Vocalist Faiyaz Khan (1881-1950), was one of the most important representatives of the Agra gharana. Though his father belonged to the Rangila tradition, Faiyaz Khan was trained by his maternal grandfather, Ghulam Abbas Khan and the latter’s brother Kallan Khan, of the Agra gharana. His artistry is said to have been impacted by the tutelage he received and the variety of stylistic influences that he drew upon.
He was therefore known for his presentations of diverse vocal forms like khayal, dhrupad-dhamaar, tarana, thumri, tirvat, hori, dadra, tappa, rasiya, and ghazal. A court musician in Baroda, he received several awards including the title of Aftab-e-mousiqui (sun of music) from the Mysore darbar.
Today, we focus on Faiyaz Khan’s renditions of aalaaps that preface his khayal recitals, which demonstrate his training and felicity with the dhrupad form.
Raag Lalit
We begin with the morning raag, Lalit. Here, the aalaap is followed by a madhya laya or medium tempo khayal in the 16 count Teentaal.
Raag Gunkali
The next clip also begins with an aalaap in the morning raag Gunkali, followed by a composition in vilambit Ektaal, a slow-paced 12-count time-cycle. The speed of the theka or the string of syllables played on the tabla to mark out and represent the structure of the time-cycle or taal, is not as slow as is often heard in most styles today. In fact, this was the conventional speed for vilambit compositions until the time that Amir Khan slowed it down in order to provide a larger canvas for elaboration in one round of the cycle.
Raag Jaijaiwanti
The concluding piece is an aalaap in the night raag Jaijaiwanti that is followed by a khayal in vilambit Ektaal. The recital is marked by Faiyaz Khan’s characteristic use of his broad and powerful voice, particularly in the taans, some of which are slow, others that move in double or quadruple the original speed of the time-cycle, and still others that have an influence of taans employed in tappas.
The final composition is a medium-paced piece in the sixteen matra Teentaal. It displays the maestro’s ability to project his voice in the upper octave, closely juxtaposing that with a playful distribution of words over the tabla theka while highlighting certain vowels like"‘e" (called eekaar in Hindustani music parlance), all of which is done to accentuate the emotive content. His command over the rhythmic aspect, an inseparable feature of the Agra vocal style or gayaki, is also easily discernible.We will look at other areas of Faiyaz Khan’s music next week.
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He was therefore known for his presentations of diverse vocal forms like khayal, dhrupad-dhamaar, tarana, thumri, tirvat, hori, dadra, tappa, rasiya, and ghazal. A court musician in Baroda, he received several awards including the title of Aftab-e-mousiqui (sun of music) from the Mysore darbar.
Today, we focus on Faiyaz Khan’s renditions of aalaaps that preface his khayal recitals, which demonstrate his training and felicity with the dhrupad form.
Raag Lalit
We begin with the morning raag, Lalit. Here, the aalaap is followed by a madhya laya or medium tempo khayal in the 16 count Teentaal.
Raag Gunkali
The next clip also begins with an aalaap in the morning raag Gunkali, followed by a composition in vilambit Ektaal, a slow-paced 12-count time-cycle. The speed of the theka or the string of syllables played on the tabla to mark out and represent the structure of the time-cycle or taal, is not as slow as is often heard in most styles today. In fact, this was the conventional speed for vilambit compositions until the time that Amir Khan slowed it down in order to provide a larger canvas for elaboration in one round of the cycle.
Raag Jaijaiwanti
The concluding piece is an aalaap in the night raag Jaijaiwanti that is followed by a khayal in vilambit Ektaal. The recital is marked by Faiyaz Khan’s characteristic use of his broad and powerful voice, particularly in the taans, some of which are slow, others that move in double or quadruple the original speed of the time-cycle, and still others that have an influence of taans employed in tappas.
The final composition is a medium-paced piece in the sixteen matra Teentaal. It displays the maestro’s ability to project his voice in the upper octave, closely juxtaposing that with a playful distribution of words over the tabla theka while highlighting certain vowels like"‘e" (called eekaar in Hindustani music parlance), all of which is done to accentuate the emotive content. His command over the rhythmic aspect, an inseparable feature of the Agra vocal style or gayaki, is also easily discernible.We will look at other areas of Faiyaz Khan’s music next week.