Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan & Ustad Asad Ali Khan - Raga Darbari Kanada - Rudra Veena - Rudra Vina
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Here is another absolute rare recording: Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan accompanied by his son Ustad Asad Ali Khan playing the King of Ragas: Darbari. The Pakhavaj player is Pandit Gopal Das Panse, who later continued to accompany Ustad Asad Ali Khan until he passed around 2000. This recording was done in the Sangeet Natak Academy New Delhi. It is the longest recording made of Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan which I know of. It was taken on 6th January 1963 together with a recording of Raga Lankadahan Sarang, which I will upload later.
Leave aside the partly poor audio quality of the recording, it’s an interesting leap in time to see what was Veena playing a like in the middle of the 20th century.
You might note the sharp open Javari sound of the instruments, well supported by the use of metal Mizrab (plectrum) for the right hand strokes on the strings. The comparatively short sound sustain of those instruments was compensated by a high stroke density in the Alap and in the faster Angs (parts). Much of the playing is done by direct fret work and strong use of meend elements (stepless succession of notes, created be the bending of the string on the fret).
The faster tempo right from the beginning of the Alap and the complex stroke variations are typical for the style of the Jaipur Beenkar Gharana, as which Ustad Asad Ali Khan classified his musical family tradition. The dynamic progression paired with fast rhythmical varied strokes in high density culminating in the Thok Jhala and the heavy use of fast Gammak Alamkaras (ornaments) are showing the dominance of Khandarbani elements in this style of Veena playing.
The strong rhythmical dominance of the right hand with a fast stroke speed which cannot be found in todays Veena playing seams clearly influenced by the time Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan spend at the Rampur Court where there must have been quite a stiff competition between string instruments players and their technical skills.
Equal the composition part accompanied by the Pakhawaj shows a very instrumental version of an Dhrupad in Chautal. The short introduction of the Gat or Bandish Mukhra (main motive) is directly followed by improvised exploration. In this way also the Antara (second part of the composition) is reached as an improvised approach of the Tar Sadja (higher octave). Notable is here the complex right hand bol execution in maximum speed by Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, which are closely followed by similar patterns on the Pakhawaj, reflecting the sat sangeet character (simultaneous play of rhythmical phrases) of percussion accompaniment for most of the time.
It is also a good reference of how Beenkars tried to keep up in the instrumental competition the Veena had to stand with the popularization of Sitar, Sarod and other string instruments who were more fit to answer the musical demand of the 19th and 20th century. Apart from the competition factor there must have been of course also a lively mutual influence between the playing techniques of the Maestros - especially on places with a big number of great musicians like the Rampur court, where Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan served as court musician of Nawab Raza Ali Khan. The same place, where Ustad Allauddin Khan took lessons from Ustad Wazir Khan, the famous Beenkar from the Senia Gharana.
For those understanding Hindi, enjoy Ustad Sadiq Ali Khans comments in the beginning, regarding the difference between the theoretical definition of a Raga and the practical demonstration by a musician.
Enjoy this really rare gem of old Veena recordings.
Carsten
PS: Another special: Ustadji as handsome youngster on the right of this unique photo
Rudra veena lost its charm the day ustadji left this world. RIP
I got several questions about musical elements especially in the second half of this recording. It is not so easy to figure out the distinct elements since the structure has not a very regular built up and intertwines most of the elements. Even tempo and stroke density vary a lot, increasing to maximum just to return to previous elements and starting a newsection buildup again. I will try to define some of the elements:
At 28:25 starts a new part which is basically Jor.At 29:17 the speed goes up with Thok bols (hammering strokes on the melody string). At 29:36 Gamaka are starting, the main ornamental element in this section. This part is also called Gamak Jor. It explores in the following minutes a variety of Gamaka (fast, slow, light, heavy ornamental movement) which are one of the distinct features of the Khandarbani, making it specially suitable for the Rudra Veena. These elements are combined with fast tana like melodic movements, taking big octave leaps (hudak) and vakra moves or straight development, which some call also Ladi (chain) since its strings together small rhythmical and melodic patterns to a garland like flow.
At 32:10 the Thok Jhala become clearer and speeds up rapidly at 32:20. From 32:47 there are again slower heavy Gamaka with Thok strokes. At 33:52 first glance of Sidda or Ulta Jhala (chikari strokes dominate) comes up mixed with Thok. At 35:19
they return to the slow speed Gamaka to reach at 36:46 Sidda Jhala again. At
37:37 we reach the climax of fast Thok with Sidda elements.
At 39:00 the Chautal starts. It can hardly becalled a Gat or Bandish since the improvised exploration starts just 2-3 Avartan after the introduction
of the Mukhra, which is even not more repeated in the later part. At 42:00
Veena and Pakhawaj start to play rhythmical pattern simultaneously. I would
call it rather Sath Sangat than Tar Paran. More of it at 43:34, 44:46, with an
incredible speed and stroke density at 45:10 and fast Thok and
Gamaks at 46:42.
I don’t know any Veena recording where you could hear the Tar Paran section in
its literal sense, the Veena playing rhythmical elements of a Pakhawaj
compositions (Paran) on the strings and the Pakhawaj player repeats the same. I
think this old performance practice transformed in the less restricted
rhythmical improvisation as we find it in the Sath Sangat today where playing
Gats or Bandish has become the standard. However a performance which seems
close to Tar Paran practice you can hear in this recording of Ustad Dabir Khan:
ua-cam.com/video/muZ45bv8c7w/v-deo.html
too much analysis here, indian music isn't about linguistical thoughts; it's a matter of listening.
Well, in general i agree with that. however this in detail analysis is an answer to very detailed questions I got regarding this recording on another platform. I did not post all the questions, since as you can see already its too much text. but i posted the answer here because it allows those who want to understand the musical grammar behind the playing much better. And that’s a pretty challenging but still interesting undertaking specially for this old style recording.
Yes you can enjoy ICM without necessarily understanding those, listening just by heart. Yet another level opens up once you start to see the techniques and grammar behind it. For those interested in it this has been posted. For those who are not, kindly ignore it…
Carsten Wicke
Thanks for such an elaborate analysis Carsten!
Riccardo Ancona
That, Riccardo, isn’t any analysis by Carsten - just an index.
Indian music, as perhaps many others, is actually about ‘thought’ and it can be musical or any other linguistically expressed ‘thought’.
Carsten, it is interesting that the definition of Thok is to do with the strokes (alone) for Thok and Dhamalla are two of the 12 alankaras of Khandarvani music and has everything to do with singing, or Raga playing on instruments. Great posting - thank you!
Dope and woke at the same time!
Clear and distorted at the same time!
Rare and timeless!! Thanks!!! ❤️
The one raga i can never Stop listening - Darbari Kanhada...
sublime, thank you for this posting......am grateful, Carsten Wicke, for all you give
Very very very beautiful ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Wah wah.... roots of Hindustani sangeet...
Good
Amazing! Thank you for the very thoughtful and details notes in the description, its very interesting to hear the root of Asad Ali Khansaabs playing by him with his father and consider hear how different techniques and approaches make it so different from Dagar Bani dhrupad exponents... wow.
your review helps a lot in understanding music...THANQ
Dagarbani is layman's music. This is for professionals.
What is meant by this comment: Dagar Bani is for layman and this is for professionals? ?
Thanks for interesting discussions! Too technical for this non-musician but I enjoy all styles and artists on the Veena.
Thanks
Its awesome play and also your presentation my friend Carsten, part by part actually what happening there when the king instrument sounds.
Mr. Carsten heartfelt thanks to you for posting this masterpiece
Magnificent! Thank you for bringing this to light and with such useful musical background information.
Thank you so much for this upload cannot wait for the Lanka Dahan Sarang .
When is the Lanka Dahan Sarang due to be uploaded?
Thank you, sir for all the information on this video upload. For instance, I enjoyed learning that a plectrum is called a Mizrab - now, you can imagine how much there is to glean from all the info and comments. 😊
Always happy when seeing that this information reaches interested minds...
Oh my god
Such a beautiful rendition
Thank you so much for sharing such a masterpiece
unbelievable
Aesthetic music. I like.
🙏🙏
What a gem! I'm blown away!
Were was this Gem hidden all these years.......Ustad Asad Ali Khan also so young during this concert....any other similar Duets...?
Thank you so much for the post 🙏
a soulful penetrating music steeling my conscious and leaving me goosebumps
What ustad.
amazing! thx for this
Bam Bhole
It took 25 minutes to tune up?
Any idea who the outstanding pakhawaji is? It is Ayodhya Prasad in the picture obviously, but I don't know whether he was alive for this recording or available.
That is a very good question Amr. I did not have information on the name of the Pakhavaj player while I uploaded that post. And it could have been very well possible that it was Pandit Ayodhya Prasad, one of the favorite accompanists of Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan. However after a bit of research I found an entry in the musical archives from the Sangeet Natak Academy that lists a recording with Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan & Ustad Asad Ali Khan on the 6th January 1963 with the Ragas Sarang (it must be Lankadahan Sarang) and Darbari Kanada. It’s pretty sure that this is the recording we are listen to here. And the Pakhavaj Player listed here is Pandit Gopal Das Panse, who later accompanied also Ustad Asad Ali Khan until he passed away around 2000.
Well I think the pakhawaj player is Gopal Das Panje.
Thank you both for the valuable information. It does sound like Pt. Gopal Das, so I have no reason to doubt the assessment.
Hi Carsten. do you have access to any recordings of anant bedekar? he is one of my favorite beenkars but there are few recordings available online unfortunately of his unique playing.
Got a few in my archive. As far I know he was a amateur musician. Hence there are only a few records of his playing. Of course also at his days recordings happened rather rarely. Would have to check what's out already and what would be new. Finding time for the editing and uploading is basically the most critical factor...
@@RudraVeena i look forward to hearing them once you have the time to edit and upload them
thank you guruji! both for this music as well as for your painstaking analysis. Music, I believe, is not merely an experience; it is also an intellectual exploration leading to a sudden explosion of one's consciousness, in which sound and sense sort of merge and disappear. I feel the intellectual exploration is as important for full incorporation of the experience as the experience itself. I thank you for explaining the significance of the high 'stroke density' of this technique here. perhaps that, and the poor quality of the recording, explain what i interpret as a loss of 'tonal purity'. this quality is what i admire and enjoy in your playing, for example. .and what i most merge with is the low octave playing which sort of is a flirtation of sound with silence. this also i miss in this. but as you rightly say, to an extent it is compensated by the dominance of the stroke play - a rather "masculine" dominance, which commands attention.
sorry if i have said things that make sense only to me. thank you very much for this piece of a different school of rudraveena, and the difference enjoyment it provides. NAMASKAR
No problem, we all listen with our very own ears and minds and perceive accordingly. Yes, I agree, its another style of Veenas playing with different strength and mastery. And we can see very well that even the century old tradition of Rudra Veena playing undergoes constant evolution and development, hopefully towards a more subtle and refined result...
thank you
I bet none of the dagars possess skills and control to play Jhala at such extreme tempo.
Well their focus lies on a adaption of the vocal style, so their tayari lies in perfect sruti and raagrupa rather than technics that are possible in instrumental music only.
@@RudraVeena yes in simple words or layman's word Dagars lack techniques.
What an unnecessary comment.
@@jigggro truth is always harsh. Accept the reality. It's a burnol moment for dagar fans.
Well, Asad Ali Khan and his music is undoubtedly unique and special, demeaning Dagar Gharana is completely unnecessary and pointless. Asad Ali Khan and ZM Dagar together make Dhrupad complete. Absence of anyone of them makes a huge void in this genre of music.
Ye sab haram hai😂