Shanti mantras (Peace Mantras)



Bhargav Mistry, composer and sarod player, is Shivoham The instrument, sarod, is an ancient classical instrument from India. It is modified from an Afghan instrument called the rabab. Sarod has a rich resonant, melancholic sound and is ideally suited to play Indian classical music. It is carved out of teak wood and has a drum covered with goatskin for resonance. The strings run over a fretless metal plate covering the wooden structure. There are four main playing strings, eleven sympathetic strings, two chikaras and two chikari strings. Bhargav Mistry started formal training in vocal classical music in 1977 under the guidance of Smt Madhuriben Khare. The Late Shri Sashikant Gundani introduced him to the sarod in 1980. Attracted to the style of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, he went to the master in Delhi in 1991 to seek his guidance and to understand his baaj of Sarod playing. Bhargav Mistry has given many performances and lecture demonstrations in India and abroad but over the last five years has honed his skills as composer. He has created duet music of sarod and vocal for poetry and spiritual texts, including music for ballet on Kalidasa. In 2002 and 2007, he composed with Korean musicians and toured with them in Korea. He was recently awarded the Gold Medal for Sarod from Surnanda Bharati, Calcutta. Shankara – dedicated to the great 8th century AD Indian philosopher-mystic - is his first album, a collaboration with singer Aparna Panshikar. His second album – Peace Mantras – will be released on 30 November 2007. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.