V. G. Jog

Vishnu Govind Jog, better known as V. G. Jog (22 February 1922 – 31 January 2004), was an Indian violinist. He was the foremost exponent of the violin in the Hindustani music tradition in the 20th century, and is credited for introducing this instrument into Hindustani music.

Jog was a disciple of Baba Allauddin Khan. He performed and recorded with many of the greatest Hindustani musicians of the 20th century (including Bismillah Khan) and toured the world. He frequently performed for All India Radio's Calcutta division. He received the Padma Bhushan award in 1982.

He earned a master's degree in music from Bhatkhande Music Institute in Lucknow in 1944 and went on to teach there. He also taught at the Ali Akbar College of Music.

Beginning in 1999, he suffered from Parkinson's disease, and also suffered from respiratory problems in his later years.

Pandit Vishnu Govind Jog, whose name is almost synonymous with the violin genre in Hindustani classical music, was a performer with the unique distinction of having occupied the top rungs of the classical musicians' hierarchy with three consecutive generations of performers. His career as a highly active and successful performer spanned almost five decades. Born in Mumbai in 1922, he received his early training from S. C. Athavale and the late Ganpat Rao Purohit. Subsequently, he was trained by Vishweswar Shastry, by the renowned musician and musicologist Dr. S. N. Ratanjankar, and for a short time by the celebrated Ustad Allauddin Khan.

Groomed in the Gwalior, Agra and Bakhle styles, Pandit Jog's virtuosity, mastery of ragas and uncanny realisation of space and time in the construction and knowledge of rhythm are his hallmarks. At a very young age, he rubbed shoulders with all-time greats at the Bhatkhande College of Music, Lucknow, in the 1930s — the first great attempt at institutionalizing traditional music instruction.

An unassuming person of infinite charm, he was also regarded as an incomparable accompanist. His duets with Ustad Bismillah Khan met with spectacular successes in India and abroad. He had a remarkable ability to sense the pulse and mood of his audiences, and toured extensively both in India and abroad, significantly in East Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, France, the United States, and West Germany. In 1985, he performed to great acclaim under the auspices of the Festival of India in the United States.

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