Rajkumar Shyamanand Sinha

Rajkumar Shyamanand Sinha (also known as Kumar Shyamanand Singh) (27 July 1916 – 9 April 1994) was a Hindustani classical singer. He was the oldest son of Raja Bahadur Kirtyanand Sinha of the Banaili estate.

Education
At a young age, Shyamanand Sinha began playing the harmonium and clarinet with an older relative.

In 1935, he came across a 78 RPM record of Ustad Vishmadev Chattopadhyay of Kolkata. The record had "Rut Basant" in Raga Rageshri Bahar and "Piya Pardes" in Patdeep, famous renditions by the Ustad. Later Ustad Vishmadev Chattopadyay visited his home for a performance in Champanagar. The recordings and the performance moved Shyamanand Sinha so much that he was determined to learn music from the Ustad. Vishmadev Chattopadyay agreed to become his Guru and taught him from 1936 to 1939.

After Vishmadev Chattopadyay left for Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, Rajkumar Shyamanand Sinha continued his music lessons, at the advice of his guru, from Ustad Bachu Khan Sahib of Agra (from 1940-1962 or 1963). Other widely respected singers from whom he obtained music lessons were Ustad Muzzaffar Khan, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Pandit Bholanath Bhatt, Kedarjee, Ustad Altaf Hussain Khan of Khurja, Mahaveer Mullick and Jaduveer Mullick.

As a Classical Vocalist
Though not a professional vocalist, Shyamanand Sinha belonged to the old school of Hindustani classical music and believed in maintaining purity and spontaneity in performance. Although he was influenced by Agra gharana, he learned from many teachers and developed his own unique style of singing.

He critiqued modern classical music in an interview with AIR, stating "Ab to Bilaskhani me bhi wahi taan hote hain aur malhar me bhi wahi, ang mere kehne ka matlab hai." (Free translation: Nowadays, same taans are sung in Bilaskhani as well as Malhar and the raganga is ignored).

Shyamanand Sinha believed that singing was the highest form of devotion. He once stated "one cannot sing if he said he can sing", adding that only the blessings of the God and guru can enable one to sing.

When President Zakir Hussain was Governor of Bihar, he attended a performance by Shyamanand Sinha. He was so moved that he embraced him stating that his singing was like praying to God.

Padmashri Gajendra Narayan Singh wrote the following in his book, Swar Gandh:

"'Kumar Shyamanand Singh of Banaili estate had such expertise in singing that many great singers including Kesarbai were convinced about his prowess in singing. In case you cannot believe this please ask Pandit Jasraj. After listening to Bandishes from Kumar Saheb, Jasraj was moved to tears and lamented that alas! he could have such ability himself'(free translation of Hindi text)."

As Guru
Shyamanand Sinha's regular students included Shri Sitaram Jha, Kumar Jayanand Sinha, Saktinath Jha, Shankaranand Singh, Suryananranyan Jha, Girijanand Sinha, Udyanand Singh, Jayanta Chattopadhyay, Vandana Jha, Amar Nath Jha, Kaushal Kishore Dubey, Shyam Chaitanya Jha, Vijay Kumar Jha and Ram Sharan Sinha.

On one occasion, Kesarbai Kerkar attended a performance of Shyamanand Sinha. At the time, Shyamanand Sinha was a young man and Kesarbai was a widely respected singer. She was so impressed by his rendition of "Dwarikanath Sharan Me Teri" that she asked him to teach it to her. Whenever Kesarbai sang this composition in future, she acknowledged Shyamanand Sinha as her "Guru" for the song.

Every year on his birth anniversary a classical musical programme is organised in Purnea in his memory.

Public Acclaim
Shyamanand Sinha was not a professional musician and rarely performed in public. Most of his performances were impromptu at his residence in Champanagar, and he was known to stop singing if he was no longer in the mood to perform. Although he was not interested in fame, his followers called him “Sangeet Bhaskar” and “Sangeet Sudhakar” because of his mastery in classical singing.

As a patron of Classical Music
Shyamanand Sinha was also a patron of classical music. In his book, Sangeetangyon ke Sansmaran, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan wrote: "There is no better connoisseur and cognoscente of music in Bihar than Kumar Shyamanand Singh" (free translation of Hindi text). He was one of the chief patrons of the All India Music Conference and presented the convocation address at the 11th All India Music Conference of the Prayag Sangit Samiti at Allahabad on 19 December 1948.

He was a patron of many maestros of Hindustani Classical Music, using his residence at Champanagar as a place of learning and development of classical music. Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Ustad Altaf Hussain Khan of Khurja, Ustad Bachu Khan Sahib and many others were provided residence and patronage in Champanagar.

Shyamanand Sinha also invited many great maestros for performances, among them were "Aftab -e- Maushiqi" Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Ustad Nisaar Hussain Khan, Pandit D.V. Paluskar, Surshri Kesarbai Kerkar, Sawai Gandharva, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, Ustad Altaf Hussain Khan of Khurja, Pandit Jasraj, Dilip Chand Vedi, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Pandit Narayanrao Vyas, Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru, and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and Nazakat Ali Khan, Malang Khan (Pakhawaj), Allauddin Khan (Sarod), Mushtaq Ali (Sitar), Pandit Bholanath Bhatt, Pandit Chinmay Lahiri, Mahaveer Mullick, Jaduveer Mullick and Ramchatur Mallick. Ustad Yunus Hussian Khan refers to "Raja Shyamanand Singh of Chamapanagar" as having invited him to sing on the occasion of his son's marriage.

In 1944, Shyamanand Sinha invited Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and Nazakat Ali Khan to perform at Champanagar during Dasehra. He was so impressed by their rendition of "Raag Malkaus" that he asked them to stay with him longer. The boys and their father stayed for nearly two months. He was responsible for sending them to the All India Music Conference where they received wider recognition for the first time.

Pandit Channulal Mishra's first performance as a young artist was at Champanagar for Shyamanand Sinha.

Recordings
Because of Shyamanand Sinha's personal opinion against recording, few recordings of him exist today. Professional recordings done by All India Radio in the latter part of his life have been lost. A few amateur recordings of his singing have been preserved by his family members and friends, including Kumar Girijanand Sinha and Santosh Jha.