Anthems for the Nation of Luobaniya • 罗巴尼亚国歌

The Conference on Arabic Music in Cairo 1932

2011-09-22T09:09:00.000+02:00

Original label from one of the 78 rpm's

Recordings from the

Conference on Arabic Music held in

Cairo 1932

The conference on Arabic music was held in Cairo 1932 on the initiative of baron d'Erlanger and under the presedency of King Fouad I in the presence of several great musicologists, composers and orientalists, uniting the best of the classical and popular music styles performing musicians of the Maghreb and Asia Minor. After recordings made under the direction of Béla Bartòk and Mansûr Awad in connection with the conference, the Gramophone Company published noncommercially more than one hundred sixty 78 rpm discs. That is more than 320 sides of approximately 3 minutes each.

Finally in the 1990's some reissues from this vast body of recordings made at the Cairo conference 1932, previously only accessible to a few specialized scholars was made available on CD for the enjoyment and scrutiny of a wider audience . The ones that I know of will be posted here. I have decided to make the long out of print reissues of these early 78 rpm recordings available again to a wider o a possibly wider group of listener than has been reached before. These recordings are too precious to be forgotten in some attics of institutions or remain rare precious unobtainable objects in private collections.

This is truly beautiful music that constantly is worthy of finding new listeners.

First out is this boxed 2 CD collection that was published with a very informative book in several languages. This edition a long out of print and there has to my knowledge not been issued again. It was hard to get a copy already in the beginning of the nineties. I hope you enjoy this effort and should you sit on any other material visual printed or audio please share it with me. See also the end of this post for a list of what will be forthcoming.

Congrès du Caire 1932 Vol.1-2
APN 88 - 9-10 - P.1988

(Institut du Monde Arabe et Phonotheque National du France)

APN 88 - 9

Disc 1

01 Abûdhiyya 4:45 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak
02 Maqâm Ibrâhîmî 20:50 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak
03 Pasta 5:54 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak
04 Taqsîm Santûr 3:02 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak
05 Taqsîm Jawza 3:00 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak
06 Taqsîm °ûd 2:59 Musique Savante de Bagdad / Irak

The Iraqi ensemble of Mohammad al-Qubbanji (1901-1989)

(as you see he died only one year after this re-issue so you see

why there is no year given in the booklet.)

07 Mawwâl & Taqtûqa 5:35 Musique Populaire / Égypte
08 Chant De Mariage 5:27 Musique Populaire / Égypte
09 Air De Procession Des Pèlerins 2:45 Musique Populaire / Égypte
10 Samâ°î Bayyâtî Thaqîl 3:11 Musique Populaire / Égypte
11 Chant & Danse de Bedouins 3:32 Musique Populaire / Égypte
12 Zâr Sa°îdî 4:42 Musique Populaire / Égypte
13 El Zâr Nubien 4:50 Musique Populaire / Égypte

Disc 1 total time: 71:31

The Egyptian ensemble of Mohammad al Arabi (1885-1941)

are represented here with some of my favourite tracks.

APN 88 - 10

Disc 2

01 Tawshiya 6:01 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie
02 Shughl Basît 6:01 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie
03 Mawwâl Il Taghtiya 2:55 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie
04 Inshâd Baytayn Taghtiya I 3:03 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie
05 Hawfî 3:08 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie
06 Batâ'ihî 3:08 Musique Citadine De Tlemcen / Algérie

The Algerian ensemble of the singer el Hajj al-Arabi Ibn Sari (1883-1965)

who also played Ud, Rabab and Qanun.

07 Bughya Tawshiya 4:57 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc
08 Shughl Basît 6:16 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc
09 Mawwâl Il Taghtiya 2:55 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc
10 Inshâd Baytayn Taghtiya I 2:43 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc
11 El Inshâd Baytayn Il Taghtiya II 2:25 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc
12 Mawwâl 2:29 Musique Savante De Féz / Maroc

The Moroccan Ensemble of Umar Faid al Juaydi (1873-1952)

that participated at the Cairo conference.

The singer Muhammad al-Shuwayka (c 1890-1940)

is the man with the rabab. Originating from Meknes

he also sang in the Fes tradition. There are only six tracks in

this set but I will post a record with twenty tracks of this group later.

13 Istiftâh & Musaddar 4:27 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie
14 Abyât & Batâ'ihî 7:02 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie
15 Qasîda 3:01 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie
16 Muwashshah & Zajal 3:22 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie
17 Chant De Circoncision 2:43 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie
18 Danse De La Ghayta 2:52 Musique Citadine De Tunis / Tunisie

Disc 2 total time: 70:13

The Tunisian ensemble of Muhammad Ghanim (c 1880-1940)

Arabic front

Comment:

There is some duplication on other releases with reissued material from this conference but I stronlgy recommend you to get this volume as well because of the very informative and nice accompanying trilingual (french, english and arabic) 200+ pages volume:
«Congres du Caire 1932 - La Musique Arabe Savante & Populaire» Paris.

After a preparation period from 15-27 March the conference on Arabic Music

was held in Cairo from the 28th of March - 3'rd of April.

As can be seen from the picture above, there were many illustrious participants.

One of the driving forces behind the Conference, held under the auspices of

King Fouad 1 of Egypt,was baron Rodolph d'Erlanger, who in the end was unable to attend

due to illness that was to take his life a few months afterwards.

Some of the participants and organisers were composers Bela Bartok,

Paul Hindemith, Aloïs Haba, Henri Rabaud, music critic Emile Vuillermoz,

musicologists Erich Morris von Hornbostel, Robert Lachmann, Curt Sachs, Egon Weilesz,

and orientalists baron Carra de Veaux, Padre Xavier Colangettes, Henry George Farmer,

Alexis Chottin,

In the picture above you can also find one (maybe two)

of the few female participants.

For the rest of republished recordings from the conference known to me see this list. I will, in due time, post all those remaining volumes here as well. If you have information about any other reissues than the ones mentioned in the list please let me know. When done with the above I will also attempt to post some related material.

I will also add a bibliography and try to list all the recordings at a later date.
Anyhow more will come in due time.

Again, I have kept you waiting for what should have been a complete post.

My sincere apologies!

I am really truly sorry, this post went out of the house before it was ready! Again I was overly enthusiastic about the free time I might get on my hands but also again was overwhelmed by my workload to the point that I forgot that I had set a publishing date for this post that turned out to be premature! I had the best intention, I assure you, to supply links to all the music files and the accompanying book in pdf and to provide a lot more information to the post! I finally got it done this weekend. I hope you don't mind that I did not delete the post since a few kind people had already commented on it! Again, please excuse the once again prolonged wait.

Now all the files are also here below! The optimized pdf will be here later but all the scans for the record in high resolution are already here!

The scans is probably what always takes the longest time to prepare for most of the posts.

Anyhow here they are in a rather unnecessary high quality considering the original 78 rpm.

So also the non-lossy files are included should you prefer to make single channel mono in another tighter bitrate. All the documentation is included in each file below so the files are rather big.

Maybe I should have separate files for the documentation only.

Leave a comment if you have any problems with them,

Music at 320 ▼ (702 mb)

Non-lossy flac ▼ (916 mb)

Music from Yemen Arabia • Samar

2011-07-02T18:09:00.023+02:00

Music from Yemen Arabia
• Samar
Lyrichord - LLST 7284

Side A

A1 Leish Teguig 5'20
A2 Al Sabah 6'55
A3 Keef Faish 11'15

Side B

B1 A'Zaffer 21'30

Hassan al Zabeede, ud - track A1, A3
Salim Ibrahim, derbooga - track A1, A3

In the evening, Yemeni friends gather to talk, listen to music, smoke tobacco, chew the narcotic leaf quat and drink scented water and ginger spiced coffee. They call this time Samar, the “delicious time”, “luxury time”, “the time when happiness becomes longer”.

North Yemen lies in the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula facing the Red Sea. Apart from the humid coastal plain called the Tihama, it is a mountainous country with plateaux ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet. About ninety percent of the population are agriculturalists growing coffee, the narcotic quat, grain, fruit, and vegetables. Mountain Yemen was the site of the ancient civilizations of the Minaeans, Sabaeans, and Himyarites. The Queen of Sheba or Saba came from Yemen. Yemen adopted the Islamic religion in the 7th century AD. In the north there are the Zeidi Shia-Muslims, and in the south and the Tihama the Shafei Sunni-Muslims. North Yemeni society is almost entirely tribal and many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country are tribal leaders.

Mohammed al Kawkabani, qanun - track A3, B1
Saad al Kawkabani, ud - track A3, B1

Music ▼

Music from Yemen Arabia • Sanaani - Laheji - Adeni

2011-07-01T18:09:00.006+02:00

Music from Yemen Arabia
• Sanaani - Laheji - Adeni
Recordings from 1973 by Ragnar Johnson
Lyrichord - LLST 7283

Side A

A1 You Said That You Would Forget Me 12'30
A2 Wa Seed Ana Lak Min Al Khodan 6'45
A3 Ana Mush Areemak 6'45

Side B

B1 Tabal Samar 7'40
B2 Wa Mogarred Bi Wadi Aldoore 6'50
B3 Ya Sabooh al Enab 10'25

Hassan al Zabeede, ud - track A3, B1
Salim Ibrahim, derbooga - track A3, B1

Mohammed al Kawkabani, qanun - track A1, A2, B2
Saad al Kawkabani, ud - track A1, A2, B2

These records from Yemen (the second will appear shortly) have really captured that very feeling of time standing still without any particular need to struggle forwards. It is confident in itself and needs neither progress nor improvement. I post these records to satisfy a long standing request by a very special friend and hope that they shall find their way to his and and all others sensitive ears. There is much information about the songs on both record sleeves and the text below is only a brief intro. I hope you enjoy!

North Yemen lies in the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula facing the Red Sea. Apart from the humid coastal plain called the Tihama, it is a mountainous country with plateaux ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet. About ninety percent of the population are agriculturalists growing coffee, the narcotic quad, grain, fruit, and vegetables. Mountain Yemen was the site of the ancient civilizations of the Minaeans, Sabaeans, and Himyarites. The Queen of Sheba or Saba came from Yemen. Yemen adopted the Islamic religion in the 7th century AD. In the north there are the Zeidi Shia-Muslims, and in the south and the Tihama the Shafei Sunni-Muslims. North Yemeni society is almost entirely tribal and many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country are tribal leaders.

Hugh Tracey - Musical Instruments - 7 - Guitars 2

2011-06-30T13:23:00.000+02:00

Hugh Tracey - The Music of Africa Series
- Musical Instruments 7 - Guitars 2
Kaleidophone - KMA 7 - P.1972

Side A

A1 Manwani kufiki wanda - Ilunga Patrice & Misobma Victor (Luba-Hemba, Kolwezi, Katanga, Congo) 2'44
A2 Kanelo - Ilunga Patrice & Misobma Victor (Luba-Hemba, Kolwezi, Katanga, Congo) 3'02
A3 Guabi, guabi - George Sibanda (Ndebele, Bulawayo, Rhodesia 2'48
A4 Kissicha moto-moto - J.P. Oden (Swahili, Kidumu, Kenya) 2'31
A5 Maza kilio-e - Jean Bosco Mwenda (Swahili, Jadotville, Katanga, Congo) 2'53
A6 Shia bantwana aosela lagavia - Nomuswiti Citaumvano and Uvakutsiwo (Xhosho-Mpondo, Lusikisiki, Pondoland, Cap, South Africa) 2'56

Side B

B1 Masenga wa Bena Nomba - Ngoi Nono, Kabonga Anastase and friends (Luba-Songe, Kabongo, Katanga, Congo) 4'31
B2 Katikalepake, katikatobeke (About to snap, about to break) - Isac Matafwana and Sunkutu (Bemba, Mufulka, Zambia) 3'01
B3 Mpenzi wangu umepotea mjini - Lang Obierto and a group of Luo men (Luo, Yala in Gem, near Kisumu, Kenya) 2'54
B4 Safari ya baraka - Ombiza Charles with his wife (Swahili-Ngwana, Kisangani, Congo) 2'55
B5 Masenga - Ilunga Patrice & Misomba Victor and friends (Luba-Hemba, Kolwezi, Katanga, Congo) 2'53
B6 Nahawandi (Udi solo) - Bom Ambaron (Swahili-Nguja, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania) 2'47

Here is Guitar 2, to my knowledge the last of the Hugh Tracey series on Kaleidophone. I like these two volumes (the previous post and this one) very very much and they have gotten a lot of playtime over the years. To me much of this music seems very sweet and innocent and always puts me in a good mood. This is music for close by friends, played in a world where people are not full of pretence or deceitfulness. A lot of idealistic nonsense you say! Self deception! So what, I rather deceive myself that have other people doing it for me! Anyhow I will be posting many more records of African music, mostly field recordings and not always this sweet. Again, I hope you enjoy!

Music ▼

Hugh Tracey - Musical Instruments - 6 - Guitars 1

2011-06-29T15:45:00.000+02:00

Hugh Tracy - The Music of Africa Series
Musical Instruments 6 - Guitars 1
Kaleidophone - KMA 6 - P.1972

Side A

A1 Masanga - Jean Bosco Mwenda (Luba-Sanga, Jadotville, Katanga, Congo) 3'01
A2 Mama na mwana (Mother and child) - Jean Bosco Mwenda (Ngala, Jadotville, Katanga, Congo) 3'00
A3 Ayu welele wa Mhalaka (Alas for a bachelor) - Ngoi Noao, Kabongo Anastase, and friends (Luba-Songe, Kabongo, Katanga, Congo) 3'04
A4 Mama Josefina - Ilunga Patrice & Misomba Victor (Luba-Hemba, Kabinda, Kasai, Congo) 2'48
A5 Antoinette wa Kolwezi - Ilunga Patrice & Misoma Victor (Luba-Hemba, Kolwezi Copper Mine, Katanga, Congo) 3'07
A6 Muleka mwene ngole - Kaseba Anatole (Luba-Shankadi, Kolwezi Copper Mine, Katanga, Congo) 3'04

Side B

B1 Muleka Mwene Yombwe - Ngoi Nono, Kabongo Anastase, and friends (Luba-Songe, Kabongo, Katanga, Congo) 4'00
B2 Nyon anyona (Walk proudly) - Lang Obiero and Luo men (Luo, Yala in Gem, near Kisumu, Kenya) 3'03
B3 Pini ochama (I was without hope) - Lang Obiero and Luo men (Luo, Yala in Gem, near Kisumu, Kenya) 2'43
B4 Anagikafu ragitake - Deab Rizgala (Nubi, Mbale, Uganda) 2'38
B5 A Desayo - Morris Kalala and an Ngala girl (Ngala, Kinshasa Congo) 2'50
B6 Iuwale-o-Iuwale (Start, o start the song) - Mbasela Kunda & William Munyanda (Lala, Setenje, Zambia) 2'43

I promised this one long ago and finally I took some new better photos and made a new rip to go along with it. Gutar 2 will follow shortly Hope you enjoy.

Guitars 1

It is not certain when guitars were first imported into Central, Eastern, a Southern Africa. They are likely to have been introduced along the seaboard by Portuguese sailors and traders during the seventeenth century, and still earlier by Arabs down the east coast - where the typically Arabian instrument, the Ud (or lute) is still played today by those who claim part-Arab ancestry. The popularity of the guitar among African players became established with the development of industries and the consequent movement of large numbers of people into urban surroundings, away from the normal sources of supply for traditional instruments.

By 1950 the use of a guitar had become the hallmark of ‘town’ music, as opposed to the more familiar forms of country music; the songs for the most part being distant imitations of foreign material set to vernacular wads.

The ability of African musicians to master the instrument varies considerably in different parts of the continent. The majority of players in the south use only the thrumming styles, limited almost exclusively to a ground bass of the three common chords; while players in the Congo and in parts of East Africa have developed the more distinctive styles of contrapuntal playing. Most African players make constant use of a capotasto on the second, third, or fourth fret in order to avoid the greater fingering distances of the open strings.

The proliferation of factories producing simple and inexpensive guitars for the African market has brought the instrument into prominence during the last decade but has added little to innate musicality or to the craft of indigenous instrument making; the skill of the guitar players featured in this record is the exception rather than the rule.

from the original liner notes on the back sleeve by Hugh Tracey

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Omkarnath Thakur - Raga Lalit - In Concert

2011-06-28T09:06:00.000+02:00

Omkarnath Thakur
• Raga Lalit - In Concert
Music India - 2393950 - P.1983

Side A

A1 Raga Lalit - Raien Ka Sapna - Badha Khyal in Vilambit Ektaal

Panditji starts the Vilambit Khayal ‘Raien Ka Sapna’, unfolds the raga by aakapchari in the Poorvang and goes on to complete the Antra.

Side B

B1 Raga Lalit - Raien Ka Sapna - Badha Khyal in Vilambit Ektaal
B2 Raga Lalit - Piyu Piyu Ratat Papihara - Chhota Khyal in Teentaal

Panditji continues the Vilambit Khayal with the Upaj-ang and goes on to make varied Taan patterns. He concludes his exposition with the Chhota Khayal ‘Piyu Piyu Rotat Papihara’ where he shows the varied aspects of Shuddha Madhyam - the main Nyas-swara of Lalit.

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur (1897 - 1967)

17 years ago, a musical giant left for the heavenly abode leaving behind a rich treasure of his work and research in the field of Hindustani Classical Music. ‘Sangeet Martand’, ‘Padmashree’, late Pandit Omkarnath Thakur occupies a position of rare eminence amongst the classical musicians of India.

His years of research on Maharishi Bharat's ‘Nat ya-Shastra’ along with a thorough study of varied systems prevalent in the North Indian as well as Carnatic music, led him to propound thought provoking theories and write volumes of authoritative books on the subject. A worthy disciple of a great scholar-musician Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Omkarnathji made it his life's mission to propagate India's musical heritage amongst the classes and the masses alike.

Panditji was a musician with a difference. A strict disciplinarian, Panditji was known as much for his arrogance as for his musical genius. Keeping in tradition with the norms of the majestic gayaki of the Gwalior Gharana, Panditji evolved a style uniquely his own. His Regal Persona, his marvellous command over Sanskrit and Urdu alike, his thorough insight into every raga-exposition and his unique ability to communicate with his audience through his emotionally packed renditions left the listeners spellbound. His concerts were invariably reflective of his interpretation of the ‘Nav-Rasa’. In fact, he would often demonstrate different Rasas in the cheez (song) by singing one phrase in several other ways.

Not many of Panditji's works are available to the musical ear anymore. Music India has excavated a rare recording to share with aficionados of classical music. On the occasion of his 17th death anniversary, we pay our humble tribute to Panditji and take immense pride in releasing on this record his full rendition of Raga Lalit sung sometime during the early sixties. Opportunities to hear rare recordings of this nature are few to come by.

Music ▼

Narendra Bataju • Sitar and Surbahar 1980

2011-06-27T06:09:00.023+02:00

Les Sitar et Surbahar de Narandra Bataju
Disques Espérance - ESP 165532 - P.1980

Side A

A1 Raga Bhairagi Bhairau Alâp 18'50
A2 Composition - Chautâla 5'40

Side B

B1 Râga Madhuvanti - Alâp Suivi De 2 Gat Tintâlâ 26'43

Narendra Bataju, born in Katmandu, Nepal 1944

Narendra Bataju is a Surbahar and Sitar player from Nepal now living in Paris. Ravi Shankar was so impressed by his "natural talent, his sense of musical emotion and virtuosity as a sitar player" that he took him as a disciple.

Born in Kathmandu in 1944, and blind from birth, Narendra Bataju early interest in music strated from when he was about eight years. He began learning the sitar with a Master in Kathmandu where he was born. At ten, he sought to improve his knowledge at the Conservatory of Music Lucnow (India), where he studied with the masters Narayan Prassad Shrestra, Yussef Ali Khan and Khan Illias. Ten years later he leaves with a degree in Master and with his first Grand Prix and in 1964 the city of Delhi awarded him a second one.

He then taught his art at a college in Kathmandu, and gave regular concerts for the Nepalese royal family, as well as public concerts and radio broadcast. It was then that he also began teaching classes for many European and American students. In 1972, he decided to come to Europe to teach and moved to Paris where he has been since then, continuing to teach sitar and singing and giving performances throughout Europe. He has also made several records and CDs with his ensemble.

Edited from his website here

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Pandit Omkarnath Thakur • Todi, Malkauns from 78 rpm plates

2011-06-26T18:09:00.007+02:00

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur
• Raga Todi — Raga Malkauns.
EMI Columbia - 33ECX 3252 - P.1964

Side A

Raga Todi

A1a Kadam Ki Chhaya -pt 1 - (Desi Todi)
A1b Kadam Ki Chhaya -pt 2 - (Desi Todi)
A2a Garwa Mai Sang -pt 1 - (Todi)
A2b Garwa Mai Sang -pt 2 - (Todi)
A3 Mitwa Balamua Ja (Nilambari)
A4 Mai Kanth Mora - (Sughrai)

Side B

Raga Malkauns

B1a Pir na jani -pt 1 - (Malkauns-Vilampat)
B1b Pir na jani -pt 2 - (Malkauns-Vilampat)
B2a Pag Ghungru Baandh -pt 1 - (Malkauns)
B2b Pag Ghungru Baandh -pt 2 - (Malkauns)

Here is another great album with early 78 rpm "plates" of Omkarnath Thakur. This was first released in 1934-35 (Todi, Nilambari, Sughrai), 1940-41 (Todi) and 1948 (Malkauns) and reissued on this LP in 1964. I hope you enjoy! More to read in my previous post. There is no information except for the tracklist on the backside of the sleeve.

Omkarnath Thakur (1897 - 1967)

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur was a maestro whose music baffled hardboiled listeners even while he held his lay audiences spell-bound. I have nostalgic memories of his monumental voice, with its amazingly wide tonal range, depth and volume, all of which seemed to blend perfectly with the dignity of his bearing. With four tanpuras to back him and two accompanists to lend him sangat, one would be tempted to liken the ensemble to the saptarishi constellation.

A large segment of cognoscenti found something elusive about Panditji's music. He was a gate crasher to some, and a romanticist to others. Still others thought him to be an iconoclast, or an avant grade vocalist. The fact is that he was all these put together, and that is what compelled attention from his admirers as well as critics.

Private collection of Mohan D. Nadkarni/Kamat's Potpourri

Omkarnath Thakur in concert

Notice the absence of harmonium and the august presence of Sarangi

Panditji himself, steeped in the old shastras, vehemently claimed that he was orthodox in his vocalism. Even while he firmly believed in the miracles and mysteries of music, he chose to evolve a style of his own which embodied even flourishes like shakes and tremolos features of western music. His use of his devices, he asserted had the full sanction of the Indian tradition. To prove his point, he would proceed to quote chapter and verse from the shastras right in the midst of his performance!

Memories of my meetings with him, first in 1948 and then a decade later, come crowding to my mind as I write these lines. He advocated two contrary approaches to raga music during these meeting. Baffled by his advocacy of both the concepts at the two encounters with him, I cautiously requested him to dispel my gnawing doubts. The maestro was visibly rattled and shouted at me to go away, branding the whole fraternity of newspaper men (including, of course, music critics) as “nindaks” (detractors). Yet, while he shunned publicity, he maintained a love-hate relationship with the press.

Pandit Omkarnathji's rise to fame was dramatic. His forbears were military men, but he was born in penury in far-off Gujarat village and orphaned at 14. He earned his living first as a cook and then as a mill-worker. The vicissitudes of life hardly dampened his energy, and his burning passion for music asserted itself in many ways. He tried to learn music from people as diverse as street-singers and temple musicians, till a wealthy, music-loving Parsi gentleman, Seth Doongajee, discerned his musicianly potential and placed him under the tutelege of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar.

It is difficult to say who among the old maestros besides Pandit Paluskar himself - influenced his music most. In reply to my question, he told me that he was initially influenced by two "eccentric musicians"-- Karim Baksh, a musician from Kashmir, and Rehmat Khan, a luminary of his own Gwalior gharana. But Panditji acknowledged Vishnu Digambar as his foremost guru.

Both at home and abroad, public recognition came naturally to him in profusion before and after independence. He was possibly the only Indian musician who had gone to the west as far back as the early thirties, and won plaudits in international soirees in several world capitals. Believe it or not, he had announced his retirement from active musical life more than once and, that too, for political reasons! During the freedom struggle, his “Vande Mataram” was integral part of the annual sessions of the Indian National Congress. In this, he followed in the wake of his mentor.

Panditji reportedly trained a large number of students in vocal music, besides writing authoritative books on musicology and aesthetics. It would seem that he did not care to groom shishyas worthy of him. The only exception is that of the South Indian exponent of Hindustani music, violinist N. Rajam, whom he groomed as a ganda-bandh shagird.

by Mohan Nadkarni

First Published in: The Times of India,

Bombay Edition, on December 27, 1992

Music ▼

Omkarnath Thakur • Desi-Todi, Bhajans - 1971

2011-06-25T18:09:00.009+02:00

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur
• Sangeet Martand, Desi-Todi, Bhajans
EMI Columbia - 33 ECX.3301 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Mare Dere Ajo - Desi Todi 17'24.aif

Side B

B1 Main Nahin Makhan Khajo - Bhajan (Surdas) 20'48

Here is a very good record by a remarkable artist who I appreciate very much. I have only a few more records by him that I will post shortly. Look out in the following days for at least two more recordings with him! Hope you enjoy

Omkarnath Thakur (1897–1967)

Omkarnath Thakur was an Indian educator, musicologist, and Hindustani classical singer. He is famously known as "Pranav Rang", his pen-name.
Thakur was born 1897 in a village in the Princely State of Baroda into a poor military family. The family moved to Bharuch in 1900 and in circa 1909 Thakur and his younger brother began to train in Hindustani classical music in the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, a music school, under classical singer Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Thakur and his brother were sponsored by a wealthy Parsi and Thakur became an accomplished singer in the style of the Gwalior gharana.

Thakur was made the principal of a Lahore music school of Paluskar's Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1916, became acquainted with the Patiala gharana, and started his own music school in 1919. During the 1920s Thakur worked for the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi on a local level and in the 1933 became one of the first Indian musicians to perform in Europe, which included a private concert for Benito Mussolini. Thakur's wife Indira Devi died the same year and he began to concentrate exclusively on music.
Thakur's work as a performer and musicologist led to the creation of a music college at Banaras Hindu University that emphasized both and he wrote books on Indian classical music and its history. Thakur's work is criticized in contemporary music literature as ignorant of the contribution of Muslim musicians, which he blamed for deteriorating classical music. Thakur performed in Europe until 1954 and received the Padma Shri in 1955 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1963. He retired in 1963 and was awarded honorary doctorates from Banaras Hindu University in 1963 and Rabindra Bharati University in 1964.

snipped from the Wikipedia here

It is now four years since the sweet roar of the giant amongst vocalists of Indian classical music was stilled forever. Those who had the good fortune to listen to him in person will forever remember his Regal Personality and his inimitable style. Disciple of Late Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, his profound knowledge and scholarship won him high praise and tributes not only in India but even in foreign countries. He, like his great Guru, catered classical music to masses. While performing, he poured his very personality in his exposition, thereby transferring his emotionally packed rendering on to the listeners, and holding them spellbound in a celestial trance. Lovers and followers of his music are spread far and wide. On this disc is presented a very rare and scintillating performance of the great maestro.

In bringing out this number on the solemn occasion of his 4th death anniversary, we pay our humble homage to his great memory and hope connoisseurs will listen to the performance with nostalgia.

Side I - Desi—Todi

This is a morning melody and it has a mood of fervent appeal. The burden of the composition 'Mare Dere Aao' - 'Please, come to my abode' — an invocation by a beloved to her lover-sets the artiste in the proper frame of mind-of entreaty-appeal — and he goes on weaving the melody into diverse and attractive musical patterns. While doing so he scrupulously conforms to the traditional norms of exposition of a Raga. The rhythm employed is Ek Taal - consisting of 12 beats.

Side II - Main Nahin Makhan Khayo

This is the Piece De Resistance. It narrates a story — an episode in the colourful life of Lord Krishna in his childhood. He is accused by the milkmaids of Brindaban of stealing their butter. Caught red handed, his chubby face smeared with the loot, the culprit boy is taken to his mother by the offended milkmaids. A court of enquiry is held. The presiding judge is Yashoda — the divine mother of Shrikrishna — the accused.

The dramatic trial opens — with the denial of the charge by the accused ‘Maiyya-Main Nahin Makhan Khayo’— He did not have any legal luminary to represent him — so he decides to defend himself. His defence is presented on this skie in a musical form by the maestro in such a convincing manner that, towards the close, Shri Krishna is acquitted honourably and absolved of all the charges levelled against him.

This entire drama is musically enacted by the maestro with a virtuosity which he alone was capable of.

Repertoire By Courtesy: Vijay V Porecha.

quoted from the backside of the record sleeve

Here is a little more to read

Music ▼

The Gamelan Orchestra from Pliatan Bali - live at The Wintergarden Theatre in London 1952

2011-06-24T15:09:00.005+02:00

The Gamelan Orchestra - Music from Bali
- Record Two

Argo Records - ARS 1007 - P.1952
- (XB 100-3, 4)

Gamelan orchestra from Pliatan, Indonesia led by Anak Agung Gde Mandera recorded live at Wintergarden Theatre, London 1952

This LP was also released as: [Westminster XWN 2210? - P.1957] = Argo Records - RG-2 - P.1952

Side A

2-A1 Kebiar 8'49

2-A2 Oleg 8'44

2-A3 Barong 5'32

Side B

2-B1 Djanger, Ende, Baris 18'25

This is the cover of Record One that is already here in a previous post and to be quite frank I never expected to find Record Two, but here it is! It did however cost me a pretty penny and lot of determination to be able to share it with you and present it here. It makes me very happy and I hope you can share my joy! This copy is in wonderful condition and the photography of the sleeve is a joy to behold. There is not much to add to this post as almost all I know about it is already in the previous post!

Music From Bali - Record Two

It is a commonplace of musical history that Claude Debussy was considerably influenced by the Gamelan which appeared at the Exposition Universelle in Paris during 1889. But, with the exception of a number of Dutch musicologists — notably Dr. Jaap Kunst—few Western music lovers have any knowledge of Balinese music and the opportunities of hearing it-such records that do exist being almost unknown in Great Britain and the U.S.—have been few. Indeed, so far as London and New York are concerned, the recent appearance of the Gamelan from Pliatan, Indonesia, under its brilliant director, Anak Agung Gde Mandera, is the first opportunity the music lover has had of assessing this fascinating and highly organised musical art. Unlike much Eastern music, Western ears have no difficulty in appreciating the music of Bali, and it is certain that with the issue of these, the first long playing records, made in collaboration with the Indonesian Government, many will wish to become more closely acquainted with what, is, quite clearly, a folk art in the highest stage of development, In the opinion of those but qualified to judge these records present an adequate survey of Balinese music as it is today and can safely be said to serve as a comprehensive introduction to this neglected-so far as Western ears are concerned-branch of music.

Kebiar. This dance, created during the early thirties by a famous dancer from South Bali, inspired Anak Mandera to compose what many consider to be one of the most beautiful pieces co contemporary Balinese music. Following a bold statement of the principal motif a gentle swaying accompaniment is heard underlined, as it were, by the lower gong. Working gradually towards a climax the main theme is restated in augmentation while the accompaniment becomes more excited breaking into an ostinato figure accentuated by syncopated chords on the barong. This fine example of the Kebiar was awarded the all-Bali prize in 1938.

Oleg. As in the preceding work this music accompanies a modern dance, in this instance one from North Bali. It consists of a simple melody reiterated on the Hatong or Balinese flute accompanied by a variety of complex rhythmic patterns played on the various sections of the Gamelan with a bewildering subtlety of tone colour that is an outstanding feature of this branch of Indonesian music.

Barong. Is one of the many primitive dance-plays that are highly thought of by the Balinese. Barong is a mythical animal, a fantastic lion, who protects the Balinese against evil. He fights against Rangda. Queen of the Witches, symbol of darkness. Illness and death. The music consists, in the main, of a constantly repeated figure against which the roan of the lion are heard. At the death of Rangda the gamelan bursts into a jubilant statement of the main theme bringing the work to a close on a note of triumph.

Djanger, Ende, Saris. The first of these three dances. Djanger, is a simple folk tune sung in unison by boys and girls. It is a typical example of its kind. The second, Ende, is a fighting dance. A sham duel is fought out to the stimulation of a small gamelan consisting of kendang, small gong, and tarompet. The fighters are dressed in grotesque costumes and armed with roatan sticks. Although intended as a friendly sport there have been instances of the fighters continuing to the death. The third, Baris, is a short dance-play, in which Ardjuna, the hero of the Mahabhara epic is disturbed, while fasting, by heavenly nymphs, sent by the Gods to test him to see whether he is strong enough to become their champion against the Demon King. Alarmed, the Demon King sends a wild boar against Ardjuna who kills it. His claim is disputed by the God Shin. To settle this dispute Ardjuna fights Shiva in his human form and on winning the contest is proclaimed by the Gods.

Cyril Clarke.

quoted from the record sleeve

Technical Credits. Recorded during actual performance at the Winter Garden Theatre in association with Mr. Derrick de Marney for and on behalf of The Indonesian Government. The original magnetic tape recording and transfer of the record to disc masters was mad. by Alec Herbage, Harley Usill and Cyril Clarke. The sleeve and label was designed by Victor Ross. Photographs by Dennis de Marney.

Music ▼

Latafat Hussain Khan • Miyan ki Todi, Gara Kanada

2011-06-23T18:09:00.015+02:00

Latafat Hussain Khan
• Miyan ki Todi, Gara Kanada
Polydor - 2392 016 - P.1972 • Music India - 2393 923 - P.1983

Side A

A1 Miyan ki Todi (19.00)

Side B

B1 Gara Kanada (19.16)

Sultan Khan, sarangi
Mohammed Ahmed, tabla
Zakir Hussain Khan, harmonium

Latafat Hussain Khan (12 Dec 1920- 11 Dec 1986)

Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan belonged to the tradition of Khandani musicians, who held aloft and carried forward the torch of musical learning and excellence. Both as a performer and as teacher he had the unmistakable mark of a gharanadar musician. Deeply religious, self effacing and unassuming by nature, he was always willing to give - qualities that were very clearly reflected in his music and in his approach to the performance and teaching of music.

Born on December 12, 1920, Latafat Hussain Khan was the youngest son of Altaf Hussain Khan of the Agra gharana.

He was initiated into the rigours of music by Tasadduq Hussain Khan. Then followed an extended training period under his eldest brother Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan in Bombay. Sometime in the early forties, he went to Baroda to stay with his uncle, Ustad Faiyyaz Khan and receive rigorous taleem. He also took advanced taleem from his gharana elder, Vilayet Hussain Khan.

Latafat was musically a successor to Ustad Faiyyaz Khan. He was particularly known for his powerful voice, his crisp nom-tom alaps, and his effervescent delivery. With his masculine voice, dhrupad based alap, he was in the mainstream of the Agra gharana. In voice production, he was close to Ustad Faiyyaz Khan — a deep penetrating voice with tremendous control on swar and shrutis, a voice that delibera" tely created broken nuances while singing the "rangila phrases made famous by his ustad. His alap was rich and his raga portrayal was sublime. Latafat Khan composed hundreds of bandishes under the pen name of "Premdas".

Like most exponents of the Agra style, Latafat Khan was a scholar musician, ever true to the ancient tenets of classicism and very concerned with what was "correct" and "pure" and very disdainful of compromises made all too often by younger musicians who sometimes sacrificed authenticity for easy popularity. At the same time, like many others of his famed gharana, he gave great importance to the entertainment value of classical music. This was achieved by the judicious use of "layakari", the choice of colourful bandishes and the clever utilization of tans.

Latafat Khan was honoured by Sur Singar Samsad in Bombay and was also the recipient of a host of other awards. In 1978, Latafat Khan joined the Sangeet Research Academy of the I. T. C. at Calcutta as a Guru and trained several pupils. Even though his health was giving him trouble and his voice was losing its grit and quality possibly due to his asthmatic trouble, he was a greatly revered and respected musician. Those who came into contact with him will never forget the warmth of his nature. ITC Sangeet Research Academy raised Latafat Hussain to the national level again through concert appearances in all parts of India.

Latafat Hussain died in Kolkata on December 11, 1986.

snipped from ITC Sangeet Research Academy

Music ▼

The Music of Afghanistan - rec. 1960

2011-06-22T18:09:00.059+02:00

The Music of Afghanistan

A Musical Anthology of the Orient - Unesco Collection 3

Bärenreiter • Musicaphon - BM 30 L 2003 - (rec. 1960 - P.1960?)

Side A

A01 Song Of Kataran 4'53

A02 Song Of Badarshan (Turkestan) 3'09

A03 Melody For Flute From Turkestan 2'44

A04 Festive Music From Chardi (Region Kabul) 3'58

A05 Chant From Azarejot (Central Afghanistan) 5'46

A06 National Afghan Dance (Shah Mast) 2'05

A07 Chant From Farkhar 4'55

Side B

B08 Village Dance Melody (Region Kabul) 2'05

B09 Pushtu Quatrain (Charbait) 4'22

B10 Ancient Chant Of Kabul 3'26

B11 Ancient Chant Of Khodaman 2'44

B12 Tumbur - Lute - Solo 3'50

B13 Ghazni (Chant) 2'15

B14 Chorus From The Panshir 3'18

B15 Solo Of Sarinda 3'02

B16 The Dotar (Small Lute) Of Herat 3'20

I will slowly start making more non Indian posts but I will not be leaving it, it has too strong a pull on me. And it seems so, that even though I have so much more Asian, African, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and even European music that I want to share with you, I find it very very hard to completely leave India.

I may also slow down a little here as I am getting too many things pulling me away from this blog and as they are also intellectually stimulating and rewarding it means that they are also time consuming so I will have to spread my graces a little,. Well so it seems at the moment anyhow.

Ideally I think one post a day is very nice, but believe me when I say that it takes a little more time than one would expect! I'll try to keep up at least a couple of posts a week but it may prove impossible to do one every day. Anyhow if there are a couple of days with no post it does not mean that the blog is dead or that I am in any immediate danger of popping a vein or so. It is just normal because sometimes, other calendars interfere, (usually someone else's time), with the Luobaniyan calender, disabling me from my natural way of time reckoning. I hope you understand and have pity on the frailty of the human, and his circumstances. A reality also Luobaniyans live under although we are working in every possible passive, non-agressive way to eliminate it! This is certainly no farewell but I bid you a nice and sweet summer!

There will be rather more Afghanistan posts to follow this one before we start roaming the geography in all directions again. I have so many unpublished posts I almost don't know where to continue. I also have a very good surprise coming in some days as I finally got hold of a very rare and precious record recently. I have mentioned it here before and I have posted the first volume already but I am sure some of you will be more than pleased. It did cost me a lot of effort and a pretty penny on top of that, but I think it was worth it. You'll see and hear for yourself when the time is ripe!

Anyhow, here is another of those great Bärenreiters! The good news on those is that I now have all of them, except for the Pakistani. But, either you help me with a copy, or I'll find one myself!
In due cause I am sure that eventually we will have them all here!

Recording No. 2 ill. Song of Badarshan

Mohammad Naïm, ritchak Abdul Masjid, dhol

Recording No. 3 ill. Melody for flute from Turkestan

Ghulam Haïdar (Tula)

Recording No. 4 ill. Festive Music from Chardi

Gholam Dastagir, Majeti, dhol Rahmat Khan, Mohammad Hasan, sornai

Recording No. 7

ill. Chant from Farkhar
Niaz Mohammad, tumbur

Recording No. 10 ill. Ancient chant of Kabul
Fayaz Mohammed, dhol Beltun, tambur Tawakhal-Shah, rabab

Recording No. 12 ill. Tumbur-solo
Hakim Mazori, tumbur Abdul Udud, zer-barhali

Recording No. 13 ill. Ghazni chant

Mohshin, sarinda Sher Mohammad Ghaznavi, tumbur

Rasuddin, dhol Ustad Mohamed Omar, rabab

Music ▼

Musical Anthology of the Orient - Bärenreiter • Musicaphon Discography

2011-06-22T02:22:00.002+02:00

Bärenreiter • Musicaphon Discography - continued...

Musical Anthology of the Orient - Vols. 1-32

BM 30 L 2001 Laos R*
BM 30 L 2002 Cambodia: Ceremonial, Folk and Court Music
BM 30 L 2003 Afghanistan, 1960 * R

BM 30 L 2004 Iran I: Classical Modal Music R
BM 30 L 2005 Iran II: Classical Modal Music R
BM 30 L 2006 India I: Vedic Recitation and Chant, 1949-52 *
BM 30 L 2007 India II: Music of the Dance and Theatre of South India *

BM 30 L 2008 Tunisia: Traditional Classical and Folk Music, 1960 *

BM 30 L 2009 Tibet I: The Music of Tibetan Buddhism 1961 R*
BM 30 L 2010 Tibet II: The Music of Tibetan Buddhism 1961 R*
BM 30 L 2011 Tibet III: The Music of Tibetan Buddhism 1961 R*
BM 30 L 2012 Japan I: Sokyoku 1962
BM 30 L 2013 Japan II: Gagaku 1962
BM 30 L 2014 Japan III: Music of the Edo Period (1603-1867) 1962
BM 30 L 2015 Japan IV: Buddhist Music 1953-57 *
BM 30 L 2016 Japan V: Shinto Music 1953-57
BM 30 L 2017 Japan VI: No-Play, Biwa and Chanting 1962

BM 30 L 2018 India III: Dhrupad
BM 30 L 2019 Turkey I: Music of the Mevlevi, 1960
BM 30 L 2020 Turkey II: Classical and Religious Music, 1960
BM 30 L 2021 India IV: Karnatic Music
BM 30 L 2022 Viet Nam I: The Tradition of Hue R*
BM 30 L 2023 Viet Nam II: Entertainment, Modern Theatrical, Ritual and Religious Music of South Viet Nam R*
BM 30 L 2024 Azerbaijan I R
BM 30 L 2025 Georgia I: Songs of Oral Tradition from the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic *
BM 30 M 2026 Malaysia: Traditional Music of West Malaysia, 1969-70
BM 30 SL 2027 Morocco I: The Music of Islam and Sufism in Morocco R
BM 30 SL 2028 Kurdish Music I *

°BM 30 SL 2029 Pakistan: The Sitar - Classical Indian Music from Mohammad Sharif Khan (Poonchwala) R (This is the one still missing!)

BM 30 SL 2030 Lebanon I: Religious and Ceremonial Music R
BM 30 SL 2031 Indonesia I: Java Court Music, 1972
BM 30 SL 2032 China R

I will make the titles above that are already posted, clickable to go to the original post from here as soon as I get a moment to fiddle a bit... And the missing ones will start to appear here during this summer and fall.

The letter "R" behind a title means it was reissued by Rounder on CD.
They are to my knowledge out of print.

Compilation of Eight Immortal Thumris

2011-06-21T18:09:00.036+02:00

Immortal Thumris
EMI India - ECLP 2811 - P.1981

Add caption

Side A

A1 Abdul Karim Khan • Piya Ke Milan Ki Aas 4'35
A2 Barkat All Khan • Tum Radhe Bano Shyam 6'43
A3 Girja Devi • Nahak Laye Gawanwa 6'48
A4 Nazakat & Salamat Ali Khan • Lage Tose Nain 4'58

Side B

B1 Bade Ghulam Ali Khan • Kate Na Biraha Ki Raat 3'35
B2 Begum Akhtar • Jab Se Shyam Sidhare 6'47
B3 Bhimsen Joshi • Kaun Albeli Naar 5'03
B4 Prabha Atre • Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam 7'45

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Devanagari: अब्दुल करीम ख़ान, Urdu: استاد عبدلکریم خان) (November 11, 1872 - 1937), was an Indian classical singer of the Kairana gharana.

Abdul Karim Khan was born in Kairana (Uttar Pradesh, North India) in to the Kairana musical family which traced its roots to musician brothers Ghulam Ali and Ghulam Maula. His father, Kale Khan was the grandson of Ghulam Ali. Karim Khan received training under uncle Abdulla Khan and father Kale Khan. He also received guidance from another uncle Nanhe Khan. Apart from vocals and sarangi, he also learnt Veena (Been), Sitar and Tabla.
According to a story, he was initially a sarangi player, but decided to switch to vocals because of low status of sarangi players. In early years he used to sing with his brother Abdul Haq. The Baroda ruler was impressed by this singing duo and made them the court musicians. This is where he met Tarabai Mane, who was the daughter of Sardar Maruti Rao Mane, a member of the royal family. When they decided to get married, they were ousted from Baroda. The couple settled down in Bombay. In 1922 Tarabai Mane left Abdul Karim Khan, which apparently had a major impact on his music - making it pensive and meditative. Karim Khan's first wife, Gafooran was the sister of another Kirana master Abdul Wahid Khan, who was also his cousin.

Ustad and disciple Pt. Sawai Gandharva
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was invited to the Mysore court where he met famous Carnatic music Carnatic masters which also influenced his music. In particular the singing of his Sargam was a direct influence of Carnatic practice. He became a frequent visitor to Mysore Darbar which conferred on him the title Sangeet Ratna. On the way to Mysore he used to stay with his brother in Dharwad where he taught his most famous disciple Sawai Gandharva. In 1900 for eight months he taught Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar. Kesarbai Kerkar would go on to be one of the 20th century’s most renowned vocalists. In 1913 he founded the Arya Sangeet Vidyalaya in Poona to teach students. He would wholeheartedly teach all his students unlike other family ustads of the era. He finally settled down in Miraj till his death in 1937 when returning from a concert tour of the south. Every year in August commemorative music concerts are held in Miraj.
The innovations he brought to his vocal style distinguishes Kirana style from others. The slow melodic development of the raga in Vilambit laya slow tempo was the most characteristic aspect of his music. He worked hard to maintain his voice to be sweet and melodious which shaped his music. The thumri style he developed as also quite different from the poorab ang or Punjabi ang. His thumri progresses in a leisurely languor with ample abandonment. He was also the first Hindustani musician to seriously study Carnatic system and probably the first to be invited to sing all over the south. He has even recorded a Thyagaraja Krithi. He was also influenced by Rehmet Khan of the Gwalior gharana and adopted the direct style of presentation Bhairavi of Rehmat Khan used to be bright and cheerful Karim Khan perfected it and was able to present an equally bright and cheerful rendering.

See coming posts for individual albums by him.

Ustad Barkat Ali Khan

Barkat Ali Khan : four Thumris
Ustad Barkat Ali Khan (1905-1962) has left a lasting impression on various genres of Hindustani light classical music. He was younger brother of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. By several accounts Barkat Ali Khan was a superior Thumri singer but had to content himself by playing second fiddle to his elder brother.
After partition of India, Barkat Ali Khan migrated to Pakistan and concentrated on the lighter aspects of Hindustani classical music. He made a great contribution to North Indian light classical music. He was acknowledged as one of the greatest Thumri, Dadra, Geet and Ghazal artists. His outstanding rendering techniques of Purab and Punjab Ang have no match. He captured the audience all over India and Pakistan with his unique style of music.
Ustad Barkat Ali Khan's famous disciples include Ghazal singers Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, actress singer Noor Jehan, Begum Akhtar and many more. He died a premature death at the age of 57.

Quoted from the blog Indian Raga here:

where you can also find these pieces by Barakat Ali:

Ras Ke Bhare Tore Nain, Kahe Satavo Mohe Sanwariya,

Lagi Naheen Chhootay, Torey Naina Jadu Bhare

Girja Devi (b. 1929 - )
see previous post on her here...

Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan (1920s-1984) &
Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (1934-2001)
see previous posts

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (c. 1902 – 25 April 1968)
see previous posts

Begum Akhtar (October 7, 1914–1974)
see this previous post and coming posts for more info on her

Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (February 4, 1922 - January 24, 2011)
see previous posts for individual albums

Prabha Atre
(b. 13 September 1932)

Prabha Atre was born to Abasaheb and Indirabai Atre in Pune. As children, Prabha and her sister, Usha, were interested in music, but neither of them planned to pursue music as a career. When Prabha was eight, Indirabai was not keeping good health, and at a friend's suggestion that classical music lessons would help her feel better, she took a few lessons. Listening to those lessons inspired Prabha to learn classical music.

Prabha learned classical music first from Pandit Sureshbabu Mane, and after his demise in 1952, from Smt. Hirabai Barodekar. Both Sureshbabu and Hirabai were children and disciples of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. While studying under Hirabai, Prabha accompanied her on her musical concert tours in different parts of India.

While studying music, Prabha finished college courses in science and law to receive degrees in both of those disciplines. She later also earned a Ph.D. in music. Her doctoral thesis was titled Sargam, and pertained to the use of sol-fa notes in Indian classical music.
read more from the Wikipedia here

Six Thumri singers - P.1975

2011-06-20T18:09:00.040+02:00

Thumriyan
EMI India - ECSD 2748 - P.1975

Side A

A1 Nirmala Devi • Ro Ro Nain Ganwaye Sajna Na Aaye

- Mishra Shivranjini - Kaharwa Taal 6'38

A2 Hira Devi Mishra • Mora Saiyan Bulawe Adhi Raat

- Des - Kaharwa Taal 6'53

A3 Girja Devi • Nahak Laye Gawanwa

- Bhairvin (purab ang) Deepchandi Taal 6'52

Side B

B1 Parween Sultana • Tum Radhe Bano Shyam

- Pilu - Deepchandi Taal 6'46

B2 Lakshmi Shankar • Shyam Bina Nahin Chain

- Khamaj - Deepchandi Taal 6'58

B3 Shobha Gurtu • Chhod Gaya Sajan Mera

- Bhairvin (purab ang) Kaharwa Taal 6'38

I promised long ago already to post more of Hindustani Female vocalists so here is a quick attempt at that. Hope you like what you hear some are better than the others of course. And I have still to post some more of the real greats. We had one record by Kerkar Bai but there are many more worthy singers to post. Do not despair, they will come! Already ripped but in various stages of readiness lies already many LP's in line waiting to be posted by these great singers:
Begum Akhtar, Gangubai Hangal, Roshan Ara Begum, Hirabai Barodekar, Azam Bai, Malini Rajurkar, Girja Devi, Sunanda Patnaik, Siddheswari Devi,
Prabha Atre, Shoba Gurtu, Kishori Amonkar, Lakshmi Shankar, Parween Sultana. Some of them are represented in this post but this is the lighter repertoire of Thumri, so you can expect some of the others to catch your deeper emotions and this hopefully to be pleasant to your ears! Hope you enjoy!

Nirmala Devi

Nirmala (Nazeem) Ahuja (born. 19?? and left us long ago) She was one of the finest thumri singers following the Patiala tradition under U. Abdul Rehman Khan. She was also the mother of the famous indian cinema actor Govinda.

We know the above from the kind correction of one of our visitors here, Dr. Kashyap. Thank you for putting us right! Thanks to his mentioning of the cinema actor Govinda, who was her son we were also able to find the following information:

Govinda’s father, Arun Kumar Ahuja, was born in pre-partition Gujranwala, Punjab (now in Pakistan) on January 26, 1917. He studied in an engineering college at Lahore. Veteran producer Mehboob Khan brought him to Mumbai in 1937 and cast him in Ek Hi Raasta as the leading man. Arun was notable for acting in Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940). Govinda's mother, Nazeem who was Muslim had converted to Hinduism and adopted the name Nirmala Devi. Arun and Nirmala first met during the making of the film Savera, in which they were cast opposite each other. They married in 1941.

The only film Ahuja ever produced was a flop. Unable to bear the loss, his health failed. The family, living in a bungalow on Mumbai's upmarket Carter Road, later moved to Virar — a northern Mumbai suburb, where Govinda was born. The youngest of six children, his pet name Chi Chi means little finger in Punjabi, the language they speak at home. Since his father was unable to work, Nirmala Devi brought up the children through hard times in Mumbai.

from Wikipedia (full text here)

(I will try to add dates and more information later as I find them!)

Hira Devi Mishra

I really cannot find any information of substance on this artist more than that she taught at Banares. and some song titles from various films. If you feel like it please help out.

Girja Devi

Girija Devi (Hindi: गिरिजा देवी; IAST: Girijā Devī) (born 1929) is an Indian classical singer of the Banaras gharana. She performs classical and light classical music and has helped elevate the profile of thumri.

Girija Devi was born in Varanasi, India in 1929. Her father played the harmonium and taught music, and had Devi take lessons in singing khyal and tappa from vocalist and sarangi player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five. She starred in the movie Yaad rahe aged nine and continued her studies under Sri Chand Misra in a variety of styles.

Devi made her public debut 1949 on All India Radio Allahabad, after getting married to a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother, because it was traditionally believed that no upper class woman should perform publicly. Devi agreed not to perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951. She studied with Sri Chand Misra until he died in the early 1960s, worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage. Devi often toured and continues to perform in 2009.

Devi sings in the Banaras gharana and performs the purabi ang thumri style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate. Her repertoire includes the semi-classical genres kajri, chaiti, and holi and she sings khyal, Indian folk music, and tappa. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians states that her semi-classical singing combines her classical training with the regional characteristics of the songs of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Parween Sultana

Begum Parveen Sultana (born 1950) is an Assamese Hindustani classical singer of the Patiala Gharana. She is among the foremost classical vocalists in India. She was conferred the Padmashri in 1976.

Parveen Sultana was born at Daccapatty in Nowgong town , Assam, India to Ikramul Mazid and Maroofa Mazid. She went to Mission School . Her father, late Ikramul Mazid was her first guru and he was very strict with her. She also received early training from her grandfather Mohammed Najeef Khan, a pathan . She later went to Kolkata to learn to learn music under the guidance of late Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri and from 1973, she became a disciple of Ustad Dilshad Khan of the Patiala Gharana.

Lakshmi Shankar

Lakshmi Shankar (born 1926) is a Hindustani classical vocalist of the Patiala Gharana. She is known for her performances of khyal, thumri, and bhajans.

Born in 1926, Lakshmi started her career in dancing. In 1939, when Uday Shankar brought his dance troupe to Madras, (recently renamed Chennai), she joined the Almora Centre to learn Uday Shankar’s dance style based on the Indian classics, and became a part of his troupe. She later married Uday Shankar's brother, Rajendra (with nickname Raju). During a period of illness, Lakshmi had to give up dancing, and already having had a background of Carnatic music, she undertook learning Hindustani classical music for many years under Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan. Later, she also trained with Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro. Shankar toured America with Ravi Shankar and George Harrison in 1974. After Ravi Shankar's heart attack she conducted his touring band.

Lakshmi has shown her versatility and adaptability by composing music for Bharatanatyam for the leading dance company Shakti School of Bharatanatyam located in Los Angeles.

Shobha Gurtu

Shobha Gurtu (Hindi: शोभा गुर्टू) (1925 – 2004) an Indian singer in the light Hindustani classical style. Though she had equal command over pure classical style, it was with light classical music that she received her fame, and in time came to be known as the Thumri Queen, and for the ‘Abhinaya’ ang in her full-throated voice

Bhanumati Shirodkar was born in Belgaum, (present Karnataka) in 1925, she was first trained by her mother Menekabai Shirodkar, a professional dancer, and a 'gayaki' disciple of Ustad Alladiya Khan of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana.

Though her formal music training began with ‘Ustad Bhurji Khan’, the youngest son of Ustad Alladiya Khan, the founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana in Kolhapur, from whom her mother was learning at the time, while she was still a younger girl, and seeing her talent, Ustad Bhurji Khan’s family immediately took a liking of her, and she started spending long hours with them. Her ties with the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana were to strengthen still, when she started learning from, Ustad Alladiya Khan’s nephew Ustad Natthan Khan; though she really came into her own under the tutelage of Ustad Ghamman Khan, who came stay with their family in Mumbai, to teach her mother thumri-dadra and other semi-classical forms.

Shobha Gurtu specialized in semi classical forms as thumri, dadra, Kajri, Hori etc., effortlessly adding pure classical passages into her singing, thus creating a new form, and reviving the magic of forms like, Thumri, of which she became a greatest exponent in time. She was particularly influenced by singer Begum Akhtar and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

She also performed music in Marathi and Hindi cinema. As a playback singer, she first worked in Kamaal Amrohi’s film, Pakeezah (1972), followed by Phagun (1973), where she sang, ‘Bedardi ban gaye koi jaao manaao more saiyyaan’. She earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Female Playback Singer for the song “Saiyyan Rooth Gaye” from the hit film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). In Marathi cinema she sang for films like Saamna and Lal Mati.

Over the years, she travelled all over the world for concerts, including at one the Carnegie Hall, New York City, performing alongside musical greats and, Pt. Birju Maharaj. She often lend her voice the collaborative jazz albums, of her son Trilok Gurtu. In 2000, she featured in the Jana Gana Mana Video, which was released to mark the 50th year of the Indian Republic, where she sang the Indian National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana, along with other leading classical singers and musicians of India.

In 1987, she received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and later awarded the Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar, Shahu Maharaj Puraskar and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar. In 2002, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

After reigning over Hindustani classical music genre, for five decades, as the Queen of Thumri, Shobha Gurtu died on 27 September 2004, and was survived by her two sons.

pinched from the Wikipedia

“Words are bound in chains, while happily sounds are still free” — so once declaimed Ludwig van Beethoven. What he said of music in general is specially true of thumri, one of the most enchanting forms of musical expression in the Hindustani tradition.

Aptly described as the expression of the singer's soul and temperament, thumri is purely romantic or devotional in its content. Unlike Dhrupad and khayal, the stress in thumri-singing is not so much on the melodic unfoldment as on the portraiture of the mood enshrined in the lyric. Imagination thus plays a vital role in the rendition of thumri. It calls for a sense of restraint and discrimination on the part of the singer, as the expressive aspect of the poetic theme is basic to its delineation. The singer has to comprehend the lyrical motivations of the chosen song to be able to give full musical expression to the emotion it embodies.

Voice modulation and delicate intonation are two of the many vital features of thumri, and the artiste is allowed freedom to employ a variety of ornamentations such as “meend”, “murki”, “kan”, “khatka”, “zam-zama” and the like in projecting the mood of the theme.

The word thumri is derived from “thumak” (graceful stamping of the foot). It is also said to have been derived from a combination of the terms “thumak” and “rijhana” Thus it connotes association with dance. Thumri came into vogue in the eastern region (Purab) of Uttar Pradesh towards the close of the 18th century as an accompanying song of dance. The object was to make dance movements more expressive and abiding.

Primarily, the emergence of thumri can be said to have symbolised a kind of reaction to its percursor, khayal, in which combinations of musical sounds enjoyed precedence over the poetic aspect of song-themes. But it is equally significant to note that this period also marked the twilight of the Mughal rule. The princely patrons of music, lolling in luxury, now had little use for sombre, dignified musical entertainment. Their obsessive fondness for fun and frolic brought forth a new style that could pander to their whims and caprices in a variety of ways.

Thumri thus found a congenial atmosphere during the reign of Nawab Wajid All Shah of Avadh. He was probably the greatest known patron of thumri, “raas” and the Kathak dance. Every year, he organised a big “raas” show with the sport of Lord Krishna and the gopis as the theme. The Nawab himself, with his consuming passion for poetry and music, took an active part in the presentation. Any talented artiste could participate in this song-and-dance concert with the obvious preponderance of young women among the participants. They depicted their “nrityabhava” and also offered their “mujra” through thumri songs. Thumri thus was once the exclusive preserve of female singers, and came to be conventionally known as a feminine style "par excellence"

A composer of no mean merit, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah wrote under the name of Akhtar Piya and patronised masters of the eminence of Kudau Singh Pakhwaji and Maharaj Binda Din, the pioneering Kathak maestro. The impressive line-up of thumri composers also includes Kalika Prasad who, along with his brother, Bindadin, composed thumris that were suitable for “nritya bhava” and presented them through their dance. Kadar Piya, Daras Piya, Lalan Piya and Chand Piya were other luminaries who pioneered and enriched this form.

Lucknow and Varanasi (Benaras) are the two centres from where thumri evolved into several varieties. In the style that is in vogue in Lucknow know, the subject-matter of thumri is usually an Urdu poem or ghazal, while in Benaras, tappa is more prevalent. “Bol-bant ki thumri” lays stress on rhythm which is “thumak”, while “artha-bhava ki thumri” has more of “rijhana”. The combination of both is found in the “bol-banao” variety. On the other hand folk and Pahadi tunes seem to have influenced the Punjabi variety of thumri, a relatively modern development.

The ragas most commonly suited to thumri-singing are Bhairvin, Jhinjhoti, Khamaj, Pilu, Des, Tilak Kamod, Kafi, Jogia, Tilang, Ghara and Bihari, and the talas which are employed are deepchandi, chachar, teental, sitar-khani, punjabi theka and addha.

The credit for popularising the Purvi style goes to Bhaiya Ganpat Rao, Moizuddin Khan, Pyare Sahib, Zohra Bai, Janki Bai, Badi Moti Bai, Rasoolan Bai, Vidyadhari Bai, Siddheswari Devi and Begum Akhtar. These are indeed the names to conjure with in the field, while Bade Ghulam All Khan and his brother, Barkat All Khan, who achieved a subtle blend of popular Punjabi folk airs with the orthodox features of purvi thumri, gave new dimensions to this singing style.

The six artistes heard in this disc are among the most popular exponents of thumri today. The repertoire will capture the hearts of thumri connoisseurs and bring back to their minds the nostalgic memories of old masters.

notes above from the backside of the sleeve

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Ram Chatur Mallick • Chant Dhrupad et Dhamar rec. 1976

2011-06-19T18:09:00.023+02:00

Pandit Ram Chatur Mallick
• Chant Dhrupad et Dhamar
Musique de l'Asie traditionelle Volume 9 - Inde du Nord
rec. August 1976 in Patna
Playasound - PS 33513 - P.1977

Side A

A1 Raga Darbari Kanhra - Alap - Dhrupad in Choutal 26'15

Side B

B1 Raga Multani - Alap - Dhamar in Dhamar Tal 27'30

Very well, I'll conclude these Dhrupad excesses for the moment with a Dharbanga post. There is already a lot to digest here already. This single record of Ram Chatur Lal Mallick will have to represent "The Mallicks". I know of no other LP's so you are welcome to enlighten me if there are any others. There are just a few CD's to be found by him and at least one by his son Vidur Mallick. What happened to the possible career of Abhay Narayan Mallick I have no idea about anything recent, maybe some of you do? There is at least one K7 with him published back in 1998 on the label Ninaad with the catalogue number NC 0011 called Gauhar • The Pearl of Darbhanga Dhrupad. It was posted before on the Raga Blog here...

This record was put out by PlayaSound, and in their series Musique de l'Asie traditionelle there were quite a few other titles that were interesting so if you are sitting on good copies of any of those please contact me so we can share them here! Or better yet, start your own blog and I will follow that one!

You can find some of the titles in that series as well as some African ones on the back of the sleeve!

There is quite a bit more to read in the gatefold of the record sleeve but it was unkind to any attempts of OCR so you will have to read it from there. There is a French and an English version of the text. I am sorry that there is a bit of a rumble on the first part of the B-side. It gets milder but is still annoying as it is in the more quite part of the recording but it gradually goes away and is all gone by 2'15 - 2'20. If anyone have a better rip I would be happy to have a replacement. Again we owe thanks to our good friend His Excellency for lending us his copy. As always, I hope you enjoy!

Pandit Ram Chatur Mallick, 1903 - 1990

Ram Chatur Mallick was a leading representative of the Darbhanga (Bihar) school of Dhrupad singing and was taught by Rameshwar Pathak. He passed away on January 13, 1990 in Patna, Bihar.

Abhay Narayan Mallick, vocal support

Ramashish Phatak, pakhawaj

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Zahiruddin, Fayazuddin (Junior Dagar Brothers) - Dhrupad Chanting

2011-06-18T18:09:00.064+02:00

Dhrupad Chanting
• Northern Indian vocal classical music
Nasir Zahiruddin, Nasir Fayazuddin Dagar
Auvidis - AV 4511 - P.1984

Side A

A1 Raga Bageshri - Poem dedicated to Krishna • Alap 26'44

This serious and "great" Raga is to be performed at night.

"The beloved Son of Nand is very torturing

He has trapped me in Has Love

One day to the temple of the Lord of Brij

I went, my friend, only once!"

Side B

B1 Raga Bageshri (suite) • Dhrut 10'42

B2 Raga Bhatiyar - Poem dedicated to Shiva.
• Alap

• Dhrut (Tala Chotal, twelve beats) 15'54

This Raga is to be performed late after midnight.

"O Thou Shiva, provider of Bliss

And of boundless Knowledge,

Master of Flock. God of the Ganges,

Spouse of the Divine Motherl"

Junior Dagar Brother,vocal

Laxmi Narain Pawar, pakhawaj

Musarrat Dagar, tampura

Dhrupad, the Dagarvani heritage

In India, music holds a privileged place as compared to all the other forms of Sacred Art, and this is especially true of vocal music, for it is held to be the most direct path to Union with the Supreme Being In fact Brahma, the God of Creation in the Hindu Trinity, is also the Cosmic Breath, and Indian vocal music is called Nada Yoga. the Yoga of Universal Sound which is the ultimate quintessence and can only be achieved after having gained complete mastery of the eight stages of Yoga. from Yama (restraint) to the state of Supreme Consciousness, Samadhi. Nada or Universal Sound has two manifestations Anahata and Ahata Anahata Nada is the Subtle Sound that can only be perceived inwardly by yogis who have long practised asceticism, for it is not produced by the impact of one object on another It can, however, become manifest in the form of Ahata Nada, when a vibration is produced by the movement of breath, as in singing, or by contact with an object as in instrumental music.

Dhrupad is devotional music and its origins can be traced back to the sacred Sanskrit text, the Sama Veda, which is said to date from the 3rd century BC. Dhrupad is the oldest vocal style of Indian classical music From the chanting of OM, the sacred syllable and the source of all Creation, which is considered to have a physically and spiritually purifying effect on the person chanting it, evolved the rhythmic chanting of the Vedic Scriptures Later still this developed into Chhanda and Prabandha with the introduction of verse and metre. Dhrupad emerged from the fusion of these two elements

As sacred music, then. Dhrupad was sung in temples, the singer seated facing the divinity, totally immersed in his prayer. completely unconscious of the presence or the absence of an audience. All the compositions were prayers which took their inspiration from hymns addressed to gods in the Hindu pantheon.

Dhrupad as it is sung today has preserved its sacred character even though it is no longer a music confined to temples, in the sense that the compositions are still hymns addressed to divinities However, the evolution of regional languages as opposed to Sanskrit from the 12th century onwards led to a tremendous enrichment of these languages. both linguistically and poetically, under the patronage of enlightened rulers In the 16th century Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior was able to encourage poet-saints to write in Brijbhasa. which had come of age as a fullfledged language, and which also had the merit of being immediately comprehensible to everyone The greater part of the repertoire sung nowadays consists of these compositions. The same purity of sound and the same accuracy that the singers of old brought to their chanting of OM are now sought in the exposition and the linking up of the notes during the Alap and the composition. but this is more directly perceptible in the former, which s the introductory part and takes the form of improvisation. The Alap as it has evolved in the Dagarvani is in fact based on the primordial syllable OM, and it is this that distinguishes this particular school from the other Dhrupad traditions Led by their desire to give an evergreater importance to Sound as the pathway to Divine Fusion, the members of this school have opted for pure prayer, without the hurdle of words, in the first part, so that the impact of the sound is stronger. A mantric formula was then used - "Om antaran tom taran taram tom", as much for its meaning as for the sonorous sound of its syllables Due to this, the Alap has become much more difficult to render, but at the same time it has gained an infinite richness and its slow and majestic unfolding is characteristic of the Dagar family's style. Starting from the sound OM at the beginning of the Alap, all the Art of the singer lies in the modulation of breath and volume in order to create a vocal flux, supported by the vowels, while the consonants are used to punctuate and mould the vocal flow, channelling it in the direction most suited to evoke in the audience a mood akin to the mood of the raga that has been chosen.

The degree of abstraction that the singer achieves in the Alap allows the listener to see in the light of his own inner vision, to bring into play his own reserve of sensation and experiences to enrich the thoughts and images evoked by the music. However there is such a fineness of precision in the application of sound and of the microtones that the raga with its distinctive personality is recognisable as soon as the first notes of the Alap are sung The artiste has almost fifty different technical approaches at his disposal which he can use to link up and present the sequence of notes which is characteristic of the raga in question. in order to render them sparklingly iridescent and to express most effectively the emotion they are seeking to portray.

Dhrupad reached its apogee in the 16th century. during the reign of the Moghul emperor Akbar. At that time there were four Schools of Dhrupad, representing this Art in all its diversity. Brij Chand Rajput was of Dagar lineage, so the School of Dhrupad that he headed was called Dagar Vani. The other three Vanis, Khandar, Navahar and Gobarhar respectively. disappeared in the course of time and only in the Dagar Vani has the pure tradition of Dhrupad been maintained and brought down to our day. Until the 18th century the Dagars were Brahmins, but circumstances constrained their ancestor. Baba Gopal Das Pandey, to embrace the Muslim religion, and he came to be known as Baba Imam Khan Dagar One of his two sons. Ustad Behram Khan Dagar, was the most famous and the most learned musician of his time, in the 18th-19th centuries. During the 125 years of life that God granted him, he applied himself to the acquisition S of a thorough knowledge of the Sanskrit sacred texts and by his mastery of the six fundamental treatises he gained the title of "Shatshastri". He devoted the greater part of his life to the rigorous analysis of these texts in order to translate the formal musical rules into a pragmatic teaching method. He distilled the style of singing, the "gayaki" to a degree of purity and clarity never known before, elaborating the Alap and rendering singable the technical forms, which until then had been only names in the Sangeet Ratnakar and other treatises.

His grandson Pandit Inayat Khan Dagar. in keeping with a vow that he had made, only sang his own compositions, which were extremely numerous, and thus notably enriched the Dhrupad repertoire. The two grandsons of Haidar Khan, Behram Khan Dagar's brother, were trained by the latter and were accustomed to sing together in jugalbandi. This tradition has been preserved in the Dagar family throughout the generations. and today it is Ustad Nasir Zahiruddin and Ustad Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, the great-great-grandsons of Haidar Khan Dagar, who are perpetuating Dhrupad in duet.

Being only four and six years old respectively when their father Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Dagar died, they received their training in the extremely rigorous discipline of Dhrupad from their elder brothers Ud. N. Moinuddin Dagar and Ud. N. Aminuddin Dagar as well as from their uncles Ud. Rahimuddin, Ud. Riyazuddin and Pandit Hussainuddin Dagar. In addition to their perfect mastery of all the technical subtleties that bring to brilliant life the hidden lustre of each note and each emotion. there is the special quality of their voices, a timbre which can be tender and masterful by turns, or imbued with an unshakeable serenity that is very contagious. Their presentation itself, which springs directly from the very essence of what Dhrupad really is. i.e. the elevation of the being towards the Divine, inspires respect and imparts a soul-soothing peace. Eyes closed, they send up their inspired singing like an offering, filled with their intense Faith in Man and in Cod, and in so doing lead their audience further along the Path. causing all barriers of place, of language, of culture and of religion to melt imperceptibly away.

Pakhawaj
This is a percussion, a drum accompaniment which also has a long tradition. Tablas popularly seen now is a much later development perhaps 100 years old. Pakhawaj is the traditional drum for Rhythm accompaniment it first establishes the regular cycle of 12 or 14 beats depending on the composition and then builds up faster tempo and intricate patterns. The special feature is that all the time it enhances the mood and acts as complementary towards aesthetics.

Laxmi Narain Pawar
Shri Laxmi Narain Pawar comes from a family who have been playing this instrument from four to five generations and are known as Nana Panse Gharana. His ancestors have accompanied members of Dagar family.

Tampura
It is a drone and plays a significant role in this style Besides maintaining the pitch of the basic notes of the vocalist, it gives a tonal dimension and expands the atmosphere. It is being played by Musarrat Dagar, brothers Dagar's niece.

all text above is quoted from the record sleeve

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An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music • Bärenreiter

2011-06-18T17:32:00.001+02:00

More titles for the

Bärenreiter • Musicaphon discography

An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music

BM 30 SL 2051 An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music Vol.I
Vocal Music

BM 30 SL 2052 An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music Vol.II

Vocal Music - String Instruments - Drums,

BM 30 SL 2053 An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music Vol.III

String Instruments

BM 30 SL 2054 An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music Vol.IV

- String Instruments (Sarod - Dilruba) - Wind Instruments (Flute - Shanai)

These records in 4 volumes with light green border on the sleeve front were recorded and annotated by

Alain Danielou and Manfred Junius. The first has been posted the other three will follow shortly!
clicking on the titles will take you to the posts once they are all here! At the moment only the first one is linked.

An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music • Vocal Music

2011-06-17T18:09:00.004+02:00

An Anthology of North Indian Classical Music Vol.I
Vocal Music, Alap, Dhamar, Khyal, Thumri
Recordings and photography Manfred Junius
Commentary Alain Danielou
Bärenreiter - BM 30 SL 2051 - P.1975

Side A

Zahiruddin and Faiyazuddin Dagar
(Junior Dagar Brothers)

A1 Âlâp - Raag Ahir Bhairava 15'01
A2 Dhamar - Raag Ahir Bhairava - Dhamar 14'41

A2 + Gopal Das, Pakhawaj

Side B

Yunus Hussain Khan, vcl - Sabri Khan, sarangi
B1 Khyal - Raag Sujani Malhar - Ektal - Tintal 16'06

Dipali Nag, vocal - Sabri Khan, sarangi
B2 Thumri - Raag Bhairavi - Dipchandi tal 11'20

B1+2 Zamir Ahmad Kahn, tabla

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Salamat Ali & Nazakat Ali - Megh, Bhairagi Bhairav rec. 1970

2011-06-16T18:09:00.000+02:00

Front Cover: ‘Lady With Vina’ (Todi Rāgini) - Kulu c.1720,

Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Salamat Ali & Nazakat Ali
• Megh, Bhairagi Bhairav
Hanibal Records - HNBL 1332 - P.1988

Side A

A1 Rāg Megh - Jhumrā tāl - medium and fast Tintāl 26'08

Side B

B1 Rāg Bhairāgi-Bhairav - Jhumrā tāl - Jhaptāl and Tintāl 25'57

rec, 1970, London

Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, vocal
Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan, vocal
Shaukat Hussain Khan, tabla
Ghulam Mohammed, sarangi

The two brothers - Ustad Salamat Ali and Ustad Nazakat Ali - are a legend in the world of North Indian classical music. They learnt from their father - Ustad Vilāyat Ali Khan and are the doyen of the Shim Chaurāsi Gharāna - or tradition of singing. A unique feature of their music is the contrasting but balanced performance of the two singers; Salāmat Ali being the more virtuosic with the most incredible and breathtaking technical skill no less matched by his wonderful musical phrasing; Nazakat Ali providing a more’ gentle, sombre and austere accompaniment.

It is a pleasure to listen to this recording in 1988, particularly because it was first recorded in 1970. and reflects truly the quality of their music at the height of their skills. The artists have a most sincere approach to their art and always give of their best, whether in live performance or in the recording studio the standard is always the same.

My introduction to them was in concert in 1969, during their first visit to London at the Commonwealth Institute. The prospect of seeing the two brothers perform was an exciting one and I was not disappointed in my expectations. They sang one Rāg for about an hour and a half, keeping the audience absolutely spell-bound. Since then, sadly. Ustād Nazākat Ali has passed away, making this recording of the duo an even rarer treat. Today Ustad Salāmat Ali performs with his own son Sharāfat Ali, thus continuing the family tradition and it is a pleasure to say that Ustad Salāmat Ali will, even by his current performances, enter into the annals of Indian music as one of its greatest exponents. The style in which the music is sung is called “Khyāl”, and is the most popular rendition of classical vocal music of North India and Pakistan today. Khyāl has superseded the more ancient and austere tradition of Dhrupad over the last 200 years or so. The word itself means “imagination” or “fantasy”. The hallmark of Khyāl therefore is the freedom it allows an artist to be creative and to improvise, which Dhrupad did not allow to such an extent and, as a result, singers developed incredible virtuosity and vocal technique. This is most evident in Ustad Salamat Ali’s music. This utterly gifted artist has a powerful voice moving through a range of three octaves with ease. Salamat Ali has great control, ranging in the use of Gamak (fast wide vibrato) to the very fine ornamental phrases.

As with virtually all traditional Indian music three math elements are discernible in this recording. The first is the drone - played on the Tanpura. The second is rhythm - played here on the Tabla. The third is the main melodic line. The two singers alternate in their improvisations around a predetermined composition or Bandis in slow, medium and fast tempi, thus only one melodic line prevails. A fourth element is represented by the Sarangi - a beautiful bowed instrument which echoes the math melodic line and occasionally “fills” in with the Sarangi player improvising in his own right. In both pieces the musicians follow the traditional pattern of Khyāl. Each Rāg begins with a Bara or Bilampit Khyal in which tbe tempo is very slow and over which the singers create phrases in the Rāg working their way gradually up the scale. Each phrase or idea is concluded by returning to the “ciz” - a short refrain ending on the sum or the first beat of the Tal. The music gains in intensity and virtuosity as it progresses in a spiral fashion up the scale and eventually faster in tempo. The rhythm changes markedly into the Chotā or Drut Khyāl in which the central composition or Bandis alternates with fast and beautiful phrases. The pieces end with a Tarana - sung in very fast tempo, bringing each rendition to an exciting conclusion.

It is interesting to note that both the Rāgs performed here are pentatonic. They have the same intervals except that Bairāgi has a flat second and Megh has a natural second, the other intervals being the tonic, the fourth, the fifth and the flat seventh. The result is an astonishing and completely different mood and hence rendition. Rāg Megh is associated with the rainy season, with love and anticipation. As it is sung on this record it has a very romantic feel. The Rāg Megh is traditionally performed in the late afternoon or the late evening. Bairāgi on the other hand is associated with a sad mood and is devotional and often expresses the individual’s longing for God personified through human love. This Rāg is usually performed in the early morning.

text above extracted from the backside of the record sleeve

Music ▼

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar • Chandrakauns in Stockholm 1981

2011-06-15T18:09:00.002+02:00

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar
• Chandrakauns

Recorded 25th September 1981 in Stockholm
Skivbolaget Urspår - Origo 1002 - P.1984

Side A

A1 Chandrakauns (I) 22'33

Side B

B1 Chandrakauns (II) 24'13

But here Chandrakauns is served in one piece at 46'36

Happy Birthday!

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar (born 15 june 1932)

Nuances of the notes

Ustad Fariduddin Dagar is one of the oldest living exponents of the Dhrupad and his music makes serious demands on the listener, writes Deepa Ganesh after a chat with the maestro.

Contemplative, unhurried and probing music.

"AGAR aap Hindi bol nahin sakte, mere baat kaise samjhenge?" snaps Zia Fariduddin Dagar, the oldest living exponent of the Dhrupad tradition. "Samajh sakti hoon, par theek se bol nahin paati," I meekly offer. "Accha theek hai...," he muttered to himself, with an unmistakable emphasis on the word theek. Nothing misses him.

He is an authority on the Dhrupad; on all classical forms of music, in fact, including Carnatic music. As the conversation progresses, you learn he is in tune with everything — from politics (something he is very condescending about) to the music scene (his life's breath).

A family's heritage

Dhrupad, the oldest existing form of north Indian classical music, has become synonymous with the Dagar family. So much so one wonders if the form existed before them. In fact, any discussion on the Dhrupad remains incomplete without bringing the Dagars into it.

Dhrupad, which represented the noblest style in Indian vocal art, was patronised by royalty. But during the first half of the 20th Century, the all-pervasive Khayal took over and Dhrupad became the preserve of a few families. The democratisation of royalty also led to decline in patronage, throwing artistes into financial hardship and severely impacting the age-old guru-shishya parampara.

Since the mid-1970s, as a result of broader re-evaluation, Dhrupad has enjoyed a revival. With the younger members of the Dagar family, disciples, and other families, this extremely contemplative form of music is steadily making an effort to reclaim its position at the centre of the Indian musical tradition.

Dhrupad was originally a Hindu tradition. Most compositions are also on Hindu deities. But interestingly, the tradition has come to rest with Muslim musicians.

Explains Ustad Fariduddin Dagar Saab: "My ancestor Baba Gopal Das was a Hindu. My ancestors were court musicians in the darbar of the Mughal king Muhammed Shah Rangeela. It was the custom to wind up the performance by accepting paan offered by the king. When my ancestors did so, there was a huge uproar in the community: `by accepting the paan you've become Muslim'. `So be it,' said my ancestor," he narrates nonchalantly.

With the coming of Khayal, a tradition that makes for easier listening, in the early half of the 20th Century, Dhrupad moved to the periphery.

Losing ground?

Why did the Dhrupad lose ground? The Ustad takes umbrage at this, insisting it was never unpopular. In fact, in the absence of royal patronage, musicians gave up singing the Dhrupad, because they did not have anybody to take care of them. "When my father passed away, I was a young boy. And the king, who was my father's patron, was out of power. But when he heard of my father's death, he sent his men to see how the family was." From that day till his death, the king bore the expenses of the family. "That was the commitment. But I can't expect the same to happen in my case. I'm sure after my death, my family will be thrown out of the house they have given me in Bhopal."

The maestro is furious with the state that does not try to preserve or protect its culture. "Politicians aren't capable of any good," he says. "What has your State done to take care of its musicians? Adil Shah of Bijapur was such a big poet. We sing so many of his poems. Have they preserved his works? He has done so much for music, architecture and paintings."

Ustad Fariduddin Dagar doesn't think much of Khayal, but doesn't reject it totally either. "Khayal also has a tradition. But now there is nothing in place; everyone plays to the gallery. The early Khayal singers had a firm grounding in Dhrupad." The Ustad, legendary for his total involvement, famously said: "When I close my eyes and begin to sing, there is only darkness... slowly, light comes, then the beginnings of colour." He explains how the musician is alone with the "vastness of the self" and musicality lies in contemplation. Like in other Indian classical forms, the alaap is the entry point to the raga. But Fariduddin Dagar says that if a listener fails to comprehend the alaap, he should be able to do so at least with the lyrics.

Difficult to learn

The singer's treatment of the composition should evoke the mood of the raga. "You can sing for hours, but you should be able to grab the soul of the raga."

Due to its strict adherence to purity, learning Dhrupad is very difficult. Is that what makes people think Dhrupad is rigid? "According to me, there is immense freedom. Khayal is like the romantic period in music," he elucidates. Though there have been master composers like Mozart and Brahms in the West, Bach is still the colossus. "Bach's music is on a different scale. There is no romance in his music. It is spiritual. And that is true of Dhrupad too."

In fact, there are many big-time Khayal musicians who trace their inspiration back to this grand old form. Some musicians even talk of a Dhrupad element in their rendition of Khayals. "Everybody now wants to claim the Dhrupad style. Thirty years ago, when it was forgotten, nobody talked about it as their source," says the Ustad indignantly.

"You can't go to a Dhrupad concert like you go to the films. When you set out to please your audience it doesn't work. A musician has to feel convinced about what he is singing, be believes.

How does one explain the West's penchant for Dhrupad? Is it an extension of its fashionable affinity for everything spiritual? For the Ustad, whose life centres on Dhrupad alone, this is too complicated. "They are very curious about it. But they like to listen to the alaap and not pada. They go into minute details and it's very heartening to perform for them," is his simple position.

This makes an interesting comparison to what Alain Danielou, a Western scholar of Indian music, has to say about Dhrupad: "Its verbal and emotional dignity is conveyed by slow, elephantine movements and with utmost economy of flourishes and decorations."

You know what that means when the maestro sings. His music is sensuous, subtle, and intensely spiritual. As he unfolds the notes of Shuddh Sarang, you know there is no escape except to surrender to it completely.

In the typical contemplative, unhurried, probing fashion, he delves into the nuances, note by note. The amazing flexibility of his voice, the exuberance, and sheer joy of the experience of singing makes such exacting demands on the listener that it leaves one exhausted.

article by K. Murali Kumar

borrowed from The Hindu 2005.02.20 here

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, with Anita Livstrand, tambura

I hope you all appreciate this recording, several friends were involved in this production and to my knowledge it has never been reproduced on CD. The picture above may be from the same concert as the recording since it was taken in September 1981. The record was produced by Hans Isgren and engineered by Peter Hennix at his private loft where many wonderful concerts of Indian classical music took place. I hope you will enjoy it. Again like a recording of ZMD that i posted some days ago, this also had an unfortunate split in the middle to fit on the two sides of an LP. No such scars remain as that cut has now been "healed" and the concert is again "uncut".

record inlay leaf...

Music ▼

Rudra veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan dead! 14 June 2011

2011-06-14T20:08:00.001+02:00

I am posting the sad news about Ustad Asad Ali Khans death at the age of 74 and since I don't have anything else available on vinyl I am pointing out a very recent post here with one of his early records from the seventies!

Rudra veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan dead
New Delhi, June 14, (PTI):

(original news article in the Deccan Heral here)

Rudra Veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan, one of the last existing advocate of the Khandarbani dhrupad school, passed away in the wee hours here today. He was 74.

The classical musician who represents the 12 generation of Jaipur's Beenkar Gharana breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Science at around 2:30 am, his adopted son and disciple Ustad Ali Zaki Haidar told PTI.

"I had taken Ustad ji to hospital in the evening for a routine check-up and he was admitted around 7 pm. They conducted routine tests. Around 2:00 am while he was watching TV in his air-conditioned room, I noticed he was sweating. He passed away a little later," Haidar said.

Ustad Khan who was unmarried is survived by his nephew Haidar whom he had adopted as his own son at a very young age and trained to become his successor, said Pawan Monga, a disciple of the Rudra Veena exponent.

The musician, who received the Padma Bhushan in 2008 underwent training under his father Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan Beenakar. His father, grandfather Ustad Musharraf Ali Khan Beenakar and great-grandfather Ustad Rajab Ali Beenakar were court musicians in the princely state of Alwar where Ustad Asad Ali Khan was born in 1937.

His father later moved to the princely court of Rampur where he undertook to teach him music. For the next 15 years he learnt to play Rudra Veena, practicing 14 hours a day. Ustad Khan was a artiste of the All India Radio and participated in 'sangeet samelans' and musical performances across the country and the world. He has also performed at concerts in Afghanistan, Australia, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the US and other countries.

Ustad Khan has also been a professor of music at Delhi University. Rudra Veena, an instrument said to be created by Lord Shiva, has remained essentially unchanged for millennia.

It comprises a bamboo piece mounted on two gourds and has 19-24 frets fixed with beeswax with four main and three side strings having a range of four to four and half octaves. Unlike a sitar or sarod, the rudra veena does not have resonance strings.

Ustad Khan used to play dhrupad in tile kharbandi style, which is one of the four ancient styles of Indian music. It is named after Khanda, the Rajput warrior's traditional sharp curved sword.

Senior Dagar Brothers • Kamboji - Philips Unesco P.1971

2011-06-14T18:09:00.034+02:00

Mohinuddin Dagar, Aminuddin Dagar
Dhrupad and Khyal - North India, Vocal Music VI-2
Musical Sources - Modal Music and Improvisation
Philips Unesco - 6586 003 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Dhrupad - Raga Kamboji 29'47

Mohinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar, vocal

Raja Chhatrapati Singh, pakhawaj

Suraya Dagar, tanpura

Side B

B1 Khyal - Raga Malkosh 22'58

Robin Kumar Chatterjee, vocal

Nazir Ahmad, sarangi

Kedarnath Batt, tabla

P.S. Rajvedi, tanpura

Raga painting 18th century

Drumplayer 11th century, Deogarh

Northern Indian music represents the most characteristic form of purely modal music which is constructed in relation to an absolutely fixed base, the tonic (Sa), without any modulation or change of tonality during the development. In relation to this fundamental sound a scale is established which contains very precise and highly differentiated intervals; these intervals can differ slightly in each mode (raga), and correspond to distinct sentiments. Slight modifications of the intervals, for example a minor third which is raised or lowered by one comma, are felt as conveying very different sentiments. When making his way along the degrees of a mode, the musician brings out and emphasises their expressive qualities by means of ornaments, various ways of attacking the notes, and stylistic procedures. Such a development is only possible in improvisation, in the pursuit of an inner musical idea. A fixed melody allows only the existence of an outline of the sound-material; improvisation alone provides the means of shaping and differentiating it, of imbuing it with an infinite variety of forms. Therefore the only melodic elements proper, and the only ones which can be notated, are short motifs which serve to introduce the words of sung poems.

Once the musician has become aware of the mode and the theme, he sets out to develop and express them in a variety of ways in the successive styles which form the vocal discourse, the latter being composed of a very slow exposition, the Alap, followed by variations in quicker tempi. The words of the song are not taken up until the second part of the development. At the beginning, the voice is employed like an instrument. Indian music is fundamentally vocal, and all the instrumental techniques are conceived as an accompaniment to, or an imitation of vocal sonorities. Numerous and varied forms of song exist, the most important of which in the classical music are the Dhrupad, the oldest, the noblest, and the most austere form, and the Khyal, a form created in the fifteenth century which is more imaginative, more brilliant, and more whimsical (khyal). In each form the development proceeds according to successive formulas which are controlled by very strict rules in such a way that the performance of a piece, although improvised and always shaped anew in every detail, nevertheless unfolds in conformity with an overall design which is always identical.

Mohinuddin Dagar (1920-1967) and his brother Aminuddin Dagar (born in 1924) are regarded as the greatest masters of the Dhrupad, a genre which nowadays has hardly any more qualified representatives. They belong to a dynasty of musicians which represent a "musical tradition" (gharana), the origin of which goes back to Tansen, the celebrated musician at the court of the Emperor Akbar (1542-1605).

Robin Kumar Chatterjee (born in Bengal in 1942) is one of the most remarkable singers of the young generation, and one of the very few who maintain the pure tradition of Indian classical singing. He studied music with some of the greatest masters, in particular with Amir Khan who represents the tradition known as Kirana.

notes by Alain Daniélou

snipped from the record sleeve

Side 1:

Alap and Dhrupad sung by Mohinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar; accompaniment: Pakhavaj (horizontal double-headed drum), Raja Chhatrapati Singh; Tanpura (lute giving the tonic, fifth, and octave), Mrs. Suraya Dagar.

The raga (mode) is Kamboji (diatonic with minor seventh), a mode which is sung at nightfall and expresses calm tenderness and sweet memories.

The tala (rhythm) is Chautala with 12 beats grouped in 4, 4, 2, 2.

The Alap, or extended prelude, is a wordless exposition of the sentiment of the mode. Conventional meaningless syllables are used to support the vocal line.

The Dhrupad (sung poem) proper begins with the entry of the rhythm provided by the drum. The words, which are many times repeated, are taken from an old poem in Hindi by Rasa Khan (Manusha ho to vohi...), which is an appeal to the shepherd-god Krishna: "I cannot live far from thee; cause me to be reborn as one of the cowherds or among the herds of the village of thy childhood."

Side 2:

Alap and Khyal sung by Robin Kumar Chatterjee, accompanied on the sarangi (bowed instrument) by Nazir Ahmad, on the tabla (pair of vertical drums) by Kedarnath Bhatt, and on the tanpura by P. S. Rajvedi.

The raga is Malkosh, a pentatonic mode without second or fifth arid with minor sixth and minor seventh. Malkosh is sung during the first pan of the night. It is a mode which expresses
peace, softness, and tenderness.

The tala is Eka tala with 12 beats grouped in 4, 4, 2, 2 in the first part (Bara Khyal), and Tintala with 8 beats grouped in 2, 4, 2 in the second part (Chhota Khyal).

The words, in Hindi, of the first part signify "he whom I love has come to my door..." (sajana aye mere dware...), and those of the second part "what strange unrest dost thou inspire in me. . ." (kaisi lagana lagai Balama).

In the Khyal the words are employed right from the beginning, but interludes on sol-fa syllables (Sa, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni, Sa) also occur.

Recordings: Alain Daniélou (side 1) rec. 1965
and Manfred Junius (side 2) rec. 1971

Phakawaj

tablas

tambura

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A Musical Anthology of the Orient - India III: Dhrupad

2011-06-13T18:09:00.016+02:00

Moinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar

A Musical Anthology of the Orient
- Unesco Collection 18 - India III: Dhrupad
recorded by Alain Daniélou
Bärenreiter - Musicaphon - BM 30 L 2028 - P.1961?

Side A

A1 Asavari 24'44

Side B

B1 Bhairavi 21'33
B2 Damar Tala, Pakhawaj solo 4'56

The Dhrupad received its present form at the court of Rājā Mana Simba, the ruler of Gwalior from 1486 to 1525. This style was perfected by such famous musicians of the sixteenth century as Haridāsa Swami and his disciple Tansen at the court of the emperor Akbar (1542-1605).

Moinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar are the descendants of a very old family of musicians. The particular style of Dhrupad of which they preserve the tradition dates back to Vrija Chanda, a contemporary and rival of Tānsen. Vrija Chanda was called Dāguri, because he was born in the village of Dagar near Delhi. Gopal Dāsa Dagar, who was one of the heirs of this tradition, is a direct ancestor of the Dagar brothers. Their grandfather Alla Bande Khan and their father Nasiruddin Khan Dagar, court musicians of Indore, are renowned for their performances and creations within the traditional music of India.

Today, Moinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar are recognized as the best singers of the classical Dhrupad

Raja Chhatrapati Singh, born in 1919, belongs to the ruling family of Bijna State in Central India. Chhatrapati Singh learned to play the drum, called pakhävaj, with the famous drummer Ramdāsji. For several years he was a teacher of this instrument at the Music College of Benares Hindu University.

Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the noblest style of Indian classical music. Dhrupad-s consist of two parts: a long prelude which establishes the mode, the rāga, which is today called ālāpa or “conversation” but was formerly termed Dhruva, and a poem or pada which is sung.

The Dhrupad is a sober and severe style of singing. The musicians must improvise strictly within the limits of the mode and avoid any elaborate vocalising or ornaments. The ālāpa which forms the first part of any classical improvisation is in a slow tempo and has no definite rhythmic form. It has only a metrical form, i. e. long or short notevalues, but these are not organized into a rhythmic pattern. The improvisation is free and descriptive. The ālāpa is essential in creating the mood or atmosphere of the mode. Time has to be taken before the minute variations on each note of the modal scale can reveal their expressive values and the significance of each note can be established and assimilated by the audience. Only then can the musician begin faster, more brilliant and lighter variations, and also omit some of the elements of the scale without affecting the raga. The mood of the mode has to be firmly established with all its deeper significance before the musician can feel free to display virtuosity in vocal arabesques, which take on their real meaning only within the emotional background of a particular raga The ālāpa is the most difficult part of the improvisation. It is here that the personality of the great exponent is immediately felt. In the poem which is sung after the ālāpa, the drum intervenes with complex rhythms. The poem itself is very short and its verses are repeated many times. It is sometimes divided into two parts, sthāyi and antarā, which are sung in forms that differ slightly from each other.

The Dhrupad is a much neglected art in India today, where the public demand is for lighter and easier musical forms, such as the bel canto virtuosity of the Khyāl, rather than the contained emotion and sober musical structure of the Dhrupad. There are very few Dhrupad singers today.

Moinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar are almost alone among the great singers who still practise this form of singing; the most noble, beautiful, and severe form of Indian musical art.

Most of the Dhrupad-s which are sung today were composed by poets and musicians of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

From the original accompanying notes to the series by Alain Daniélou

Moinuddin Dagar, Aminuddin Dagar, Suraiya Dagar

Here is a quote from a review by Walter Kaufmann in

Ethnomusicology 1970 Vol. 14 No. 01 , page 184.

This is an interesting and, in general, valuable collection of Indian recordings. A few unusual comments and a certain unevenness in type and quality of a few pieces can be overlooked by a tolerant reader and listener when he considers the compelling beauty of the majority of the pieces presented. The four discs cover a wide field: Vedic Recitation and Chant; Music of the Dance and Theater of the South; Dhrupads; and Karnatic Music.

Disc Three

Presenting two dhrupads, this disc is as interesting as the recording of the Vedic chant. The commentator is correct when he describes dhrupad singing as a “much neglected art in India.” We could add that now this art is practically forgotten. It is very difficult indeed to hear a dhrupad performance at the present time. During my fourteen-year residence in India I had only one opportunity to hear a dhrupad performance. A single dhrupad takes a surprisingly long time to perform, usually several hours. This fact makes us wonder how it is possible to present not one but two dhrupads on one disc and with room to spare for a drum solo performance! If Indian musicians argue about the correct interpretation of a certain raga, they will never consult the old Sanskrit works but will invariably refer to the only undisputed authority: the dhrupad. Even the most heated argument will come to an end if it is stated that in the pure and unadorned dhrupad singing this or that manner of performance practice is employed. The dhrupad, the heavy forerunner of the khyal, consists of an alap, the asthayi, and the antara. It is always accompanied on a mrdanga (or pakha\vaj), never on the tablas. There is a saying in India that only a man who has the strength of several buffaloes should attempt to sing dhrupad. This style is devoid of all subtle ornamentations that may appear in the khyal. Although the description of intervals, as expressed in the commentary by fractions and mathematical calculations such as 25/24, 256/243, and so forth, is theoretically of interest, it is necessary to say that no Indian performing musician, neither now nor of the past, would ever refer to or apply mathematical concepts in his performance. My position as Director of Music at All India Radio, Bombay, enabled me to check repeatedly several aspects of microtonal alterations. Most of the older artists refused to accept their remunerations in the form of cheques. They insisted upon receiving bare coin.

It was interesting to note that some of these great and wonderful musicians would bring along with them a young boy, a son or a nephew, who was able to count the rupee coins reliably. The old artist and his young helper would settle on the floor outside the studio and carefully count the money received which had come in a little cloth bag. It seems to be rather erroneous to assume that these celebrated artists dealt with the microtonal alterations in their performances from a rigid mathematical point of view. As a matter of fact I was able to measure some of these remarkable alterations electronically and found that the "same" intervals in a certain raga received differing alterations by the same artist at different broadcasts and, of course, other performers would deviate slightly from the former. It appears that the main point is the use of alteration, but the how high or how low, of course within the margin of an interval less than a semitone, was left to the prevailing mood produced by the raga itself and by the performing artist. Some interesting studies have been made in this respect by N. A. Jairazbhoy and A. W. Stone (1963). It is of interest to note that not one single Indian theorist before the end of the last century employed complex mathematical terms, and that none of the Indian notational systems possesses symbols that indicate microtonal alterations. Of course the alterations do exist in practice, but they are traditional, bound to the characteristic rasa, and their execution is left to the discretion of the performer.

The dhrupad excerpts given on the disc are based upon the northern ragas Asavari and Bhairavi. They are followed by a pakhawaj solo in Dhamar tal (5,2,3,4). Asavari, originally designated as a ragini, is often depicted as a beautiful woman. There are two types of this raga: the first-the scale of which is now used as the eighth thata-with RE shuddha (D natural); and the second with RE komal (D flat). The tone material shown in the commentary represents the second type. The vadi is DHA komal (A flat), and its somewhat weaker counterpart, the samvadi, is GA komal (E flat). Both notes when used in the descending line are generally performed with a slight vibrato which is characteristic of Asavari. The commentary informs us correctly about the omission of the notes GA komal (E flat) and NI komal (B flat) in ascent, and their use in descent. There are some instances when musicians combine both types of Asavari by using RE shuddha (D) in ascent and RE komal (D flat) in descent. Bhairavi is the next raga presented, its scale now being the ninth thata of the North Indian music system. As indicated in the commentary, the major second (RE shuddha, D natural) may appear, but only as an ornament.

As a matter of fact, various liberties may be taken in the performance of this noble raga because with the exception of the basic tone material and the vadis (MA, F, and SA, C) there are no strictly prescribed performance rules. The performing artists are Moinuddin and Aminuddin Dagar, Raja Chatrapati Singh, and Surayi Dagar.

Walter Kaufmann

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

ill. 1 Raga Asavari - painting 17th century

ill. 2 Raga Bhairavi - painting 17th century

Dagar Brothers during recording

Moinuddin, Aminuddin, Suraiya Dagar in Bombay

Moinuddin Dagar (1919-1966)

The eldest son of Nasiruddin Khan and a charismatic performer who together with his younger brother Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar attained fame in the 1950's and 60's as the Senior Dagar Brothers. His singing came the closest to that of Nasiruddin Khan, according to many who had heard Nasiruddin Khan. He trained under his father till his death in 1936, and subsequently learnt from his uncles Riyazuddin Khan and Ziauddin Khan. His style was characterised by a certain flamboyance, and there were always surprises in the sudden unexpected turns that his melodic improvisation could take. His concert tour of Europe with his younger brother in the 1960's earned great critical acclaim. He had amazing mastery over the use of the three different kinds of head resonance — nasika, anunasika and nirrannasika, which he used with much flair and artistry on the higher notes like ni and sa. His use of rapid ghamak patterns in the faster part of the alap created some controversy, because this led to the accusation that he had adopted some elements of khayal in his singing. But he defended its use by saying that the patterns, though very rapid, were syllabic and different from the aakar taans of khayal. Like his father Nasiruddin Khan he died in the prime of his career in 1966, probably from the same hereditary ailments that caused his fathers early demise — the progression of his illness no doubt accelerated by his fondness for the rich non-vegetarian cuisine of the Dagar family. Recently some recordings of his singing have been released from the private archives of the Royal family of Udaipur.

Aminuddin Dagar (1923-2000)

The second son of Ustad Nasiruddin Khan who, together with his elder brother Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar, attained fame as the Senior Dagar Brothers. Blessed with a deep resonant voice, and a slightly restrained devotional style, he was the ideal duet partner for his flamboyant elder brother Moinuddin. He had his initial training from his father Ustad Nasiruddin Khan, and later learnt mainly from Ustads Hussainuddin Khan (Tansen Pandey), Ustad Ziauddin Khan and Ustad Riyazuddin Khan. He however regarded his elder brother Moinuddin Dagar as his main guru. He was famous in his family for his prodigious memory and remembered many compositions, perhaps more than anyone else of his generation in the Dagar family. He did teach some of them to his students, but most are now lost.

Raja Chhatrapati Singh (1919-1998)

Chatrapati (also spelled Chhatrapati) Singh Ju Deo was born in the Royal family of Bijna State in Uttar Pradesh, bordering Madhya Pradesh, India. His grandfather Raja Mukund Singh and father Raja Himmat Singh were partrons of music. He showed a great deal of interest in music from a very early age and started learning Pakhavaj from a number of masters including Shri Kudau Singh Ji and Swami Ramdās Ji. He became the foremost exponent of Pakhavaj of his era. He accompanied all the great Dhrupad vocalists including the Dagar Brothers and Pt. Ram Chatur Malik. For several years he was a teacher of this instrument at the Music College of Benares Hindu University.

Music ▼

Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan - Raga Chhayanat, Desi Todi, Bhairabi

2011-06-12T18:09:00.000+02:00

Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan
• Raga Chhayanat, Desi Todi, Bhairabi
HMV EMI India - EALP 1427 - P.1984

Side A

A1 Raga Chhayanat - Sagari Ram-Kirpa, Jhanana Jhanana Jhananana Baaje Bichhua 25'48

Raga Chhayanat - Sagari Ram-Kirpa - Khayal - Vilambat - Ektaal
Raga Chhayanat - Jhanana Jhanana Jhananana Baaje Bichhua - Khayal - Drut - Teentaal

Side B

B1 Raga Desi Todi - Sanchi Kahat Hal Adha-Rang Ye - Khayal - Teentaal 14'50
B2 Raga Bhairabi - Tarana - Teentaal 10'24

Accompaniment:
Harmonium - Ghulam Baqar Khan
Tabla - Anando Gopal Bandopadhyay
Tanpura: Ghtjlam Akbar Khan Zulfakar Husain Khan

Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan has throughout been acclaimed as one of the greatest exponents of North Indian Classical Vocal music and today he is indeed the foremost amongst the performing Ustads in the country. He hails from Rampur district which at one time was known to be the blessed abode of classical music and musicians' in North India.

With initial training received from his grandfather Ustad Hyder Khan, Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan was subsequently groomed and nurtured by his illustrious father Ustad Fida Hussain. In the early thirties Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan emerged as an outstanding Khayal and Tarana singer when a galaxy of stalwarts like Ustad Alladiya Khan, Ustad Wahid Khan, Ustad Rajah Ali Khan, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Ustad Fayaz Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar and others had been adorning the scene of Indian Classical music.

The rulers of Indian States had till then been continuing with their patronage for nourishment and propagation of classical music. Sir Siyajirao. Gaekwad of Baroda, was greatly impressed by the remarkable artistry of Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan and the Ustad flourished as Court Musician of Baroda for long thirty years.

Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan has developed a distinctive style of his own which savours of a synthesis between two prominent schools of Khayal singing - Sahaswan and Rampur. His unique voice is sonorous and assertive. With innovative phrases and colourful patterns. Khan Saheb renders Khayal like a great architect. He expounds Ragas in a very systematic way and his Taans gliding reposefully through octave after octave are not only accurate but crystalclear as well. His Bol-taans in Tarana are his speciality and the excellence of his virile but polished style of presentation has earned him a very prestigious position in the realm of Hindusthani Classical music.

Listening to Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan is always an experience and a present-day connoisseur might wonder how the performing art of the Old Master could develop so much dynamically keeping pace with the stride of time. The septuagenarian tistad has kept himself alive to the modern trends and his expositions always reflect his progressive outlook and a freshness of creativity.

Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan has been the recipient of many honours and Tamra Patra awards. In 1970 he was awarded Pad ma Bhushan'. He received Fellowship of Sangeet Natak Academy in 1971. Uttarpradesh Natak Academy felicited him with Award and Fellowship in 1972. He was titled as Sangeet Mahamahopadhaya by the Hyderabad Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1968. Khan Saheb headed India's Goodwill Mission to Nepal and Afganisthan in 1975. He visited London in 1976 on invitation to perform in an International Conference.

In this album Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan has presented Raga Chhayanat on the first side. The Vilambat Khayal is in Ektaal and the Dna is in Teentaal. The Raga unfolded in a traditional manner, has been elaborated in all its facets with highly imaginative phrases and utter precision. The Taans are lively and amazing.

On the second side Khan Saheb has first rendered a Khayal in Desi Todi set to Teentaal. The sentiment of the Morning melody has been brought out with emotional fervour and keen sense of aesthetics. The Ustad has concluded his recital with a Tarana in Bhairavi and the composition is in Teentaal. The intricate rhythmic patterns and Bol-taons executed in his typical style are not only attractive but give clear glimpses of Khan Saheb's incomparable virtuosity.

Sarengee accompaniment provided by the veteran Ghulam Baqar Khan and Tabla by the young talent Anando Gopal Bandopadhyay are additional attractions of this album.

Music ▼

Nazakat Ali & Salamat Ali • Classical Music from Pakistan

2011-06-12T13:03:00.009+02:00

Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan
Ustad Salamat Ali Khan
• Classical Music from Pakistan — Durbari, Kalavati
The Gramophone Company of Pakistan - CLP 1308 - P.1958 - 60?*

Side A

A1 Raag Durbari - 22'01
- Bhilampat - Jhumra Tal
- Durat - Tintal

Side B

B1 Raag Kalavati - 22'13
- Bhilampat - Tilwara Tal
- Durat - Tintal

Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (Born in 1934 in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, died in 2001), father of an entire family of vocalist-musicians, performed (at the age of nine), with his brother Nazakat Ali Khan, as the famed 'Ali Brothers'. They were internationally renowned as superstars in the 60's and 70's for their immense talent and artistry in the classical form.

Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan (1932? Older brother that died much earlier than Salamat)
(Most likely Tawfiq or someone else can fill in the dates here or I'll do it when I find them!)

Nazakat Ali - Salamat Ali

These two young artists, aged 26 years and 24* years respectively are well-known in the sub-Continent of Indo-Pakistan. They were taught by their father. Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan, a great exponent of classical singing, under whose able guidance they have attained for themselves a unique position among the exponents of classical music.

These two artists are followers of Sham Chroasi School of Music which has been in the limelight for many centuries, specialising in the faithful reproduction of the original form of each Raga (composition). Both, however, in adhering to the basic teaching have enriched their singing with new ideas giving a contemporary touch to their art.

The singing is accompanied by Tabla and a Sarangi. Tabla, played here by Ustad Allah Dutta, are a pair of drums — one treble, the other, bass. Sarangi played by Ustad Zahoori Khan, is a three-stringed instrument similar to a violin.

One of the most popular forms of classical music sung to-day is called “Khyal” which has two distinctive parts — the Bilampat (slow) and the Durat (fast). The invocation always starts in bilampat and gradually increases in tempo to end in Durat. Most classical singers are either able to sing well in Bilampat or in Durat but both Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali are equally proficient in both, which is a great achievement, In this recording, Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali treat you to two Ragas.

Side One : Raga Durbari

Raga Durbari is a composition of Tansen, the famous musician of Moghul Emperor, Akbar the Great, In this piece, which describes the Emperor's Court and all its pageantry, the young artists play Bilampat in 14 beats and Durat in 16. The mind and soul seem to be carried away into an atmosphere of purity and godliness.

The composition is as follows:

Do Rey me FA so LA See
Do See So me FA Ray Do

Side Two: Raga Kalavati

This piece was evolved recently by Maharashtrians and consists only of five notes. It expresses the loneliness and despair of a parted lover for this sweetheart. This is a rather sad and sophisticated piece and to be able to sing it well, the artist must first get into almost a trance as if he himself was the lover and it was he who was missing his sweetheart.

This Raga is made up of the following scale:

Do me So LA See
Do See LA So me Do

snipped from the backside of the record sleeve

* About the publishing date and birthdays please do your own math! I am lousy even at common addition!

Music ▼

Pandit Narayanrao Vyas - Raag Vibhas, Raag Bihag

2011-06-11T18:09:00.000+02:00

Pandit Narayanrao Vyas
• Classical Vocal - Raag Vibhas, Raag Bihag - P.1988
HMV EMI India - PMLP 3023 - P.1988

Side A

Raga Vibhas
Praat Samay - Khyal - Vilambit Ektaal
Kais Komarva Ja - Khyal - Drut Teental

Side B

Raga Bihag
Kaise Sukh Sowe - Khyal - Tilwada
Abahun Kar Jaani - Khyal - Drut Teental

Ustad Nizamuddin Khan, tabla
A.K. Kunte, sarangi

I am happy to post another treasure. This is again one of the real masters captured in old age His output of 78 rpm's is almost unsurpassed. Here is a discography that will make anyone salivate could we only have some more of those records reissued.

Pandit Narayanrao Vyas was one of the most outstanding diciples of Pandit Vishnu Digambar, who carried forward his guru's mission both as a performer and as a teacher.

Pandit Narayanrao Ganesh Vyas, the younger brother of Shri Shankarrao Vyas (1898-1956), was born in Kolhapur on April 1, 1902. At the age of nine, he joined the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya at Lahore where his elder brother had already joined the `Gurukul` system of music education initiated by Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in 1901. He was trained by Pandit Paluskar for ten years, after which both brothers came to Ahmedabad in 1922, where they began to teach in the local Gandharva Mahavidyalaya branch.

In 1926, they moved to Bombay where Shankarrao Vyas chose to enter the film industry as a music director. Narayanrao Vyas, however, chose to remain a teacher and a concert performer. He started performing in music festivals and from 1929 to 1955, he cut over 150 records in the 78-rpm format for the Gramophone Company (HMV) in Mumbai. The recorded songs are classical khayals, thumris and semi-classical bhajans. He often sang ragas using Marathi bandishes. The popularity of his records earned him HMV`s best seller gold medal. Narayanrao used to sing on Radio too. He toured and traveled extensively and sang in prestigious music conferences and concerts throughout North India. He was also proficient in playing the Harmonium, Tabla, Sitar and Jaltarang.

To fulfil the desire of their Guru to spread and popularise Indian classical music, the Vyas brothers decided to start a music academy in Bombay. Thus the Vyas Sangeet Vidyalaya was set up in June 1937, to impart lessons to students both in vocal and instrumental music. The school continues to function to this day.

Narayanrao Vyas was one of the most popular and sought-after vocalists of his generation. He was honoured with several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976 and the Tansen Award of the Madhya Pradesh Government in 1983. Among his disciples were his own son, Vidyadhar Vyas, his guru`s son, Dattatreya Vishnu Paluskar, the legendary Carnatic vocalist, M S Subbalakshmi and several others.

For Narayanrao Vyas, music was not only a means of livelihood but also a way to salvation. He was a believer in the purity of music and remained a traditional singer throughout his life. He remained active even in his old age and died in 1984.

78 rpm discography

Music ▼

Oriental Traditional music from LP's & K7 • New blog to keep an eye on!

2011-06-11T16:47:00.000+02:00

Do you like some more Mallikarjun?

Well, I have some very good news to share with you! There is a new blog started by one of the frequent visitors to this blog and I can assure you that it will be worth your while following it. the first post right now in my blogroll is from that blog!

Pop over directly to this new blog and get your own copy of

Mallikarjun Mansur - Bahaduri Todi & Gaud Malhar - ECLP 2384 (1968)

What are you waiting for... the files are over there...

Don't forget to say thank you!

Just pop over there and enjoy, and good luck Tawfiq!

Mallikarjun Mansur • Sings Rare and Complex Ragas

2011-06-10T18:09:00.002+02:00

Mallikarjun Mansur
• Sings Rare and Complex Ragas
INRECO - 2411 5040 - P.1978

Side A

Raga Khat: Khayal Vilambit Jhaptaal
- Vidyadhar guniyan 20'54

Side B

Raga Nat-Bihag: Khayal Vilambit Tritaal
- Jhan jhan jhan payai baje 21'35

Raga Khat, is one of the most difficult and controversial morning ragas, representing a unique blend of six “ragas”. It takes “panchama” as its “vadi swara” and “shadja” as the “samvadi swara”, and is “sampurna” in character. The maestro renders this “raga” in “vilambit”. set to “jhaptaal”, a rhythmic cycle of 10 “matras”.

Raga Nat-Bihag, is a night melody difficult of delineation but known for its bright, vivacious mood. It embodies a subtle fusion of two "ragas", namely. “Nat” and “Bihag”. It takes “panchama” and “shadja” as its “vadi” and “samvadi swaras”, respectively. The “raga” is rendered here in “vilambit”. set to “tritaal”, in 16 “matras”

Mallikarjun Bheemarayappa Mansur, (1910–1992) Indian classical singer of the khyal style in the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He received the three national Padma Awards: Padma Shri in 1970, Padma Bhushan in 1976, and Padma Vibhushan in 1992.

read some more on Wikipedia here

Ustad Alladiya Khan, who pioneered what has now come to be known as the “Atrauli gharana”, was a many-sided genius. He set a new and significant trend in classicism which marked a radical departure from several “khayal gharanas” then in vogue. With its equi-proportional fusion of “swara” and “laya” the style displayed an immaculate sense of construction and architectonics reminiscent of Himalayan grandeur. The intractable vocalism was equally notable for its rich and varied repertory of well-known and rare melodies and their complex “bandishes”. Kesarbai Kerkar, Moghubai Kurdikar. Ustad Manji Khan, Lakshmibai Jadhav and Bhurji Khan, to name but a few, are among the celebrities of this hallowed tradition.

Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, who presents two of the most complex melodies of the “gharana”, is its reigning maestro today, and its only performing exponent from the older generation.

Panditji, who was born at Mansur. a village in Oharwar district, Karnataka State, had his initial training in vocal music from Pandit Neelakanth Buva Alurmath, a disciple of Pandit Balkrishna Buva Ichalkaranjikar, a maestro of the Gwalior tradition. Later, after six years. Mansur had the benefit of further guidance from Ustad Manji Khan and Ustad Bhurji Khan, the illustrious sons of Ustad Alladiya Khan. They gave the talented youngster a winsome command of technique and excellence of presentation. To these virtues he added his own rigorous practice and indomitable determination.

The result is the emergence of a musical personality whose unquenchable urge for self-expression, at 67, symbolises the triumph of the spirit over the body. The “Khayals” in “Khat” and “Nat-Bihag”, heard in this disc, come as an emphatic re-affirmation of Panditji's pre-eminence in the field. His vibrant voice, accurate intonation, amazing breath-control, uncanny “layakari” and his fervid expression, at his age, are something which put him in a class by himself, an unrivalled master. Which is why Pandit Mansur still continues to enjoy a large following all over the country. Even today, no major musical event is complete without his participation. He has also been a regular broadcaster for the last several decades. He has also lent his services to All India Radio as music adviser for ten years.

The President of India has honoured him with the National Award for Hindustani vocal music while the University of Karnataka has conferred on him the honorary degree of D. Litt. in recognition of his distinguished services to the cause of music. He is currently honorary director of the Institute Music and Faculty of Fine Arts of the university.

Rajashekhar Mansur, who provides vocal support in this disc, is Panditji's son. Young Rajashekhar, who teaches English at Karnataka University, reveals himself as an up-and-coming performer in his own right.

snipped from the notes on the record sleeve

Music ▼

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar • Raga Bhimpalasi

2011-06-09T18:09:00.023+02:00

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar
• Raga Bhimpalasi
Le Chant Dhrupade de Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar
Traditions classiques de l'Orient - l'Inde. vol.15
Disques Esperance - ESP 8413 - P.1985

Side A

A1 Bhimpalasi - alap, jor (I) 25'11

Side B

B1 Bhimpalasi - jor (II), jhala 11'05

B2 Bhimpalasi - bandish - chautal 14'44

Manik Munde, Pakhawaj

I guess no one will complain if I continue to post recordings of the Dagar family, so here is a great recording from the early eighties of Farid, as he was affectionately known by some of his local students here. Hopefully this spree of Dagar recordings will also attract some new ones, so if you have something laying around, please share it with us. I will post one more locally produced record with Fariduddin recorded in the eighties. Later I will also try to locate what private tapes there are laying around. I have a few and there must be many more. A consorted effort here would be something very joyous, at least to me. What do you say? Anyhow I feel certain that you will enjoy this one!

(thanks WD, for your falcon eyes)

Zia Fariduddin Dagar (born 1932) is an Indian classical vocalist in the Dhrupad, the oldest existing form of north Indian classical music (Hindustani classical music) and part of the Dagar family of musicians. He taught at the Dhrupad Kendra, Bhopal, along with his elder brother, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar for 25 years. He was awarded the 1994 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Hindustani music-Vocal by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama

He was born in Udaipur, Rajasthan in India on 15 June 1932, where his father, the great Ustad Ziauddin Khansahib was the court musician of Maharana Bhupal Singh of Udaipur. He was taught dhrupad vocal & veena by his father. After his father’s demise, he continued learning under his elder brother, Late Ustad Z M Dagar, the foremost Rudra veena player of 20th century. Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar represents the 19th generation of the musical tradition of the Dagar family that is believed to have preserved and nurtured Dhrupad for 20 generations.

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar has done a lot for popularizing dhrupad music by his numerous concerts and workshops. He has performed widely in India and abroad, and received the Tansen Samman from the Madhya Pradesh government and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. In 2005, he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the North American Dhrupad Association.
He has a remarkable command over microtones (swara-bheda) and various gamakas, and is noted for his gradual development of alap through vilambit, madhya and drut laya (slow, medium and fast tempo). He is probably the only person alive to be able to demonstrate all the five geetis mentioned in the Sangita Ratnakara namely, Shuddha, Bhinna, Gaudi, Sadharani(which is dagarwani of today) & Vegasura (which is popular in south India). He is the most influential dhrupad vocalist in India after the senior Dagar Brothers (Ustads N. Moinuddin & N. Aminuddin Dagar).

By 1980, he had virtually settled down in Austria teaching Dhrupad in Austria and France. Once, during a visit to India, one of his disciples, the filmmaker, Mani Kaul came to him and pleaded with him to provide the background score for a film, The Cloud Door (1994) he was making on Madhya Pradesh. During the making of the film, they spent over two months in Madhya Pradesh, a lot of time in Bhopal,
and Ustadsahib agreed to move back to India and to take charge as the Guru at this Gurukul. He taught dhrupad for 25 years at this Dhrupad Kendra, under the Ustad Allauddin Khan Music Academy, Bhopal, to students like the Gundecha Brothers.

Nowadays, he stays & teaches at the Dhrupad Gurukul near Panvel, which was built by his elder brother Ustad Z. M. Dagar. He continues to perform widely in India and abroad.

snipped from Wikipedia, read the full text here

Music ▼

Senior Dagar Brothers • Darbari Kanada - 1965 (2 pressings)

2011-06-08T16:56:00.007+02:00

Dagar Brothers • Darbari Kanada
Khansahib Nasir Mohinuddin Dagar,
Khansahib Nasir Aminuddin Dagar

Gramophone Co. Odeon - MOAE 135 - P.1965

(also EMI India - EALP 1291 - P.1965)

Side A

A1 Darbari Kanada - alap 18'55

Side B

B1 Darbari Kanada - dhamar 8'25
B2 Adana - dhrupad 9'33

Finally I get to post this LP by two wonderful singers that could have been enough reason for this whole blog (I am exaggerating just a little bit...) and as I have two copies of different pressings and catalogue numbers I will post both of them. Both of them have merits and shortcomings and the EALP 1291 that I think overall is the best copy, has a flaw in the beginning minute of side one. A "rotation counter" as we used to say, that gives a mild but annoying thud for each rotation, it does however go away rather quickly. There is no such thing on the MOAE 135, but I think there is a bit more surface noice on that one. But since you can have both, you can judge for yourself!

I have yet to hear a perfect copy of this LP if such a thing exists, but suffice it to say, these copies look perfect and have very little wear and are to my ear decent enough but as most vinyl goes, the sound is always a little flawed. OK, OK, Don't get all jittery now! I said most vinyl! I do have a few, a very few if I may add, that are of extremely good quality but that does not make it a norm.

There is unfortunately not many recordings on LP by the Senior Brothers and apart from the Bärenreiter [BM 30L 2018] Musical Anthology of the Orient; India III, [Philips 6586003] North India Vocal Music; Dhrupad and Khyal. Their may also be an AIR Archive LP but I have not seen it!

Fortunately there are also some CD's, like the [Auvidis D 8076] North India • Dhrupad & Khyal and the three CD's [RAGA 220] Todi, 1957 & [RAGA 221] Bihag, Kamboji, Malkosh, 1955. These early recordings from Calcutta were graciously published, with some good information, by Raga Records. Not to forget the Royal Collection of Mewar on 6 CD's put out by by EMI and the privately issued "unfinished" jaijaivanti, the "registrazione senza fine", when the tape ran out for Alain Danielou. You see how every piece is so very precious that any fragment will cause a big stir among devoted aficionados. Whenever it happens, it really should be on the news! ;-)

Recently there was also this release from the All India Radio Archives (AIR) [AIRH 28] Dagar Brothers "Dhrupad" • Ragas: Gunkali & Jaijaiwanti, recordings from Mid 1960s.
But this is just a rare luck, as they are not in the habit of opening up their vaults very often and we have to look for private transcripts from radio broadcasts and recordings of private mehfils to hear any more by them!

Another discography of most of the published recordings of the Dagars and extensions

is to be found here

The best is of course if we could find means to do real editions and publish high quality records but awaiting such circumstance anyone is hereby, of course welcome to contribute whatever you have and in whatever shape. Which whatever... It is always good to take inventory!

I will also share some that I and friends have saved over the years on cassettes and open reel, but alas that will still have to wait a while as there is so many things I want to post. I will however post the above mentioned LP's. Hope you enjoy this one (two) they have been sitting here waiting for the right moment to appear and I hope it is now!

Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar (1919-1966) and Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar (1923-2000)

Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, two of the greatest Dhrupad exponents of the past century, were born in Indore in one of the most illustrious musical families that India has ever produced. Their father, Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Dagar, was the court musician of the state of Indore and was widely regarded as the foremost Dhrupad singer of his age. Nasiruddin Khan was a stern disciplinarian and Moinuddin and Aminuddin began their rigorous talim under his strict tutelage at a very tender age. Moinuddin was blessed with a phenomenal musical memory and was known to repeat as grown-up bits and pieces of music that he had listened to while sitting on the lap of his grandfather Ustad Allah Bande Khan Sahab when he was barely one year old. Aminuddin too had imbibed this extraordinary memory which was tested to the limit in the talim they received from their father as he was loath to repeat any musical phrase more than once. Nasiruddin is said to have had a premonition of his early death ten years before he actually died. Thus he was eager to impart all the musical knowledge that he had perfected to his next generation before his death. As a consequence Moinuddin and Aminuddin received in mere ten years a quality of talim that usually takes more than three decades to acquire. When Ustad Nasiruddin Khan died in 1936 Moinuddin was 17 and Aminuddin only 13. The two brothers then received their next phase of talim under the guidance of their maternal uncle Ustad Riyazuddin Khan who was himself the great-grandson of Baba Behram Khan Sahab—the man widely regarded to be the father of dagar-vani Dhrupad music as it is now practised. They also received training from Ustad Ziauddin Khan, who was a cousin to their father. Finally however, it was the inherent musical genius of Moinuddin and Aminuddin that was responsible for blending these different musical influences into a style that was unique to them. It fused in itself the best elements of the various exponents of the dagar-vani tradition to form a blissfully harmonious style of Dhrupad presentation that would mesmerize the world for the rest of the century.

It was the 1940s that saw the meteoric rise of Moinuddin and Aminuddin on the stage of Indian classical music. After the demise of Ustad Nasiruddin Khan Dagar, the rich and ancient tradition of Dhrupad had fallen into neglect and disrepute but with the rise of these two Dagar Brothers there arrived a new dawn in the sky of Dhrupad and of Indian classical music. Theirs were two voices that would forever change the course of Dhrupad and redefine the foundation of this ancient tradition. In his later years Aminuddin used to joke that back in the 1940s he and his elder brother were usually introduced as two singers who were mad enough to try and sing Dhrupad which was considered a dead form of music. But within a time-span of mere fourteen years Moinuddin and Aminuudin breathed a new life not only to Dhrupad singing but also to the tradition of ‘jugalbandi’. Previously ‘jugalbandi’ or duet singing in the field of classical music had degenerated into a competition between two singers where each tried his best to outdo the other in exhibitionism. The senior Dagar Brothers on the other hand brought back the concept of a harmonious synchronization between the two singers. In a typical performance by the senior Dagar Brothers, the honey rich voice of Aminuddin would draw the audience into a deep meditative mood by gradually descending the notes of the lower octaves and Moinuddin would dazzle the listeners with his ‘alankars’ or ornamentations in the upper octave. Each complimented the other and each of them had a deep respect for the singing ability of the other.

The two brothers, though they were attached to each other with the strongest of bonds, possessed two very different characters; whereas Aminuddin was like a ‘fakir’ or a sage whose music was a form of worshipping the divine, his elder brother had the heart of an emperor who fearlessly treaded through the realm of music and never hesitated from experimenting with Dhrupad and opening up new horizons. Best instances of such experimentation are to be found in the internationally acclaimed ballets that the two brothers composed—namely Malti Madhav, Kumar Sambhav and Shan-E-Oudh. In 23rd September 1946, they gave a memorable performance for Mahatma Gandhi at Bhangi Colony, New Delhi. Gandhiji listened to their alaap and Dhrupad in Rag Ashavari for nearly two hours and was deeply moved by their performance. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and such other eminent personalities also joined the programme. Subsequently by the invitation of Sri Rohit Mehta, General Secretary of Theosophical Society, Varanasi, they joined the Society and formed Bhartiya Sangeet Vidyalaya, which was inaugurated by Dr. B. V. Keskar, the then union broadcasting minister.

In the 1960s began their series of international tours. After having reestablished the tradition of Dhrupad on firm grounds in the soil of India they took the mission of spreading it throughout the world. In 1961 they extensively toured through USSR and in 1964 they visited Japan. It was in Japan that the eminent musicologist and the then director of UNESCO Dr. Alain Danielou came across the Dagar Brothers and was mesmerized by their music. It was he who organized the first Europe tour of the Dagar Brothers. Moinuddin and Aminuddin created history by becoming the first ever Indian artists to perform in Berlin, Venice and Paris at the UNESCO international festivals. Aminuddin later recounted to his disciples that after they had finished performing in Berlin's Candle Hall a storm of claps and ovations rose from the audience as mighty as a huge sea breaking into waves. The European press acclaimed them as the foremost musicians of India and whereas they had went to give three performances they ended up giving thirty in a span of nine weeks. A review of their performance published in Le Monde of Paris dated 17th November 1964 perhaps best expresses the mood of the western audience: “...we will remain under the deep impression of an art of such greatness and intensity that... we feel touched and moved to the deepest of our being.”

Merely two years after this international triumph of the two Dagar brothers Moinuddin passed away on 24th May 1966. This was a great set back in Aminuddin’s life. Moinuddin had been to him not only an elder brother but also a surrogate father and a guide whom he referred through out his life as his ‘mahaguru’— that is the greatest of his gurus. Thus, with the death of Moinuddin, Aminuddin became an orphan for the second time. Even till the day of his death he could not stop his tears when singing a bandish in Rag Desi where Radha says to Krishna: "You have gone to Dwarika and it revels in your glory/But you have left me abandoned and alone." Through this bandish, Radha’s grief for being deserted by Krishna became imbued with Aminuddin’s grief at having lost his elder brother. However, in spite of the physical separation, the spiritual bond between the two brothers were so strong that in his later years Aminuddin was able to incorporate almost all the unique features of his brother’s singing in his own style and the audiences who had earlier listened to Moinuddin were often awe-struck at hearing such a close approximation of his voice in the singing of Aminuddin.

After Moinuddin’s demise, Aminuddin single handedly continued with the task of popularising Dhrupad through out the world. In 1971 Aminuddin toured Europe and USA and gave forty performances which met with great success, winning the heart of millions. In 1976 he was invited to the prestigious Shiraj Festival in Iran and then in 1978 to the Rome Festival. Each of these programmes established more strongly his claim as one of the greatest Dhrupad singers India has ever produced. In 1982 the government of India invited him to take part in the guru-shishya parampara programme with his disciples, in London.

Awards and accolades came from various quarters to Aminuddin acknowledging his enormous contribution to Dhrupad and to the field of Indian music in general. The most important among the awards were the Swami Haridas Award which was presented to him in 1979 by the then honourable vice-president of India Sri B.D. Jatti, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1985 and the Padmabhusan award, one of the highest civilian honours in India, in 1986. He was also honoured with a D. Litt degree by Rabindra Bharati university in 1991 and held the prestigious position of Producer Emiritus of All India Radio and Doordarshan between 1986-1989.

In the last year of his life Moinuddin had given his brother the permission to shift base to Kolkata where Aminuddin was invited by the famous industrialist Sri B.K. Birla to join Birla Academy Swar Sangam as its founder Principal. Kolkata with its vibrant cultural life suited Aminuddin perfectly and he made it his home for the rest of his life. It is in this city that he was able to found a Dhrupad institute that would fulfill his dreams to propagate Dhrupad among the younger generation. He named it Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar Dhrupad Sangeet Ashram in the memory of his elder brother. This institute stands today as the proud legacy bearer of Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar carrying aloft the beacon of Dhrupad music in all its resplendent glory. With the demise of Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar on 28th December 2000 an era came to an end. Though his physical body is no more here, yet his memory will live on forever through the music of Dhrupad to which he has so richly contributed.

unceremoniously snipped from the Dhrupad Sangeet Ashram here

Dagar Brothers • Nasir Mohinuddin Dagar, Nasir Aminuddin Dagar

(also known as the Senior Dagar Brothers)

Ustad Moinuddin Khan and Aminuddin Khan, sons of the late Ustad Nasiruddin Khan, the doyen of the Dhrupad style, are better known as Dagar Brothers in the music world. At a very early age they were initiated into the art by their father. After the untimely demise of the latter, their uncles took over the young boys' interrupted tutelage and groomed and shaped them as able exponents of the Dhrupad and Dhamar styles. Dhrupad and Dhamar are very difficult to master and hence their exponents are very very few. These styles demand a vigorous voice and highly imaginative but massive mode of utterance and expression. Both brothers have proved to be most eminently suited for the exposition of these styles in the traditional manner.

The Dagar Brothers enjoy an international reputation, having travelled extensively both in the West and in the East, as cultural ambassadors of India. For several years they were on the staff of the Bharateeya Kala Kendra which is run by the Sangeet Natak Akademy, Delhi to impart tuition in classical music.

Side One • Alap — Raga Darbari Kanada.

Tradition demands that before the rhythmic rendering of a Dhrupad or a Dhamar, a complete and comprehensive picture of the Raga is woven with slow and ponderous movements from note to note. This side is entirely devoted to such an elaborate exploration of Raga Darbari Kanada and both the brothers share equal honours for building up an enchanting euphonious structure within the framework of the Raga.

Raga Darbari Kanada is a night melody. It has a very sublime mood and its exposition is usually full of majesty and grandeur.

Side Two • Dhamar — Raga Darbari Kanada, Dhrupad — Raga Adana

This side opens with a Dhamar piece. Usually in a concert a Dhamar is sung after a Dhrupad. But since the composition of Dhamar is in the same Raga as is featured on Side One, i.e. Darbari Kanada, the maestros have preferred to render it as the first item on this side. The performance is confined to a rhythmic cycle of 14 beats known as 'Dhamar Tala'.

This is followed by a Dhrupad in Raga Adana. which is an immensely popular night melody. It has a lively character and the performance is mostly confined to the higher notes of the octave. The rhythm cycle of this composition consists of 12 beats. This rhythm is particularly apt for the accompaniment of a Dhrupad and hence it bears the name of Dhrupad Tala.

The rhythm accompaniment on Mridanga, an oval shaped percussion instrument, is provided by Mr. S. V. Patwardhan, a reputed master of this instrument. The entire performance is marked by melodic and rhythmic jugglery created by the most fascinating mathematical combinations employed both by the singers and the percussion player vying good-humouredly with each other and displaying their virtuosity and proficiency.

equally snipped, but from the back of the record sleeve.

Music ▼ (MOAE 135)

Music ▼ (EALP 1291)

Third chance and possibly the best one
is thanks to Tawfiq at the Oriental Traditional Music blog, where we can also consult a French EMI Pathé Marconi pressing of the same thing. Do yourself a good service and take a gander here !

Rasiklal Andharia • Marwa, Darbari Kanada 1985

2011-06-07T18:09:00.002+02:00

Rasiklal Andharia
• Marwa, Darbari Kanada
EMI India - ECSD 2991 - P.1985

Side A

Raga Marwa [21'05]
- Piya More Anat Des - Khyal Vilambit - Jhoomra Taal
- Aeri Ae Maan Aawan Ke Sajan - Khayal Drut - Triltal

Side B

Raga Darbari Kanada [23'04]
- Ae Mori Aali - Khyal Madhyalaya - Jhaptal
- Piya Ab Nahin Mane - Khyal Drut - Ektal

Shashikant Mulye, tablas

There will surely be many more posts on the Dagar family a few more are waiting in line but lets have something else for a change. Here is a singer I enjoy very much. Unfortunately like so often there is very little to find in ways of recordings. This is the only vinyl I know of and it is another find from one of the excursions in the murky recesses of the back room of the Panchamkauns editorial office. This and a also a CD titled Nirmal, and some clips on youtube are all I have heard. if there are some more that you know of maybe you could tell me in the comments where to look and for what!

It is very hard to even turn up any information about him on the web so you are more than welcome to help! Apart from the recurring statement on various sites "info needed" these two items below are the only ones I have come up with and unfortunately this time there is virtually nothing to be learned from the record sleeve!

Rasiklal Govindji Andharia, (b. 13.10.1931-) from Bhavanagar, Gujarat of the Kirana gharana, had his musical training from his father Babulal Andharia. Rasiklalji started his concerts at the age of 16 and captured many musiclovers hearts with his mellifluos voice.
(I am sure panchamkauns will love the "no frills, yet captivating wording here!)

Andharia, Rasiklal Govindji, b. 13.10.1931,
M.Mus. Vocalist: Hindustani, khayal of Kirana Gharana.
Studied with Babulal G. Andharia.
Address: "Prerana,"
Plot No. 551-B, Sir Pattani Road,
Bhavanagar (Gujarat)

From "Who's Who of Indian Musicians" - 2nd edition (1984)

Fortunately my good friend Arvind, who has better skills and more patience sifting through the webs of the net, found this information for us!

The late Pt. Rasiklal Andharia came of a music-loving family from Gujarat. He was actively encouraged by his father in his musical pursuit. It was, however, his elder brother, Pandit Babulal Andharia, a scholar-musician, who gave the initial lessons in Classical Music. Thus Rasiklalji, in the manner of a true artiste gifted with talent and genius, forged ahead on his own. In this sense he can well be regarded as a self-taught musician. Even so, Rasiklalji's music bore the clear impress of the gayaki of the late Ustad Amir Khan. This is reflected in the way he could blend a plenitude of melodic and rhythmic virtues in his singing. What is more, his rich, sonorous voice had an uncanny emotional depth and enduring appeal - all of which often reminded the listener of the great Ustad.

The above is from this HMV Cassette of his music:

HMV/RPG STC 850312

AIR Recordings

Recorded 20/10/1974

Shripad Nageshkar (tabla)

Vasanti Mhapsekar (harmonium)

Thank you very much Arvind!

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Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar • Mian Ki Malhar, Bhairav, Bharavi

2011-06-06T18:09:00.003+02:00

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar
• Raga Mian Ki Malhar, Raga Bhairav, Raga Bhairavi.
EMI India - HMV EASD 1420 - P.1983

Side A

Raga Mian Ki Malhar 25'58

Side B

Raga Bhairav 18'23
Raga Bhairavi 10'13

Vithaldas Gujrati, Pakhawaj

Dagar is not merely a family name but a whole tradition. A descendent of Baba Gopal Das Dagar and Ustad Behram Khan, and the second son of the illustrious Ustad Nasiruddin Khan, Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar was born at Indore in 1923. His training started at a tender age of 5 years. First 8 years of his 37 years of learning period were spent under his father, and the last 19 years under his elder brother, Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar, whom he regards as his main Guru and who died in 1966; he spent the intervening 10 years' learning from his uncles, Ustad Riyazuddin Khan of Jaipur and Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar of Udaipur. His belief that he continued learning from his brother until he died is a testimony to his devotion and understanding of the in-depth and essence of learning.

Together as the legendary “Dagar Brothers”, Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar became the most popular and effective Dhrupad Dhamar singers of their time, and were jointly responsible for popularising, revitalising and uplifting the Dhrupad Dhamar tradition, which had slowly started dwindling with the spread of Khyal gaikee and the infiltration of commercialism in classical music.

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar has travelled widely all over the world. He visited the USSR and Japan in 1971 with his elder brother, and participated in the Berlin, Venice and the UNESCO International Music Festivals in 1964. European audiences were overwhelmed by their soul stirring performances and the press acclaimed them. Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar gave solo recitals in Europe and the USA in 1971, Iran in 1976 at the Shiraz Festival. Italy in 1978 and the U.K. at the prestigious “India Festival” in 1982. Wherever he sang he cast a hypnotic spell over his listeners with the elegance and intricacies of his alapchari and the grandeur of Dhrupad.

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar is truly a saint musician. Meeting him and talking to him is a divine experience. Listening to his music is a lesson in spirituality. It makes you unaware of your surroundings. For a while, one may admire the academic excellence of his music, but soon one is lost in the effect created. One is then at peace with oneself. The purity of Akar, the microtonal accuracy, the rasa and the roop of the Raga, the disciplined and the purposeful elaboration or “barhat”, the elegance of gamak, meend, soot, lahak and andolan etc., the structural beauty of the composition, all help in attaining this experience. His rendering is a clear testimony of his traditional upbringing, years of hard work, clean and pure life which should be a lesson to posterity.

Side one of this album contains the seasonal raga Mian-Ki-Malhar, and side two the morning ragas Bhairav and Bhairavi. Alapchari in all three ragas is done with precision and order maintaining “roop” of the respective ragas throughout with characteristic phrases and microtonal accuracies. The dhrupads of Mian-Ki-Malhar, ”Ayi Hay Ghata Umad Ghumad” in Chowtal, of Bhairav, “Shiva Adi Mada Anta” in Jhamptal and the Dhamar “Kunjana Men Khelata Hay Phag” in Bhairavi have all been sung with utmost clarity, maintaining the structural dignity of the compositions. The overall effect is highly satisfying. Pakhawaj accompaniment provided by Vithaldas Gujrati is extremely competent, and appropriate throughout.

snipped from the notes on the sleeve

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Ustad Rahimuddin Khan Dagar - AIR - 1960

2011-06-05T18:09:00.070+02:00

Ustad Rahimuddin Khan Dagar
• Rageshri-Kanhara AIR - 1960
EMI India - HMV PMLP 3069 - P.1990

Side A

Raga Rageshri-Kanhara : Alap (1960) 27'26

Side B

Raga Rageshri-Kanhara : Alap (1960) 13'35
Dhrupad: Ganga Jata Shiv (1960) 14'16

Ustad Rahimuddin Khan Dagar (1900-1975) was the second son and student of Allabande Khan and one of the outstanding dhrupad singers of our times. He was also well-versed in sangeeta shastra. He was associated with the courts of Jaipur, Alwar and Indore. His son is Fahimuddin Khan Dagar, another well-know dhrupad exponent.

Reference: Sangeetagyon ke Samsmaran by Vilayat Hussain Khan

(Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1959)

Ustad Rahimuddin Khan Dagar, was one of the most eminent scions of an illustrious house of musicians. Dagar Family traces its lineage to Miyan Tansen, the court-musician under the patronage of the Moghul emperor, Akbar. Miyan Tansen is universally acknowledged as the maestro, who pioneered the contemporary “Dhrupad-Dhamar parampara”, which marked the genesis, evolution and development of the Hindustani “Sangeet Paddhati”, the traditional musk of north India, both vocal and instrumental. And the Ustad carried on the precious heritage and enriched it with dedication and justifiable pride till his death at 75.

Son of the maestro, Ustad Zakiruddin Khan Dagar, one of the ail-time great “Dhrupadiyas” of yesteryears, melody and rhythm coursed through the Ustad’s veins. His father was also his guru, whose magic touch backed by the son's epochal “riyaz”, helped the youngster to rise to enviable fame and glory. He was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and a string of other accolades and distinctions.

The Ustad was endowed with a ringing, sonorous voice, and his style carried authenticity and evidence of erudition and scholarship. His ‘Gayaki’ revealed a majestic pace and benign expression. He had an uncanny knack of winning over his audiences as much by his gay, ebullient manner as by his profound, sublime music. With typical dignity and poise, the maestro projected his chosen “Ragas” by means of smooth and soothing “Alap”, while trenchant rhythms and pounding accents characterised his Dhrupad-Dhamar renditions.

Ustad Rahimuddin Khan Dagar passed away at New Delhi on November 20th 1975.

The Music

Raga Rageshri-Kanhara, This “Raga” sounds like an ingenious fusion of two separate but well-known melodies, both rendered in the second quarter of the night. He has invested his chosen theme with all the familiar virtues- musical, rhythmical and aesthetic. It is first presented in prefatory “Alap” and then through a “Dhrupad” composition, an invocation to Lord Shiva.

culled from the notes on the record sleeve

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Budhaditya Mukherjee • Ahir Bhairav, Puria 1979

2011-06-04T18:09:00.046+02:00

Budhaditya Mukherjee • Sitar
- Ahir Bhairav, Puria
HMV EMI-India ECSD 2601 - P.1979

Side A

A1 Raga Ahir Bhairav - Alap, Jod

Side B

B1 Raga Puria - Gat - Trital

Anand Gopal Bandopadhyay, tabla

Here is another little treat from the extensive collection of His Excellency. I am looking forward to our next meeting, and maybe if he is the right mood he will pick up the surbahar or maybe even the been and strike a few notes to safely envelope us from the hardships of the dusty world. Anyhow here is one of the earliest recording I know of with Budhaditya Mukherjee. Of his total of eight LP's cut, this is his third one and the first on EMI-India, I can post three more records by him later if there is an interest. Hope you enjoy!

You can check his discography here

Budhaditya Mukherjee (1955–) is a Hindustani classical sitar and surbahar player of the Imdadkhani Gharana (school).

read more in the Wikipedia entry about him here

It was in the year 1976. A memorable event indeed. Hailing from the industrial town of Bhilai in Madhya Pradesh, a teenager was found toying with his Sitar with all the efficacies of a Maestro-in-making before a conglomeration of connoisseurs, critics and music-lovers in a major concert at Calcutta. And that was Budhaditya Mukherjee, a student of Engineering — shy, unassuming, looking more like an ascetic than a performing artiste with the glamour of the present day. His second appearance in Calcutta was more astounding, fantastic and sparkling with incredible artistry. He surprised everyone as much with his precocious talent as with his technical fitness and skill. He was immediately greeted as a Sitar-prodigy and acclaimed in no uncertain words that he was a discovery of the age in the domain of Indian Classical Music. Unanimously he was reckoned to be the torch-bearer of the rich cultural heritage of our National Art.

Budhaditya started playing Sitar at the tender age of five under the guidance of his illustrious father Mr. Bimalendu Mukherjee who is an eminent string musician having had his grooming in the style of late Ustad Enayat Khan. He imbibed ‘Gayaki’ style of Kirana School probably from his subsequent association with Pandit Jai Chand Bhatt. But it is Ustad Vilayet Khan, the sitar wizard, who has perhaps influenced him more in the later stages of this young artiste in shaping himself.

Budhaditya has been playing before a cross section of music-lovers stretching from Assam in the East to Gujrat in the West and from Punjab in the North to Karnataka in the South. He has been abroad also. Only a couple of months back he returned from a successful tour in Yugoslavia, Poland, Bulgaria and USSR as a delegate of the Government of India. Everywhere Budhaditya's virtuosity have made his full-house audience responsive. He is now twenty four and forsaking a brilliant career after obtaining first-class- first in Metallurgical Engineering, Budhaditya has opted for music which is his first love.

Budhaditya Mukherjee is now an exclusive artiste of The Gramophone Company of India Limited and for his first album from HMV, he has chosen to play ‘Alaap’ and ‘Jod’ in Raga Ahir-Bhairav on the first side. On the second side he has delineated Raga Puriya with a judicious treatment of ‘Vistar‘, ‘Taans’ and ‘Jhala’. The composition is set to Trital.

Tabla accompaniment of young Ananda Gopal Banerjee is an additional attraction for this album.

unceremoniously snipped from the sleeve notes

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Les Touareg - rec. by Danièle & Douchan Gersi - 1970

2011-06-03T09:06:00.011+02:00

Les Touareg (Avec les Seigneurs des Sables)
- Tassili, Iforas, Hoggar.
Traditional Tuareg tribal music recorded by Danièle & Douchan Gersi
Disques Alvarès - (Production la Boîte à Musique) C 469 - P.1970

Side A

A01 Tindi
A02 Tindi
A03 Tindi
A04 Tindi
A05 Tindi
A06 Tindi
A07 Tazengarat (Appel aux Esprits)

Side B

B01 Ahal
B02 Ahal
B03 Ahal
B04 Ahal
B05 Tindi (Imzad)
B06 Tindi (Imzad)
B07 Chant de Guerre et Tindi
B08 Tindi
B09 Saha (Chant pré-islamique)
B10 Tindi (Cheo Menina)
B11 Tindi (Aicha)
B12 Tindi (Danse des batons)
B13 Tindi des Kel Ajjer

Bonus interimistic post! Here is a great record that was thanks to a fellow blogger and good friend Janas, who runs a most exquisit blog named Chaudron and that is worthy of many walkabouts. The picture below is from one of his previous posts on a book about the Hoggar Tuaregs, check it out here. He also has a remarkable collection of records and some of the most rare vinyl, some that I have been looking for during a long long time. This record is one of them! I am very happy to share with you this most appreciated addition to the Luobaniyan archives, and there are some more equally great ones waiting to be posted also generously shared by him.. Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

The Tuareg of the Hoggar

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Debu Chaudhuri • Ragas Kedara & Piloo - P.1977

2011-06-02T18:09:00.002+02:00

Debu Chaudhuri • Ragas Kedara, Piloo
EMI India - S EMGE 11004 - P.1977

Side A

A1 Raga Kedara - Alap and Masitkhani Gat - in Teental 19’36

Side B

B1 Raga Kedara - Razakhani Gat 5’54

B2 Raga Piloo - Teental 13’18

Here is another, not so exposed sitarplayer for your enjoyment.

There really are not that very many recordings on vinyl by him that I could find but this is one of the first that I knew of. He was a disciple of Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan, an exponent of the Senia Gharana. I have posted one more recording by him before, recorded in 1987, ten years later than this one where he plays the ragas Bageshri and Maund. You can listen to it here

Thirtyfive year old Debabrata ‘Debu’ Chaudhuri is one of the most important sitar players of the day. Born in a business family of East Bengal, Debu had decided at a very early age that music would be the sole love and passion of his life. There was opposition from some quarters and scepticism from others, how could anyone without a traditionally musical background carve for himself a niche in the world of classical Music? But those who know Debu know that there was no room for doubt then or now. Debu has all that goes to make a musician great. He has the vision, the intuition and the grasp, above all his music is the creation of a man completely dedicated to his art.

Debu is a disciple of Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan, an exponent of the Senia Gharana marked apart from other things, for its lineage which can be traced back to the great doyan of Indian music, Mian Tansen. The Guru-Shishya Parampara (the tradition of passing knowledge from master to pupil) of this school, was initiated by the great Sitar player, Amrit Sen. who was a direct descendant of Mian Tansen. Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan represents all that is the best in not only his own school but also in the traditional Indian classical music, the intrinsic purity and lyricism of style, coupled with a perfection of technique. As a recognition of his invaluable contribution to the preservation and furtherance of Indian classical music, the Ustad was awarded the prestigeous Academy Award last year. Debu has had the proud privilege of learning sitar at the feet of this maestro.

Debu Chaudhuri has had many opportunities to display his talent both at home and abroad. At home he is an artiste widely acclaimed and has also been featured in the National Programmes. Abroad, he has had the distinction of being the first Indian musician to participate in the famous Montreaux-Vevey Music Festival in Europe and Shiraz Festival of Iran. He has also represented India in other International Music Festivals.

Debu stepped out of India for the first time in 1967 and since then has gone round the world half a dozen times. His recent tour covered among other countries, South America and the West Indies, which gave the people there their first ever opportunity to savour of Indian Classical music.

Apart from the general popularity, Debu's excellence in his field has attracted golden opinion from eminent musicologists all over the world. Dr. Nicholas Nabokav classes him as one of the finest musicians of the world. Dr. A. Danielou, Director, International Institute for comparative music in Berlin, has given him a place in the recorded U N Anthology of Oriental Music. At home Debu has been acknowledged as a musician of great lyricism and imaginative wealth.

What does he feel about his frequent trips abroad ? They are stimulating he feels, and above all he enjoys them because they give him an opportunity to acquaint his foreign audiences with the inherent beauty and mystery of Indian classical music.

Currently Debu is teaching instrumental music at the Delhi University and the Bharatiya Kala
Kendra, and he has a fine crop of promising students to his credit, some of whom have already been recognised in the music world.

This Album was recorded at the H.M.V. Studio, Calcutta, immediately after Debu's return from his last world tour. Accompanying Debu on the Tabla is Shyamal Bose, an artiste of All India Radio, Calcutta. Shyamal Bose, a disciple of Ustad Feroze Khan and Shri Jnan Prakash Ghosh is a virtuoso in his own right and belongs to the Farakkabad School of Tabla players.

from the original sleevenotes by Sujata Chauhan

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Ustad Asad Ali Khan • Rudra Vina - P.1978

2011-06-01T18:09:00.101+02:00

Ustad Asad Ali Khan • Rudra Vina
EMI India - ECSD 2533 - P.1978

Side A

A1 Mian ki todi - alap, jod and jhala 21'28

Side B

B1 Desh - jod, jhala and composition in jhanpatal 21'55

Here is another treasure I like to share with you. The sound is far from the deep long sustain of the sonorous been of Zia Mohiuddin, but nonetheless a wonderful vital echo from the past and it is no wonder, Asad Ali Khan's father, Ustad Sadiq Ali, served in the Alwar court before he moved to the Rampur court. It was at Rampur that Asad Ali was born and initiated into the instrument by his father, when he was just six. Fourteen hours of practice every day for 15 years was the painstaking discipline he was put through until the Rudra veena itself became a part of his existence. His father studied the same way under his grandfather Ustad Musharraf Ali Khan, who in turn was groomed by Khan Saheb's great grandfather the legendary Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. This is another of the great findings from my good friend ‘His Excellency's’ collection of records. The kindness of his voice, unable to subdue a light chuckle, still lingering in my ears... Just take it, take the lot, and do what you please with them, there can be no harm letting those Luobaniyans here some good music...

Ustad Asad Ali Khan is considered to be the only surviving exponent of Rudra Veena in ‘Khandarbani’, one of the four ancient styles of Indian Classical music. The history of his family can be traced back to seven generations. His ancestors belonged to Jaipur Gharana of Rajasthan. They were court-musicians to the Maharajas of Jaipur and also taught them music. An account of this family is available in the history of Rajasthan and the instruments of Asad Ali's ancestors are displayed in the museums of Jaipur and Alwar. His grandfather, a leading Veena player of the country, was chosen by the British Government to represent India at the fair of Oriental Wonders in Paris at the beginning of this century.

Ustad Asad Ali Khan was born at Alwar in 1937 - 2011)
(he passed away 14 June 2011 ed. bolingo)

He had his early training in vocal music. Sitar and Veena from his illustrious father, late Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, who was a great exponent of the Veena and a court-musician of Rampur. Through innate talent, vigourous practice, and playing in duets with his father for years, Asad Ali Khan consummated his style with complete control over the instrument.

An accomplished musician today, Ustad Asad Ali Khan plays with rare skill and utmost precision. His recitals are marked with detailed elaboration and masterly treatment of the Ragas. Particularly notable in his performance are the meditative character of his Alap and the clarity of his strokes, particularly in Gamak-Jod and Jhala.

Ustad Asad Ali Khan is the recipient of the ‘Sangeet Shiromani’ Award from Lalit Kala Kendra of Kanpur. He has been regularly participating in Radio Sangeet Sammelans, Television, National Programmes and various music conferences all over the country. He has visited Afghanisthan. Italy and England and appeared in many concerts abroad.

The instrument

Rudra Veena sometimes called ‘Been’ or ‘Veena’ (North Indian) is the most sacred and ancient instrument of India according to the Hindu faith and is said to be more than 5000 years old. It is the only stringed instrument created by lord Shiva. one of the three ‘Rupas’ (faces) of God. It is further said that he created this instrument while contemplating the shapely figure of His Wife, the Goddess Parvati.

‘Rudra Veena’ has a bamboo fret-board about 22' long and 2' wide, upon which are fixed 19 to 24 metallic frets, one for each semitone of two octaves. The fretboard is mounted on two full gourds, each about 14" in diameter. The instrument has four main strings and three side strings.

A Rudra Veena player masters ‘alap’ which is elaboration of the ‘raga’ in slow tempo, ‘gamak-jod’ in medium tempo, and ‘Jhala’ which is quick tempo. Usually the serious classical music of the purest form called ‘Dhrupad’ is played on this instrument and the main percussion accompaniment is the ‘Pakhawaj’.

It is stated that the Veena is the forerunner of the Sitar. Amir Khusro of legendary fame invented the Sitar on the basis of the Veena around the 13th Century. With this instrument, all the twenty-two ‘shrutis’ (subnotes) of Indian music can be explained and demonstrated distinctively. Though a stringed instrument, it is claimed that it can display the subtleties of a Raga more effectively than a Veena.

For this, his first LP on the Rudra Veena, Ustad Asad Ali Khan has selected two Ragas: Mian Ki Todi and Desh. He is ably accompanied on Pakhawaj by Pandit Gopal Das who is an artiste of All India Radio, Delhi.

Don't miss these webpages that focus on the been

Here is an article from The Hindu describing a documentary made about him, anyone knows how to get to see that movie?

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Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar • Gangeyabushan (1st take)

2011-05-31T18:09:00.065+02:00

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar • Raga Mangeyabushan (sic!)
[i.e. Gangeyabushan] Recorded 1968 in Bombay by Bengt Berger.
Disques Alvarès (Productions Boîte à Musique) - LD 114 - P.1974

Side A

A1 Gangeyabushan 19'16

Side B

B1 Gangeyabushan 21'10

Here as one file without the interruption of a total lenght of 40'28!

Here is another record that has also been a very long time coming. I did not want to post it totally out of context and felt there had to be some more substance to this blog before I could posts such a profound piece here! I hope you understand. It was generously supplied a long time ago by a true and very good friend in music! This piece, that had been “cleaverly” cut up because of the LP format, have now been cleverly edited together as there was no interruption on the master tape. ;-)

I am pretty sure you will enjoy! I usually don't phrase myself in the negative, but if you don't like it go find another country than Luobaniya ...

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin on the roof terrace in Chembur 1968.

There is a noteworthy CD release with an alternate take of this piece on Amigo AMCD 906 • Gangeyabushan, and the reason for that is that is that Jacques Lévi-Alvarès [aka Jacques Lévy-Alvarès] the founder of BAM - Boîte à Musique / Disques Alvarès, never returned the masters! There are still a few copies left of this CD with the 2nd take, also recorded the same day. available from Country & Eastern, and at a very low price as well, less than a third of what a regular CD costs these days. If you are interested, do take a look here, before they are all gone...

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