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Hindustani classical music grew in a social milieu which was both
feudal and folk-popular. Patronised by the courts and durbars of various
princely states and kingdoms, it found a way of mixing the syncretic
forms of popular spirituality with the sensual and earthly yearnings
of everyday life. It was this interweaving of shringar and bhakti,
the secular and the devotional, pain and pleasure, meditation and
celebration that made it a vibrant cultural tradition with which people
wholeheartedly identified despite limeted access to it. Thousands
of families of musicians, invariably of low-caste and low-class origin,
developed, sustained, defined and redefined and preserved this tradition
through generations, by creating gharanas and paramparas. Music, like
popular religion, has also been a great source of solace amidst distress
and injustice, and often an expression of rebellion. This has given
it a certain kind of moral stability among the cultural forms.
From the time of the great renaissance man and statesman-poet-musician
Amir Khusro (13th century) to the era of Ustad Amir Khan Hindustani
classical music has traversed a long and diverse terrain. The old
form of Dhrupad gave way to Khayal in 18th century when
two rebel musicians of the court of Muhammad Shah Rangila broke with
the esoteric tradition to develop an entirely new form which immediately
gained popularity. Enthusiastically supported by the patrons the vibrant
new form started a process of innovation and openness towards folk
music which soon brought into existence the light classical forms
like Thumri, Dadra, Tappa, Hori, Chaiti. These were the times of great
political upheavals and disintegartion, and, as if confirming the
age-old wisdom, the unprecedented flowering of Hindustani music. It
was on the ruins of old empires, darbars and havelis that the good
times of Hindustani music began.
The emerging middle classes in India during the colonial period developed
a taste for the musical heritage and started supporting it. The era
of large audiences and popular concerts began. The rise of nationalist
consciousness also gave a new fillip to the Hindustani music as it
was seen as a great expression of indigenous genius and cultural assertion.
After the end of colonial rule in south Asia in late 1940s, the Hindustani
music got support from the radio broadcasting, discerning patrons,
governments and institutions. The age of great masters is past. There
are no golden voices like those of Kesarbai Kerkar, Bade Ghulam Ali
Khan, Faiyaz Khan, DV Paluskar, Begum Akhtar, Rasoolan Bai, Siddheshwari
Devi, Mallikarjun Mansoor and Sharafat Hussain. Musicians like Bhimsen
Joshi, Gangubai Hangal and Kishori Amonkar still remind us of the
values of that era. It is now the eclectic generation of people like
Rashid Khan, Mashkoor Ali Khan, Ajoy Chakraborty, Ulhas Kashalkar
and Veena Sahasrabuddhe that will determine the role of tradition
amidst change. The rise of interest among the youth of the subcontinent
from the 1970s in classical tradition has kept the spirit of dynamism
alive in Hindustani music.
Audio samples from the masters of Hindustani
music
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Hindustani
Music
The tradition of Hindustani classical music represents an important
stage in the evolution of the south Asian culture and identity. It
is an elemental force that emotionally blends diverse sources of cultural
inspiration and social creativity. It is something that still unites
people in the way no other expression of 'high culture' does. It is
perhaps the most forceful statement of what is popularly called the
composite culture of the Indian subcontinent. Its sources and impact
reach far and wide from southeast Asia to Central Asia, West Asia
and North Africa.
We provide here a sampling
of ragas sung or played by eminent Hindustani musicians.
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