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| Lahori manuscript depicting nobleman with musicians |
Tonight’s
post highlights two sets of music from Pakistan and is inspired by two articles
I’ve read in the last couple of days.
The
first article is actually the most recent post on the blog that goes by the
name Moments of Tranquility which is
hosted by Fawad Zakhriya. In the post he poignantly expresses his
sadness for a ‘vanished cultural
landscape’, namely that of fine vocal music sung in cultivated Urdu. He
looks back to a time when Pakistani cultural life was filled with singers,
actors and artists who hailed from the Urdu-speaking heartland of India and who
set the bar of performance on television and radio. It’s really a great post and I’d urge all
with an interest in Pakistani culture to have a quick read.
Touched
by Fawad’s post I dug out a record of Urdu songs sung by some of
Pakistan’s most feted classical/semi-classical, ghazal and film singers for the
Pakistan television program Sukhanwar
(Poet). In this record you’ll hear Farida
Khanum, Tahira Syed, Iqbal Bano, Mehdi Hassan and many more singing ghazals
and folk tunes. My own favorite (as
always) is Amanat Ali Khan who gets pride of place with two
performances, one I’ve never heard before, Mausam
Badla. While not exactly what Fawad
is referring to this album nevertheless is a nice slice of that cultural
landscape that seems to be in fast retreat.
Track Listing:
01
Shaboon Mein Attar (Mehdi Hassan)
02 Do Nain
Kanwal (Nahid Akhtar)
03 Bare Dosti
Mein (Akhlaq Ahmed)
04 Tu Hai Ya
Tera Saya (Tahira Syed)
05 Mausam
Badla (Ustad Amanat Ali Khan)
06 Ae Mitwali
Badli (Nahid Akhtar)
07 Ae
Gizal-e-Shab (Nahid Niazi)
08 Bairi More
Naina (Iqbal Bano)
09 Chand Hi
Nikla (Farida Khanum)
10 Honton Pe
Kabhi (Ustad Amanat Ali Khan)
Listen
here
The
second article is by a Delhi filmmaker Yousef Saeed. He traced the state
of classical Hindustani music in post Partition Pakistan and like Fawad’s
post, one is left lamenting the near extinction of this great art form. While
one can point the usual fingers at bureaucrats and military governments who
never appreciated the fine arts one of the more interesting factors in the
decline of the music was the loss of patronage.
Most musicians were Muslim and when many of the big names left for
Pakistan they left behind their (often royal) patrons. And many of the largest patrons in Lahore and
other cities of Pakistan were Sikh or Hindu who left for India. The end result,
a group of musicians cut adrift from not only their homes but their mode and
culture of making music.
But
read the article, published in the fine online magazine Himal, and watch some of the clips of his
film interviews with Pakistani musicians on YouTube. Absolutely fascinating stuff.
So
the second collection of music is Ustad Habib Ali Khan, binkar (bin player). The only snippet of info I can find on him is
from the back of this CD. Ustad Habib Ali Khan
(1898-1971) of the Delhi gharana was
of the acknowledged greats among sarangi
players of his time, a position he maintained until his death in 1971. A pupil
of Ustad Ahmadi Khan, he served Radio Pakistan and the PIA Arts Academy
both as an instrumentalist and a composer.
One assumes he
played more than the sarangi for this
collection of moving, sad music is played on the bin. The bin or been is also known as the rudra veena in India. The bin has
always been the instrument of Indian classical music and was traditionally
studied by all dhrupad students until
the 19th century.
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| Bin (Rudra Veena) |
It is one of the oldest instruments in Indian music.
Technically a stick zither, it consists of a fingerboard with two large gourd
resonators at either end. The bin
usually has four main playing strings, and two or three "chikari" strings used as rhythmic
drones.
I would love to know more about Ustad Habib Ali Khan. If anyone can pass on more information about
him I’d love to hear. In the meantime, enjoy this very evocative and moving
music from a time not too long ago when the landscape was a bit brighter.
Track
Listing:
01 Raga Hem
02 Raga Dhanasri
03 Raga Khem
04 Raga Multani
05 Maru Behag
06 Maligora
Listen here.
7 comments:
Hi,
thank you for posting this, though you are not the first to post it.
His complete name was Ustad Faqir Habib Ali Khan Beenkar. He was the younger brother of Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan, the inventor or rediscoverer of the Vichitra Veena. In effect, both play the Vichitra Veena, not the Rudra Veena.
Both brothers started as Sarangi players and then switched to the Vichitra Veena. Habib Ali was "acknowlegded as the most knowledgeable theorist of Pakistani music", what probaly means that he had the deepest knowledge of Ragas, what one can easily hear: his music is very very subtle. Info partly taken from his only LP published by EMI Pakistan (ALPC.13)shortly after his passing away.
By the way, all Vichitra Veena players - in India and in Pakistan - go back either directly as students or indirectly to Abdul Aziz Khan. For example the well known Lalmani Mishra (see my blog: http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com/search/label/Lal%20Mani%20Mishra)
switched from Sitar to Vichitra Veena after having heard a recital by Abdul Aziz Khan.
Best greretings
Tawfiq,
Wah! thank you very much for setting the record straight! Have you posted his album?
Dear Ajnabi,
not yet. At the moment I stopped posting (just completed 100 posts)as I'm busy with other things. Maybe I will in the future, insha'Allah.
Best
Anjabi sahib, thanks for the kind comments about my post. I enjoyed the music you posted but it made me think of something else that hopefully I will do a post on at some point. That topic is the contribution of Punjab to Urdu culture and literature. I think Punjab has been the cradle of Urdu for a very long time even though it's not the birthplace of the language. Many of the best Urdu writers of the 20th century are Punjabi: Iqbal, Faiz, Manto, Rashid, Miraji, Majeed Amjad, Bedi, ashfaq Ahmed, Ahmad Nadeem qasmi and on and on. Also, most of the singers on your album are interestingly Punjabi. Only Iqbal Bano is from Delhi. Mehdi Hassan is from Rajasthan but then moved to Pakistani Punjab. Anyway, this is a digression. Thanks for all your posts.
Fawad
Fawad, That's an interesting point. When I was in University I and two friends did the first english translation of Siyah-Hashiye by Manto which remains an ultimate sort of cultural touch point for me. But I had no idea he was Punjabi. I think that's the interesting thing about Lahore and Lahoris. The culture rises above the landscape of Punjab but it is still a very Punjabi city. But also a truly Indian or Hindustani city.
I look forward to reading your thoughts when they get posted!
Plz Plz re-upload both Sukhanwar and Ustad Habib Albums.
Dear Ajnabi, Many thanks for such wonderful upload. Can i suggest some correction in the titles for the record purpose, Though It hardly makes any difference when honey is dropping from everywhere with different flavors.
Correct label is in bracket with capitals. Some tracks has two uncut tracks placed together. Barari (marwa type) is also known as maligaura (marwa ang) & dhanashree (loosely extended here)
44-01 Raga Hem (HEM VILAMBIT)
44-02 Raga Dhanasri (VIBHAS + HEM DRUT)
44-03 Raga Khem (MULTANI)
44-04 Raga Multani (MARUBIHAG)
44-05 Maru Behag (NATBIHAG+BARARI)
44-06 Maligora (NAUROZ)
Dear Tawfiq, your each word about this artist is correct.. much appreciated.
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