lassical music suffered two blows in the recent weeks. First Ustad Rashid Khan died at just 55. A few days later, Prabha Atre, too, left the stage. She was in her nineties, having lived a life full of music, stage performance, teaching and writing on music. In many ways, she was unique. The extent of her activities clearly indicated this.

Some artistes serve the cause of the arts through creativity, others may not be that great in their individual field but take up a host of related activities that serve the overall cause of the art. It could be compositions or making of the new ragas, directly related to the arts of music, or it could be teaching and informing the next generation; or it could be writing on the arts. It could also be acting as an ambassador of the arts. Prabha Atre had immense energy and commitment. While studying music, she earned a bachelor of science in Pune. Later, she also completed a law degree.

She had belonged to the Kirana gharana and was mentored by Abdul Karim Khan’s son, Sureshbabu Mane and daughter Hira Bai Barodkar in the traditional guru-shishya parampara or the ustad-shagird personalised transfer of musical knowledge that has been the time-honoured manner of musical transmission through the ages.

The traditional system of education was at times extremely secretive. It insisted on exclusion. The training sessions were held behind closed doors and no other influences were entertained. No knowledge was allowed to escape the high walls. Only after a disciple was fully prepared to be launched, so to say, were they exposed to other influences. The exposure took place during the course of various performances and in coordination with the other vocalists/ instrumentalists of the times. The fusion of styles, if any, took place consciously and in the years of maturity. It was not seen as a necessity in the process of education in the formative years. These days with so much more exposure and countless means to listening to music from all over the world as well as various regions within the country, exclusivity is no longer an option.

Atre taught music, performing lecture-demonstrations and writing on the topic of Indian classical music. She was an assistant producer at the All India Radio and a visiting professor at a few institutions in the West, including the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands.

The particularity of the gharana style too was conditioned by the total coalescence of other influences into the ang of the gharana. These days, the essential nature of music is eclectic. Prabha Atre was always open to imbibing other influences. In her formative years, she had accepted influences from of Ustad Amir Khan and Ustad Baray Ghulam Ali Khan.

She had also studied at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal and Trinity Laban Conservatorie of Music and Dance, London. She had later earned a PhD in music. Her doctoral thesis was titled Sargam. It pertained to the use of sol-fa notes in classical music. She had also received formal training in kathak dance style. Atre had a short stint as a singing stage-actress in the early days of her career. She also played roles in a line-up of Marathi theatre classics, which included sangeet nataks like Sanshay-Kallol, Maana apamaan, Saubhadra and Vidya haran.

Her credits include books of compositions, Swarangini and Swaranjanee. She also invented new ragas such as Apurva Kalyan, Darbari Kauns, Patdeep-Malhar, Shiv Kali, Tilang-bhairav, Ravi Bhairav and Madhur-Kauns. Some of her music compositions were adapted to full-length dance programmes and dance dramas.

Atre taught music, performing lecture-demonstrations and writing on the topic of Indian classical music. She was an assistant producer at the All India Radio and a visiting professor at some institutions in the West, including the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. She was also a professor and head of the Department of Music at SNDT Woman’s University, Mumbai.

Around 1992, Atre started an annual Pandit Suresh-babu Mane and Hirabai Barodkar Sangeet Sammalen music festival that took place annually in December in Mumbai. She also established some years ago Swaramayee Gurukul in Pune, an institution that brought together traditional guru-shishiya style of teaching music and contemporary classroom teaching.

She was awarded many accolades including Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Padma Vibbushan and Padma Bhushan. Her noted disciples include Alka Joglekar, Vijaya Patki, Asha Parasnis, Chetna Banawat, Atindra Sarvadikar, Arati Thakur, Ashvini Modak and Fumie Nigeshi.

The writer is a culture critic based in Lahore