INDIA – PAKISTAN The Great Tradition – Masters of Music – His Master's Voice – EALP 1453/1452, Part 1 Hindustani Music

INDIA – PAKISTAN
The Great Tradition – Masters of Music – His Master's Voice – EALP 1453/1452, Compilation 1986, Part 1 Hindustani Music curated by Sheila Dhar (2 LP)

This double LP, published in 1986 for the Festival of India, is a unique panorama of Indian traditional music, showcasing a gorgeous selection of some of the major 20th-century artists in both the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

In this post we present the Hindustani music expertly curated by the writer and Kirana Gharana vocalist Sheila Dhar (1929-2001). Note that out of the 14 tracks she selected only three are instrumental, emphasizing the central role of vocal music in the North Indian idiom. Instrumentalists themselves are often much influenced by vocal music. The great sitar player Vilayat Khan (C2), for example, once said "…there are four great singers who have influenced me… Faiyaz Khan [A4] was royal and regal and dignified. Abdul Karim Khan [A3] represented beauty. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan [B1] was about freedom… and Amir Khan [B4] is only about ibadat. Prayer."*

*https://thebookreviewindia.org/life-and-music-of-ustad-vilayat-khan/

Ce double album, publié en 1986 dans le cadre du Festival of India, offre un panorama exceptionnel de la musique traditionnelle indienne, avec une superbe sélection de certains des plus grands artistes du XXe siècle dans les traditions Hindustani et Carnatic. 

Dans ce post, nous présentons la musique de l'Inde du nord sélectionnée ici par l'écrivaine et chanteuse du Kirana Gharana, Sheila Dhar (1929-2001). Veuillez noter que sur les 14 pistes choisies, seules trois sont instrumentales, soulignant bien le rôle central joué par la musique vocale dans la musique Hindustani. Les instrumentistes eux-mêmes sont souvent grandement influencés par la musique vocale. Le grand sitariste Vilayat Khan (C2), par exemple, déclara : "… quatre grands chanteurs m'ont influencé ... Faiyaz Khan [A4] pour sa musique impériale, empreinte de noblesse et de dignité. Abdul Karim Khan [A3] qui incarnait la beauté même. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan [B1] qui inspirait la liberté… et la musique d'Amir Khan [B4] qui n'était que l’ibadat, la prière."*

*https://thebookreviewindia.org/life-and-music-of-ustad-vilayat-khan/

A1 – Zohra Bai, or Zohrabai, (1868-1913), vocalist of the Agra Gharana.

A2 – Bundu Khan, or Bundoo Khan, (1880-1955), sarangi player of the Delhi Gharana from Karachi, Pakistan.

A3 – Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937), vocalist founder of the Kirana Gharana.

A4 – Faiyaz Khan (1880-1950), vocalist of the Agra Gharana.

A5 – Kesar Bai Kerkar (1892-1977), vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.

A6 – Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1894–1989), vocalist of the Gwalior Gharana.

B1 – Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1902-1968), vocalist of the Patiala Gharana.

B2 – Siddheshwari Devi (1908-1977), vocalist of the Banaras Gharana.

B3 – Mallikarjun Mansur (1910-1992), vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.

B4 – Amir Khan (1912-1974), vocalist founder of the Indore Gharana.

B5 – Gangubai Hangal (1913-2009), vocalist of the Kirana Gharana.

C1 – Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) and Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009), sitar and sarod players of the Maihar Gharana.

C2 – Vilayat Khan (1928-2004), sitar player of the Imdadkhani Gharana.

C3 – Kishori Amonkar (1932-2017), vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana.

Download

Flac

MP3

Listen to the great Carnatic tracks on this double album here.

***

I dedicate this post to the memory of our great blogger friend Tawfiq (http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.com) who passed away in April. Tawfiq's superb blog enriched the lives of music lovers around the world and, on a personal level, inspired me to start my own blog. With over 650 LPs and cassettes shared since 2011, his work is truly monumental, and we all hope arrangements have been made to ensure his many rare treasures of Hindustani, Carnatic, Pakistani, Iranian, Turkish, Syrian, Iraqi, Azeri, Moroccan, Islamic, and other musics will continue to be available online for years to come. Music was his raison d'être and he shared meaningful, timeless tracks with us until his last breath. May his spirit soar on the imperishable music he loved.

***

Photographs below are from Music on Record by Frederick William Gaisberg, published by R. Hale, 1947, Musiques Rituelles, Cahiers de Musiques Traditionnelles 5, 1992, and Tantra Asana, A Way to Self-Realization by Ajit Mookerjee, published by Ravi Kumar, 1971:

Zohrabai Agrewali c. 1908 [A1]

Baba Allauddin Khan (1862-1972), center, with some of his first students, c. 1925. One of the greatest teachers and musical minds of the 20th century whose illustrious disciples included his son Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar [C1], Pannalal Ghosh (1911-1960) and Nikhil Banerjee (1931-1986).

Bhairava painting, Deccani School. c. 18th century.

"A Tantric Yogi, dark-skinned, red eyed, squatting on a white asana, is listening to a raga, most probably Bhairava, since Raga Bhairava's family colour for distance is usually olive green and sky area bluish grey, traversed by several currents of wavy greyish white clouds. Siva's archetype is generally found in the traditional representation of tantric Bhairava which is shown as naked, with dishevelled or matted hair, ash besmeared, wearing rudraksha garland and pendant snake earrings (kundala) and sitting on a tiger skin under a tree – absorbed in profound meditation."

Please help me purchase important traditional records to pursue my global curation project and share the best finds with you on this blog: