Musicians - Taranath Rao

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	Musicians - Taranath Rao

Taranath Ram Rao Hattiangadi (1915-1991) was a performer and pedagogue of Indian classical percussion, revered for his knowledge of rare talas and old compositons. He represented the Farukhabad, Delhi, and Ajrada gharanas of tabla, and the Nana Panse tradition of pakhavaj. He studied formally for 47 years--an exceptional amount of time, even in the Indian master-disciple system--under many pandits and ustads, most notably Shamsuddin Khan. He faithfully passed his scholarship down to numerous disciples and students of special training.

Education

Taranath's teachers included Subbarao Ankolekar, Vishnu Goakar, "Layabhaskar" Khaprumama of Goa, Fayaz Khan of Kanpur, Shankarao Alkutkar, Baburao Ghokle, Kallu Khan, and most significantly Shamsuddin Khan, the distinguished gurubhai of Ahmedjan Thirakwa and accompanist of Kirana gharana vocalist Abdul Karim Khan.

Teaching and Performance

Taranath moved from his native Mangalore to Bombay in 1932, and for decades was a scion of that city's music scene--first as a performer and concert organizer, and later, as his health declined, a musical mentor and authority. He frequently gave solo performances and lectures on All India Radio, and was honored in courtly traditions by the Maharajas of Mysore, Kolhapur, Baroda and Savantwadi. Rao provided counsel and speciality training to a number of already established artsits-- many of whom were preparing to play with Ravi Shankar--such as the brilliant Chatur Lal.

Taranath accompanied many raga masters of his day: Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the senior Dagar Brothers, the Ali Brothers of Pakistan, Sawai Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi, Kumar Gandharva, Kishanrao Shankar Pandit, Mallikarjun Mansur, Aftab-e-Mousiqi Fayyaz Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Rais Khan, and Ali Akbar Khan are just a few. He was respected for his close ties with some of the most important instrumentalists, like Allaudin Khan--whose early Bombay concerts he was influential in arranging--Ravi Shankar--for whom he was an original accompanist--and the revolutionary flautist Pannalal Ghosh. Taranath's friendship and scholarship were also sought by the giants of the Bombay tabla world, like Amir Hussain Khan, Pandharinath Nageshkar, Nikhil Ghosh, and Nizamuddin Khan, and he had the honorable privelege of being a confidant of the unparalled Ahmedjan Thirakwa.

Taranath Rao was a venerable curator of Indian percussion, but is also remembered for his innovative approach to the drums, his modern outlook on classical music, and his sincere, systematic teaching style. He was a pioneer of tabla jugulbandi and other contempory features of tabla solo. In addition to private tuitions from his home in Bombay, Taranath taught and lectured at many instituitions like Ravi Shankar's Kinarra School, Bhatkande University (Bombay and Lucknow), and the Kala Academy in Goa.

For the last 12 years of his life, Taranath taught at CalArts in Los Angeles, where his younger brother Harihar Rao was heading the Ravi Shankar Music Circle. It is said that anyone who learned from him, even if for a little while, retained a love for Indian classical music. Taranath Rao had hundreds of students around the world, the most notable being Ravi Bellare, Shashi Bellare, Sadanand Naimpalli, Omkar Gulvady, Mohan Balvally, Vijay Kangutkar, Balakrishna Iyer, Jayawant Bantwal, Jef Feldman, Peter Fagiola, Roland Drugemuller, Greg Johnson, Bengt Berger, and Leonice Shinneman. His tradtion is carried on by the Peshkar Foundation.

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