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Should I speak?
So you ask some questions.... Maybe ask about Indore gharana
PNB: First please tell us something about the Indore gharana
UAK: The definition of gharana is as follows
UAK: All the gharanas that we have
are all named after native places and not named after individuals
Therefore When I
started thinking about this style
People apperciated that style
So even I started presenting my music in the name of Indore gharana
By the way, in the Indore gharana
people from ancient times
have sung and played instruments beautifully
And...
I have adapted their style and carved out a style of my own from it
PNB: I want to ask, what is the speciality in your music?
Speciality is that...
in the older times the musicians were good, no doubt,
but since they were not very educated...
they did not pronounce the lyric of the song clearly
Therefore, I lay more stress on the wordings of the song...
.. And...
the wordings should be distinct and clear
and the lyric should not have vulgarity
This is one of the speciality of my style or gharana
Secondly...
I remoulded the Sargam
Earlier vocalists would articulate the sargam orally
... only used their voice not the melody.
So I started singing sargams in proper melody
Thirdly...
People considered Tarana, from ancient times till now,
till the time I had not done my research on Tarana
used to think of Tarana as meaningless
So I thought about it...
did research for long time
and identified the meaning of Taranas
I reached a conclusion that Tarana is not meaningless
rather it is a form of chant
In which there is repetition
so Ameer Khusro when he invented the Tarana...
So the Sufi saints used the Tarana
with less number of words being kept in Tarana and more repetition
PNB: Want to ask you one thing.. What is meant by Sufi?
UAK: Sufi are devoted people, sages. Like we have saints?
PNB: Yes
UAK: So they are like saints
They are immersed in the thought of their god.
And in their meditation they worship
...they chant the words (found in Tarana). These people are called Sufis
Sufis are similar to the Rishis & Munis and "Maha-purush"
So these are the 2-3 specialities in my music.
I do not claim that musicians earlier did not have these specialities
But they never pronounced the words correctly and clearly
only focused on the music
..And...
did not care about the sargam
They used to sing very well, no doubt
And it is only listening and learning from them
that I have developed this style of mine
PNB: This contribution of yours in Indian Classical music is tremendous.
I am not aware of anyone doing research on this earlier.
UAK: Yes at least for Tarana, I can claim that I
am the only one who has thought about it till now
Even for the (good) lyric I have tried....
I also urge (the other musicians)...
old lyric that were not good
I removed them
And replaced them with my own compositions and sung them
PNB: Your compositions have in them the correct match of the
raag and the words... and you sing them with the right mood...
UAK: Exactly
PNB: You have brought new light into this
UAK: Earlier people used to focus more on technique
Mood was secondary in their music.
They would use a lot of vigour and...
physical force to present their music (smiles)
PNB: I met an old person in Calcutta (now Kolkata),
and he was surprised. He remarked,
"Khyaal and sweetness?" "In Khyaal, the head & the tongue
should move vigorously... sweetness?" (Laughs)
But listening to your music transcends
such a heavenly feeling and mood...
At least I have not heard such music before yours...
and there are recordings to pove...
It is a great achievement I should say
Great contribution to Indian classical music
PNB: Can you demonstrate the taan
that you were referring earlier... Dha-Pa-Ma-Re...?
UAK: As I said yesterday, about Sargam and melody...
first the old way... the way they sung
UAK: They would do like this.
So they would double this. The "Kan (swar)" that was...
... applied, they would even sing the "Kan" in the sargam.
I did not think this prudent.
UAK: They would do as...
UAK: So my sargam and the sargam that was sung earlier has only this much difference.
UAK: In Bhairavi (unclear)
But Bhairavi, Peelu, Khamaaj, these are all raags of the thumri
And I do not sing thumris
So I do not sing Bhairavi much,
I am not able to control it.
UAK: There is no good composition of Khayal in Bharavi.
There are many nice thumris though.
UAK: Khayal means imagination
Dhrupad that used to be sung earlier, lacked imagination
It was a bandish (Constraint)
In Khayal the constraint is only up to the wordings
But after that, the imagination that the musician performs
in vilambit is unbounded. There is no bandish in that.
On his wish, he could do sargam or taan or does vilambit
There is more scope (for improvisation) in Khayal than in Dhrupad
PNB: It is difficult to define a Raag
UAK: Raag is a combination (of notes)