Ustad Umrao Bundoo Khan/Gaur Sarang
NatBihag
I am writing fresh after the experience of listening to Ustad
Umrao Bundoo Khan's rendition of Gaur Sarang on one of the 10
tapes that form the Raga Mala set from EMI Pakistan. I can't
find the right words to describe the beauty of the ustad's
voice or that of the rAga (thank you Mr. Parrikar for the
exegesis of Gaur Sarang). Even to someone who is simply a
rasika (I have no classical music training), there seeems
something striking in his voice...
Would the GuniJan on this forum share their views on Umrao
Bundoo Khan? Did he also learn to play the Sarangi from his father?
And are there more recordings of him (other than this one and the
Gharanon ki Gayaki tape) that are extant? Or should I begin to
lament right this moment about the fact that someone with such
an extraordinary voice has just a couple of quality commercial
recordings while millions of metres of magnetic tape are wasted
on the likes of Ajoy Chakraborty (or is it my untrained ear that
fails to recognize Ajoy babu's talent?)
Thanks in advance,
A. Iyer
Rajan P. Parrikar
>Salutations,
>
>I am writing fresh after the experience of listening to Ustad
>Umrao Bundoo Khan's rendition of Gaur Sarang on one of the 10
>tapes that form the Raga Mala set from EMI Pakistan. I can't
>find the right words to describe the beauty of the ustad's
>voice or that of the rAga (thank you Mr. Parrikar for the
>exegesis of Gaur Sarang). Even to someone who is simply a
>rasika (I have no classical music training), there seeems
>something striking in his voice...
>
>
>Would the GuniJan on this forum share their views on Umrao
>Bundoo Khan? Did he also learn to play the Sarangi from his father?
>And are there more recordings of him (other than this one and the
>Gharanon ki Gayaki tape) that are extant? Or should I begin to
.
.
>Thanks in advance,
>
>A. Iyer
Yes, Umrao Khan did learn to play the Sarangi from his
father Bundu. As for his singing, it is sublime, in the
lyrical tradition of Dilli. Umrao plays Raga Bhimpalasi
on the Sarangi in this mehfil recording -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/tt/uk_bhimpalasi.ram
Warm regards,
r
Bosma
mention I know of one vocal cassette with Ahir Bhairav, Desi Todi,
Pilu, kajri, Bhairavi, Kafi and one sarangi recital with Bhimpalasi,
Jaijaiwanti and Pilu (very low fi on my copy). I quite agree with your
conclusion. Here again is one great musician with only some two hours
of music remaining in the open while others spend their life recording
CD's which only confirm and consolidate the poor opinion we have had
from the beginning.
Hans Bosma
shams
^ There are some other private recordings available in Pakistan.
^ There is a sociological underpinning to why there exist very few recordings
^ of true musicians from "gharana/khandans" while "generic performances" abound
^ profusely. The kheyal gayaki was developed by Sadarang in the Delhi court
^ (roots go back to 13th century) and then later popularized and augmented
^ in the courts of various princely states (Lucknow, Hyderabad earlier & then
^ later in Gawalior, Rewa, Indore, Patiala etc.). In those days, the music
^ was for the Raja and his cohorts and not for the people on the street. This
^ music was developed to the finest form with the two necessary drivers:
^ (1) capital from the kings to support the musicians, (2) competition among
^ musicians. The laborers of this art form were secular (muslims sang "Ram
^ charoh raghubir", hindus sang "Allah jaane mowla jaane" etc.) When recording
^ started in 1905 (?) by the HMV in India, it was an honor to be on the disk.
^ Only the greats like Abdul Karim Khan, Fayyaz Khan were recorded initially.
^
^ After partition, the princely states went belly up. The music came to commo-
^ ners thru disks, radio and music conferences. As in everything else, commu-
^ nalism crept up in classical music. Omkarnath started preaching that muslim
^ singers were distorting the old music (his puns at Fayyaz Khan & Abdul
^ Karim Khan are well known); Keskar made statements like: we have
^ a disease in music called "gharanas". On the other side of the fence, the
^ muslim commoners thought that this music is for hindus and not for them. They,
^ (as in Pakistan)did not support the gharana musicians. The true "gharanadar
^ musicians" started thinning out. The last glorious spark was during years
^ of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (Patiala), Kesar Bai (Jaipur), Amir Khan (Kirana),
^ Salamat Ali Khan (Sham Chaurashi), Fateh Ali Khan (Patiala), Nisar Hussain
^ Khan (Rampur), Rowshan Ara Begum (Kirana). Musicians like
^ Omrao Bundu Khan (Delhi), Nasir Ahmed Khan (Delhi/listen to his private
^ Mian ki Todi recording), Ghulam Hussain Sagan (Gawalior)
^ and many others were hardly supported and recorded. After 1960s, the
^ classical music platform is driven by promoters. And some performers
^ have started to "bhazanize" the kheyal gayaki. Ustad Vilayet Hussain Khan
^ titiled his memoirs in Urdu, "Safak" (Sangeettajnon ke Samsaran in Hindi).
^ "Safak" means twilight, which, now truely is the state of vocal "kheyal
^ gayaki".
Shams
Rajan P. Parrikar
>^ ners thru disks, radio and music conferences. As in everything else, commu-
>^ nalism crept up in classical music. Omkarnath started preaching that muslim
>^ singers were distorting the old music (his puns at Fayyaz Khan & Abdul
>^ Karim Khan are well known);
You have it backwards. Omkarnath was standing up to
the muslim taunts that Hindus couldn't do music. Some
muslim ustads of the time used to refer to Vishnu
Digambar's shishyas pejoratively as bhajanwallahs (or
some such). Omkarnath was letting them have a taste
of their own medicine. Incidently, once these
people realized that Omkarnath could give it back
good they developed a healthy respect for the fellow.
Warm regards,
r
Nipun Shah
>
> Yes, Umrao Khan did learn to play the Sarangi from his
> father Bundu. As for his singing, it is sublime, in the
> lyrical tradition of Dilli. Umrao plays Raga Bhimpalasi
> on the Sarangi in this mehfil recording -
>
> http://www.sawf.org/audio/tt/uk_bhimpalasi.ram
>
>
> Warm regards,
>
>
> r
Wow ! Listened to this clip 5 minutes ago, and I feel like I'm in a
fragrant garden. Such measured yet charming performance. Definitely
one of the best Bhimpalasi.s I've heard. Thanks, Rajanbhai, for the
clip.
Regards
Nipun
NatBihag
an apt word to describe the experience of listening to
Umrao Khan.
In a way, hearing these wonderful recordings by ustads
and pandits of the past leaves one feeling depressed. You
savor a cheez or two by someone like Umrao Khan and then
you find the one tape that you have is all that has ever
been commercially recorded of him/her.
Seems to me that not archiving the musical output of these
maestros is akin to the recent looting of the museums of
Baghdad...The feeling of loss gets worse when you then
step into a music store and survey the countless recordings by
insipid performers...
A. Iyer
Rajan P. Parrikar wrote...
Bosma
honor to be on the disk.Only the greats like Abdul Karim Khan, Fayyaz
Khan were recorded initially."
This is not really the impression one gets when reading the
discography of early Indian recordings. Michael Kinnear's "The
gramophone Company's First Indian Recordings" spans the years 1899 to
1908 and has a huge number of artists but mentions only very few of
those that are considered today the great masters of that age. You are
right in quoting Abdul Karim Khan (Faiyaz Khan came much later), but
what about Balkrishna Buwa, Nissar Hussain Khan (Gwalior), Ghulam
Abbas Khan (Agra), Inayat Hussain Khan (Rampur), Alladiya Khan etc.
These people were very much alive and active in the early days of
recording. Their reputation was surely better than for instance Pandit
Ghan Shyam (I take this name at random) who recorded 8 sides in the
same period. I don't think the choice of record producers was guided
by either taste or reputation. I think it was probably just a question
of quick money to be made.
Hans Bosma
doogar rajib
> Salutations,
> I am writing fresh after the experience of listening to Ustad
> Umrao Bundoo Khan's rendition of Gaur Sarang on one of the 10
> tapes that form the Raga Mala set from EMI Pakistan. I can't
> find the right words to describe the beauty of the ustad's
> voice or that of the rAga (thank you Mr. Parrikar for the
> exegesis of Gaur Sarang). Even to someone who is simply a
> rasika (I have no classical music training), there seeems
> something striking in his voice...
I felt compelled to pipe in even though I'm not one of the gunijan,
simply because of the truly sublime nature of his singing. I cannot
begin to count the number of times I have been grateful for my cd
burner that allowed me transfer this casette, else I would have
nothing left of the original tape. The jawari of his voice and the
lagaav alone ... subhan allah. And the jhoom with which he delineates
the bandish, that wonderful "naar" that captures the entire essence of
GS. Aaah ..
r.
--
Rajib Doogar www.cba.uiuc.edu/doogar