By Inayat Ilahi Malik

Date:27-05-06

Source: Dawn

WE have been told that Radio Pakistan Lahore is very shortly reviving its live programmes on classical music. One is reminded of the golden era of classical music programmes and concerts in the 1970s and 80s from Lahore which was worth listening to. In fact, Lahore radio has some finest traditions of nurturing the artists who are now great maestros of music.

The long list of great singers who were initiated and groomed at the Lahore station and later on became famous include Barre Ghulam Ali Khan, Ashiq Ali Khan, Akhtar Husain Khan, Salamat Ali, Nazakat Ali, Amanat Ali, Fateh Ali, Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano, Surraya Multanikar, Ustad Qadir Bakhsh Pakhawaji, Shaukat Husain, Ustad Nathu Khan, Ustad Nabi Bakhsh and Sharif Khan Ponchwalay. It is appreciated that some colourful and enjoyable recitals, both instrumental and vocal, were broadcast by Radio Pakistan Lahore during the last fortnight.

Bhopali Todi by Ustad Ghulam Haider Khan (Saturday) was sung with great zest and enthusiasm. It is a raga of only five notes, in which ‘Madhyam’ and ‘Nikhad’ are virjat (omitted). The raga is of plaintive mode — full of adolescent longing which is poignantly expressive of sorrows. The singer began in a despondent reposeable mood, completely identifying himself with the colour and character of the raga. The music grew steadily and pleasantly on one’s musical consciousness. Gifted with a strong, bright voice, he sang with complete trust in his musical capabili ties. His rapid utterances trained to a high degree of tonal precision by his great and versatile father Sadiq Ali Mando were particularly impressive and enjoyable.

A pupil of Khan Sahib Sharif Khan (Ponchwalay) Abdul Latif Khan’s sitar recital of raga Darbari (Monday) gave a good impression of his musical capabilities. His rendering of raga Darbari struck one as a veritable marvel of instrumental art. He handled the sitar with superb mastery. The finale was extremely thrilling which came like a deluge of glowing notes.

A raga’s main charm is in its alap (overture) Mian Tan Sen, the court musician of Emperor Akbar, is said to have invented the raga by shaking the raga Kanhras’ second note rikhab a little more than usual. This novice deviation from the established path of the raga’s presentation was so much liked by the emperor that it became his favourite, and it was given a new name: Darbari Kanhra.

The rendering of Darbari showed assiduous cultivation of the art of sitar playing. Always precise, the finger work had all the colour and sensibility while the plucking and its variety of strokes showed that the player had the ability to command the extensive range of the raga and create a music that had mood and atmosphere of a Mughal court.

Raga megh was beautifully presented by Husain Bakhsh Gulu, who learned music from the late Khan Sahib Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chourasi Gharana (Wednesday). The ancient scriptures speak thus of the Megh raga: “lustrous like a blue lotus; the divine smile of his moon-like face is sweeter than ambrosia.” In both ‘arohi’ (ascend) and amrohi (descend) five notes are used; gandhar and dhewat are omitted. Usually sung in the rainy season, the raga expresses command, depth and prosperity, brought by the monsoon.

Husain Bakhsh presented the raga in a mood of profound absorption, forging his music to a point where it completely embodied its emotional content (Rasa). His voice had both mobility and flexibility, rising at times to subtlety of expressiveness, which is the quintessence of the art. His voice is small but sweet, which is more suitable for thumari and ghazal singing. However, he presented the raga passionately, in a refreshing, clean and tuneful manner with skill and brilliance.

Our classical music includes several ragas which bear difficult and complicated forms. A singer has to practise them to perfection to be able to present them effectively and accurately. These ragas need an alert mind as well as a voice that is nimble and flexible, and is capable of shifting comfortably from one mode to another. Nat Bhairv’s recital by Shabbir Khan (Saturday), a pupil of the late Niaz Husain Shami, is a raga of this type — a quaint mix of two completely incompatible modes. Nevertheless, the way Shabbir Khan presented it showed musical acumen as well as the mastery of his vocal chords. He sang effortlessly, making delightful patterns from the raga’s duel form.