Skendrowell Syiemlieh

Last updated

Skendrowell Syiemlieh

Skendrowell Syiemlieh (died 2008) was a Khasi folk and Gospel singer. He was a master musician and an accomplished artist of the folk instrument known as the duitara. He was also the playback singer for the Khasi film U Manik Raitong. [1]

Contents

Syiemlieh was the recipient of many awards, including a best vocalist award in 1975, and the U Tirot Sing Award for Arts and Literature in 1991. He was actively associated with the All India Radio Shillong since 1962. [2] Syiemlieh was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri Award in Arts by the Government of India in 2009. [3]

The Telegraph (Kolkata) reported on 5 January 2009:

A major lacuna in tribal societies is the absence of documentation of their cultural wealth and of recognizing personalities who have enriched their culture through songs, poetry, literature, and the performing arts. Khasi bard, singer, and radio artist Skendrowell Syiemlieh spent a good part of his adult life serving the society through songs for which he created his own lyrics and tune. Every singer is in some ways a historian who is either lamenting the current state of affairs, extolling the immediate past or inspiring hope for the future. The Khasis have a natural flair for singing. This is perhaps one reason why no one is celebrated as an outstanding singer. Syiemlieh died this year, unsung and unrecognised by his own people. It took a Guwahati-based trust, the Jeewan Ram Mungi Devi Goenka (JRMDG) Charitable Trust, to recognise this humble soul with a lifetime achievement award, posthumously, on December 6, 2008. [4]

Music Style

Syiemlieh's music style was a mixture of Khasi folk music and Western country narrative style that blended both folk instruments such as the duitara and flute with guitar, violin, and drums. Almost all of his recordings employed backing vocal harmonies. He would often begin his songs with the words "Ha sngap ho para ngan iathuh khana” (Listen o my brothers and sisters, I will tell you a story)" [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. J. Yesudas</span> Indian singer

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and a cultural icon of Kerala. Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Udit Narayan</span> Indian playback singer

Udit Narayan Jha is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Sindhi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili. He has won four National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards with twenty nominations among many others. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture. As many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallikarjun Mansur</span> Indian singer (1910-1992)

Pandit Mallikarjun Bheemaraayappa Mansur, was a Hindustani classical singer from Karnataka. He sang in the khyal genre and belonged to the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhupen Hazarika</span> Indian playback singer (1926–2011)

Bhupen Hazarika was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, artist, editor, filmmaker, professor and politician from Assam, widely known as Sudha Kontho. His songs were written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. D. Amaradeva</span> Sri Lankan vocalist (1927–2016)

Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera, better known by his adopted name Amaradeva, was a prominent Sri Lankan Sinhalese vocalist, violinist and composer. Primarily using traditional instruments like sitars, tablas and harmoniums, he incorporated Sinhala folk music with Indian ragas in his work. Many consider his contribution to the development of Sinhala music as unmatched; hence, he is occasionally cited as the "Maestro of Sri Lankan Music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Khan (musician)</span> Indian sarangi player and vocalist (1940–2011)

Ustad Sultan Khan was an Indian sarangi player and classical vocalist belonging to Sikar Gharana. He was one of the founding members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, in 2010.

Ramanlal C. Mehta was an Indian musician and musicologist. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudha Ragunathan</span> Indian Carnatic classical vocalist

Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Narayan</span> Classical sarangi player from India

Ram Narayan, often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. Raghavan</span> Musical artist

K. Raghavan, also fondly called Raghavan Master, was a Malayalam music composer and Carnatic Vocalist. Along with G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. He is regarded as the pioneer in contributing Malayalam film songs with its own tunes and styles. Till then, Malayalam film songs were in the tunes of popular Hindi and Tamil film songs and old classical kritis. Raghavan gave a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music. He composed around 400 songs in Malayalam cinema and was active in the Malayalam film industry for nearly four decades. In 1997, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asad Ali Khan</span> Musical artist

Asad Ali Khan was an Indian musician who played the plucked string instrument rudra veena. Khan performed in the style dhrupad and was described as the best living rudra veena player in India by The Hindu. He was awarded the Indian civilian honor Padma Bhushan in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manik Varma</span> Indian singer

Manik Varma was an Indian classical singer from the Kirana and Agra gharanas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rewben Mashangva</span> Musical artist

Rewben Mashangva, also Guru Rewben Mashangva, is a folk musician and singer from Manipur, India. He is known for reviving musical tradition of the Tangkhul Naga of Manipur, and use of traditional musical instruments in his songs. Influenced by musicians such as Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, Rewben Mashangva has created many Naga tribal folk songs based on blues and ballad rhythms. He is known by different names including, 'Bob Dylan of the Nagas' and 'King of Naga folk blues', plus 'Father of Naga folk blues'. He received the National Tribal Award 2011-12, for his contribution to the development of tribal music from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The Government of India honoured him in 2021, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his rich contribution to art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanno Khurana</span> Musical artist

Shanno Khurana is a noted Indian classical vocalist and composer, from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the doyen of the gharana, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, she is known for performing rare bandish and raag, though her singing style includes genres like khayal, tarana, thumri, dadra, tappa, to chaiti and bhajan. Born and brought up in Jodhpur, she started singing on All India Radio in 1945 in Lahore, later shifted to Delhi, where she continued her singing on All India Radio, Delhi and in concerts and music festivals. She also pursued music education, finally earning her M.Phil. and PhD in music from the Kairagarh University, and has undertakes extensive research on folk music of Rajasthan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Nongkynrih</span> Indian concert pianist and conductor (1970–2022)

Neil Nongkynrih was an Indian concert pianist and conductor. He founded the Shillong Chamber Choir (SCC), which won the reality show India's Got Talent in 2010. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jitendra Haripal</span> Musical artist

Jitendra Haripal, a singer, is most popularly known for his voice in the famous and super hit Rangabati Song in Sambalpuri language of Odisha. He sang this duet song with his female co-singer Krishna Patel. He has sung over 1000 songs and regarded as a top exponent of Sambalpuri language song. He has shared the stage with other leading artists of the State including the former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, himself a fine musician. He received the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India from the Government of India in 2017 for his contribution to the Indian Music.

Hamlet Bareh Ngapkynta (1931-2012) was an Indian writer, historian and film director from the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. He is known as the first person from the Khasi tribe, an indigenous ethic group of the state, to secure a doctoral degree (PhD) and as the maker of the first feature film in Khasi language, Ka Synjuk Ri ki Laiphew Syiem. He was the chairman of the executive committee of the Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh and a recipient of the 2004 Meghalaya Day Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2004,

Sonam Tshering Lepcha was an Indian folk musician, composer and lyricist. He was the first among Lepcha people to air his voice on All India Radio and was credited with the revival of Lepcha culture, one of the indigenous cultures of the Indian state of Sikkim. He was reported to be credited with over 400 folk songs, 102 folk dances and 10 dance dramas. He died on 30 July, 2020 due to cardiac arrest.

Duitara is a four-stringed Khasi and Jaintia folk musical instrument of Meghalaya that resembles a guitar. The term seems similar to the dotara instrument played in the neighboring states of Assam and West Bengal. The duitara consists of medium soft wood, the hollow in the belly of its main body is covered with dried animal skin, and its neck has at its end four holes in which wooden pegs hold the strings in tune. The strings are made of 'muga' silk. The folk musician Skendrowell Syiemlieh was an accomplished artist of this instrument. Duitara is unlike the bow-shaped veena, santoor, ektara, tambura, jantar, sarod and sarangi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joravarsinh Jadav</span> Indian folklorist

Joravarsinh Danubhai Jadav is an Indian folklorist and proponent of the folk arts from Gujarat. Exposed to folk culture as a child, he studied history and culture in Ahmedabad. He has written and edited more than 90 works on folk culture, folk literature, and folk arts. He established the Gujarat Lok Kala Foundation for the promotion of folk arts. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019. He is also the current Vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

References

  1. U Manik Raitong - the first Khasi coloured film, India-north-east.com
  2. Assam Tribune, 9 January 2009. Archived 18 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. "Northeast Echoes", The Telegraph, 5 Jan 2009
  5. Ryntathiang, Donboklang (26 September 2019). "Remembering the Khasi singer who immortalised fading folktales and village life". Scroll.in. Retrieved 22 August 2022.