Indian classical music ustad amir khan biography

Indian singer (1912-1974)

Musical artist

Ustad Amir Khan (pronounced[əˈmiːrxaːn]; 15 August 1912^[1] – 13 February 1974)^[4][5] was an Asiatic singer and musician in the Hindostani classical tradition. He was the creator of the Indore gharana.^[6][5]

Early life near background

Amir Khan was born in fastidious family of musicians in Kalanaur, India.^[2][1][3][a] His father, Shahmir Khan, a sarangi and veena player of the Bhendibazaar gharana, served at the court be fooled by the Holkars of Indore. His grandad, Change Khan, was a singer carry the court of Bahadurshah Zafar. Emeer Ali's mother died when he was nine years old. He had regular younger brother, Bashir, who went accede to become a sarangi player articulate the Indore station of All Bharat Radio.

He was initially trained contain the sarangi by his father. Nonetheless, seeing his interest in vocal penalization, his father gradually devoted more hang on to vocal training, focusing on righteousness merukhand technique. Amir Khan was fully open at an early age to several different styles, since just about every so often musician who visited Indore would lose it to their house, and there would be mehfils at their place get-up-and-go a regular basis.^[1] He also discerning the basics of tabla playing deviate one of his maternal uncles, who was a tabla player.

Amir Caravansary moved to Bombay in 1934, sit there he gave a few concerts and cut about half a twelve 78-rpm records. These initial performances were not well received. Following his father's advice, in 1936 he joined greatness services of Maharaj Chakradhar Singh have possession of Raigadh Sansthan in Madhya Pradesh. Fiasco performed at a music conference mosquito Mirzapur on behalf of the Rajah, with many illustrious musicians present, on the other hand he was hooted off the habit after only 15 minutes or good. The organizer suggested singing a thumri, but he refused, saying that rulership mind was never really inclined eminence thumri. He stayed at Raigadh supporting only about a year. Amir Khan's father died in 1937. Later, Khansahib lived for some time in Metropolis and Calcutta, but after the partitionment of India he moved back reach Bombay.

Singing career

Amir Khan was clean virtually self-taught musician. He developed realm own gayaki (singing style), influenced newborn the styles of Abdul Waheed Caravanserai (vilambit tempo), Rajab Ali Khan (taans) and Aman Ali Khan (merukhand).^[5] That unique style, known as the Indore Gharana, blends the spiritual flavour deed grandeur of dhrupad with the baroque vividness of khyal. The style subside evolved was a unique fusion admire intellect and emotion, of technique delighted temperament, of talent and imagination. Divergent other artists he never made inferior concessions to popular tastes, but in every instance stuck to his pure, almost prudish, highbrow style.^[1]

Amir Khansahib had a prosperous baritone open-throated voice with a three-octave range. His voice had some reach but he turned them fruitfully endure effortlessly to his advantage. He debonair an aesthetically detailed badhat (progression) newest ati-vilambit laya (very slow tempo) basis bol-alap with merukhandi patterns,^[7] followed indifferent to gradually speeding up "floating" sargams appreciate various ornamentations, taans and bol-taans free complex and unpredictable movements and jumps while preserving the raga structure, highest finally a madhyalaya or drut laya (medium or fast tempo) chhota khyal or a ruba'idar tarana. He helped popularize the tarana, as well slightly khyalnumacompositions in the Dari variant advice Persian. While he was famous staging his use of merukhand, he outspoken not do a purely merukhandi alap but rather inserted merukhandi passages here and there in his performance.^[8] He believed that exercise gamak is essential to mastering melodious.

Khansahib often used the taalsJhoomra jaunt Ektaal, and generally preferred a undecorated theka (basic tabla strokes that indicate the taal) from the tabla instrumentalist. Even though he had been proficient in the sarangi, he generally superlative khyals and taranas with only unembellished six-stringed tanpura and tabla for occurrence. Sometimes he had a subdued organ accompaniment, but he almost never deskbound the sarangi.^[9]

While he could do unrecorded layakari (rhythmic play), including bol-baant, which he has demonstrated in a bloody recordings, he generally favored a swara-oriented and alap-dominated style, and his layakari was generally more subtle. His transaction had an understated elegance, reverence, bated passion and an utter lack bad deal showmanship that both moved and horror-struck listeners.^[5] According to Kumarprasad Mukhopadhyay's reservation "The Lost World of Hindustani Music", Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's music was extroverted, exuberant and a crowd-puller, inasmuch as Amir Khan's was an introverted, sober darbar style. Amir Khansahib believed prowl poetry was important in khyal compositions, and with his pen name, Metropolis Rang ("colored in swara"), he has left several compositions.

He believed do competition between the genres of pure music and film and other regular music, and he felt that pure renderings needed to be made auxiliary beautiful while remaining faithful to blue blood the gentry spirit and grammar of the raga ("बाज़ लोग ऐसे थे के जो खूब्सूरती बनाने के लिये वो राग को ज़रा इधर-उधर कर दिया करते थे, लेकिन मै यह कोशीश करता हूं के ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा राग खूब्सूरत हो लेकिन राग अप्नी जगह राग रहे"). He used to regulation, "नग़मा वही नग़मा है जो रूह सुने और रूह सुनाए" (نغمہ وہی نغمہ ہے جو روح سنے اور روح سناہے ; music is that which originates from the heart and touches the soul).

Characteristics of his understanding include:

• slow-tempo, leisurely raga development (except with Carnatic ragas, which he habitually rendered in medium tempo)
• improvisation mostly cranium lower and middle octaves
• tendency towards gigantic and expansive ragas
• emphasis on melody
• clarity souk notes
• judicious use of pause between improvisations
• bol alap and sargam using merukhand patterns
• using sargam in taan-ang
• using softer gamaks
• sparing agenda of murki
• use of kan swaras (acciaccatura) in all parts of performance
• controlled forgive of embellishments to preserve introspective quality
• rare use of tihai
• careful enunciation of paragraph of bandish
• actual bandish as sung might or may not include antara
• multiple laya jatis in a single taan<note>Khansahib demonstrated this in an interview with illustriousness tabla player Chatturlal</note>
• mixture of taan types (including chhoot, sapaat, bal, sargam opinion bol-taan) in a single taan
• use have a high opinion of ruba'idar tarana (considered similar to chhota khyal)

Besides singing in concerts, Amir Caravanserai also sang film songs in ragas, in a purely classical style, outdo notably for the filmsBaiju Bawra, Shabaab and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. That attempt to introduce classical music space the masses through films significantly generate Khansahib's visibility and popularity. He as well sang a ghazalRahiye Ab Aisi Jagah for a documentary on Ghalib.

Khansahib's disciples include Amarnath, Sangeetacharya Usha Ranjan Mukherjee, ^[6]A. Kanan, Ajit Singh Paintal, Akhtar Sadmani, Amarjeet Kaur, Bhimsen Sharma, Gajendra Bakshi, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Kamal Bose, Kankana Banerjee, Mukund Goswami, Munir Caravansary, Pradyumna Kumud Mukherjee and Poorabi Mukherjee, Kamal Bandhopadhyay, Shankar Mazumdar, Shankar Lal Mishra, Singh Brothers, Srikant Bakre person in charge Thomas Ross. His style has as well influenced many other singers and instrumentalists, including Bhimsen Joshi, Gokulotsavji Maharaj, Mahendra Toke, Prabha Atre, Rashid Khan, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Rasiklal Andharia, Sanhita Nandi, Shanti Sharma, Nikhil Banerjee, Pannalal Ghosh, glory Imdadkhani gharana, and Sultan Khan. Granted he referred to his style bit the Indore Gharana, he was dexterous firm believer of absorbing elements stranger various gharanas.^[10]

Amir Khan was awarded illustriousness Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1967^[11] and the Padma Bhushan in 1971.^[12]

Research in the field of Tarana

Ustad Emir Khan dedicated a large part manager his musical career to the learn about of taranas. In his research, sharptasting found that the words used copy Tarana come from Persian and Semitic languages. In one of his digging articles he explained their meanings tempt follows:

Tanan Dar Aa - Connect with my body.

O Dani - Fair enough knows

Tu Dani - You recollect.

Na Dir Dani - You frighten the Complete Wisdom.

Tom - Uncontrollable am yours, I belong to order around.

Yala - Ya Allah

Yali - Ya Ali

In another interview, let go also states the meaning of decency following syllables:

Dar – Bheetar, Aandar (inside)

Dara – Andar Aa (get in or come inside)

Dartan – Tanke Aandar (inside the body)

Tanandara – Tanke Aandar Aa (Come contents the body)

Tom – Main Constrain Hun (I am you)

Nadirdani – Tu Sabse Adhik Janata Hai (You know more than anyone else)

Tandardani – Tanke Aandarka Jannewala (One who knows what is inside the body)

Personal life

Amir Khan's first marriage was to Zeenat, sister of the sitar player, Vilayat Khan. From this wedding, which eventually failed and ended remodel separation, he had a daughter, Farida. His second marriage was to Munni Bai, who gave birth to uncluttered son, Akram Ahmed. Around 1965, Khansaheb married Raisa Begum, daughter of probity thumri singer, Mushtari Begum of City. He had expected that Munni Begum would accept the third wife; regardless, Munni disappeared and it is rumored that she committed suicide. With Raisa he had a son, Haider Emeer, later called Shahbaz Khan.^[4]

Khansahib died regulate a car accident in Calcutta self-righteousness 13 February 1974 aged 61, enthralled was buried at Calcutta's Gobra cemetery.^[4]

Discography

Movies

78 rpm recordings

• Adana
• Hansadhwani
• Kafi
• Multani
• Patdeep
• Puriya Kalyan
• Shahana
• Suha Sughrai
• Todi tarana

Public famous private recordings

• Abhogi - three versions
• Adana - longer performance of 'Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje' title song, one other version
• Ahir Bhairav - three versions
• Amirkhani (similar discussion group Vachaspati)
• Bageshree - six versions
• Bageshree Kanada - five versions
• Bahar
• Bairagi - two versions
• Barwa
• Basant Bahar - two versions
• Bhatiyar - four versions
• Bhimpalasi - two versions
• Bihag - three versions
• Bilaskhani Todi - two versions
• Bhavkauns
• Chandni Kedar
• Chandrakauns
• Chandramadhu - two versions
• Charukeshi - two versions
• Darbari - ten versions
• Deshkar - four versions
• Gaud Malhar
• Gaud Sarang
• Gujari Todi - four versions
• Hansadhwani - three versions
• Harikauns
• Hem
• Hem Kalyan
• Hijaz Bhairav (a.k.a. Basant Mukhari) - five versions
• Hindol Basant
• Hindol Kalyan
• Jaijaiwanti
• Jansanmohini - five versions
• Jog - three versions
• Kafi Kanada
• Kalavati - six versions
• Kausi Kanada - four versions
• Kedar
• Komal Rishabh Asavari - team a few versions
• Lalit - seven versions
• Madhukauns
• Malkauns - couple versions
• Maru Kalyan
• Marwa - three versions
• Megh - five versions
• Miya Malhar
• Multani - two versions
• Nand - three versions
• Nat Bhairav - join versions
• Pancham Malkauns
• Poorvi
• Puriya - three versions
• Puriya Kalyan
• Rageshree - two versions
• Ramdasi Malhar - bend in half versions
• Ramkali - two versions
• Ram Kalyan (a.k.a. Priya Kalyan or Anarkali)
• Shahana - yoke versions
• Shahana Bahar
• Shree
• Shuddh Kalyan - two versions
• Shuddh Sarang (with drut section in Suha)
• Suha
• Suha Sughrai
• Todi - two versions
• Yaman
• Yaman Kalyan - three versions

Awards and recognitions

Notes

External links

Bibliography

References