Baldev Raj Verma

Pandit Baldev Raj Verma is disciple of late Pandit Amaranth Chawla, who studied under Ustad Amir Khan of Indore Gharana. He is a leading artist of this gharana and uses all the characteristics of Indore gharana in his singing such as Merukhand taans. His singing is marked by a reposeful and serene elaboration of the Raga with a subtle rhythmic consciousness in Vilambit. The artist seeks to build up a massive edifice of the Raga with the help of rather wide ranging musical phrases befitting the grandeur of its structure while maintaining a remarkable aesthetic tension in the execution of his textural design. This imparts a sort of mystic touch to his rendition. In Drut his supple and sonorous voice enables him to render intricate sargams and fast taans in complex but aesthetic patters with an amazing ease in all the three octaves by selectively and using the musical phrases in striking contrast. He masterly fuses together seemingly jagged and incompatible patterns in a manner that is both enthralling and regaling. But all through this trying effort the form of the Raga is maintained fully intact. His music has a quality of invocation that transports the audience to the realm of spirituality.