Pandit Balaram Pathak

Balaram Pathak was born on 5 November 1926 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, into a family that traces its musical descent through the sitar and surbahar player Ramgovind Pathak and the dhrupad singer Dinanath Pathak. He learned sitar and surbahar in childhood from his father, and also studied sursringar and vocal music, practising intensively from the age of ten.

He gave his first public performance at Murshidabad in West Bengal at about twelve, with his debut concert dated to 1938, and became a court musician to Maharaja Kamla Ranjan Roy at Cossimbazar in Murshidabad while still young. He later settled in Kolkata, where his eldest son Ashok Pathak became his disciple. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and was given the title Sur Sadhak. He recorded for the French label Ocora, among others.

Family accounts also trace the line back to the medieval musician Gopal Nayak; that claim is traditional rather than documented, and is recorded here as the family's own account.

Pathak's playing grafted the phrasing of dhrupad and khayal onto plucked strings: an extended alap, weighty meend, and ornaments such as mukri, gamak, zamzama and ulta jhala. He also composed, and is credited with introducing ragas including Latangi, Charukeshi, Shanmukhapriya and Ahiri to his repertoire.