Anthony Gonsalves

Anthony Prabhu Gonsalves (12 June 1927 – 18 January 2012) was an Indian musical composer, music arranger and teacher born in the village of Majorda (near Margao in Portuguese Goa), His father, Jose Antonio Gonsalves, was a choirmaster at Majorda’s Mãe de Deus church. Musically precocious, Anthony quickly absorbed his father’s lessons and then, barely into his teens, went to Bombay to join his fellow Goan musician. During the mid-1950s, attempted to merge the symphonies of his Goan heritage with the Hindustani melodies and rhythms in films of the day.

Not to be confused with Anthony (film editor).
This article is about the music composer. For the song from the 1977 movie Amar Akbar Anthony, see My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves (song). For the 2007 Bollywood movie, see My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves (film).

Later, he was popularised as a lead character in the 1977 hit, Amar Akbar Anthony, played by Amitabh Bachchan, was named after him, especially with the song, "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves".[1][2]

Career

He found his first job in the city as a violinist in the group of the composer Naushad in 1943. He taught Pyarelal Sharma of Laxmikant–Pyarelal team and has worked with most of the legendary composers of the 1950s and 1960s. A few examples of his work are B.R. Chopra (Naya Daur, Waqt), Naushad (Dillagi), and Chetan Anand (Haqeeqat). The song "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves" was Pyarelal's tribute to his violin teacher.[3]

In 1958, Gonsalves founded the Symphony Orchestra of India (as distinct from the Symphony Orchestra of India) featuring playback singers Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey as soloists, the works were performed in the quadrangle of St. Xavier's College, Bombay.

In 1965, he quit the film industry and went to the United States, via a travelling grant from Syracuse University in New York. He became a member of the American Society of Composers, Publishers and Authors, and later in returned to India, settled in his ancestral village of Majorda in Goa, and continued composing music, though he never joined the Hindi films again[4] He died in 2012 of pneumonia and hypotension.[5][6]

Music Arrangement in Indian movies
  • Dholak (1950)
  • Pehli Nazar (1945)
  • Mahal (1949)

References
  1. Gitanjali Roy (8 May 2013). "10 things you didn't know about Amar Akbar Anthony". NDTV Movies. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. Ethnomusicology Gregory D. Booth (15 September 2008). Behind the Curtain : Making Music in Mumbai's Film Studios: Making Music in Mumbai's Film Studios. Oxford University Press. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-0-19-971665-4. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  3. The 'Real' Anthony Gonsalves! Archived 23 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, MA Khan, Screen India, 21 November 2003.
  4. Remembering Anthony Gonsalves, Naresh Fernandes (Time Out editor), India Seminar No. 543, November 2004.
  5. "Yes, his name was Anthony Prabhu Gonsalves". 19 January 2012.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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