In this video I tell how I found this recording, while showing the original tape of this recording in the Radio Netherlands archives. Of the recordings a small spoken segment of Ravi Shankar and of his playing two small segments can be heard of a 'Dhun' (folk melody). The other piece Ravi Shankar played at Radio Netherlands was raag Tilak Shyam. Both pieces are a powerful demonstration of Ravi Shankar already in his prime. The recording was arranged by Peter van Hoboken (1901-1994), Head of the Radio Netherlands Transcription Service from 1948 to 1966 and also a musician who was deeply engrained into Indian classical music and dance. Apart from playing, Ravi Shankar was also interviewed, in english and in hindi. The Transcription Service of Radio Netherlands probably sent copies of the recordings to Surinam (a large hindusthani community there) and maybe to All India Radio, but so far I haven't seen any evidence of this. In 2002 I went through the broadcasted Radio Netherlands programme scripts of all departments in the period May 1957 until a year later in 1958. I didn't find any trace of them. The recordings are in mono, but they are remarkably well done, sounding dynamically and crisp and clear. In 2002 the recordings were broadcasted on De Concertzender in a 'Metamorfosen'-special I made on Ravi Shankar. They were also broadcasted in 2005 on Radio 4 in the programme 'Passaat'. I think the Radio Netherlands recordings of Ravi Shankar are not only the earliest dutch recordings made of the sitar maestro, but probably also the only recordings made of him in Holland, since I do not know of a recording of his concert with Alla Rakha in the seventies and of his concert in 2000 in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with his daughter Anoushka.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Pieter de Rooij
• India
• raag
• raga
• Ravi Shankar
• Chatur Lal
• Nodu Mullick
• sitar
• tabla
• Radio Netherlands
• Wereldomroep
• Peter van Hoboken

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

I just read an article about what happened to the Philips Miller material in Hilversum. It was stored in the old AVRO building in the forties, but due to its flammability it was moved around 1948 to a nearby shelter. Fatal mistake! The shelter didn't meet the required storing conditions! Only a few weeks later most of the material was damaged (by humidity) and lost forever. What survived was copied to tape in the 50's and the irreparably damaged material was burnt. (source: Aether, juli 1993)

[losoefowroe]

Any time a discovery is made of old recordings of now-famous artistes is a great contribution to the arts. I wonder what his reaction was to this find?

Job well done, gefeliciteerd!

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

@losoefowroe : Ravi and (his daughter) Anoushka did find out about my find (via my YT-video!) and they were pleasantly surprised. That's what I heard from Ravi's agent in the USA, who contacted me almost two years ago I think. They've shown interest in a release of the recordings and therefore they have contacted Radio Netherlands, also quite a while ago. I have no idea what the outcome will be of this. Not my role or business. I did my part :)

[musicminded64]

Wow. Thank you so much! You say that back in 1957 (!) the historical significance of this recording ("trio from india") was not really recognized, a recording that however one Dutchman with (according to me) 'a refined sense' had made that very day, even for the radio... and even the afternoon before the concert in Amsterdam and which tape you found back decades later and can show us about again some more years later. Few enlightened people can make a positive change for so many in the dark. :)

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

Thanks very much for your comments. It was such a sensational find! Before and after the find I did quite some research. Peter van Hoboken (1901-1994), working for Radio Netherlands Transcription Service (from 1948 to 1966) arranged this wonderful recording of great historical significance and is therefore highlighted in this video. He deserves more recognition and appreciation for his work as one of the great pioneers and promotors of Indian Classical music in the Netherlands.

[ReverendWayne]

Great video. Is there a storage room for the really old stuff, such as the lacquer discs, that you could show us sometime? Are any of the Philips-Miller films still around, or are those all gone now?

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

@ReverendWayne : One more detail: I also found out - via PT, thanks! - that there are 68 musicrecordings among the surviving Philips Miller material that was transferred to tape. In the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum their records show up after a search in the old FONOS-system.

[dhaivatraj]

Great day!!

[BoratBrother]

Chatur Lal was a brilliant tabla player who accompanied Ravi Shankar in the early days..have a listen to my upload of Ravi Shankar's Raga Mishra Piloo in thumri style recorded in 1965.. tabla by Chatur Lal is simply mesmerising..

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

We have storage for the real old (78rpm) discs. We no longer have the Philips Miller material in our building, it was moved in the early 50's. We don't know if it survived, a story with many 'missing links'. Possibly it was stored in a cellar of the old AVRO building in Hilversum. If this 'forgotten' material was there at all, was it moved to the new AVRO-building? People who might have come across the material probably don't have a clue what it's about. It really needs to be? investigated.