Master Musicians of India: Hereditary Sarangi Players Speak

Description

Beginning with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, Indian art music is renowned internationally for its improvised raga performance. This ancient tradition has for centuries been transmitted orally within the seclusion of hereditary families. Few such families remain today, and not enough is known about their central contribution to the life of Indian music. Master Musicians of India reveals this rich world through profiles and interviews of key musicians from this tradition. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Plates Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Musical Notation Preface Introduction Delhi: Center of Power Chapter 1 Sabri Khan: My Guru, a Complete Musician Introducing Ustad Sabri Khan Family Training: A Tough Foundation My Grandfather Taught All of Us A Passion for Learning More Playing from Notation Learning from Other Masters I Have 50 Styles Your Ustad Has Not Been Idle: A Splendid Career About All India Radio Travel Abroad Chapter 2 Sabri Khan: The Master and His Disciples Introduction The Ritual of Shagirdi—A Tie That Binds Accepting Regula as a Disciple Hosting an Informal Gathering Testing Instruments: The Star Student Performs Shagirdi Ceremony Tying the Thread Shabbir Husain, Oldest Disciple: Devotion to the Ustad Introducing Shabbir Husain The Musical Family in Action Shabbir Husain’s Radio Audition Performing for Regula Long Live My Ustad Kamal Sabri: Beginner to Rising Professional Introducing Kamal Kamal and His Brother on the Terrace (1984) Forging the Profession Today (2005) Chapter 3 Teaching Regula: I Will Make You into a Sarangi Player Introduction Session 1: Preparing for a Performance Technique and Fingering The Way to Practice Session 2: Generating Ideas—An Ocean in a Cup New Techniques From a Single Idea Come 50 More Session 3: A Holistic Approach to Musical Competence Bowing Technique Posture and Presentation Bombay: Freelance Center Chapter 4 Ram Narayan: The Concert Sarangi Introducing Pandit Ram Narayan Pandit Ram Narayan and Regula Like Coming Home A New Life for the Sarangi The Temptation to Become a Singer Being an Accompanist A Musical Contest Creating Recordings and Film Music When I Worked in Film Sarangi, Voice of Separation? Teaching: Learn Properly, Don’t Just Imitate Final Advice Words of Wisdom from 1969 Aruna Narayan Kalle: First Woman Sarangi Player of India Introducing Aruna Playing with Depth at Home Abroad An Unusual Training Path A Special Role Model My Father’s Teaching From India to Canada: Does Being Female Matter? Western Collaborations and Trips to India Chapter 5 Dhruba Ghosh: The New Generation Introducing Dhruba Ghosh The Egg Must Break the Shell We Must Strike Out on Our Own Pioneers and the Quest for a New Idiom Changing People’s Attitudes Toward the Sarangi The Physical Instrument—Innovations Chapter 6 Sultan Khan: Globalizing Heritage Introducing Sultan Khan Respect for the Old and the New We Are All Descendants of Adam Heredity and Humanity “My Heart Was Set on This Instrument” “My Father Taught Me; My Elders Blessed Me” Training: My Own Way of Thinking “Formulas of Our Ancestors” “Mind and Hand” “I’ll Tell You the Major Points in Your Playing” A Competitive Métier: What It Takes When Masters Competed: A Time of Real Music “Those Khansahibs with Their Big Heads” Accompaniment as Competition Playing Sarangi in a Global Context Joining Zakir Husain: The Art of Rhythmic Accompaniment “Honor the Middleman and Trust in God” Lucknow: Center of Tradition Chapter 7 Mahmud Ali Lineage: College Ties Introducing the Lineage Mirza Mahmud Ali: The Founder Introducing Mirza Mahmud Ali The “Interview”: Heritage Despite College Mirza Maqsud Ali: My College Teacher Introducing Mirza Maqsud Ali Personal Encounters Teaching a Beginner Two Kinds of Training Yaqub Husain Khan: Inheriting a College Post Introducing Yaqub Husain Khan Between Lineage and College A Clash of Values Our Last Conversation: Fees Munawwar Husain: New Sounds and Tragedy Introducing Munawwar Husain Khan Claims to Family and Job Family History Trying the College Experimenting with “Sound” Chapter 8 Bahadur Khan: A Freelance Past Introducing Bahadur Khan Life in the Courtesan Era From Schooling to Family Training Training on the Job Measuring Competence: Juma and Audition Recognizing Banda Chapter 9 Bhagvan Das: Sons and Disciples Bhagvan Das Mishra Introducing Bhagvan Das Bhagvan Das—Risking a First Encounter The Fish under the Grooves Travel and Freelancing Launching Six Sons in Music The Training of Bhagvan Das: A Family Model Building the Benares Gharana Conclusion Santosh Kumar Mishra: Accomplished Virtuoso Introducing Santosh Kumar Santosh Kumar Mishra—Triumph of the Joint Family Model Learning to Sing God’s Name Practicing for a Lifetime Mr. Omkar: The Patron-Disciple Introducing Mr. Omkar An Evening Session at the Villa Archana Yadav: Breaking the Gender Barrier Introducing Archana Archana and Her Guru Focus on Performance Focus on Teaching Becoming a Player Epilogue: A Working Mother Benares: Center of Indian Culture Chapter 10 Hanuman Prasad Mishra: Make Your Mark! Introducing Hanuman Prasad Mishra Spread Your Fame by Staying Home An ‘Artist Colony’ Sarangi Playing: Benares Perspectives About Women Musicians Karachi: Center of Émigrés Chapter 11 Hamid Husain: An Indian Past Remembered Introducing Ustad Hamid Husain A Memoir from the Court of Rampur My Grandfather Was a Court Musician I Was Educated with Love My Introduction to the Darbar—20 Years Later Facing the World of Work Inventing a New Instrument Hindu and Muslim Musicians: Religion and Music A Rising Career Cut Short: Travels and Migration Bringing Music to a New World Teaching Regula: Let Music Be Beautiful and Personal Sonic Beauty Power of Music Taking Music Forward Epilogue: Memoir of an Era for the Future Glossary References Notes Index