A deeper look into Hindustani music - Part I

"Where does this sound come from? It comes from the Beloved. If the soul’s ear has awakened, one can hear secrets that are hidden from those who are only preoccupied with the material world."

-Late Master Noorali Elahi


Contemporary Hindustani Classical music is considered almost sacred by those closely associated with it. Little is it known today that the current form of hindustani classical music is the result of centuries of blending and intertwining of musical forms from a number of sources. As a result of Indians' tendencies to attribute the creation of ancient art forms to various Hindu deities, the true origins of native classical music have been lost over time. In the northern half of the nation, the music is perceived as a product of many different indigenous cultural influences, including regional folk traditions, as well as influences absorbed from other countries, most importantly elements of Turko-Persian descent. Indeed, it is primarily these Muslim touches that distinguish northern Indian Hindustani classical from its southern counterpart, karnatak. It's almost wonderous how different components of mucis, different sounds and styles and instruments have been geographically displaced by history, to result in the music forms that we know today.

One such musical form is the Ghazal. Properly speaking, ghazal denotes a poetic genre, though in India and Pakistan today, the term commonly also implies the musical form in which it is rendered. As a lyric genre, the ghazal has its roots in classical Arabic poetry. Ghazal is an Arabic word which literally means talking to women. Built upon Urdu poetry ghazals have continued to lend itself to the "sweet" and romantic ethos that it is now popularly associated with, as opposed to standard Hindi, which is perceived as a more utilitarian tongue. Some very prolific ghazal maestro's live in pakistan and their influence on the contemporary ghazal scene in India is undeniable. It is rightly said "Music transcends all boundaries". Some of my favourite ghazal singers from Pakistan along with some of my favourite compositions are:

Mehndi Hassan (Ranjishi sahi)
Gulam Ali (Hangama hai kyon, Dost ban kar bhi, chupke chupke)
Iqbal Bano (Ulfat ki nai manzil ko chala)
Begum Akhtar (Dil hi to hai)
Malika Pukhraaj (Abhi to main jawaan hoon)
Tahira Sayeed (Kaisa geet sunaoon)
Farida Khanum (Yaron mujhe muaaf rakho, Aaaj jaaney ki zid na karo)
Abida Parveen (lal meri - not a ghazal but a folk rendition pupolar in India as 'damadam mast kalandar')



Here is an excellent resource about the development of the ghazal form. Here is a nice place to listen to samples of ghazals from a cross section of contemporary ghazal singers. Finally, an excellent urdu dictionary can be found here.

+