Legendary musician Anthony Gonsalves passes away

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

MARGAO: The Legendary Anthony Gonsalves passed away at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim on Wednesday evening.

He was 84 and is survived by his wife Melita, son Kiran and daughter Laxmi.

Laxmi informed that her father was admitted in the hospital for a medical check up on January 9. He breathed his last at around 7 pm after his blood pressure suddenly went down.

Hailing from Majorda village, in September 2010, he was given lifetime achievement award in Mumbai followed by ‘Karmaveer Puraskar’ in Goa in November 2010.

Not many would know this small factoid: Amitabh Bachchan’s character in Manmohan Desai’s Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) was originally named Anthony Fernandes.

Anthony Gonsalves was an Indian musical composer and teacher who, during the mid-1950s, attempted to merge the symphonies of his Goan heritage with the Hindustani melodies and rhythms in films of the day.

He found his first job in the city as a violinist in the group of the composer Naushad in 1943. He taught R D Burman and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (member of the Laxmikant Pyarelal team) and worked with most of the legendary composers of the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1965, he quit the film industry and went to the United States. He became a member of the American Society of Composers, Publishers and Authors. He later returned to India, settled in his ancestral village Majorda and continued composing music.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has condoled the death of Anthony Gonsalves.