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Sitar and Sitar Masters With Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ravi Shanker both of India in their sunset years, there are only three sitar players who command a serious following all around the world: Khan Sahib Ustad Rais Khan and Ashraf Shareef Khan Poonchwala of Pakistan
and While Ashraf and Shahid belong to a younger generation, Ustad Rais Khan has no equal in his generation anywhere else in the World. In a couple of years, when Farhan Khan, son of Ustad Rais Khan, makes his debut, Pakistan will have three World class sitar players. This is unprecedented in our history. We must take this opportunity and present our sitar players in the best possible settings in Washington DC and New York. We must take full advantage of this cultural windfalli PLEASE HELP US ACHIEVE OUR GOALS
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On Appreciating and Participating in
Raag Music The classical music of India and Pakistan is one of the two systems of music which enjoy world-wide appreciation. The following lines are written for someone who knows the basics of Western music and is keen to widen his-or hers- horizons.A genuine appreciation can only come from extensive exposure to this music, for then one learns to sift the exceptional from the ordinary and to appreciate the heights to which the human spirit can rise. Like all arts, the classical music of Indo-Pak derives its inspiration from folk elements.A composer of art music has the same relation to folk music as a poet has to everyday language. Through centuries of cumulative work, these simple folk melodies have been transformed by men of genius into what are called Raags or Ragas. In contrast to the Western tradition, these composers have chosen to remain anonymous, for apparently religious reasons.A Raag then is a melodic structure which is based on inter-related themes; these themes have been transmitted from generation to generation orally. The dynamic lies in developing these fixed patterns and rejecting those which have become banal over the years.A practioner of Raag music is therefore at once a composer and a performer- a tall order to which very few measure up. For this reason it is fair to say that the average performance of Raag music is devoid of transce! ! ! ndental elements. However, in the hands of a master-musician , the development has elements of great beauty and excitement and one becomes oblivious of the passage of time.An hour long performance of a single Raag is not un-usual. A Raag performance does not follow the pattern of a fast-slow-fast movement. It starts with an extensive arhythmic development, called the Alaap, which is arguably the most artistic and demanding part of the performance. It gradually merges into a more rhythmic structure and what the performance lacks in counter-point is made up by complex cross-rhythms(Lai-Kari) and alliterations, called Taans, of great beauty and technical complexity.In contrast to a performance of Chamber music, appreciation in the form of a nod, a word or a sigh of extasy is expected from the audience and if this is expressed where the musician expects , it serves as a spring board for more improvisation and a source of inspiration. Because of this difference in etiquette, the usual performance in the West of Raag music is rather insipid.However, if you express your appreciation openly you will begin to see the atmosphere changing and you will get from this something close to a religious experience.One final word: a connisseur of this music does not tire of listening to the same Raags again and again. The reason is that the personality and mood of the artist changes the pe! ! ! rformance very substantially and, in any case, the pleasure one gets in hearing a familiar Raag is akin to the pleasure one gets in meeting and conversing with a good friend Dr. Azad is a Professor of Mathematics, a musicologist and a sitar player.
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