Q A U L

1994 Mehfil - Munshi Raziuddin & Sons

2010-06-06T01:26:00.022-04:00

We were in Karachi on home leave. Abba and I fixed an impromptu session at one of Abba’s long time friend Shamin Malik’s house near the Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazaar. Shamin is a prominent businessman based in London and Karachi. His house is a pre-partition building that he has restored to its pristine glory, with taste and respect for the original that is found rarely in Karachi. The high ceilings and tiled flooring created very good resonant acoustics and the “concert hall” effects can be heard as picked up by the indestructible Akai cassette deck.

The acoustics were complimented by a great deal of enthusiasm and energy in this session which can be perceived from the very first track, a sound test in which they sang a Tarana in Tilak Kamod. Ayaz and Abu Mohammad were getting their confidence as performers. The special familial bond had been reinvigorated recently when they made their first trip to Vienna in November 1990.

Talking of the Vienna trip, Abba was in his element, exchanging reminisces with Munshi Raziuddin of the Vienna trip and his past joy of their music. We have included these conversations in this posting, not least to give the listener a feel of the beauty of the melody, vocabulary and idiom of Munshi Sahib’s language, all of which are not found in contemporary conversation in the subcontinent. As with many victims of modernity, the beautiful imagery of everyday Urdu expression has also succumbed to the vicissitudes of time and expedience. The hue and colour of Munshi Raziuddin’s language is unlimited when it comes to communicating and radiating affection.

The rendition of the Qaul Mun Kunto Maula has an unusually beautiful alaap in Shyam Kalyan, deliberate and drawn out. The section from 3:17-7:10 is so full of ihteraam (respect) for the musical notes, and with a full-blooded expansiveness. Ayaz's son, who I heard the first time, adds a pretty falsetto voice and timbre to the choral ensemble (he comes into his own from 11:20 onwards).

The overall temper of this session was set in the Kalyan thaat predominantly, established by the Man Kunto Maula alaap and the third piece Sawan ki Sanjh.

The rendition of Phool Rahi Sarson was the high point in my opinion.

I only fully appreciated this composition of Ameer Khusro’s after experiencing the winter in rural UP, in Jaunpur District. In December 1984, when Juni was a tad above a year old, we went on home leave to the subcontinent. My mother-in-law took us to her ancestral home where she was in the process of restoring her maternal grandfather’s haveli and farming the land that was her inheritance. This part of rural UP has a distinctly feminine beauty in its gentleness, a contrast to, say, the rugged handsomeness of the Pothwar region in Pakistan. It was cold, crisp and sunny. I would walk though the fields every morning to savour the flat, open countryside that seemed to go on forever. A strip of yellow from the mustard flowers, in full bloom, with a carpet of green underneath, punctuated the vivid cloudless blue of the morning sky. One morning, some peacocks in the near distance broke into full dance and the riot of colour was breathtaking with the lush blues, yellow and greens of this scene. Quite spontaneously the phrase of this song and the tune of raaga Bahar filled the head…it seemed such an intimate echo of the fertile majesty before me. A joyous moment and one thanked God for his bounties, not least for the gift of our son.

Around 8:00 Ayaz changes tempo, delightful galakari. And what a masterful transition of tempo without breaking the beat! The Taraana (about 12:40)...fabulous!

They had a mental construct of where they wanted to go from the Bahar, however Abba challenged them by asking for the switch to Shankara. A spontaneous request and change in the flow is not easy for the ordinary performer to accomplish, but they did it brilliantly, taking it all in stride. Abba often talked about how he first heard this raaga, during his childhood in Banur in Patiala, our family’s ancestral home of some seven centuries. Abba was 12 at the time (this must have been 1927), and ever since then had a haunting association of Shankara with Banur, a wonderful childhood and his lost home.

My visual image of Shankara--which is such a sensual raaga—is that of a haughty, beautiful princess, carried rhythmically by her palanquin bearers, wonderful whimsy in her look, an arrogance yet fundamental care for humanity, tenderness that cannot be allowed to express itself because of her stature in a highly stratified class consciousness society.

Despite the effortlessness in entering the Shankara, I feel the tarana they added at the end did not go with the stellar performance of the main raaga, and it offers a somewhat tentative attempt to round it off.

By the time they got to the subsequent Hameer they had recovered their musical composure. We have various renditions and have written about the raaga in another posting on this blog; suffice it to say that this rendition has its characteristic beauty. To play on an old saying, you have not lived if you have not heard Hameer or savoured its mood!

And the Maru Behag, another favourite, what a beauty! They start with an ethereal, slow classic alaap reiterating the root notes around 5:50.

This entire session is characterized by brilliant transitions. In the Mere Bane ki Baat, for instance, around 7:20 there is brilliant interlude to Maand and a return to it around 11:50 for a couple of moments. Also notice how the Chaap Tilak (raaga Des) is flirtatiously interspersed brilliantly with raaga Kalawati and other raagas. Around 27:00, Ayaz switches from Abu Mohamad's Tilak Kamod detour into raaga Basant Mukhari with the comment Aik thaat reh gaya tha mein ne kaha woh bhi paish kar doon. Pretty much all the major thaats are covered in this one piece!

This is one thing that is beautiful about masterful Qawwali that no single raaga is adhered to in any given piece. Here there is an exquisite transition from Maru Behag to Bilawal...so smooth and emotive. That is what music is all about!

Aey Daiya Kahan Gaey Ve Logh, soulful poetic bandish, suits the temper of the raaga, a wistful and plaintive melodic mood. This bandish in Bilawal becomes evermore more poignant for me at this stage in life, when loved ones, lifelong companions, dear friends leave for their eternal destiny. May they have eternal peace. Their presence in life has made it such a rich and beautiful affair. They will always live in our hearts and minds.

After the conversation interlude between Munshi Raziuddin and Abba they returned to Tilak Kamod, where they had started this evening. The energy of the evening and their performance is that after all these hours of singing, both Ayaz and Abu Mohammad could embark on brilliant galakari, heard from 6:00 onwards. The bandish is rather unusual ‘Piaray pardesi ghar aa ja saavan mein'. A powerful piece of poetry directed at me, expressing their love and the desire to see me back home. I have since returned to a Pakistan that is very different to that which I left 38 years ago, and to the realization that home is a state of mind, people and circumstance rather than a place.

The last part of this session entails my son Ali doing his impersonation of Michael Jackson. He was eight at the time, and full of beans. He took up the microphone and proceeded to Do His Thing. Even till today he hasn’t yielded the fantasy of being a pop star. This performance seems to have lived in the Qawwal’s minds. At my niece Niya's concert in 2008, commemorating her first birthday, Ayaz remembered this one when he said Hamaari nazrain Ali par theen magar in ka khyaal kaheen aur tha. It was Ali’s cuteness, rather than his talent, that probably left the indelible impression. — Asif Mamu.

The Qawwalis sung were:

1 Tarana (Raaga Tilak Kamod)
2 Sazeena (Raaga Tilak Kamod)
3 Qaul - Man Kunto Maula
4 Sawan ki sanjh (Raaga Shyam Kalyan) - Tarana (Raaga Gaud Sarang)
5 Piya kaise karun
6 Baro Ghee Ke Diyena Bhaile Aamana Ke Lallana
7 Mare Bane Ke Baat Na Puchcho
8 Mun Bhajras Har Dum Ali Ali
9 Phool Rahin Sarsoon (Raaga Bahar)
10 Kagawa Bole Mori (Raaga Shankara)
11 Raaga Hameer
12 Rasiya Ao Na (Raaga Maru Bihag) - Aey Daiya Kahan Gaey Ve Log (Raaga Bilawal)
13 Chaap Tilak Sub Chehney
14 Chaleya Re Pardesi - Bara Jori Nahi Re (Raaga Bhairavi)
15 Conversation between Abba and Munshi Raziuddin
16 Piaray Pardesi Ghar aa ja Saavan Mein
17 Mangal Karan Soondhar (Raaga Tilak Kamod)

1988 Mehfil - Munshi Raziuddin & Sons

2008-07-25T21:56:00.041-04:00

"This session commemorated the first anniversary of my mother's passage, and was held at our house in Defence Society, Karachi. We thought it befitting of her memory to hold a qawwali mehfil to listen to some of her favourite music. From the outset, the atmosphere was charged. The underlying theme was one of remembrance. The emotional undertones made Razi Mian and his sons surpass themselves and almost every piece in this session is a gem.

"The Qaul - Mun Kunto Maula set the stage, with its ethereal alaap. I feel that this is their best rendition of this Qaul. And while the 1969 Manzoor Niazi aur hamnawa version is unsurpassed, the version sung at this session is technically brilliant.

1988 Session

"They next went into a grand rendition of a combination of Raaga Adana and Bahaar, the Adana was set to the apt bandish Tairay Darbar Main Ayin Hun. This rendition was sung with Ayaz at his best. In this piece and in subsequent pieces, his galaakari is both complex and sweet. This is the very gaayaki angh of vocal traditions that is championed by Vilayat Khan and his Gharaana on the sitar. Ironically, Ayaz consciously modulates and emulates the melodic structure of the sitar rendition of the raaga, and it seems that the sitarist seeks to outdo the vocalist and vice versa: I cannot make up my mind as to which is sweeter, Vilayat Khan on the sitar or Ayaz's vocal expression.

"The Bahar was expressed through the bandish Phool Rahi Phulwari, in recognition of the fact that all my mother’s children and grandchildren were there, a rare occurrence since we are spread all over the world. A lovely touch was when Razi Mian said 'Yeh baat yaadh rakhni chaahye kay jin ki yaad mein mehfil ho rahi hay yeh un ki phoolwari phool rahi hay.’ I was moved by this observation and I put some money in my elder son Juni’s hand (he was not yet 5 years old) and asked him to offer bail to Razi Mian, thinking Juni would put it at his feet, as I usually did. Instead, he toddled over, and lifted Razi Mian's cap and put the money on his head and replaced the cap. I was momentarily shocked at this irreverence. But my son’s actions elicited such a tender response when Razi Mian grasped Juni's little hands, and held them, kissed them and raised them to his eyes...I wished we had been able to videotape this emotional and deeply touching moment!

"The second part of the mehfil started with Raag Shahana, bandish Bakhubi hamcho mah tabindah baashi, that familiar, classic Ameer Khusro composition. They surprised us, however, by singing something, hitherto unknown to us, in singing Raaga Bhimpalasi in its separate components and then the composite raaga. Popular awareness knows only the latter.

"By the time they got to Khabaram Raseeda Imshab, after that brilliant rendition of Bhim, Palasi and Bhimpalasi, they were really cooking, in current parlance, and so was the audience. The taraana in Khabaram Raseeda is electrifying!

1988 Session - Asif Mamu, Ali Mamu, ...

"If there is a favourite part (it is difficult to choose favourites in such a stellar mehfil) it is the performance captured in Vol. III. The Chaap Tilak rendition presents a medley of raags, from Bilawal to Mand to Maru Behag to Kalawati. The initial bandish — Aey Dayyah Kahan Gaey veh Logh, in Raaga Bilawal — set a powerful, plaintive context for the rest of this piece. And they have drawn bandishes from all sorts of poets to retain the thread of remembrance. It requires an incredible mastery to sustain the melodic continuity with all these raagas being blended, not to mention the poets and poems they have drawn from to maintain a singular poetic context.

"They also sang a beautiful Hameer, my mother's favourite raaga, which caused a bit of an emotional tug. Every one of their renditions of this raag is special, but this one seems unique in its vibrancy.

"Another novel presentation was delivered when they broke out into something we had never heard, the poem Yaad Hai Kuchch Bhi Hamaari Kanhaiya, Radha's plaintive plea to an absent Krishna, after he leaves her to claim his kingdom. This was, for me at least, a new discovery in their repertoire.

"Abu Mohammad and Fareed Ayaz had gained great confidence, and we agreed that they were ready for international exposure. The next year, a tour was organized, covering London, Vienna and Amsterdam. It was done on a less-than-shoestring budget and marked the beginning of a rich itinerary of international travel for Fareed Ayaz, Abu Mohammad and their group.

"All in all, this is probably the best session in our collection of their performances. Their enthusiasm and energy was matched by that of the audience. Baboo Mamoo (the famous Naseer Haidar of IAL Karachi), Ali Raza and Akhtar Ispahani were in their elements and can be heard expressing their appreciation in terms of great gusto (such as 'Yo!YO!YO!' or 'Hauwwa! HAUWWA! HAUWWA!' during the Chaap Tilak and Mareez-e-mohabbat) as the evening wore on.

"Talking of my cousin Ali Raza, he was so much in his element. You can hear his daads at the beginning of Track 2 of Volume III. The ghazal being (in my opinion) rather mediocre, I asked him at the end of this piece: Meer Sahib is main kya khasiyat dekhi aap ne? And he replied: Yaar Asoo, bas aisay hee liay daad main ne dee in (ie Qawwallon) ka haunsla barrhanay kay liay, at which point I replied: Yaar in logon ka haunsla asmanon tak pohoncha hua hay, aur aap us say bhi agay barhana chah rahain hain? And we both burst out in laughter.

"I see Ali's smiling face before me at this time.... No mehfil will ever be the same without him. I dedicate this posting on the blog to his memory." [1]

Ali immersed in state of haal (2007).

The Qawwalis sung were:

Volume I

1. Qaul: "Man Kunto Maula" in Raaga Shudh Kalyan
2. Tairay Darbar Main Ayin Hun - Phool rahi Phulwari
3. Mere bane ki Baat Na Puchcho

Volume II

1. Composition by Ameer Khusro "Bakhubi Ham Cho Meh" in Raaga Shahana
2. Hajrat Khaja sung khailiye dhamal
3. Raaga Bhim
4. Raaga Palasi & Raaga Bhimpalasi
5. Ghazal by Ameer Khusro - "Khabaram Raseeda Imshab"

Volume III

1. Raaga medley — starting with "Chaap Tilak Sab Cheeney"
2. Chale Jaiyo Bedarda
3. Raaaga Hameer
4. Ghazal by Shaji
5. Yaadh Hai Kuchch bhi Hamaari Kanhaiyya - Taraana in Raaga Tilak Kamod
6. Ghazal by Qamar Jalalvi - "Mareez-e-Mohabbat"

EDITED on 1 August 2008: Rearranged the sequence of qawwali tracks to match the order found in the original cassette tapes. Modified the text of the post to: reflect the fixed sequence, correct the name of the raag for the Tairay Darbar piece, and include Asif mamu's recollections regarding the Phool Rahi Phulwari piece.
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References:
[1] Text taken from "Notes on the Music" by Asif Mamu.

Remembering Munshi Raziuddin on the Fifth Anniversary of His Passing Away

2008-07-09T21:53:00.008-04:00

By Saeed Malik, "Qawwali loses a golden voice" - DAWN Images - Pakistan
July 20, 2003

Renowned qawwali singer Munshi Raziuddin died in Karachi on July 2, 2003. He was 84. Born in Delhi in 1919, Raziuddin was the grandson of Ustad Umroa Khan, the court musician of the largest princely state of the subcontinent, Hyderabad Deccan.

He learnt the rudiments of classical music first from his older brother Abdul Hameed Khan and later his paternal uncle Abdul Karim Khan. Finally, he became a pupil of his brother-in-law Ustad Sardar Khan Dehliwale, who was the grandson of Mian Qutab Bakhsh alias Taan Rus Khan, the court musician of Bahadhur Shah Zafar, last Mughal king of Muslim India.

After completing his training in classical vocalization, he joined Deccan Radio of Osmania State, which he served for several years with distinction. He also served as a member of the Board of Selection (of new artists) constituted by All India Radio. Other members of the Board were such distinguished luminaries of the music world as Pundit Ratanjanker, Ustad Mushtaq Husain Khan and Ustad Wilayat Husain Khan. Dr. Balkrishna V. Keskar, the then information minister of India, tried to persuade him to stay on in the country but Raziuddin, who wanted to join his family members in Karachi, chose to take up permanent residence in Pakistan where he founded a qawwal party. It consisted mostly of the immediate members of his family and a few shagirds or students.

In a meeting about six months ago in Lahore, I inquired about the suffix of Munshi with his name. He disclosed that since he had succeeded in earning the degree of a Munshi Fazil (Honours in Urdu) at a relatively young age, he was considered a well read man in the family, most of whom wanted him to write the asthai-antaras of the raagas for them in his Urdu handwriting, which was considered beautiful.

"Thus I became the 'official' scribe for several members of my family who later started calling me Munshi," he said with a glint of pride in his eyes.

Besides being the leader of a frontline qawwal party of Pakistan, Munshi Raziuddin was an excellent classical vocalist and a competent teacher. Music was in his blood. It was the profession of his ancestors that went back several generations. One of his sons-in-law, Ustad Naseeruddin Saami and his sons are well-known classical singers of Pakistan who set up a music academy in Lahore recently.

It is said that a good qawwal has to be a good classical vocalist as well to remain in the creative forefront. The point has been well substantiated by several renowned qawwal parties before and after the division of British India. The late Munshi Raziuddin Qawwal was known for his command over the art of qawwali, as well as classical vocalization, a demonstration of which he made in a programme at the Lahore Arts Council a few months ago. He claimed to have in his repertoire hundreds of asthai-antaras (compositions) of different raagas.

(...)

His in-depth knowledge of the theoretical and practical aspects of music and qawwali earned the late Munshi another approbation. He was regarded as the walking encyclopaedia of music by a large number of professional musicians in both Pakistan and India.

Ustad Nathoo Khan - Sarangi Maestro

2008-06-28T00:22:00.019-04:00

"Nathoo Khan was arguably the best sarangi nawaz in the subcontinent in his time. I do not know his antecedents and lineage, but he was one of the artistes brought over to Radio Pakistan, Karachi, from All India Radio, by the Grand Old Man of Broadcasting, Z. A. Bukhari. Nathoo Khan was a malang, and his performances would reflect the must in his spirit. He would twitch and jerk along with every turn of musical phrase, creating a unity of body, soul and instrument—something that is achieved only by musicians like Zakir Hussain and Chaurasia these days.

"Nathoo Khan was a permanent fixture at Radio Pakistan Karachi, lounging around the garden of the premises when he wasn't performing as accompanist, soloist or even time-segment filler. PTV in the earlier years (around 1965 or '66) did a documentary on him, showing him in his meager home, where he talked about his music and played his collection of various stringed instruments, all of which he handled with effortless mastery. It was one of the most memorable documentaries done by the stalwarts of PTV Karachi.

"In order to get him his well-overdue recognition and improve his means, Omar Kureishi had him appointed to the PIA Arts Academy where he directed and composed a few orchestrals—not very memorable, most of it was the insipid music destined to be churned out over the airplane public address, to enhance the stupor of passengers. However he did compose a score for a dance ensemble that performed on stage in Karachi in quite a grand event. That was before breathing was deemed to be un-Islamic in Pakistan. Omar wrote a piece on Nathoo Khan, in his reminiscent Dawn columns, 'The Past is Another Country' recalling a trip of the PIA Arts Academy to Geneva. They stayed at the Intercontinental, Geneva. Nathoo Khan's rather unkempt and threadbare appearance led the hotel staff to think that he was a menial, and they offered to feed him in the hotel kitchen. Omar, who was leading the delegation, went ballistic. Nathoo Khan ate at the regular restaurant and went on to enthrall the audiences.

"The sarangi is one of the most complex instruments. While it has only three main strings, some thirty five to forty resonant strings provide it a unique timbre, and the older the sarangi, the better. Quite literally, a sarangi is considered coming into full song when it has been seasoned and played over a hundred years or so. The finger work is particularly difficult. Originally, masters of khyaal looked down on the sarangi and the sarangi-nawaz, as it was usual instrumental accompaniment to female singers, most of whom were courtesans. However around the thirties the tonal range of the sarangi was increasingly appreciated and made it the accompanying instrument of choice for the great masters of vocal Indian classical music. Nowadays the harmonium is more popular as it is much easier to play, and not as sensitive to variations in humidity and temperature. I dislike the harmonium. It is flat, noisy and tends to dominate the voice rather than augment it.

"In the late eighties I attempted to collect Nathoo Khan's music in homage to his memory. It is a sign of our times and our assault on our cultural heritage that there was not a single recording that seemed to have survived in the Radio Pakistan archives. There must have been hundreds of hours of his music in that place. No one in PTV remembered the documentary that, like the audiotapes, was rerecorded over.

"The rendition of Tilak Kamod was copied from an original reel-to-reel tape recording at a concert at the home of Isaac (he went only by that name, none of his many friends remembered the other) one of Karachi's great aesthetes. The performance conjures the memory of the manic restlessness of the Ustaad as he tries to squeeze out the last possibility offered by the raaga. The jhala is particularly exhilarating as the Ustaad draws plaintive elongations of particular phrases.

"Nathoo Khan died penurious with no musical successor." [1]

Live Concert, Karachi:

Track: Raag Tilak Kamod

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References:
[1] Text taken from "Notes on the Music" by Asif Mamu.

Review of Ustad Nathu Khan's Tilak Kamod
by Dr. Kashyap Dave
25 October 2008

Ustad Nathu Khan is my favourite Pakistani sarangi player apart from Ustad Hamid Hussain and Ustad Zahoori Khan.

I would like to divide my review under the following headings:

1. Instrument
2. Instrumentalist
3. Performance
a. Technicalities
b. Justice to the raag

Instrument

Ustadji is using a medium sized Meruth-made sarangi with a narrow sound box, the wood of the sarangi being porous with light weight. The skin (madhAv) is made out of pakki khaal; hence it is white/faint yellow coloured with lots of visible dots. (Pakki khaal is that part of the goat skin which comes from the back or the sides of the animal. This skin is hairy (hence the dots), strong, and thin at the same time. It is preferred to kachi khaal (which comes from the belly) and it maintains tension owing to natural rigidity and is less subject to changes in atmospheric moisture due to its inherent dryness. These qualities allow for minimum fluctuation of notes in the tuned sarangi.)

The main playing gut strings are relatively thin compared to what Ustadji used in subsequent years. The number of sympathetic strings used here are finer, their gauge being either 30 or 32. The bow is relatively small sized and tied with horse hair (rather than with nylon) and Ustadji plays it using its edge, rather than its full width.

The sarangi is in the process of setting - maybe the skin was recently changed or Ustadji has recently adjusted the taawiz (the two small flat bridges near the crown). Here he has kept the jawaaris of the taawiz 'open' to allow the vibrating sympathetic strings to strike the flat bridges and give off a peculiarly nice and persistent sound. In later years he used to keep them 'closed' (which prevents the vibrating sympathetic strings from striking the flat bridges and so encourages only the sound coming out of the chamber).

Instrumentalist

Undoubtedly this recording is from Ustadji's younger days, and his energy flows forth from all sides. The fingers are thin and he wants to convey everything in his control within a short span of time (and he does so very successfully). However, age related maturity is still evolving, though he is not restless at anytime and delivers a great exhibition of various technical aspects.

Performance

a. Technicalities

The performance demonstrates his extraordinary command over ALL the aspects of sarangi playing, including:

- Variation in application of force, by making it low or high as per the requirement of the composition and its sentiment,

- Variety in bowing patterns, by using its full length, and cutting, or advancing with mild stoppage, etc,

- Diversity in left hand techniques, through utilizing fingering, gutta, gamaks (forward, reverse), jumps, and ghissa,

- Combination of techniques with both hands, by playing notes with the left hand and bowing with the right hand, as demanded by the lyrics, at many places, to give the composition a vocal as well as an instrumental touch.

In short, he has made his sarangi 'PLAY' (tantkAri ang) as well as 'SING' ('gAyki ang) with equal command!

Dr. Kashyap Dave hails from (Ahmedabad) India. In his early years, he was trained in vocal Indian Classical Music. In later years, after establishing himself in medical practice as a physician, he turned to the sarangi and for 12 years studied under Ustad Sultan Khan, world-renowned sarangi maestro. Dr. Kashyap splits his spare time among a variety of interests, including listening to the choicest vocal, sarangi, and been recordings; fixing automobiles; and restoring old sarangis, constantly striving for the best available tones from the instruments. We are extremely grateful to him for taking the time to write this review at our request.

A Mehfil with Amanat Ali - Fateh Ali

2008-06-22T03:27:00.017-04:00

"It was the summer of 1970. I had taken off on the Great European Tour, after having messed around in Karachi for two years after high school, at Lintas. The kindly tyrant, C. A. Rauf, head honcho at Lintas, had granted me a month of leave so that I could assuage my wanderlust. I visited my sister in Paris—but that summer's escapades are another story.

"The immediate point was that my mother was in the throes of loneliness with none of her brood at home. Amanat and Fateh were visiting Karachi from Lahore to perform at PTV. She saw the televised performance and, in order to distract herself, asked my father to have them over at a music session at the house the next day. He managed to contact them through intermediaries, to ascertain that they were free that evening. However they asked for a fee of five hundred rupees—a princely sum those days for a government servant. Abba conveyed his thanks and declined the concert saying that the price was a bit steep. The concert would not have taken place had they not called, an hour or two later, saying they would sing for whatever remuneration Abba could afford. The probable reason for this concession is that they knew our family, since they hailed from the Patiala Gharaana. Our family hails from Patiala and was, for generations, aficionados and patrons of some of the (minor) musicians of that tradition. My maternal grandfather and Abba had maintained contact with Amanat and Fateh, post-partition. Ammi and Abba cobbled together an audience of friends and family who could come at short notice.

"They sang from about nine in the evening until dawn. It was due to the heightening of the emotions that caused Amanat to break down while singing the closing notes of Bhairavi.

"Amanat and Fateh were the sons of Ustaad Akhtar Husain Khan and grandsons of Ustaad Ali Bux Khan, a founder of the Patiala Gharana. In a display of their unique militaristic style, the Maharajas of Patiala awarded Ali Bux the rank of Jarnail (General) and he was referred to by that appellation. Ali Bux hailed from Kasur, I believe. The soil of that district must have something in it, as Kasuri musicians (Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan being another great scion of Kasur, and the other major figure of the Patiala Gharana, and Nur Jehan its best known musical daughter) are legendary throughout the subcontinent. Kasur found its rival in Shaam Chaurasi (a curious name that translates in English to 'evening eighty-four') in Jullundar and in Kirana, near Delhi, both districts are also renowned for their musicians, and for the musical traditions they endowed. Today, in Pakistan, the Kasuris are prominent in sending politicians to Islamabad. It would have been altogether more benign had they stayed with the music.

"Amanat and Fateh, by training and talent, were perfect complements. Amanat, with his slightly nasal yet sweet melodic voice, held the high notes while Fateh had the heavier voice and a mastery over galakari.

"That evening Amanat and Fateh were accompanied by Ustaad Hamid Husain on the sarangi and by Ustaad Allah Ditta on the tabla. Hamid Husain, also a master of the sarangi, was diametrically opposed to Nathoo Khan. Both his appearance and music were of a controlled serenity, in contrast to the manic effort of the other. Despite his rustic rural name, Allah Ditta was the personification of dignity. Dressed in an immaculate sherwani and with an aristocratic visage, he would furnish a subtle rhythmic backdrop for the lead artist. In those days, the tabla had not gone through the Zakir Husain Revolution and had not evolved from a rhythmic accompaniment into a melodic instrument in its own right.

"The recordings of Saakh and Bageshwari are all that remain of the memory of that evening. In typical Patiala Gharana style, the alap is brief, the jor contains the substance of the expose, and the jhala presents an electrifying crescendo with its taranas. What never ceases to amuse is the earthy Punjabi used in their asides to the audience. It stands in stark contrast to the pristine Urdu/Purbi used for the bandishes of the song being sung. Four reel-to-reel tapes were produced off an Akai deck that evening, but three of these were stolen when the family moved residence in 1974. This tape survived only because Abba had lent it a friend. Amanat died in the early seventies. Fateh, in shock after Amanat's death, did not sing for many years. After Amanat's death Fateh contacted Abba for a copy of the tapes. He was overwhelmed when informed that most of the music was lost." [1]

Live Concert, Karachi, 1970 — Two Volumes:

Volume 1: Raaga Saakh
Volume 2: Raaga Bageshwari

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References:
[1] Text taken from "Notes on the Music" by Asif Mamu.

1984 Mehfil - Munshi Raziuddin & Sons

2008-06-10T15:06:00.025-04:00

"Munshi Raziuddin was largely out of circulation in the Karachi 'society' circles, during the late seventies. His patrons began to pass away, or fade from prominence, audiences were demanding the more rock 'n roll type of Qawwali. Above all, the break-up of the Manzur Qawwal group left him without accompanists, as Abu Mohammad and Fareed Ayaz were not yet mature enough to come out on their own. He was, as one saw, going through a hiatus, although he bore his difficulties with grace and equanimity.

"My elder brother and I were visiting Karachi, and Razi Mian came over one day to call on our father. We talked and he told us that his sons were performing these days. An appointment was set, and since our mother was a bit under the weather, we arranged a session at friend's house in Defense. This was a stag session.

"Most (unpleasantly) memorable was the presence of a local man of letters, scion of one of Karachi's leading 'intellectual' families. Unfortunately, his vast knowledge of Indian classical music was exceeded only by his obnoxiousness in showing it off. In this session, he repeatedly interrupted the singers, asking them to switch from one raaga to another, upsetting their concentration and frustrating the full exposition. We heaved a collective sigh of relief when he prominently and loudly announced his departure, somewhere in mid session. I remember saying, sotto voce, Janaa hai to dafaa ho, kiss ney rokaa hai? Raziuddin and his sons took it all in stride and rendered a performance that convinced one of their mastery of the classical genre.

"The Maru Behag with which they started this recital, remains my favourite. Maru Behag holds a very special place in the heart. In 1969, my father and I did a driving tour of the north of Pakistan, and we found ourselves in Kalaam in northern Swat. We stayed in a rest house on a plateau above what was then a tiny hamlet. We sat in quite solitude after dinner, on the patio of the rest house, with the moon casting a silvery glow. In front of us was a majestic mountain, Falakh Seher, which is about 17,000 feet high—a mere hill by Himalayan standards. Below us was the river Swat, with its gushing white waters. The sounds of the river and the rustle of the crystalline breeze in the pine trees providing a soothing aural backdrop. Across the narrow valley a young shepherd boy played the flute to no apparent melody, dawdling over random notes, as young boys are prone to do. And the simple transistor radio we had with us was receiving an All India Radio broadcast of Malavika Kaanan singing Maru Behag, in a rendition that radiated a teasing sensuality, despite the crackling of the airwaves and the puny size of the speaker in the radio. The perfection of all this harmony caused me to tell my father that this was the moment to leave this world, since never again would one reach such a state of absolute spiritual peace. He laughed, and told me that I had a few years ahead of me, so should perish the thoughts of an exit …

"Also the Kedaara—a favourite of mine—is quite special.

"The recording was made on my father's Akai cassette deck, bought in 1972—a machine that still soldiers on. Says a lot for Akai." [1]

The raagas sung are:

Volume I
1. Rasiya Ao Na (Raaga Maru Behag)
2. Mangal Karan Soondhar (Raaga Tilak Kamod)
3. Qaul - Man Kunto Maula (Raaga Shudh Kalyan)

Volume II
1. Jia Chahe so Kahe (Raaga Mishra Pilu) - Tarana (Raaga Zeelaf)
2. Raaga Jaijaiwanti
3. Keenay Jattan Re Ghanay/Lagi Ri Mein Tau Charran Tehare (Raaga Bilawal)
4. Ay Daiya Kahan Gaye Veh Log (Raaga Bilawal)
5. Raaga Kedara
6. Mati Malaniya/Hoon Tau Janam Chadde (Raaga Kamod)
7. Jhanjhan Jhanjhan Payal Baaje Reh (Raaga Nut-Bihag) - Jhana Jhanan Baje Bichwa (Raaga Chayya-Nut).

Volume III
1. Harva Mora Re/Guru Binay Kaisey Gun Gavain (Raaga Yaman Kalyan)
2. Preet Na Jane / Mori Bangari / Kangana (Raaga Malkauns)
3. Ali Ghar Deyo Badhayi - Aaj Badhawa Sanjan Ghar
4. Hajrat Khaja Sung Khailiey Dhamaal (Raaga Bahar)

Updated on 26 August 2010: Corrected track titles per Cirrhosed's comments. Special thanks to him for the enlightening feedback!

--
References:
[1] Text taken from "Notes on the Music" by Asif Mamu.

Munshi Raziuddin Ahmad Khan: A Recollection

2008-05-28T11:10:00.016-04:00

A Mehfil at a Musical Crossroad

"It was the winter of 1966. My father was Collector of Customs Karachi, and for some reason the Customs Officer's Association decided to hold a musical evening at the Customs Club. At his suggestion they invited a Qawwal Group called Manzoor Ahmed Niazi aur Hamnava--he had heard them and liked their music. And since my father was the chief guest it was mandatory that the family attend. I went with some reluctance, being an adolescent with a western education. I was more into the raging musical earthquake brought about by the Beatles, and I really didn't look forward to another evening of indecipherable and boring Desi Classical music. The pill, however, was sweetened by the fact that some of my cousins would be there.

"The performance started and there was this diminutive but distinctly attractive man sitting in the middle of the front row of the Qawwals, conducting the choral ensemble. His gestures, which seemed staccato and comical at first, gradually absorbed the listener with the charisma they radiated. The music was moderately boring, and I tempered the boredom by making eyes at a Norwegian moll brought along by a guest who was a prominent Karachi industrialist of the time. The attempts to gain the lady's attention were roundly unsuccessful, so the mind wandered back to the music and the spectacle of the performance. Towards the end of the concert they sang Qamar Jalalvi's Mareez-i-Mohabbat which turned out to be a terribly flirtatious Ghazal and got the audience rocking. They rounded off the performance by singing Dumha Dum Must Kalandar. The rhythmic brilliance was such that I was hooked, no contest offered by the Beatles.

"Therein lies the beginning of a forty-year association with the house of Munshi Raziuddin. In the earlier days, us kids would think that he was Manzoor Qawwal and would refer to him as such. This misapprehension was prompted by the fact that Munshi Raziuddin was conductor, lead singer and master of ceremonies of the troupe and it was only logical that he be THE Manzoor Qawwal.

"The troupe broke up in the mid-sixties. With time, Bahuddin became the most prominent. But with the emergence of Abu Mohammad and Fareed Ayaz, Raziuddin's offspring have become Pakistan's foremost contemporary Qawwals, and after Nusrat Fateh Ali's demise, the most internationally traveled. They are too classical to attain Nusrat's World Music status, but it does the soul a lot of good to see that they have a devoted audience.

Friend, Philosopher and Guide

"Munshi Raziuddin's home in Karachi, near Gandhi Gardens, is a wonderfully chaotic place in an overcrowded neighborhood that never sleeps. The home, always warm and welcoming, abounds with several children and countless grandchildren. Munshi Raziuddin had his room, at the street level, abutting a drain, where he would stay among books, manuscripts and magic potions, very much a presence in the neighborhood. One spent many an evening here, sitting in cross-legged comfort in impromptu mehfils where Razi Mian or his sons or Naseeruddin Saami, his nephew and son-in-law, would provide demonstrations of the intricacies of one or the other raaga. At other occasions time would be occupied by genial conversation covering various matters, spiritual, musical or worldly. This home has hosted many a scholar, singer or aficionado eager to steep in Razi Mian's musical tradition.

"Munshi Raziuddin descends from Tanras Khan, a major figure of the Delhi Gharaana who performed and was prominent in the court of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zaffar. He spent his earlier years in Hyderabad Deccan. His desire for learning and his inquisitiveness caused him to master just about any language or dialect spoken in Northern India as well as Arabic and Persian, and to travel the length and breadth of pre-partition India, as well as the Middle East. His first trip to Europe was to Paris, in the inter-war period, when he was a youth. He accompanied some Sufi with whom he was rather taken at the time. He did not visit the continent again until 1990.

"His spoken Urdu had a mellifluous beauty that is no longer encountered. His mastery of poetry enabled him to weave a tapestry of expression, combining couplets from diverse poets to create a singular poetic context. His knowledge of the raaga was absolute, and rare was a song where he would stay within the confines of a single raaga, choosing instead a medley of raagas, poets, couplets and languages to create the musical experience. He successfully resisted the urge to resort to the vulgarization of Qawwali and stayed in the gayaki as had passed through the generations of his lineage. Despite his adherence to tradition, he was intensely curious about the contemporary world. In his first visit to Vienna, one of the first things he wanted to hear was Michael Jackson, who was the rage at the time. On hearing some of my children's favourite tracks, he proceeded to try and spot the raagas that could be the root of Michael's songs.

"In addition to his domains of musical knowledge he studied and practiced Yunani medicine, and was a learned Sufi Scholar. He had that rarely encountered intellectual clarity to be able to express simple answers to the most complex problems. He was a cook of fairly fearsome proportions and had a terrific—and irreverent—sense of humour. In later years he took to distinctly eccentric forms of dress. Despite his flamboyance, he was modest in spirit. My wife, in the Indian gesture of respect, would bend down and touch his feet on meeting him, and one could see his embarrassment at being so deferentially greeted by a Saydani.

"Above all, he was a friend, philosopher and guide. His passing has left an unfillable spiritual and intellectual vacuum. He rests at the elbow of the main mausoleum of the Mewa Shah Graveyard with a prominent sign adorning the canopy over his grave. In Urdu, it says 'Hazrat Munshi Raziuddin Ahmad Khan, Qawwal', and a couplet expressing his desire to change the world with his music. A simple sarcophagus covers the grave, and visitors have draped chadars over it, in reverence to the man's memory. Weighing the chadars down are two pieces of marble with the English 'Welcome' and the Urdu 'Khush Amdeed' etched on them. A sweet, warm and naïve touch for a man who was an edifice of knowledge yet never lost his innate innocence and affection for life."

--
Text taken from Asif Mamu's "Notes on the Music".

1969 Mehfil - Qawwals Raziuddin, Manzoor, Bahauddin.

2008-05-21T11:09:00.027-04:00

"The recording was made in Karachi, a rare and outstanding performance by the entire original troupe Manzoor Ahmed Niazi aur Hamnava. The troupe consisted of four major Qawwals: Manzoor, Bahauddin, Munshi Raziuddin and Iftikhar. In deference to the host of the mehfil, who was a great patron of the Qawwals, Bahauddin accompanied the troupe, despite having established himself independently, a few years earlier.

"The sheer range of voices and presence of four masters allowed for great Qawwali, as close to the traditional thing as you will hear. Notice the deliberate drawn out expression, the ranges of the taans and the variety of poetry in the couplets. Here there is rhythmically tight, yet languid, repetition of couplets appreciated by the audience. This music has the power to transport the listener to the ecstatic mystical state of the haal.

"Among the accompanists was a young singer—a couple of years younger than I—who sang with great gusto. His name was Fareed Ayyaz, Munshi Raziuddin's son, who was being inducted into the ranks of the Qawwals.

"This group of Qawwals were all related and were descendants of the Qawwal Bachche, young men trained by Hazrat Ameer Khusro, seven centuries ago, in the incipient art of devotional music that he had evolved.

"The troupe broke up in the mid sixties, with Bahauddin, Raziuddin, and Manzoor branching out on their own. Iftikhar died a premature death. Pakistani Qawwali became infinitely poorer for this disintegration." [1]

The Qawwalis sung were:

1. Composition by Ameer Khusro in Raaga Tilak Kamod
2. Iqbal's "Shikwa" and "Jawab-I-Shikwa"
3. Qaul — "Man Kunto Maula" / Salaam - "Aal-e-Nabi wa Salwatullah"
4. Qaul — "Ali Imam i Manasto Manam Ghulam i Ali"
5. Persian Ghazal by Ameer Khusro "Ashq-i-Chashme"
6. Composition by Ameer Khusro "Bakhubi Ham Cho Meh" in Raaga Shahana
7. Composition by Ameer Khusro in Raaga Anandi

--
References:
[1] "Notes on the Music" by Asif Mamu.

Phool rahi sarson - The yellow mustard blooms

2008-05-05T23:38:00.019-04:00

This qawwali is an all-time favorite. The Purbi lyrics and the raag bahar melody are both very refreshing. A scene of exciting preparation taking place near a blooming yellow mustard field one winter's day is expertly drawn in just a few lines.

The music builds up in-step with the poetry and reaches its crescendo at the exact moment when the devotees arrive at the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin holding colorful bouquets in hand. But one particular devotee cannot be there to make an offering and one finds that despite all the excitement of the music and the scenery the poem is but a poet's confession of a broken promise long overdue.

Interestingly, this is not Amir Khusro's kalam. Fareed Ayaz Qawwal credits the Purbi poem to the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and the composition to his court musician Ustad Tanras Khan. It still features Zafar's takhallus (pen name) "shokh rang" [1].

Munshi Raziuddin and Sons - phool rahi sarsoon - 1994 mehfil :

The Purbi lyrics and their translation [2]:

Sakal ban phool rahi sarson,
Umbva boray, tesu phulay,
Koyal bolay daar daar,
Aur gori karat singaar,
Malaniyan gadhwa lay aayin karson,

Tarah tarah kay phool lagaaye,
Lay gadhwa haathan mein aaye.
Nijamudin kay darwajay par,
Aawan keh gaey Shokh Rung,
Aur beet gaye barson.

The yellow mustard seeds bloom in every field,
Mango buds click open, flame of the forest trees blossom,
The koyal chirps from branch to branch,
And the fair maiden puts on her make-up,
The gardener-girls have brought bouquets,

With assorted flowers in arrangements,
Devotees arrive, bouquets in hand,
To Nizamuddin's doorstep,
But Shokh Rung, who had promised to come,
Hasn't turned up - its been many years.

----------
References:
[1] "Pak qawwal weaves magic," by Aditi Tandon. The Tribune, India.
(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050220/punjab1.htm).

[2] Lyrics and trans. adapted from: http://www.angelfire.com/sd/urdumedia/lyrics2.html

Tarana singing - Ustad Amir Khan

2008-05-03T22:19:00.013-04:00

Invented by Hazrat Amir Khusro and sung usually in fast tempo to arouse haal (trance) mood, taranas are raag compositions set to different taals (beats) and unfamiliar sounding words such as na ta re tanom yala yali... Taranas are used in Sufi poems of love between the mystic and God. Debates rage over whether tarana words have any meaning or whether they should be considered meaningless syllables.

Ustad Amir Khan (1912 - 1973), one of the greatest classical musicans of the 20th century, is said to have dedicated a big part of his musical career to exploring this genre's origins. He held that tarana words were derived from Persian language and that their meanings could be described as follows [1]:

Tanan Dar Aa - Enter my body.
O Dani - He knows
Tu Dani - You know.
Na Dir Dani - You are the Complete Wisdom.
Tom - I am yours, I belong to you.
Yala - Ya Allah
Yali - Ya Ali

Others have defined tarana phrases thus [2]:

Dar – Bheetar, Aandar (inside)
Dara – Andar Aa (get in or come inside)
Dartan – Tanke Aandar (inside the body)
Tanandara – Tanke Aandar Aa (Come inside the body)
Tom – Main Tum Hun (I am you)
Nadirdani – Tu Sabse Adhik Janata Hai (You know more than anyone else)
Tandardani – Tanke Aandarka Jannewala (One who knows what is inside the body)

Often contemporary singers will add instrumental bols (words that mimic sounds) to taranas, most commonly tabla bols. Ustad Amir Khan lamented this addition and wished to return this genre to it original, pure form as it existed in Khusro's time [2].

A lovely rendition of tarana by Ustad Amir Khan in Raag Hamsadwani [3]:

Notice who he seamlessly introduces the following couplet into the tarana [4]:

etihaade-st miyaan e man o tu
man o tu neist miyaan e man o tu

There's a union between you and I
(Such that) there's no "You" and "I" between you and I.
-----
Credits:
[1] "The Tarana Style of Singing", by Amir Khan.
(http://caferisko.ca/ak/tarana.html)

[2] "Indian Music of the 78rpm era - Amir Khan".
(http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellpatke/Miscellany/amir%20khan.htm)

[3] YouTube.com user kishoriray.

[4] Text and translation: YouTube.com user afghanforever.

Kabir says "Hope for Him"

2008-05-02T23:25:00.020-04:00

O friend! hope for Him whilst you live,
know whilst you live, understand whilst you live:
for in life deliverance abides.

If your bonds be not broken whilst living,
what hope of deliverance in death ?

It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:

If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.

If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.

Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru,
have faith in the true Name!

Kabir says : 'It is the Spirit of the quest which helps;
I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest.'

SONGS OF KABIR
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
New York, The Macmillan Company, 1915

Mehfil ki ibtida - Blog Introduction

2008-04-30T12:09:00.013-04:00

"Qaul" is an Arabic word which means "saying". It is also the singular form of the word Qawwali. In qawwali tradition, the most famous qaul is recorded from the Prophet Mohammed(s): man kunto maula fahaza Ali un maula... (he who accepts me as his maula (master), Ali is his maula too).

Hazrat Amir Khusro immortalized this qaul of the Prophet through his famous qawwali "man kunto maula", which is sung at every qawwali mehfil as a tribute to Hazrat Ali (as), who is considered the first Sufi master by most Sufi silsilas.

In qawwali, there is something for everyone. To qawwali lovers, the music and kalam are a matter of the heart and the soul, rather than just entertainment. Listening to qawwali is an emotional experience, but it also provides nourishment for the intellect and food for thought.

The blog will explore the works of our favorite qawwals and poets. The discussions will venture into other aspects of qawwali including Indian classical music. -Bohotkhoob
_________________________________________

Qawwali: An Introduction

Source:
Music contexts: A Concise dictionary of Hindustani Music
By Ashok Damodar Ranade

Originally qawwali compositions were Islamic religious songs in praise of knowledge, God’s attributes and saints, etc. It was also customary to pair together qawwali and Qalbana; both being concerned with similar themes.

The word is derived from Qaul (i.e., saying or aphorism). In qawwali, some aphoristic saying of the Prophet was combined with the process of tarannum to enable and create musical elaboration. Khusro began the vogue of composing such songs in different ragas such as Bageshri, Basant, Sohoni and Yaman.

Later the form came to include compositions in Persian.

In India qawwali stabilised around the thirteenth century and the Sufis employed the genre to spread their message. Amir Khusro, a Sufi and a music-innovator contributed to the vogue of the form.

In an earlier tradition, when the genre was more strictly treated as a Sufi expression three preconditions were to be fulfilled: (1) Makan = The place of the performance should be away from the general populace and such as would allow only Sufis and other devotees of Allah. (2) Jaman = Time should be such as not to interfere with Namaz and no other work be scheduled at that time. (3) Akhwan = Auditors should consist of Sufis alone.

Those who sang qaul and tarana were known as qawwal-bacche (sons of qawwali-singers). A disputed tradition traces the performing dominance of khayal to effective performances by the qawwal-bacche.

Contemporary practice suggests that qawwali is a mode of singing rather than a song-type or a variety of composition. A kind of ghazal when treated in a particular mode becomes qawwaIi. With a little simplification it may be said that while a ghazal dealing with the theme of love is rendered in the ghazal-way that which centres on the love of God is presented as a qawwali.

In performance, qawwali presents a fascinating, interchanging use of the solo and the choral modalities. Usually, a party of singers sings qawwali (and two parties render it if the event is competitive). One or two of the singers are chief presenters and two or more from the others provide vocal support. In addition there are others who take care of contributing with rhythmic support (playing dholak, tabla and khanjiri and also prominently with handclaps) and melodic support (on harmonium and bulbultarang — the latter is a curious keyboard string instrument).

Qawwali developed as a popular and evocative form. Terminology related to this music is given below for making it easier to understand a standard performance:

Actions = Gestures/movements the lead singers employ to elicit proper response from the listeners and invoke a mood to support the major thrust of the text.

Alap = Introductory phrases of a raga sung without rhythm to create a background for the raga used in the composition.

Anga = Aspects of singing which bring out the main style followed by the singer (e.g. Punjab ang would mean use of a particular kind of cascading, fast tans etc.)

Baja = Instrument, chiefly refers to harmonium, the keyboard instrument, which is employed by musicians in spite of its being a ‘foreign ‘instrument — with no precedent in the traditions associated with Islamic music-making of the religious type.

Band = A verse of more than two lines — inserted from a longer poem.

Band sama = A closed or an exclusive performance in which a special song-repertoire is rendered without any instrumental accompaniment.

Badhana = To extend, or elaborate the melodic theme.

Bari ka gana = To sing by turns in an assembly of Qawwal-singers.

Basant = Spring festival and the related ritualistic performance of songs and ragas associated with this festival at the Nizamuddin shrine.

Bol = Utterance, the repeatable part of the song-text sung by the chorus.

Bol samjhana = To convey the meaning of the text through musical variations, etc.

Chachar = Metric pattern of 14 beats frequently employed in the genre.

Chal = Gait, the specific melodic contour of the song.

Chalat phirat = Melodic improvisation mostly in a faster tempo and intricate in design.

Cheez = A complete, original song without additions etc.

Chaoki = A performing group of qawwal named after the leader or his ancestor.

Dhun = A tune which is satisfyingly complete and yet may not be in a codified raga.

Doha = A couplet making a complete, rhyming poetic statement in common metre employed by the singers at the beginning or as insertions.

Dohrana = To repeat.

Ghazal = As a poem it is the Farsi/Urdu genre in which couplets are linked with rhymes and metricality.

Girah = A knot, i.e. inserted verse in a qawwali.

Hamd = Poem in Urdu/Farsi in praise of God.

Hawa = Archaic Sufi song in Farsi said to be composed by Amir Khusro.

Khas tarz = Special tune.

Makhsus tarz = Special tune.

Manqabat = Poem in praise of a great religious personage, especially Sufi saints.

Masnavi = Extended Farsi poem with rhyming couplets

Matra = Durational unit in music making.

Misra = Verse line.

Misra kholna = ‘to open the verse line’. A musical procedure in qawwali-singing. To set up the concluding statement contained in the second line of a couplet by effectively connecting the opening statement of the first line to the concluding statement of the second.

Misra ula = First verse line, especially the opening line of a couplet.

Mukhra = The opening refrain line of the song.

Murki = Melodic ‘turn’ — a specific musical embellishment.

Mushtar ka gana = Mixed i.e. communal singing.

Naghma = Melody, tune, played as a prelude to the qawwali, usually based on a tune derived from the Zikr Allahu.

Naghma-e-Quddusi = A traditional Sufi naghma reportedly originating in the shrine of Abdul Qudua Ganghoi.

Nat = Poem in praise of Prophet Muhammad.

Panchayati gana = communal singing.

Padhna = Recite, read or chant without instrumental accompaniment.

Phailav = Melodic spreading, expansion.

Qata = Four line aphoristic poetic form in Urdu/Farsi used in introductory section of the qawwali.

Qaul = The basic ritual, obligatory song either as opening or closing hymn with the text based on sayings of the Prophet.

Rang = The second principal ritual, obligatory song after Qaul celebrating the saints (Nizamudin Auliya) spiritual guidance (colouring) of his disciple Amir Khusro.

Rubai = Aphoristic four-line poetic form in Farsi/Urdu in qawwali. It refers to the recitative preceding the qawwali often based on a Rubai.

Sany bolan = Saying it as second, singing a verse line to the tune section of the second concluding line of a couplet.

Sargam = Sol-fa passage.

Sher = Couplet, literally the strophic unit of the ghazal poem.

Takrar = Multiple repetition.

Tali = clapping.

Tarana = A genre of songs with meaningless auspicious words, often derived from Sufi invocations.

Tazmin = A poem incorporating famous verses around Sufi classics in Farsi.

Thap = An accented drum beat.

Tiyya = A triad of a rhythmic/melodic cadence.

Zatnin = Poetic metre of the song-text.

Zarb = Accent, rhythmic stress.