Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar, KBE, born Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury, his name often preceded by the title Pandit, was a known Indian musician and a composer of Hindustani classical music. He was one of the best-known exponents of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many other musicians throughout the world...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionSitar Player
Date of Birth7 April 1920
CityVaranasi, India
CountryIndia
analyzing duty music realizing
I try to give to my music the spiritual quality, very deep in the soul, which does something even if you are not realizing it or analyzing it - that's the duty of the music.
based call connected emptiness feeling night nine sitting thousands
There are thousands of ragas, and they are all connected with different times of the day, like sunrise or night or sunset. It is all based on 72 of what we call 'mela' or scales. And we have principally nine moods, ranging from peacefulness to praying, or the feeling of emptiness you get by sitting by the ocean.
admired million performing playing
I was admired by all these hippies, and it was wonderful playing at Monterey and Woodstock, performing for half a million people.
call good instinct love
I have always had an instinct for doing new things. Call it good or bad, I love to experiment.
god holy means name original
'Ravi' means 'sun.' It's a Sanskrit original word. And 'Shankar' is another name of Shiva, one of the holy trinity god that we worship.
appreciate attracted famous found might satisfied
I have my own spiritual guru, and I'm so happy, and I feel so satisfied that I might appreciate many other famous gurus, but, you know, I am not attracted that way because I have found the person.
almost music sanctity spiritual
My music has a very spiritual background, a sanctity that is almost like worship.
animation chances either fairy indian music provide secret sorts tale
My secret ambition was always to provide music for animation films: something with an Indian theme, either a fairy tale or mythological tale or on the Krishna theme. I still have a very deep desire, but these sorts of chances don't always come.
electronic music
I don't appreciate avant-garde, electronic music. It makes me feel quite ill.
art believe love millions owning work
I love the work of Matisse and Picasso, but I don't have enough millions to own one. And I don't really believe in owning art, anyway.
popularity
I think musicians and actors have all these problems, because of the popularity and the opportunity.
came classical hear house music musicians western
My brother had a house in Paris. To it came many Western classical musicians. These musicians all made the same point: 'Indian music,' they said, 'is beautiful when we hear it with the dancers. On its own, it is repetitious and monotonous.'
gradually music
I started out as a dancer, but gradually became more interested in music.
I was invited for the first Woodstock. Actually, I started the programme.