As A Classical Vocalist
Though not a professional vocalist, Shyamanand Sinha's singing was a literal feast for the listeners. He was not only blessed with a gifted voice but had tremendous natural ability to bring "pran" in ragas and make them come alive in a most pleasing manner. He belonged to the old school of Hindustani classical music and believed in maintaining purity and spontaneity in performance. His rendition of bandishes, and he possessed a veritable treasure trove obtained from his gurus, was an absolute delight and mesmerised the listeners transferring the singer's sense of ecstasy to the audience in a way that very few have managed to this day. His choice of bandishes for performances were carefully selected for their sahityic (literary) value. He laid particular emphasis on the mood of words and with extraordinary felicity married them to the mood of the ragas. For this reason, he stood apart from the current day performers as well as many of his contemporaries. A taan was to be used to beautify the rendition, where apt, and in the raganga, not just for its sake. Lamenting about modern classical music, in an interview with AIR, he stated "Ab to Bilaskhani me bhi wahi taan hote hain aur malhar me bhi wahi, ang mere kehne ka matlab hai." (Free translation: Nowadays, same taans are sung in Bilaskhani as well as Malhar and the raganga is ignored). At another place, he mentions "jo bhi gao sur me gao". As a further indication of his humility, when it came to singing, he states "one cannot sing if he said he can sing", adding that only the blessings of the god and guru can enable one to sing.
Shyamanand Sinha believed that singing was the highest form of devotion and this reflected in his performances. President Zakir Hussain, once when he was Governor of Bihar, was so moved by his performance that he embraced him stating that the Rajkumar's singing was like praying to the almighty.
The Agra influence on his singing was most unmistakable. But, as indciated above, he learnt from many others and developed his own unique style of singing.
Padmashri Gajendra Narayan Singh, former Chairperson of the Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy in his book "Swar Gandh" has written that "Kumar Shyamanand Singh of Banaili estate had such expertise in singing that many great singers including Kesarbai were convinced about his prowess in singing.In case you cannot believe this please ask Pandit Jasraj. After listening to Bandishes from Kumar Saheb, Jasraj was moved to tears and lamented that alas! he could have such ability himself"(free translation of Hindi text).
Read more about this topic: Rajkumar Shyamanand Sinha
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