May 10: Indian Classical Music Composer and Santoor Player of Jammu Pandit Shiv kumar Sharma, passes away in Mumbai at the age of 84.
He had been suffering from Renal Diseases, for the last six months and was on dialysis. But according to sources he passed away due to cardiac arrest.
The santoor is originally a folk instrument, but became an instrument for Indian classical through his internationally recognized playing style.
Shivkumar Sharma is credited with making Santoor a popular classical instrument. He composed the background music for one of the scenes in Shantaram‘s film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje in 1956.
He recorded his first solo album in 1960.
In 1967, he teamed up with flutist, Hariprasad Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967), which turned out to be one of Indian classical music’s greatest hits. Further, he composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia, starting with Silsila in 1980.
They came to be known as the Shiv-Hari music duo.
Some of the block-buster movies the legendary duo had composed music for were: Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), and Darr (1993).
