While film stars continued to fascinate the people with their singingand acting, a new class of gifted classical singers andinstrumentalists was being born.Film music has a tremendous attraction for the masses and it has greatcommercial value. But, like the films, its appeal is short-lived. Apopular film and its songs may hold the public interest for some time,but as other films come along the old film and its songs are graduallyforgotten.It is not so with classical music, which has a lasting hold on theinterest of listeners. Even though records of classical music do notsell as fast as film records, their value to music lovers does notdecline. In 1944 the Vikramaditya Sangit Parishad was held in theBombay University Convocation Hall. An artist from Punjab presentedRaga Marwa and a thumri, as they had never been presented before, andwill never be presented again. This was how Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khanintroduced himself to lovers of classical music in Bombay. Raga Marwa,which he selected as his opening item, has a combination of notes -komal rishab and shudha dhaivat- which sounds very pensive andpersuasive. The Ustad's melodious voice and his most arresting stylegripped the listeners from the start. He unfolded before the amazedaudience a most attractive and elaborate picture of Raga Marwa.The almost effortless phirat of his voice, which ranged through threeoctaves -Mandra, Madhya and Taar-elevated the artist and the listenersto immeasurable heights of musical experience. This was Bade GulamAli's maiden appearance in this city. He came, he sang, and heconquered the entire musical world of Bombay.The audience that day was star-studded. Eminent artists like 'Aftab-e-mausiki' Ustad Faiyaz Hussain Khan, Ustad Allaudin Khan (father of AliAkbar Khan and guru of Pandit Ravi Shankar), the famous sarod playerfrom Gwalior-Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan (father of the young sarod playerAmjad Ali Khan), Marhoom Ustad Alla Diya Khan and many others wereseen nodding in appreciation of Bade Gulam Ali's performance.Ustad Alla Diya Khan with his snow-white mustache and fair complexion,was a very impressive person. He had settled in Bombay a few yearsbefore, but having stayed many years in Kolhapur, he always dressed inthe Maharashtrian style. He looked very dignified, clad in a purewhite dhoti in Brahminic style, an open collared coat, shining pumpshoes and a turban tied in the impressive Kolhapuri fashion. Amidstthe galaxy of artists he looked like an emperor holding his darbar. M.R. Jayakar honoured him that night with the title: 'The Mount Everestof classical music'.This was a significant night, not only because I heard Bade Gulam Ali,but also because it was the last appearance of Ustad Alla Diya Khan insuch an august assembly. That night the Ustad was flanked by hisdisciple Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar on the right and his son on the leftas tanpura accompanists. This was indeed an unforgettable experience.Bade Gulam Ali Khan was the biggest attraction of the evening. Inthis, his very first visit, I managed to bring him to our studio torecord a few of his choicest khayals and thumris. He sang liltingthumris like Yad piya ki aaye, Katena birahaki raat, Tirachhi Nazariyake baan and Premke fandeme aakar sajani, and these records, cut almostforty years ago, are still popular with listeners, not only in India,but all over the world. Bade Gulam Ali Khan had an impressive physiqueand the lofty gait of a monarch. It was hard to believe that thisbroad-faced, bewhiskered giant was capable of producing such sweet,soul-stirring notes. A year after our first meeting, on the occasionof my elder daughter's birthday, I invited Bade Gulam Ali to my placefor dinner. It was a pleasant surprise to see the great Ustad at thedinner table, consuming, with great relish, a whole chicken. nearlytwo dozen chappatis and more than a kilo of mithai (sweetmeats). andstill more amazing was his 4 hour musical recital immediatelyafterwards. I thanked him profusely and jocularly remarked that peoplewould always remember him as rangila gavaiyya and rasila khawaiyya (aversatile singer and an appreciative gourmet). Bade Gulam Ali was alsoan excellent cook. On many occasions for several years thereafter, hepressed on me delicious dishes such as mutton paya and karela muttonwhich he had prepared himself.Bade Gulam Ali hailed from Lahore in Punjab. It was his heartfeltdesire that I, who was by now one of his dear friends and greatadmirers, should visit him in Lahore. A chance to respond to thisinvitation came very soon. Mr. Z. A. Bokhari the then station directorof All India Radio, Bombay, offered me a chain booking to broadcastfrom the Lucknow, Delhi and Lahore radio stations. I spent most of mystay in Lahore with the great Ustad. Walking with him through theHiramandi park of Lahore city I felt as if I was walking by the sideof a majestic elephant who was parading through the streets, acceptingthe reverent salutations of numerous admirers. He lavishly showeredhospitality on me. This was the end of the year 1945.During his short visit to Bombay in 1948 I fixed up a recordingsession with him. In the afternoon, when I had everything arranged forrecording in our studio, he telephoned to say that he was not feelingwell enough to record. I insisted that he should come over and that wewould not do any recording but we would have a nice long chat anddinner. Very reluctantly he accepted my pressing invitation. Before hecame I had to plan a strategy whereby I would be able to persuade himto strain his vocal chords. I gave a hundred rupee note to my peonSakharam and instructed him to procure a bottle of Scotch, which wasthe Ustad's favourite drink. Sakharam was to bring the bottle and theglasses into the studio only when I gave him the signal to do so.I had arranged things in the studio in such a manner that I couldstart recording at a moment's notice. I instructed that theaccompanying musicians be kept waiting in an ante-room. I escorted thegreat Ustad into the studio, assuring him that we would not do anyrecording but would have just an interesting and enjoyable evening. Onthe spacious wooden platform were two tanpuras already tuned to suithis pitch. The Ustad, a man of generous proportions, always preferredto sit cross-legged on the platform instead of on a chair. I seatedmyself near him with one tanpura close at hand. While we conversed Icasually started playing on the strings of the tanpura. 'Khan Saheb,'I said, ' I want to know why followers of the Gwalior gharana preferto use tivra dhaivat, in Raga Lalat, instead of komal dhaivat whichsounds so much sweeter.' With the sound of the tanpura playing in thebackground Khan Saheb could not resist demonstrating why komal dhaivatis preferable to tivra dhaivat. 1 noticed with satisfaction that mystrategy was succeeding. Unseen by him, I gave the signal to Sakharamwho walked in with the bottle and the glasses. Noticing this, theUstad looked happier, though he protested mildly. I said to him,'Since we are not going to do any recording we might as well have agay time.' I came up with another question while the maestro wasenjoying the drink. 'Why is it that some singers use both tivra andkomal nishads in Raga Adana? Is it correct to do so?' I refilled KhanSaheb's glass, and he who had been sitting in a relaxed position sofar sat upright in his usual singing posture, fully inspired and inthe mood to sing. He picked up the other tanpura which was close tohim and began to demonstrate how Raga Adana should be rendered.I allowed him to sing for a while and then said, 'Khan Saheb, yourvoice is in absolutely top form!' He guessed the implication of myremark, and smiling a little mischievously he said, 'So, you do wantto do a recording'. Taking this as a form of consent, I immediatelysummoned the accompanists and in a few minutes all was ready for therecording. Khan Saheb was indeed in great form that night. The nexttwo hours literally flew by. He sang one enchanting song afteranother, and we were able to record such immortal pieces as Aaye nabaalam, kya karun sajani, Naina more taras rahe hatn and Prem ki maarkatar, to name a few. Like a person possessed Khan Saheb poured hisheart and soul into the magic notes. He did not even know how manysongs he recorded; this after having been determined not to record atall. During a short respite I handed him a fresh glass. After taking asip from it he said, 'Joshi Saheb, you must have cast a spell on me. Iwas determined not to sing. How many have you recorded?' I smiled andreplied, 'We need only 2 more.' 'What do you mean?' he asked. 'I mean2 more songs would make a round dozen; we have got only 10.' We had ahearty laugh and thus the memorable recording session came to a close.Outside it had rained very hard and inside the studio we had hadtorrents of music. Bade Gulam Ali's study of music was extensive.While discussing any aspect of music, he would make intelligentobservations that would surprise and impress the most learned andknowledgeable persons. A seminar was once arranged under the auspicesof the Sur Singar Samsad. In Hindustani classical music, ragas areascribed particular hours of the day or night for their exposition.The point under discussion at the seminar was whether there was anyscientific reason for this convention or whether it was just a resultof custom and tradition. Bade Gulam Ali gave his opinion withpractical demonstrations.According to him ragas are divided into two types. A raga of the firsttype may be played between 12 noon and 12 midnight. Ragas of thesecond type may be played at any time from midnight to 12 noon. Theragas in the first section are known as 'Purva ragas' and those of thesecond section as 'Uttar ragas . A saptak is also divided into twoparts or 'tetrachords'. The first contains Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, and thesecond the other four notes, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa. In the purva ragas thevadi swara (the prime or 'life' note of the raga) is taken from thefirst tetrachord and therefore these ragas are known as purvangavadiragas. In the same way, the vadi swara in the uttar ragas is usuallytaken from the second tetrachord, i.e., Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa, and theseragas are called uttarangavadi ragas. When the vadi swara is either'Sa' or 'Pa', there is no time restriction for the performance of thatraga.He also propounded another theory explaining why a particular ragashould be sung at a particular time and why, if it is renderedaccordingly, it is more effective and appreciated by the listeners.The 24 hours of the day are divided as follows:4 in the morning to 7 in the morning.7 in the morning to 10 in the morning.10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.4 in the afternoon to 7 in the evening.7 in the evening to 10 at night.10 at night to 4 in the morning.It will be observed that in the ragas of the first and fourthdivisions the 2nd note rishabh and 6th note dhaivat are komal swaras.These ragas are also known as Sandhiprakash ragas. Bhairava of themorning variety and Purvi of the evening, having these notes, areSandhiprakash ragas. Khan Saheb explained how just a slight change ofhalf a note in the structure of the octave changes the raga from amorning to an evening one. In Raga Bhairava the 4th note, madhyam, isshudha, while in Purvi the 4th note is half a note higher, that istivra madhyama. He also demonstrated and explained the differencebetween the morning raga Todi and the afternoon raga Multani. Althoughboth have identically the same notes in the octave, they differ fromone another owing to different vadi samvadi notes and differentchalan.In the same way ragas in the 2nd and 5th parts have the 2nd noterishabh and the 6th note dhaivat as shudha notes. The ragas of the 3rdand 6th parts have the 3rd note gandhara and the 7th note nishadkomal.Khan Saheb however added that this theory was based on hisobservations of general practices. He was of the firm opinion that thetheory of division of ragas according to time has some scientificbasis and that physicists should be able to arrive at some finalexplanation after experiments.Ragas are also seasonal melodies. For example, Raga Malhar isassociated with the rainy season and Raga Vasant with spring. Oneevening during the monsoon I had the good fortune to find Bade GulamAli in a very exuberant mood. From the balcony of his flat on MalabarHill one could see the turbulent sea with its rising mountains ofwaves. This exhibition of nature's strength always inspired Khan Saheband that day he gave vocal expression to his feelings, in a number ofvariations of Raga Malhar. He reeled out gamak taans when there was aclap of thunder. He would be inspired by a flash of lightning toindulge in a brilliant 'Phirat', and when it poured cats and dogs, theresult would be a torrent of powerful taans ranging over two to threeoctaves. It sounded as if a jugalbandi programme was in progressbetween Nature and this great man. Bade Gulam Ali was very generous insharing his knowledge and rare compositions with deserving persons.And what is more. he did not feel it below his dignity to acceptcompositions not known to him. There was a frequent exchange of .suchknowledge and compositions between my guru Gunidas and Khan Saheb. Ihave often enjoyed such musical ***Insert: Gunidas referred here isPandit Jagannathbua Purohit...Rajan**** discussions and exchanges atKhan Saheb's residence in the company of my Guruji and Professor B. R.Deodhar.Bade Gulam Ali had a lively wit and sense of humour. His elder sonKaramat Ali, who lived in Pakistan, was on a visit to his father whenBade Gulam Ali introduced him to me as 'my Bade Shahzede - KaramatAli'. When I inquired about the nature of his profession, Bade Gu]amAli gave a loud burst of laughter and, pointing to four or five littlechildren playing nearby, he said, 'Look, that is his Karamat.' KaramatAli joined in our burst of laughter.His younger son, Munawar Ali, was his constant companion and was beinggroomed to succeed him. He always accompanied Khan Saheb on thetanpura and being so close to his father, he imbibed the vast treasureof his father's musical knowledge. Naturally with such training andall the makings of a first grade artist, everyone expected him tofollow in Bade Gulam Ali's footsteps. Unfortunately, however, BadeGulam Ali had always kept Munawar under his wing. Consequently,Munawar did not learn the art of performing independently and in spiteof the vast knowledge he received from his father, this gifted butunlucky singer is still struggling to make a name for himself.Bade Gulam Ali's brother Ustad Barakat Ali Khan also had great talent.The sweetness and phirat of his voice sometimes surpassed that of BadeGulam Ali. Bade Gulam Ali, however, allowed his brother to accompanyhim on the harmonium but never to sing with him in public. ThereforeBarakat Ali remained unknown to most music lovers in India. It isdifficult to say for what reason Bade Gulam Ali always kept his sonMunawar and brother Barakat Ali in the background, not giving them achance to display their talents independently. I had the gond fortuneto hear Bade Gulam Ali and Barakat Ali sing together in the sameMehfil when I was a guest of Nawab Zahir Yar Jung at the Basheerbagpalace in Hyderabad.The Jainophone Record Company of Lahore, which was a sister concern ofH.M.V., was the first to market Barakat Ali's records. Of these Bagomepade zule, Ek sitam aur lakh adaen and Ufari jawani haye jamane havemade his name immortal.In 1962 Barakat Ali camc on a visit to Bombay. At my request he madethree records, one of ghazals and the other two very lilting dadras.At this recording session. Barakat Ali was in the mood and willing torecord many more songs but my boss (the same 'Kudhon ke Badshah'mentioned before) came in the way. He was of the opinion that we couldrecord more when Barakat Ali next came to the city. I helplesslyobeyed and, after making three records, Barakat Ali returned toPakistan never to come back. Only a few months later he passed away inKarachi. I felt extremely upset with my boss for coming in the way ofmy recording more of this gifted musician's work. Years later I wasable to lay my hands on some of Barakat Ali's tape recordings fromwhich I got enough material for two LPs. Although we embarked on theproduction of LP records in 1960, I could not get Bade Gulam Ali forLP recording till 1963, There is a story behind this.In 1959 we received from our head office a copy of the first Indianclassical LP record, featuring Ustad Ali Akbar Khan on the Sarod. Therecord had an introduction by the world renowned violinist YehudiMenuhin. Obviously, it was meant for Western audiences. I was asked toevaluate the sales potential of LP records in India. Until then allour records had been made on 78 R.P.M. and were 3 minutes and 20seconds long. Most classical musicians found it very difficult to dojustice to a raga and give their best within such a short time. The LPrecord would be 5 times the length of a 78 R.P.M. record and I feltthat this would be very welcome, not only to the performers but alsoto listeners and lovers of classical music. However, an LP disc wouldcost more than Rs. 30 in those days, and considering the pockets ofIndian listeners, I had to be very cautious, bearing in mind the salesaspect of the venture.I was, however, very anxious to have the facility of putting classicalmusic on a long playing record and hence advised our head office tosend to us 300 copies of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's record. These, whenput in the market, sold out very quickly. Hence it was obvious that,in spite of their high price, the market was ready to absorb LPrecords. I took this as the green signal to bring stalwarts in theclassical field before the microphone for such microgroove recordings.To persuade an artist to record was always a problem. Apart from theconservative outlook of our musicians, their performing form, healthand condition of voice had to be considered. To add to this, artistsusually put a very high price on their performance, Bade Gulam Ali,like others, had always complained about the inadequate length ofrecords. Therefore, when I approached him, telling him that he wouldbe able to get about 17 to 18 minutes per side, he was very happy andimmediately consented. 'Very good' he said, 'I will do the recordingbut I have a request. On the previous occasions, you paid me on aroyalty basis, but this time I want cash.' I tried to reason with himas to how a royalty agreement would be more advantageous to him in thelong run. But he was very adamant so I asked how much he would expectin cash. 'I want only a lakh of rupees,' he said.This was an impossible demand, and I told him so. I decided,therefore, to drop Bade Gulam Ali for the time being. During the nextfew months I recorded artists like Nazakat Ali, Salamat Ali, BhimsenJoshi, Ustad Amir Khan, Bismillah Khan and several others on LPs.These records found quite a big market and became popular. Whenever webrought out a new LP I made it a point to show a copy of it to BadeGulam Ali. The LP records always had very attractive ccvers and thesetempted Bade Gulam Ali to agree to my proposal. The demand for a lakhof rupees was the main hurdle. My bosses also tried to reason withhim, but this only made Bade Gulam Ali more obstinate. 'If you are notready to pay my fees I will go and record abroad,' was his finalanswer to them. I had however not given up hope. I kept up friendlyrelations with him and persisted in my persuasive tactics. In thecourse of 6 months Khan Saheb climbed down from a lakh to 45 thousand,and after another 4 months he agreed on 25 thousand, from which hewould not budge. >From the commercial point of view, film records withtheir huge sales potential are most profitable to the company. Recordsof classical music, even by a top artist, would never have such alarge sale in a short period. The company, being always eager to getquick returns and a large turnover, was naturally reluctant to enterinto a cash contract. Therefore Bade Gulam Ali's demand for 25thousand was also unacceptable.One more year passed, and around 1962 his health starteddeteriorating. This affected his voice and performance. Early in 1963he gave a concert at Shivaji Mandir, the theatre in the Dadar area ofBombay. Of course, I attended it. With Munawar Ali accompanying him onthe tanpura, Bade Gulam Ali started with Raga Bhoop. After some alaphe started the Bandish. But instead of giving it his usual slow andthorough treatment, he very soon switched over to Sargams. It wasobvious that he found it difficult to keep his voice steady and stableon the raga notes. In my opinion the concert was an absolute failure.More than 60% of the singing was done by the son. Whenever I attendedhis concerts it was my practice to meet him after the concert. But onthis occasion I was so painfully disturbed in my mind that I went homewithout meeting him. The thought of this rich treasure slowly butsteadily dwindling. caused me much mental anguish. The next day,however, I could not resist the temptation of meeting him. He hadnoticed my absence after the concert the previous night, and wanted toknow the reason for it. I told him the truth. Previous to thisappearance in Shivaji Mandir I had noticed distinct signs of declinein his health and performance. I said to him, 'What you presented amonth ago at Akola you could not present yesterday and what youachieved yesterday you may not be able to give tomorrow. This isreally a very serious state of affairs. An artist of your calibre isborn, maybe, once in a century. For God's sake listen to me and makean LP record.'For a few moments he looked worried and pensive, then he said, 'Verywell, I will make only one record. I will sing one morning and oneevening raga. The morning raga must be recorded in the morning and theevening raga at the appropriate time.'I was delighted beyond words, and asked when we could do therecording. 'Fix it for tomorrow evening,' he said. A very importantfilm recording was scheduled for the next day, but as I was gettingBade Gulam Ali after years of patient waiting, I arranged to cancelthe film recording the following evening I drove him to the studio inmy car. On the way he said, 'Joshi saheb, I am doing this for yoursake, but I want you to give me at least some cash.'I was moved almost to tears at these words and I felt that had I theauthority and power, I would have thrown open the cash boxes of thecompany and asked him to help himself. I said to him, 'I am indeedgrateful to you and overwhelmed at his sign of your affection for me.I will give you some cash but please do not ask me how much it willbe. Whatever I give you after the recording would be out of love andrespect for you and you will have to accept it in the same spirit.'This touched his artistic soul and soon the commercial side of therecording was forgotten. That night he rendered raga Darbari Kanadawith Munawar giving him only instrumental support on the tanpura.Before we started I told him that he would get about 19 minutes forthe performance. 'All right, but it would have been nice if you hadgiven me half an hour,' he said. However, since Munawar was notallowed to sing with him, Khan Saheb soon found the strain too much.After just 1O minutes of singing he showed signs of being tired andwanted to find out how much longer he would have to sing. Instead ofthe alloted 19 minutes he finished in around 17 minutes. Sweatingprofusely he remarked, 'Are Bhai, 15 minutes of singing for you hereis equivalent to 3 hours singing in a mehfil'.We played back the raga recorded by him. This gave him the rest hebadly needed and it also gladdened him to listen to his delightfulperformance. He then said, 'Now I would like to sing Malkauns.' I didnot remind him of his earlier stipulation. It was to my advantage tokeep him in good humour. In the following hour Malkauns wassatisfactorily recorded. At last I had got an LP record out of him.Then I reminded him, 'Khan Saheb, you promised to sing one morningraga.''Aare Teri, I clean forgot about that,' he exclaimed. 'Never mind, weshall do it tomorrow morning.' The following morning he sang firstRaga Gunakali and then something that sounded to me like Khambavati orRageshri He told me that it was neither, but was known as KaushiDhani.Thus, instead of one, I succeeded in bagging 2 LP records. Finding himin a very amiable mood and quite happy about his perfornance, I feltit would be a good idea to get something more out of him. So I said,'Janab, the bhajan Hari om tatsat has always been a hot favourite withyour listeners and a must in your mehfil. So you must record it.' 'Howcan I make it last for 19 minutes?' he asked. I thought that it wouldbe a good idea to put it on a semi long playing (extended play) 45R.P.M. disc. So I said ,to him, 'You sing it only for about 7minutes'. Thus I got him to record the beautiful bhajan. Then Ireminded him of the other side of the disc. He smiled and said, 'Youare very smart; last time, I remember. you got 10 songs out of me whenI did not want to record even a single one.' I said, 'But Khan Saheb,every record has to have 2 sides; you must give me one more piece.' Isuggested the thumri Kanakar mar jagaye-Bamna ka chora and he readilyaccepted my suggestion since this was also his pet song. In thismanner he eventually gave us 2 LPs and one extended play record. Iprevailed upon him to sign a royalty contract. but, as promised, Ipaid him Rs. 5000/- in cash, as advance against royalty. Once againthe fact was proved, that a genuine artist values affection more thanmoney.This recording had been delayed for more than two and a half yearsbecause of his unreasonable demand for a lakh of rupees. His failingvoice is evident in these records. If he had only agreed to myrequests earlier, we would have had a number of recordings of thisgreat artist which would have been appreciated by millions of hisfans. Just a few months after this his health deteriorated further. Myfriend Nawab Zahir Yar Jung, a true patron and lover of music, tookKhan Saheb to Hyderabad and looked after him till he breathed his lastin the Basheerbag palace. It was here that I had heard his memorablemehfil with Barakat Ali on the harmonium, and it was here that themehfil of his life came to an end. He left behind a priceless andglorious heritage of music. For me, besides this, there remain veryfond and enduring memories of his warm-heartedness and intelligence."Hari Om Tatsat..."Posted on RMIC by Rajan Parrikar as part of Great Masters SeriesG.N.Joshi's Artilcle on Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali KhanThe man who lived, moved and had his being in music has merged intoNadabrahma! Whether it was a khayal with a courtly theme, a thumriwith wistfully romantic word content or a bhajan with highlydevotional words, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan could always put hisheart and soul into the song. Among his many contributions toHindustani Music, the outstanding one is that he opened the eyes ofcontemporary musicians and music lovers to the prime importance ofvoice culture and voice modulation, and the supreme value of emotionin music.We have quite a large number of musicians who can sing perfectlycorrectly and perhaps impress the listener's intellect; but few couldtouch the listener's heart as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan could. And no otherclassical vocalist has earned such countrywide adulation frommusicians, music lovers and critics. The remarkable pliability of hisvoice, the unpredictable swara combinations, the incredible speed ofhis taans and the ease with which he could sway his audiences by hisemotional renderings -- these are qualities which have been envied bymany a rival.By his varied and richly expressive style, he has silenced thedetractors of classical music who argue that it cannot appeal becauseit is "dry and flat". For the rare perfection and popularity that hebrought to the Punjab ang he has been rightly called "The King ofLight Classical Music".As I sit and recall the numerous Bade Ghulam Ali recitals that Iattended, I find that there was not a single rasa he could not bringto life through his music. What passion cannot music raise and quell!When he would sing "Kali ghata ghir ayee sajani", the audience couldalmost hear the rumbling of thunder, see the flashes of lightning andshare the agony of the separated one. He would put his heart and soulinto the rendering of a highly devotional khayal like "MahadevMaheshwar" or his favourite bhajan "Hari Om Tatsat". In his thumri,"Naina more taras rahe", Bade Ghulam Ali would portray the entirelonging of the eyes to behold the beloved, while he could bring outall the playfuly romantic, half-exquisite complaint of the Gopi whomKrishna was teasing.Among classical musicians, Bade Ghulam Ali was truly the king ofemotions and thumris. He often used to say: "Many people have the ideathat classical music has no powers of expression. This is becausegenerally our musicians are more interested in technical virtuosity.But emotion is the very soul of our music. In fact our music has thepower to express the subtlest nuances of feeling." Bade Ghulam Ali hasproved this point by his own style, which is an excellent blend ofimpressive tehchnical mastery and appealing emotional expression."From the heart of the singer to the hearts of listeners!" is true inthe case of his music.Born in Lahore in 1901 as the son of Khan Saheb Ali Bux, Ghulam Ali'smusical gifts were evident at an incredibly early age. Reminiscingover his childhood, he said: "I do not know at what age I began tomaster the twelve notes. This much I can say: that, at the age ofthree or four when I started talking, I had some ideas of the twelvenotes! I learnt sargams as a child learns his mother tongue."Recognising the musical potentialities of the child, Ali Bux put him,at the age of seven, under the tutelage of Khan Saheb Kale Khan ofPatiala for the next ten years. After the Khan Saheb's death, GhulamAli continued his training under his own father.What fired him with a feeling of challenge was a small incident. WhenKale Khan died, a certain musician made a caustic remark that musicwas dead with Kale Khan. This put young Ghulam Ali on his mettle. Inhis own words: "For the next five years, music became my sole passion.I practised hard, day and night, even at the cost of sleep. All myjoys and sorrows were centred on music."Ghulam Ali was gifted with all the attributes of a great musician:musical lineage, intelligence, sound training and high artisticsensibility. "To me the purity of the note is the supreme thing," heused to say. Ghulam Ali also had the privilege of receiving talim fromAshiq Ali (who belonged to the gharana of Tanras Khan), and from thelate Baba Sindhi Khan. Some people detected shades of Ustad WahidKhan's charming style in his khayal alap.It is true that Bade Ghulam Ali belonged to a long and illustriousmusical lineage. But it was his genius that chiselled off all theharsh crudities and angularites of the once dry Patiala Gharana andlent it such a rare polish and glow that today it has achievedcountrywide popularity. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan has left behind not onlyhundreds of singers trying to emulate him but also thousands andthousands of music lovers who cherish his music. No other North Indianvocalist ever attracted such large audiences in the South as did BadeGhulam Ali Khan.Bade Ghulam Ali never tried to win the approbation of those classicalpurists who judge the excellence of a performance by the length ofdelineation of each raga. His aim was to appeal to the hearts of themillions who heard him. He would say: "What is the use of stretchingeach raga for hours ? There are bound to be repetitions."A true artist, Bade Ghulam Ali was not interested in political andreligious differences. He knew of only two categories of humanity:music lovers and the uninterested ones. "I know only one thing: Music!I am little interested in other things. I am just a humble devotee ofGod and Music."At his abode, wherever he used to stay -- Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta orHyderabad -- he was surrounded by his admirers all the time and theswarmandal was always with him. Every few minutes, he would break intosong -- to illustrate a point he was making. A firm believer in thedebt that classical music owes to folk airs, he could, with amazingdexterity, demonstrate the simple folk lilts like a real villager, andthen suddenly sing out its fully polished classical counterpart in ascintillating manner. No wonder his admirers were always crowdingaround him throughout his waking hours.During his last stay in Bombay (prior to his departure to Hyderabadand his last fatal attack), a young admirer from the South had a fewhours' halt in Bombay, before taking a plane to Calcutta. It was 11p.m. when he reached Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's place. Yet, with joy, theUstad showed his hospitality, not by serving tea and sweets but bysomething more precious. "Bring my swarmandal!" he said to his sonMunnawar. "Let me sing awhile for my guest." As the young admirersaid: "Can you beat this great artiste's humility and his utterabsorption in music ?"Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was not only everyone's favourite but amusicians' musician. Leading artistes of the country have paid homageto this great musician. Begum Akhtar says in her tribute: "I havenever seen such a rare combination of greatness and simplicity. When Ifirst heard him, I felt that I was hearing real music for the firsttime. He was my honoured guest for several months in Calcutta. He usedto sing all day long: in fact, music was his sole interest in life. Insorrow he would draw solace from music; in joy also he would burstinto song. What a rare musician!"Under his pen name, "Sabrang", he has left numerous liltingcompositions -- khayals and thumris. "Sabrang" had only one passion inlife : Music. Today the great singer has merged into Nadabrahma --eternal bliss through music. His favourite bhajan ever was and willbe: "Hari Om Tatsat".Susheela Misra1999 e.com Best Viewed in 640x480
Tu Jo Nahi Hai To Kuch Bhi Hai Ye Mana Ke Mehfil By Jagjit Singhmp3
2ff7e9595c
Comments