PROPOSAL FOR DOCUMENTATION OF COMPOSITION OF KHYAL GAYAKI FROM THE BANARAS GHARANA
Objectives:
The present proposal aims
- To document the khyal
compositions from the Banaras gharana;
as sung and rendered for the past 300 years
- To renew and reinvigorate the khyal tradition of the Banaras gharana
- To disseminate forgotten forms and styles of Banaras gharana khyal as a repository of cultural ways and values
- To provide, to the students of music, research scholars,
the vast mine of this rich tradition, for further references
- To set newer standards through artistic collaboration
The art of music in India has for centuries been neglected
and despised by the general public. That period is now happily over, and an
awakening of interest is everywhere manifest; educational institutions of
recent birth are in a flourishing condition, and there is a demand on all sides
from amateurs for musical tuition, while treatises, and new notations and
editions of ancient texts are continually being published.
It cannot be denied, however, that all this energy is in
urgent need of the guidance which a sound musical theory would afford. Modern
text-books may appear learned to the uninitiated ; the historian will, however,
frankly admit that, since the days of the Sangit Ratnakar, Indian musical
systems have fallen into such confusion that no one has been able to reconcile
the teaching of that authoritative treatise with later works on the subject, or
with the practice or theory of modern musicians. The art is also in grave
danger of being spoiled, as other Indian arts have in the past been spoiled, by
cheap imitation.
The universal
language of music
“Musical compositions,
it should be remembered, do not inhabit certain countries, certain museums, like
paintings and statues. The Mozart
Quintet is not shut up in Salzburg: I
have it in my pocket.”
-Henri Rabaud[1]
The significance of music lies in the power of its cultural
past to continue living within the present thus becoming the hallmark of that age
and that place. The felt presence of
this still living but repressed spiritual past, seeks to assert its presence on
the stage of theatre, thereby reclaims its place in modern consciousness.
Banaras: The city
of Light
Banaras… Banarasi… Banarsipan… and the mind conjures up
images of the ghats, narrow streets, cycle rickshaws, endless rows of temples
and dharamshalas, libraries, pundits- walking encyclopedias of ancient Hindu
knowledge, music, culture, brocades, banarasi paan, death in its transitoriness,
moksha…
Nevertheless Banarsipan is not just an exotic notion- it is
a lived culture, the characteristic ethos of the city, combining spirituality
and worldly pleasure, sanctity and satisfaction. Banarsipan manifests itself in
a ‘carefree lifestyle characterized by such qualities as “passion”,
“intoxication” and “joy” and in the cultivation of “passionate engagement”,
especially in religious or cultural activities- a kind of plucky cynicism, an
urbanity that is a once worldly-wise and other worldly, a simultaneous local
self-deprecation and intense pride.’[2]
Banaras, the urbs
prima in the Gangetic plains, is older than tradition, history and legend
put together. Called by various names, for its spiritual and religious
associations- ‘The religious capital of Hinduism’, 'Site of spiritual
luminance', ‘The gateway to moksha’ et al; Banaras is also an important
cultural centre- the site of evolution of Classical Banarasi style thumri, khyal or kathak, or the Popular
assortment of Ramlilas, along with the Muharram Tajiyas and Durga Puja
tableaux, Nautankis, annual temple festivals, wrestling competitions, neighbourhood
fairs, music concerts, to name some.
The 18th century was a turning point in the
history of Banaras. The decline of the Mughal Empire meant, for Banaras, the
evolution of a landlord family into local dynasty (the Bhumihar dynasty), along
with successful banking families, the trading sadhus- gosains, leading to the integration of an urban culture
unparalleled in North India.[3]
Stability and prosperity inevitably made Banaras the home of
classical music, dance and textile traditions. The Banaras gharana is renowned for its table, shehnai and sarangi playing
styles, as also for the Poorab-ang thumri. And, through the efforts of Bade
Ramdas Misra, a singer in the court of Nepal, the Banaras khyal gharana assumed form.
Khyal
Khyal is a form of
vocal music in Hindustani music, adopted from medieval Persian music. The term khyal comes from a Persian word meaning
thought, idea, conception, or imagination. Khyal
is special as it is based on improvising and expressing emotion. The lyric is
of an emotional account possibly from poetic observation. Khyals are also more popularly depicting emotional significance
between two lovers, a situation evoking intense feeling, or situations of
ethological significance in Hinduism and Islam.
The origin of Khyal
is controversial, yet it is accepted that this style was based on Dhrupad
gayaki and influenced by Persian music. While many argue that Amir Khusrau
created the style in the late 16th century, it is well known that this form was
popularized by Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah, through his court musicians. Some
well-known composers of this period were Sadarang, Adarang, and Manrang.
“ Kaisku Marwa Jaayal
Hamaraa
More darawa nayan ghar
kan warahe,
Mohammad Shah ke
Sadarangile, Prem Piya la Chapate Apne, Huntara Tana Mana Waarune - Mohammad
Shah”[4]
Popularized by D. V. Paluskar, in raga Bibhas, the quote
mentions the three important names responsible for the development of Khyal- Mohammad Shah, Sadarang and Prem
Piya.
Khyal has been
nurtured and cultivated by many renowned gharanas
thereafter- Gwalior Gharana, Agra Gharana, Kirana Gharana, Jaipur Gharana,
Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, Patiala Gharana, Banaras Gharana and Rampur Gharana.
In fact, these gharanas owed most of
their existence to this music genre. Names like Bal Krishna BaIchal Karanjikar,
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Faiyyaz Khan, Latafat
Hussein Khan, Hirabhai Barodekar, Begum Akhtar, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal,
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Ustad Aman Ali Khan, Rajan Mishra,
Sajan Mishra, Girija Devi, are the notable contemporary exponents of this
style.
E very Khyal Gharana has a few distinct features, a
novel facet of their own which allows one to discriminate between the different
schools while enabling one to identify the varied approach. The élan of the
presentation, the dash in the approach and the stylistic features of the
employing of the tans, bandish and alaap makes each of the khyal gharanas matchless and aesthetics.
Imperative
While the system of oral transmission is the true method of
learning for an artist, because every singer so taught must be in some degree a
composer (he is taught, not merely to repeat a given song, but to sing in a
given mode and mood), and because it is so great an advantage for the true
musician to need no external aid to memory, such as a printed score; in any
case it is much that the existing music should be recorded and analyzed for the
student of whatever time or country.
The age of information technology demands essential
documentation and diffusion of all knowledge forms, previously unthought-of;
opening various avenues for study, research, explorations, innovations and unprecedented
cross-cultural exchanges.
In the above context, there arises a pressing need towards
preserving and recording the rare compositions of Indian classical music. While
most of the efforts to undertake the above mentioned mammoth task are underway,
the khyal compositions of the Banaras
gharana have gone unnoticed and
unrecorded.
[1]
http://www.quotegarden.com/music.html
[2]
2000, Winand M. Callewaert, & Robert Schilder, Banaras: vision of a living
ancient tradition, HemkuntPrinting Press, New Delhi
[3]
1989, Sandria B. Freitag (ed), Culture and Power in Banaras:
Community, Performance, and Environment, 1800-1980, University of California
Press, Berkeley
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