Ravi Shankar

A virtuoso of the sitar renowned for pushing the boundaries of its traditional structures, Ravi Shankar stood as arguably the most globally recognized Indian musician of his era. His first recordings date to 1936, launching a professional journey that covered nine full decades. Although his guidance of the Beatles amid their 1960s peak introduced him to Western listeners, Shankar’s reach reached well past pop music; across much of his life he worked to connect disparate musical traditions.

Born Rabindra Shankar Chowdery on April 7, 1920, in Varanasi, India, he entered a prosperous orthodox Brahmin household. His father, Shyam Shankar, served as diwan to the Maharajah of Jhalawar. By thirteen, Ravi accompanied his brother Uday Shankar’s Compaigne de Danse et Musique Hindou on every tour. At the All-Bengali Music Conference in December 1934 he encountered the multi-instrumentalist Allauddin Khan, whose birth year remains unclear—estimates cluster in the 1860s near 1862, though Khan later supplied conflicting ages himself. Khan profoundly shaped numerous artists, most indelibly his son Ali Akbar, his daughter Annapurna Devi, and Shankar. Around 1935–1936 he became principal soloist in Uday’s ensemble.

In 1938 Shankar abandoned dance aspirations to study under Allauddin Khan in Maihar. Public recitals began in 1939, and his formal training concluded at the close of 1944. Until 1948 he resided in Bombay, performing throughout India while composing for films and ballet; his first sessions for HMV (India) also occurred then. From February 1949 to January 1956 he served All India Radio in New Delhi as music director. His international profile rose simultaneously: a 1954 appearance in the Soviet Union preceded his first Western solo recitals in Europe and the United States in 1956. Within ten years he ranked as the planet’s foremost Indian musician; within twenty he was likely the most celebrated Indian citizen. His 1969 English autobiography, My Music, My Life, remains a standard primer on Hindustani music. His sway over late-twentieth-century Western music is difficult to overstate; among his disciples were George Harrison and Philip Glass.

Shankar never confined himself to classical performance alone and ventured repeatedly into other idioms, drawing purist rebuke. Some criticism during the Beatles period stemmed from envy, yet he undeniably embraced risk, a willingness that sustained the vitality of his work. Using a cricketing metaphor, his batting average stayed impressive across a lengthy, distinguished career. In later decades he divided time between India and his California residence, delivering captivating concerts well into the new century. His final appearance took place in Bangalore in February 2012, shared with his daughter Anoushka. After extended illness he died at a San Diego hospital on December 11, 2012, at age 92. Two albums followed later that year: Living Room Sessions: Part 1 and a recording of his sole symphony, Symphony, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under David Murphy.