DL. Roy’s 141st birth anniversary celebrations by Sur Dhara at Sisir Mancha on July 19 saw veteran exponents of Roy’s music, Krishna Chattopadhyay and Dilip Kumar Roy (who happens to be the composer’s grandson), being felicitated amidst a hurried package of songs — dutifully representative of the maestro’s unique style and a wide panorama of topics.

From the romantic to the historical, the patriotic and the comic — Roy’s musical compositions are laced with a rare brilliance of intellectualism, in addition to his inborn prowess over melody and rhythm. Fairly influenced by European music of his times, he adapted the baroque style very effectively in his songs. His fiery satire is underlined with a mellowing touch of the comic, and this adds to the aesthetic value of his lyrics. Roy penned some of his best songs on nature at a relatively young age; Gagan bhushan tumi was written when he was only 12.

Debashis Basu’s solos — Patitoddharini Gange and Eki madhur chhanda — were melodious but expressed little of this fire and the spirit behind the compositions. Basu’s Chahi atripta nayaney in kirtan style, Aayrey aamar sudharkona by Sanjukta Bhaduri and Barasha ailo by Indrani Mukherjee were a shade better than the rest — most of which became an exaggerated effort to promote the embellishments lacing Roy’s dramatic style. Compere Prabir Brahmachari was meticulous in historical details and furnished some interesting facts.