dr. santosh khanna instrumen… · allauddin khan, also known as baba allauddin khan (8 october...
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Dr. Santosh Khanna
Dept. Of Music (Inst)
Allauddin Khan, also known as Baba
Allauddin Khan (8 October 1862 – 6
September 1972)was a Bengali Indian
sarod player and multi-instrumentalist.
Composer and one of the most
notable music teachers of the 20th
century in Indian classical music.
Khan was born in Shibpur village in Brahmanbaria
(in present-day Bangladesh). His father, Sabdar
Hossain Khan, was a musician. Khan took his first
music lessons from his elder brother, Fakir
Aftabuddin Khan.
At age ten, Khan ran away from home to join a
jatra party where he was exposed to a variety of
folk genres: jari, sari, baul, bhatiyali, kirtan, and
panchali.
Khan went to Kolkata, where he met a physician
named Kedarnath, who helped him to become a
disciple of Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya (also known as
Nulo Gopal), a notable musician of Kolkata in 1877.
Khan practiced sargam for twelve years under his
guidance.
After the death of Nulo Gopal, Khan turned to
instrumental music. He learned to play many indigenous
and foreign musical instruments like sitar, flute, piccolo,
mandolin, banjo, etc., from Amritalal Dutt, a cousin of
Swami Vivekananda and the music director of the Star
Theatre. He learnt to play sanai, naquara, tiquara and
jagajhampa from Hazari Ustad and pakhawaj, mridang
and tabla from Nandababu.
Ali Ahmed referred Allauddin to veena player Wazir
Khan.
Ustad Allauddin Khan was 110 when he passed into
history in 1972. He was something more than a
musical genius a visionary whose like is born but
once in centuries.
Few luminaries have shone so resplendently on the
musical firmament for over half a century as the
venerable maestro. Fewer still are those who could
achieve, with such tremendous success, the
unique synthesis of tradition and experiment in the
realm of Hindustani instrumental music.
Of historic significance was the new trail he blazed
in the field the veena-based fusion of gayaki,
layakari and tantrakari, and its adoption to the
playing of instruments like the sitar, the sarod and
several others. And he himself showed how this
approach made it possible for our ragas and
raginis to emerge in their true form, dignity,
grandeur, color and sparkle.
A devout Hindu and Muslim, Allauddin Khan (born Padma-Vibhusan Acharya Allauddin Khan) was one of the most
important North Indian classical musicians of the 20th century.
While his musical career spanned more than 100 years, Khan
was equally influential as a mentor and teacher of Ravi
Shankar; his son Ali Akbar Khan; and his daughter and Shankar's wife, Annapurna Devi.
A native of East Bengal (Bangladesh), Khan enjoyed a
financially secure childhood. Although his parents had little
money, they owned land and many animals. Descended
from Mian Tansen, a 16th century musician in the court of
Emperor Akbar, the family had close ties to music.
Khan's father played sitar while an older brother, Aftabuddin Khan, played flute, harmonium, tabla, pakhawaj, and dotora. As a child, Allauddin Khanwould sneak into the family's music room and experiment with his brothers' instruments. Despite his obvious talents, Khan was discouraged from playing music by his father. Running away from home at the age of eight, Khan met up with a group of itinerant musicians that was heading toward Dacca.
Telling them that he was an orphan, he was accepted into the group. He soon learned to play Indian drums including tabla, dhol, and pakhawaj, and wind instruments including clarinet, cornet, and trumpet.
Leaving the group after six years, Khan traveled to Calcutta and apprenticed himself to a Bengali singer, Nulo Gopal. For the next seven years, he was instructed in the traditional style that emphasized solfeggio, scales, and technique.
Apart from being a performer par excellence, with
an astounding command over 30-odd instruments
from the string, wind, bow and percussion groups,
he was a teacher, composer and conductor of
highest caliber.
He was a master of dhrupad, dhamar and other
styles of traditional vocal music. He innovated a
rich and varied repertory of ragas and instruments.
He secured tutelage from over a score of teachers,
including those of Western music.
His catholic understanding of Western instrumental
tradition culminated in the creation of what is
known as the Maihar Band, possibly the first-ever
attempt at orchestration of Indian music.
All these aspects of the maestro's contributions
deservedly brought him universal acclaim as
"Acharya''.
The vitality of the Acharya's universal approach to
the concept of music is resoundingly brought
home by the glorious line-up of some of our
greatest luminaries, all of whom benefited from
rigorous but rewarding training under him.
His disciples include his son, Ali Akbar Khan;
nephew, Bahadur Khan; sarod virtuosi Shyam
Ganguly, and Sharan Rani; and sitar stalwarts Ravi
Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee; His daughter,
Annapurna Devi, is known for her unequalled
command over the surbahar, while Pannalal
Ghosh became immortal as the pioneer in the
introduction of gayaki to woodwind instruments
under his mentor's inspiration.
It may well surprise many to know that composers
and music directors like Vishnudass, Shirali
S.D.Burman, as also his son R.D.Burman, Jaidev and
Roshan and the great Timir Baran of New Theatres
fame, immensely benefited from their association
with the acharya in the early days of their career.
Those fortunate old-timers, who had the
opportunities to hear his great music, recall with
nostalgia the characteristic, profoundly moving
strain, in the deep, powerful notes of his sarod and
the quality of humility in his music, which would
gradually reach the listener without his knowing it.
Behind this humility lay an intensely religious
approach to art and to life itself. It lent a halo of
universality to his music.
In this context, it will not be wide off the mark to
describe the acharya's music, as an expression
of spiritual purity, something which strikes a
chord of divinity inside us.
This relationship has been inherited, especially in
India, where the tradition of music has been
enriched by musician-saints like Swami Haridas,
Surdas, Tyagaraja, Shyama Sastry, Muttu Swami
Dikshitar and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar.
Acharya Allauddin Khan also belonged to this
tradition of musician-saints, and probably, is the last
of these greats.
Honors accolades and distinctions came his way in
profusion including the Padma Vibhushan, the
second highest civilian honor. To the manner born,
however, the reclusive acharya remained
indifferent to them.
Accepting a position as tabla player in the orchestra of
the Star Theater, Khan was mentored by conductor
Robert Lobo, who introduced him to the Western
classical music tradition.
Khan often participated in orchestral parties, held by
composer Habu Dutt, that combined Western and
Indian instrumentation. Although he augmented his
meager salary from the Star Theater by playing recitals,
Khan struggled financially.
He often ate his one meal a day at food dispensaries provided for the poor. Traveling to Muktogacha in eastern Bengal (now East Pakistan) during his early twenties, Khan was awestruck when he attended a performance by Ustad Ahmad Ali, a sarod player in the court of Raja Jagat Kishore. Inspired by what he heard, he convinced Ali to become his guru.
For the next four years, he devoted his full attention to learning the sarod. Although he accompanied Ali to Rampur, Khan's playing abilities were so threatening to the senior sarod player that he was instructed to begin playing on his own. Rampur provided an inspiring setting.
The center of Hindustani classical music, the city boasted more than 500 musicians who served in the court of the Newab of Rampur.
After studying with many of the city's musicians, Khan
managed to meet and convince the most important
musician in Rampur, Wazir Khan, to become his guru.
During the first two and a half years that he lived under
Wazir Khan's control, Khan served as a servant and
errand boy. The disillusioning arrangement changed
after a letter, telling Khan that his wife, who he had left
the day after marrying, had committed suicide, was
intercepted by Wazir Khan.
With the truth of his tales of being an orphan revealed,
Khan was instructed to return home and make amends
with his family. Upon his return to Rampur, Khan was
promised that Wazir Khan would make him his chief
disciple and reveal the secrets of music.
He continued to be instructed by Wazir Khan for the
next few years and received a blessing when his guru
was on his deathbed. Following Wazir Khan's death,
Khan began performing on his own.
In addition to serving as a court musician to the Maharajah of Maihar, he became the principal of the Maihar College of Music and formed the Maihar Band with 100 orphaned children whom he had taught to play strings, brass, bagpipes, and drums.
In 1952, Khan was made a Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (National Academy of Performing Arts). Six years later, he received the Padma Bhusan, an honorary title bestowed upon him by the president of the academy.
Khan became court musician for the Maharaja
of Maihar.
Here he laid the foundation of a modern Maihar
gharana by developing a number of ragas,
combining the bass sitar and bass sarod with
more traditional instruments and setting up an
orchestra.
In 1935, he toured Europe, along with Uday
Shankar's ballet troupe, and later also worked at
his institute, Uday Shankar India Culture Centre
at Almora for a while.
In 1955, Khan established a college of music in
Maihar.Some of his recordings are made at the
All India Radio in 1959–60.
Khan, Ameena Perera, Pranesh Khan and
Amaresh Khan. As a principle, he never
accepted cash or gifts from his disciples. As a
matter of fact, he took care of the food and
lodging expenses of his disciples.
In 1935-1936 Baba Allauddin Khan joined the
dance troupe formed by Uday Shankar, and
went on an international tour with the troupe.
Occasionally, he also worked at Uday Shankar’s
cultural centre at Almora. He visited
Shantiniketan. On his visit to Shantiniken,
Rabindranath Tagore asked Ram Kinkar
(sculptor) to create a statue of the maestro.
Khan was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958
and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971, India's third
and second highest civilian honours.
Prior to that in 1954, the Sangeet Natak Akademi
awarded him with its highest honour, the Sangeet
Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime
contribution to Indian music.
Khan's son Ali Akbar Khan, daughter
Annapurna Devi, nephew Raja Hossain
Khan and grandson Aashish Khan went
on to become musicians.
His other disciples include Ravi Shankar,
Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Shripad
Bandopdhyay, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur
Khan, Rabin Ghosh, Sharan Rani, Nalin
Mazumdar, Jotin Bhattacharya, Rajesh Chandra Moitra and W. D. Amaradeva.
Anecdotes about Khan range from
throwing a tabla tuning hammer at the
Maharaja himself to taking care of
disabled beggars.
Nikhil Banerjee said that the tough
image was "deliberately projected in
order not to allow any liberty to the
disciple. He was always worried that
soft treatment on his part would only
spoil them".
In 1955/56, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi
Shankar introduced and popularized the Maihar
Senia Gharana all over the world. Baba Allauddin
Khan composed many new raagas like the Madan
Manjari (named after his wife), Prabhakali, Swarasati,
Shobhavati, Madhavasri, Hem Bhairav, Madhavgiri,
Bhagvati, Hemant, Hem Behag and Manjh Khamaj.
He created the first Indian orchestra, known as a
Maihar Band or Maihar Vadya Vrinda. Since he knew
to play many instruments, he knew their tonality and
range and could improve upon the sound quality of
the instruments like the Sarode, Sitar, Sur Bahar, Sur
Shringar, Seniya Rabab, Chandra Sarang, Sitar Banjo,
Nal Tarang (made from steel gun pipes).
In 1952 he was presented the SangeetNatak Academy award, and was later affiliated with Sangeet Natak Akademiin 1954.
In 1955, he established the MaiharCollege of Music.
In 1958 he received the PadmaBhushan award and in 1971 he was honored with the Padma Vibhushanaward, considered as India`s third and second highest civilian recognitions.
Baba`s last stage performance was in 1959 in Kolkata, and he retired from an active public life and stage in 1961. With a long and luminous life of exceptional creativity behind him, Baba Allauddin Khan lived in Maihar from 1918 until his demise in 1972.
A devoted Muslim, and also a great devotee of Maa Sharada (Saraswati) of Maihar temple and Lord Shiva. His residence has several pictures, images and of Hindu deities and idols. The Films Division’s documentary, `Baba`, which depicts different aspects of his life, has also captured the secular and devout Baba.
A distinguished lineage of instrumentalists descends
from India's most renowned classical music
maestro of the 20th century, Ustad Allauddin Khan,
affectionately known as ‘Baba'. He reportedly lived
to be 110 years old (c.1862-1972).
Allauddin did not come from a hereditary family of
musicians although music was played for
enjoyment. He ran away from home at the age of
ten to join a jatra (traditional Bengali street theatre)
group, which exposed him to Bengal’s immensely
rich folk music.
He settled in Calcutta (now called Kolkata) and began a twelve year programme of formal study in Indian classical music, initially as a vocalist with one of Bengal’s greatest singers, NuloGopal.
But seven years later, when his teacher died suddenly of the plague, Khan is said to have been so aggrieved that he vowed to never pursue a career as a vocalist.
He considered himself to not even have reached the most basic threshold in music with his guru, and instead began to turn his attention to various other instruments, including the violin, which he learned to play.
He became drawn to the sarod on hearing a recital by a pupil of the great Asghar Ali Khan (Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s grand uncle). Eventually he moved to Rampur, an important centre for royal patronage of music, to study with the legendary veena player Ustad Wazir Khan (who was also tutor to Hafiz Ali Khan, Amjad’s father, in the same period).
Later he became the court musician and tutor to Maharajah Brijnath Singh of Maihar, a princely enclave in central India. He remained in Maihar from 1918 until his death in 1972, long after India had disbanded its royalty.
A Maihar tradition had already been established in the 19th century, but AllauddinKhan’s contribution to its development and technical perfection has been so tremendous that it is often assumed that he was the founder of what is now known as the Maihargharana.
The beginning of the 20th century was an important period for classical instruments with two main opposing schools of thought on how an instrument should sound: there were those who attempted to emulate the modern, romantic khayal style of playing as opposed to others who sought to restore the original Dhrupad flavour of Tansen's days.
Allauddin Khan clearly leaned towards the latter and although his public recitals were always on the sarod, he could play many instruments – Indian and Western – with tremendous ease and confidence.
Anecdotes about his time as a court musician range from throwing a tabla-tuning hammer at the Maharajah himself to personally undertaking the care of a disabled beggar.
One of the most prolific classical composers of the 20th century, he had a tendency towards mixed or composite raags (meolodicstructures) and produced a few dozen new ones of which the best-known is Raag ManjKhamaj. Fortunately, a number of his recordings survive intact, the most important ones being his recitals for All India Radio in 1959 and 1960.
Ustad Allaudin Khan has groomed some of the greatest instrumentalists of our time, most notably his son and pupil Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and, most unusually for that time, his daughter Annapurna (real name RoshanaraKhan), who went on to be a fine vocalist, sitar and surbahar player.
Other disciples include such distinguished names as Pandit Pannalal Ghosh (bansuri) and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (sitar). Even so, perhaps his most famous pupil remains Pandit Ravi Shankar, who went on to make the sitar a world famous Indian instrument.
Ustad Alauddin Khan (1963), a documentary
directed by Ritwik Ghatak Raga (1971), directed
by Howard Worth.
Remastered version released in 2010 by East Meets
West Music.
Maihar Raag (1993), directed by Sunil Shanbag. A
look at Allauddin Khan's crumbling heritage in
Maihar, which won the National Film Award for
Best Non-Feature Film in 1994.