First voice notes of legends: A vault of rare test records

Kolkata: Paramananda Choudhury, a passionate archivist of musical history, has amassed a staggering collection of 'test records', some of which feature voices of icons such as Rabindranath Tagore, K L Saigal, Sachin Dev Barman, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and Shyamal Mitra.

Spanning over 50 years, his treasure trove includes moments frozen in time, capturing the essence of the golden era of music.

A journey that started with a fascination has led to a once-in-a-lifetime collection, and each record, a silent witness to history is now preserved by Choudhury for future generations to hear, feel and marvel at.

Test records are the first recorded album of a singer, preceding a commercial launch on a mass scale, to judge audio production quality and marketability.

Choudhury, who also has a collection of first day covers of films dating back to the 1950s, told PTI, "Over 2,000 gramophone records and 200 test records are in my possession." "I was bitten by the bug to collect test records during my younger days when I came across around 15 'test records' of my uncle – singer Satya Choudhury – at our residence in the city," he added.

Soon, he started inquiring about more such test records.

"I stumbled on one such by Tagore where he recites the poem 'Jhulan'. The recital was recorded in February 1935 and launched in 1940. I am in possession of the only test record of 'Jhulan' by Tagore," he claimed.

Soon, Choudhury got hold of the test record of Hemanta Mukhopadhyay's timeless rendition Sukno Patar Sakha Jhore, Tagore's song Nadi Apon Bege, and Shyamal Mitra's Ki Ashay Bandhi Khelaghar in the early 50s.

In the early days, gramophone companies used to bring out test records of every album before commercial launch to check the audio quality.

Each album had only one or two such test records where recordings were done on one side only.

The 'Ki Ashay Bandhi Khelaghar' song has only one available test record in Shyamal Mitra's voice, with no other commercial album brought out by the music company concerned, he claimed.

"I have got hold of test records like Nadi Apon Bege, which was brought out in 1954, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay's Mor Gaan Gungun in 1948, and Sukno Patar Sakha Jhore Jay by Hemanta in 1948," he added.

Asked about his first collected test record, Choudhury said, "I got hold of the test record having the track Notun Chander Tithi, sung by my uncle Satya Choudhury, which was recorded in 1937." The test records collected by Choudhury also include a song by Bengali superstar Suchitra Sen which is her only solo playback.

However, the album was not launched commercially later, he claimed. "So, it is the only available recorded song of Suchitra Sen," he said.

"I have a collection of gramophone records from the period between 1930 and the late 70s. While I was first hooked to the sizeable collection of records at my home when I was growing up, it gradually turned into a passion. From Krishnachandra Dey, K L Saigal to Pankaj Mallick and others, I am still on the lookout for surprises," he added.

Choudhury said he had always been on the lookout for offbeat, rare ones possibly dating back to 100 years, even if the prices are prohibitive.

The intrepid collector has also amassed booklets of 208 Bengali films starring matinee idol Uttam Kumar and a few of his Hindi works.

A total of 1,500 lobby cards of classic Bengali films starring Uttam Kumar and other heroes and heroines, containing pictures, small books, stills of special scenes, and details of the films, are also in his possession.

The collection includes 3-4 unreleased films of the evergreen Bengali superstar.