Sagar Sen
Encyclopedia
Sagar Sen (1932–1983) was a Bengali
singer. He is primarily known as a Rabindrasangeet artiste although he had recorded a few Bengali modern songs
as well.
, Debabrata Biswas
and Chinmoy Chattopadhyay were highly established and extremely popular. However, his unique attributes like his melodious baritone
voice, attention to the minute details and the most appropriate emotional delivery and style required for the rendition of songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore
appealed to the masses on a large scale.
Sagar Sen’s first recording with All India Radio
was in the year 1958. Thereafter, he started performing as a Rabindrasangeet singer at Akashvani, Kolkata
. He participated in the recordings of Tagore’s operas namely, Shap Mochan (1966) and Valmiki Pratibha
(1967) under the direction of Santosh Sengupta. However, the big breakthrough came in 1968 with the recording of the song ‘Ami Jene Shune Bish Korechhi Paan’, a song from Tagore’s first opera ‘Mayar Khela’, which played a great role in establishing him as a very coveted artiste of Rabindrasangeet. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he recorded numerous songs with the erstwhile Gramophone Company of India Ltd
.
The year 1974 saw the release of his first stereophonic Long Play (LP) record, which comprised 14 songs of Tagore, 7 each from ‘Puja’(Devotional) and ‘Prem’ (Love) category.
He founded a musical institution in Kolkata
named 'Rabi Rashmi' where students learned Rabindrasangeet under his tutelage. 'Rabi Rashmi' was extremely popular in its times and was also known for its regular performance of various concerts like ‘Shraban Sandhya(An Evening of Shravana)', ‘Shapmochan(Tagore’s Opera)’, ‘Rituranga(Season’s Varieties)', ‘Gaaner Jharnatalay(Under the Fountain of Songs)', ‘Swadeshi Neye Bideshi Kheya(Tagore's Songs from Western Tunes)', ‘Bishwajana Mohichhey(The World is Spellbound)' organised at prestigious venues in Kolkata
like Rabindra Sadan
, Shishir Mancha and Kala Mandir . Such concerts were organised by Sagar Sen and performed by his students as well as himself and other famous artistes like Hemanta Mukhopadhyay
, Chinmoy Chattopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra
and Bani Thakur.
In August 1975, the inaugural session and opening ceremony of the Kolkata
Doordarshan
was initiated by Sagar Sen along with Sumitra Sen, another renowned artiste of that time.
artiste notably in the Bengali
movies Je Jekhane Dnariye (1974), and Parichay (1979) and also in movies like Abirbhab and Mantramugdha. He received a BFJA Award in 1979 for the song ‘Aj Jyotsnaratey Sobai Gechhe Boney’ in the movie Parichay. He also sang a few modern Bengali songs
like ‘Ei Jibon Emni Kore Ar To Soy Na’ and ‘Ki Holo Chand Keno Meghe Dheke Gelo’ in 1980 and a duet with Sabita Chowdhury ‘Trishito Nayane Eso’ all composed by the maestro composer, Salil Chowdhury
.
. However, he was primarily based in Kolkata
, throughout his musical career. In 1981, he was diagnosed with Cancer
. Despite this diagnosis, he continued recording and performing in concerts in high spirits, throughout the last one and a half years of his life. He breathed his last on 4 January 1983, at the age of just 50 years. He was survived by his wife and three sons, Priyam Sen, Pritam Sen and Promit Sen. Promit Sen has established himself as a renowned Rabindrasangeet artiste and continues to sing today.
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
singer. He is primarily known as a Rabindrasangeet artiste although he had recorded a few Bengali modern songs
Music of Bengal
The music of Bengal, also referred to as Bangla music, comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium...
as well.
Career
Sagar Sen made an entry into the world of Rabindrasangeet in the early 1960s. It was an era when stalwarts like Hemanta MukhopadhyayHemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay also known as Hemanta Mukherjee was an Bengali singer, composer and producer. He sang in Hindi films under the name Hemant Kumar.-Early life:...
, Debabrata Biswas
Debabrata Biswas
Debabrata Biswas , also known as George Biswas or George-da , was an Indian Rabindra Sangeet singer.-Early life:...
and Chinmoy Chattopadhyay were highly established and extremely popular. However, his unique attributes like his melodious baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
voice, attention to the minute details and the most appropriate emotional delivery and style required for the rendition of songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
appealed to the masses on a large scale.
Sagar Sen’s first recording with All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
was in the year 1958. Thereafter, he started performing as a Rabindrasangeet singer at Akashvani, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. He participated in the recordings of Tagore’s operas namely, Shap Mochan (1966) and Valmiki Pratibha
Valmiki-Pratibha
Vālmīki-Praṭibhā is an opera by Rabindranath Tagore. The Bengali libretto was written by Tagore himself based on the legend of Ratnakara the Thug who later became Sage Valmiki and composed Ramayana, a Hindu epic....
(1967) under the direction of Santosh Sengupta. However, the big breakthrough came in 1968 with the recording of the song ‘Ami Jene Shune Bish Korechhi Paan’, a song from Tagore’s first opera ‘Mayar Khela’, which played a great role in establishing him as a very coveted artiste of Rabindrasangeet. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he recorded numerous songs with the erstwhile Gramophone Company of India Ltd
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" label...
.
The year 1974 saw the release of his first stereophonic Long Play (LP) record, which comprised 14 songs of Tagore, 7 each from ‘Puja’(Devotional) and ‘Prem’ (Love) category.
He founded a musical institution in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
named 'Rabi Rashmi' where students learned Rabindrasangeet under his tutelage. 'Rabi Rashmi' was extremely popular in its times and was also known for its regular performance of various concerts like ‘Shraban Sandhya(An Evening of Shravana)', ‘Shapmochan(Tagore’s Opera)’, ‘Rituranga(Season’s Varieties)', ‘Gaaner Jharnatalay(Under the Fountain of Songs)', ‘Swadeshi Neye Bideshi Kheya(Tagore's Songs from Western Tunes)', ‘Bishwajana Mohichhey(The World is Spellbound)' organised at prestigious venues in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
like Rabindra Sadan
Rabindra Sadan
Rabindra Sadan is a cultural centre and theatre in Calcutta, located near the Nandan cinema and cultural complex and the Academy of Fine Arts on AJC Bose Road in South Kolkata. Construction began on 5 August 1961 and ended October 1967...
, Shishir Mancha and Kala Mandir . Such concerts were organised by Sagar Sen and performed by his students as well as himself and other famous artistes like Hemanta Mukhopadhyay
Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay also known as Hemanta Mukherjee was an Bengali singer, composer and producer. He sang in Hindi films under the name Hemant Kumar.-Early life:...
, Chinmoy Chattopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra
Suchitra Mitra
Suchitra Mitra was an Indian singer and composer, as well as a well-respected exponent of Rabindra Sangeet or the songs of Bengal's poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore. As an academic she remained a Professor and the Head of 'Rabindra Sangeet Department' at the Rabindra Bharati University for many...
and Bani Thakur.
In August 1975, the inaugural session and opening ceremony of the Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
was initiated by Sagar Sen along with Sumitra Sen, another renowned artiste of that time.
Style
His style of rendition appealed to every dedicated listener of the genre through its simplicity which succeeded in the manifestation of sublime realization. His uniqueness lay in the fact that he gave extreme importance to the minute details of the notations. His songs exhibit the perfect blend of the emotional delivery(which is a unique attribute of Rabindrasangeet) and technical perfection.Modern Songs and Playback
Sagar Sen performed as a playbackPlayback singer
A playback singer is a singer whose singing is prerecorded for use in movies. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras, while the actual singer does not appear on screen.-South Asia:...
artiste notably in the Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
movies Je Jekhane Dnariye (1974), and Parichay (1979) and also in movies like Abirbhab and Mantramugdha. He received a BFJA Award in 1979 for the song ‘Aj Jyotsnaratey Sobai Gechhe Boney’ in the movie Parichay. He also sang a few modern Bengali songs
Music of Bengal
The music of Bengal, also referred to as Bangla music, comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium...
like ‘Ei Jibon Emni Kore Ar To Soy Na’ and ‘Ki Holo Chand Keno Meghe Dheke Gelo’ in 1980 and a duet with Sabita Chowdhury ‘Trishito Nayane Eso’ all composed by the maestro composer, Salil Chowdhury
Salil Chowdhury
Salil Chowdhury was an Indian music composer. He mainly composed for Bengali, Hindi, and Malayalam films. He was also a poet and a playwright. He is affectionately called Salilda by all his admirers....
.
Personal Life and Death
Sagar Sen was born in 1932 in Faridpur, BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. However, he was primarily based in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, throughout his musical career. In 1981, he was diagnosed with Cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Despite this diagnosis, he continued recording and performing in concerts in high spirits, throughout the last one and a half years of his life. He breathed his last on 4 January 1983, at the age of just 50 years. He was survived by his wife and three sons, Priyam Sen, Pritam Sen and Promit Sen. Promit Sen has established himself as a renowned Rabindrasangeet artiste and continues to sing today.