Dhrupad

Above: The leading exponents of Dhrupad today are the Dagar Brothers. Indian classical music has been vocal, instrumental music as a solo performance being a modern development. The most traditional form is Dhrupad, correctly spelled as dhruv-pad, that is “with feet firmly on ground.”  Dhrupad, or its variation, Dhamar, is a style of singing which brings out the pristine quality of music, that is the sheer profundity of human voice. Dhrupad keeps away from tans, tarana, and other frills and stays in slow movement. The Taal is generally Ektaal or Chautal, as percussion instrument Pakhawaj is preferred to Tabla. In modern times. Dhrupad singing has become ‘high classical’ and is becoming rare, since large audiences cannot sit through such music in a crowd. The leasing exponents of Drupad today are the Dagar Brothers. Next in line of succession are the Gundecha Brothers.   Kheyal There is no historical knowledge how music was presented in the social setting of ancient India. It is, however, obvious that during the medieval, the so- called ‘Muslim’ period music acquired a respectable place in the set of entertainments which rulers, princes and rich people made available to themselves, In this setting, Dhrupad gave way to a lighter form of music which came to be known as Kheyal. Kheyal is an Urdu word meaning ‘emotion.’  In other words, the song or the poem became an important element, unlike Dhrupad where the chain of sounds was the main frame. The Kheyal is the mainstream classical music as performed today        A good Kheyal singer uses the song as the frame on which appear various forms of musical artistry, such as alaap, taan or tarana. The importance given to the words of the song is not the same with every singer. Religious minded performers like D.V. Paluskar and Onkar Nath Thakur present devotional, rather than romantic songs and for them the words have an importance. Some other artists, such as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, would touch the words so slightly as to make the lines unintelligible. It is interesting to note that almost always the language of the songs are no longer current. It is neither modern Hindi, that is Khari Boli, or Urdu, as in the Ghazals. Songs used by classical musicians have been handed down by generations; the language which commonly appears is Brajbhasha, for example “udat abir gulal” by Girija Devi or “aaj gawat man mero” by D.V. Paluskar and Amir Khan. True to India’s secular tradition, Muslim and Hindu singers do not select their songs on a religious basis. Songs dedicated to Radha and Krishna have been presented with great passion by Muslim artists. Ustad Faiyyaz Khan’s “bande nand kumaram” is available on record. Pandit Jasraj has presented “allah meherban” with spiritual emotion.        Kheyal starts with alaap, in lower sounds and in slow motion. This is intended to unfold the ‘face’ of the Raag, its swaroop. The song has two alternating parts, sthayi (stable) and antara (higher). Sthayi is the resting level where the singing must return every time after having covered the ascendancy of the antara. In Md. Rafi’s “mana tarapat” in Baiju Bawra, “mana tarapat hari darashan ko aaj” is sthayi, while “tumhare dwar ka main hoon jogi” is the antara. The whole performance of Kheyal is embellished by frequent taans, presented either in terms of the swars as pronounced, that is Sa, Re, etc., or just as vowels at the same sound levels. As for rhythm, after alaap the singing stays at a normal rhythm, but it gradually speeds up until we reach a crescendo which is presented as tarana. The consonants and the vowels which make the ‘words’ in tarana are without meaning - as in a mantra - and to make this a true representation of the Raag requires some skill. Manna Dey, the only film singer who has a reasonably good classical training, makes an impressive presentation of tarana in the song “laga chunri mein daag”.    Classical Music and Film Music. As the "talkies" arrived in the 1930’s, film music charted a separate course, not integrating with classical music, but still yielding a treasure of rich variety, using all available styles. There has been fruitful interaction between the two which further enriched the music in Indian cinema. Our film music patterned itself broadly in three segments. First, we have had compositions which are based on Raag, but not necessarily on Taal. All the music directors in films have had some grounding in classical music and there are any number of compositions by Naushad, Anil Biswas, Lakshmikant- Pyarelal or Kalyanji- Anandji, which scrupulously adhere to the discipline of Raag. S.D. Burman, of course, is the one who delighted in mixing several Raags in one composition with wonderful results. Next, we have a vast reservoir of music in cinema which includes transmuted forms from numerous sources, ghazal, bhajan, qawwali, regional, ethnic and village music, and some doses of Latin American, Jazz and Rock. Finally, we have the independent genre of film music which is a net accretion to our musical heritage and is a product of modern genius. This originated in Calcutta in the thirties. It began with Geet style, and short lyrical poems. The influence of Rabindranath Tagore was evident. The compositions of R. C. Boral and Pankaj Mallik were of this class; most of these were piano-based, as under the British influence, the piano had a pride of place with Bengal’s aristocracy. The cinematic music of India, since the past decade, displays a heavy influence of western pop music and disco rhythm. The trend was unavoidable in a fast globalizing culture. Classical music, however, has frequently made a straightforward entry into cinema, directly with great performers, as well as indirectly through the voice of filmi playback singers. The magnificence of classical music came live with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan singing "premjogan ban ja" in Mughal-e-Azam, D. V. Paluskar and Amir Khan presenting the duet, "aaj gawat man mero jhum ke" in Baiju Bawra, the duets of Bismillah Khan and Amir Khan in the movie Goonj Uthi Shehnai, Bhimsen Joshi’s song in the movie Ankahi. Manna Dey, who of all the composers is best grounded in classical music, has made thrilling presentations, such as "laga chunri mein daag", "chalo kahe ko jhoothi banao batiyan" and "phul gendwa na maro". K. L. Saigal’s resounding Bhairavi, ""babul mora" in the film street singer made in Calcutta in 1939, is one of the immortal creations in Indian film music. Saigal was trained basically in ghazal singing, but was gifted with purity of voice which is the soul of classical singing. In the movie Tansen made in 1943, he presented Raag Bilawal, "sapr suran teen gram", with transparent purity of notes. So did Mohammad Rafi when he sang Raag Malkounsh, "man tarapat hari darashan ko aaj", in Baiju Bawra. In Kohinoor, he was even able to run into impressive taans when he sang "madhuban mein radhika nache ri".

Jugalbandi
Left: One of the most famous Jugalbandis of all times was that of Ravi Shankar on sitar (left) and Ali Akbar on sarod (right)
       Jugalbandi, or a duet, is one of the interesting ways in which classical music is presented. The two performers may not be of the same class, although there are two famous cases of brothers, both vocalists, performing together, Nazakat Ali- Salamat Ali of Pakistan and Rajan Mishra- Sajan Mishra of Varanasi. Some Jugalbandis which made history are Ravi Shankar (Sitar) with Ali Akbar Khan (Sarod) and again, Ravi Shankar with Yehudi Menuhin on violin. Rare forms of Jugalbandi have been presented by Bismillah Khan on Shehnai with vocal music (by Girija Devi) and violin (by V. G. Jog) and also with sitar (by Vilayat Khan). In fact, Jugalbandi with vocal music is not quite common, perhaps because the Tabla accompaniment to vocal music is, after all, a kind of Jugalbandi, with the important difference that in that case Tabla has a subordinate role, while in Jugalbandi both performers have equal opportunities to play up.

Light Classical Music

       For the purists, ‘light classical’ or ‘semi- classical’ is an area of controversy. This class includes Thumri, Dadra, Tappa and Holi. The Thumri developed in about 18th century and was practiced mainly by courtesans for the entertainment of the rich. Varanasi and Gaya came to be known as the most prolific centers of Thumri. The practitioners of this genre do not accept its designation as ‘semi-classical’. It is pointed out, with good justification, that if Raag and Taal are both being adhered to, nothing else is required to name it ‘classical’. The reigning queen of Thumri singing today is Girija Devi, fully trained in classical music. She comes from Varanasi, but has settled down in Calcutta to run an institution for training and programs in classical music. 

The reigning queen of Thumri singing today is Girija Devi, fully trained in classical music.

Ghazal
Left: Gulam Ali, the leading ghazal singer
       Poetry is the main component in a Ghazal. In fact, ‘ghazal’ is the name of a particular form of Urdu poetry, which is generally romantic, and sometimes devotional. Ghazal need not incorporate any Raag and is not contained within the discipline of Taal. The Ghazal singer needs only a light support of Tabla. Quite frequently, instead of the performer adhering to the framework of Taal, it is the Tabla player who adheres to the way the singing takes place. Understandably, the eminent Ghazal singers have used the lyrics of great Urdu poets, such as Zauq, Ghalib, Meer, or Faiz Ahmad Faiz. The words of the poem sometimes contribute much more to the listener’s pleasure than the music through which it is presented. Not being bound down with Raag and Taal, Ghazal singers are able to display great originality and innovation is the frills they provide. Combined with the beauty of poetry, the performance is delightful.

       There have been two distinct phases in the evolution of Ghazal. Until the forties of the past century, Ghazal tunes were simple, with repetitive stanzas like sthayi and antara in Kheyal singing. Instruments were kept to the minimum. The most popular of such recitals were presented by K.L. Saigal. A large number of Ghazals by Saigal were outside films, although due to his special skill in this genre the music directors composed Ghazals for him in films too. His rendering of Ghalibs’ “nukta cheen hai ghame dil” and Zauq’s “layee hayat aaye kaza le chali chale” are still listened to with admiration. In all such records, he has played on the harmonium himself, with a soft Tabla theka to go with it. One of the best expositions of traditional Ghazal was by Master Madan, 16 years of age, who died young. He left behind only two songs on record, each in perfect form, "yun na rah rah kar hamein tarpaiye," and "hairat se tak raha hai."

Begum Akhtar, from about 1940 onwards, captured people’s hearts with her majestic style.	K. L. Saigal, a leading ghazal singer of his time, gave the early Indian cinema its musical persona.

Mallika Pukhraj and Begum Akhtar, from about 1940 onwards, captured people’s hearts with their majestic style. However, their singing also retained the pristine purity of the traditional Ghazal and did not get enmeshed with classical inputs and certainly not the strains of the modern music now being introduced in films. As the era of public performance before an invited or ticketed audience began sometimes after 1950 or so, complex styles were developed, and a kind of orchestration was being provided using several instruments. Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali of Pakistan have had good classical training and they embellish their presentation with classical inputs. Jagjit Singh has become hugely popular, with Ghazals so much out of line with tradition as not to be identifiable as Ghazal.

Qawwali 

Left: Sabri Brothers, who acquired world renown as Qawwali singers, have performed in a majestic style.
Qawwali emerged as the musical expression of Sufi thought. Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, arose in Arabia and Iran about 9th century, as a philosophical movement within Islam which places man in a passionate, emotional relationship with God and ultimately in union with Him. After Islam came to India in the 11th century, Sufism converged with Hindu Vedantic thought of advait (non-duality). As far as is known, the musical presentation of Sufi experience as Qawwali was not developed until about 15th century when Sufi orders arose in different parts of India.

       Undoubtedly, Amir Khusro, prince, poet, musician and Sufi, was the one who developed Qawwali in 15th century as a combination of mysticism with music. Qawwalis are presented at important Muslim shrines such as Salim Chishti in Ajmer and Nizamuddin in Delhi, as Kirtan is presented in Hindu temples. With several singers participating in a Qawwali, an orchestration of human voice rises, wave after wave, and when the poetry is deeply devotional, it casts a spell over the listeners. Great Qawwals have reasonably good classical training and they provide such inputs as aalap, tan, and even tarana, making a powerful presentation of rich music. A number of the songs still being presented are the compositions of Amir Khusro himself. Since such mystic experience is human rather than scriptural, the poetry employs images, metaphors, even stories taken from both Hinduism and Islam, and has a philosophical, rather than a communal flavor.

       The Qawwali being a style which can appeal to crowds, its location has ranged from hallowed Muslim shrines to the market place, at festivals and at weddings. The subject matter in the latter cases would frequently be frivolous, and sometimes downright vulgar. Light-hearted Qawwalis such as “hamein to loot liya milke husna walon ne” have been popular. Habib Painter is one of the earliest Qawwali singers to have been brought on gramophone record. Shankar- Shambhu, although Hindus, were able to present Qawwalis drenched in Islamic philosophy. Sabri Brothers, who acquired world renown, have performed in a majestic style. Apart from Sufi thought, Qawwalis have been composed on ethical subjects too, such as Sabri Brothers’ “jhooth ke panw nahin hain, phir bhi chalta hai din raat” (“falsehood has no legs, but still it is walking all the time”). Nusrat Faleh Ali Khan and Abida Begum have constantly sung Sufi poetry in a moving style. (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was taken by Hollywood as music director for the movie Dead Man Walking). Indian films have presented several beautiful Qawwalis, the most elegant and the richest being “na to karwan ki talash hai” and “ishq ishq hai, ishq ishq,” in the film Barsaat Ki Raat.

The first major Qawwali performance in films, however, was given in about 1945 in the film Zeenat, “aahen na bhari shikwe na kiye”.  We have had Qawwalis such as “maula salim chishti” in Garam Hawa, “marna bhi mohabbat mein kisi kam na aaya”, in Azad, “teri mahfil mein kismet azma ke hum bhi dekhenge” in Mughal-e-Azam and “meri duniya lut rahi thi” in Mr and Mrs. 55. The Qawwali “Ai meri zohra zabin” in Waqt is well enriched with beautiful poetry and Manna Dey’s rich voice; the poem is a tribute to a lady who is no longer young in age but still retains enormous charm. In the story, the actress Achala Sachdev is the idol, who blushes charmingly when this is recited by her husband, played by Balraj Sahni, who does it with the elan of a professional Qawwali singer.