tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post5143345732514507080..comments2023-06-28T20:25:12.339+05:30Comments on Debating Shastriya Sangeet: Remembering Ali Akbar Khan - IIAbhik Majumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06921264695439784161noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-39097396403470338092013-07-24T02:47:16.045+05:302013-07-24T02:47:16.045+05:30I think, it is NOT very normal to find similar exa...I think, it is NOT very normal to find similar examples like AAK in day to day life in a community. Of course he was human and had good and bad recordings.<br /><br />I do not think a taste for fast cars precludes divinity in art. Formula one car drivers are also artists of a kind. The threshold for qualifying as "unentangled" is subjective.<br /><br />Also, austerity is not necessarily a measure of "tyaga". How easily you can give up what you have is a better measure in fact. Neither can austerity breed creativity nor guarantee divinity. The true virtue which is at the core of this music is emotion.<br />If someone does not have that depth, just by being austere is not going to give him/her that depth.<br /><br />Of course the artist's lifestyle will have an effect. Performances will vary and how the public views him/her will vary accordingly.<br />But the happiness an artist gets inside will remain intact because true artists are doing it for themselves and do not care if anyone is paying attention or not.<br /><br />I think its foolish to compare any of the musicians mentioned in the above post. Also, many of the mentioned artists do not have available recordings that we can evaluate as having a consistent degree of divinity or not. We can just appreciate whatever good music they have given us.Saayannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-36971915239686924372013-07-20T01:45:30.684+05:302013-07-20T01:45:30.684+05:30It is very normal to find similar examples like Us...It is very normal to find similar examples like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in day to day life in a community. Common human existence is an entanglement of illusion or maya. Sporadically one would get the glimpse of the truth beyond the illusion and the true creative spirit will manifest in the form of music or painting or a nice stroke in cricket or a nice goal in soccer or nice poem. Once the moment of glimpse is over the creative spirit is decayed and the result is a dull recording, a poor shot or a bad pass etc. That's why the ones whose every performance was divine were the wandering saints like Swami Haridas, Mirabai, Amir Khuso, Surdas etc. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's taste for fast cars indicate his entanglement with material world. Comparatively his sister Annapurna Devi and his father Baba Allahuddin Khan was not distracted by the material entanglements. We are probably more unfortunate that we will not hear almost anything of Baba Allahuddin Khan and nor of Annapurna Devi even though she is still alive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-15953072316780702812010-02-15T07:42:49.633+05:302010-02-15T07:42:49.633+05:30This was a very, very good read for me. I have nev...This was a very, very good read for me. I have never really been able to ”get” Ali Akbar Khan’s music ... probably because much of what I’ve read was written by his fans, to whom he could do no wrong, and often when I’m listened to him it has not been as fantastic as it was written to be.<br /><br />It helps a lot to be able to think of him as an uneven artist.<br /><br />It also raises the spirit to see that someone has the strength to write honestly and realistically about such an iconic figure!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-65775651882037409182009-08-28T11:27:59.968+05:302009-08-28T11:27:59.968+05:30This retrospective article on Khansahib was very i...This retrospective article on Khansahib was very insightful and delightfully honest. The absolute lack of pretense of scholastic writing or the need to indulge in sycophant behavior was a breath of fresh air, nay, a blast of fresh air, when compared to other writings on the Ustad. No writing connected with him seems to be devoid of ulterior motives. There are, on one hand, people connected with his college who are writing about the Ustad to leverage his life and death so as to assist them in their quest and claim for legitamacy/succession and on the other hand, there are some others who want to make a fool out of him to gain leverage for their so-called satirical writings on Indian Classical Music. So given this setting, this article seems like divine intervention. It portrays him neither as a court-jester nor as saint, but just a human being with his own little quirks. The self-introspection that Mr. Mukherjea partook (while narrating anecdotes from his life connected with the Ustad) to write the article is very palpable. Sadly, such honesty seems long lost in most Indian writing, leave alone on classical music.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-91815778346876364012009-08-26T20:36:38.392+05:302009-08-26T20:36:38.392+05:30This is my two bits to the very interesting ongoin...This is my two bits to the very interesting ongoing debate between Prabal and Kalyanda. To a significant extent, I'd say I can empathise with either viewpoint. Possibly that is because the two are actually very similar. Both agree there can be no doubt about Khansahib's greatness. Even where they seemingly disagree, I feel they do so not because they don't countenance the other's viewpoint, but because they perceive the same thing from two distinct perspectives.<br /><br />The issue in question is surely Khansahib's output in the '60s and '70s (surely it is no one's case that his output of the '50s was consistently scintillating, occasional quiggle-bandi aberrations aside!). We may justifiably hold that in this phase, what Khansahib gained in musical maturity he lost through his inconsistency. When he was good he had no equal, which is why Prabal does not hesitate in likening him to Shakespeare. On the other hand, in many of his performances he came across as, well, desultory. As if he were merely going through the motions, and not very seriously.<br /><br />The question is, what was it that disenchanted him? Not himself, surely. Neither music per se; that would be tantamount to blasphemy. Perhaps what had faded was the need to give of one's best, one hundred percent, at every performance. This needs to be placed in perspective. No musician, however great, has yet succeeded in avoiding the occasional drab, uninspiring performance, and it would be unfair to use these one-off instances to question their greatness. And yet even allowing for this, Ali Akbar's let-downs stand out. Why? Possibly because to the listener, it becomes apparent that their causes lie within the artiste himself. That is, that he's somehow not making enough of an effort to transcend his disenchantment.<br /><br />Incidentally, while writing this comment, I was simultaneously chatting with Arnab about this issue. I feel his take on it is very insightful: "It could also be that the framework of hindustani music, with an inherent predilection towards linearity, might have been too limiting for AAK's genius because he felt the need to respond to multiple impulses simultaneously, but was unable to do so, and in that tussle, ended up confused." This ties in with my own views. Could it be that Khansahib's shortcoming lay in failing to make enough of an effort to resolve these multiple impulses in a systematic manner?Abhik Majumdarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06921264695439784161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-28241153253616783552009-08-19T11:01:45.620+05:302009-08-19T11:01:45.620+05:30Unfortunately, this is not an efficient way of hav...Unfortunately, this is not an efficient way of having a conversation. The comments lose their punch when read after several days.<br />Anyway, I am a bit confused. I did not start the Shakespeare example, I was merely commenting on another comment. Also, you seem to agree that both he and Ustad-ji are irreplaceable. It is obvious that I also hold Ali Akbar in the highest respect. Therefore, what remains to be resolved is my standing on the Bard. I think we can all agree that this is not an appropriate place to discuss that.<br />At the risk of making the same mistake, let me quote what Hans Bethe spoke of Richard Feynman: "There are two types of genius. Ordinary geniuses do great things, but they leave you room to believe that you could to the same if only you worked hard enough. Then there are magicians, and you can have no idea how they do it.... was a magician"Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070444755648499434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-8991325380370650692009-08-17T19:01:50.494+05:302009-08-17T19:01:50.494+05:30Hi Prabal,
I am happy that you appreciate my &quo...Hi Prabal,<br /><br />I am happy that you appreciate my "undeified portrait" of Ali Akbar Khan.<br /><br />As regards your reference to Gavaskar and his mistakes: I can only say that in the very first few sentences I made clear that in my opinion, no sarodiya of Ali Akbar's stature will ever appear again. I have also said that he "was a sarodiya unlike any other".<br /><br />I will take this opportunity to comment on your comment that Ali Akbar's contributions to Indian music outstrip those of Shakespeare to English Literature.<br /><br />Very few people can claim to have equally profound knowledge of two very diverse subjects such as Hindustani Music and English Literature. Certainly I make no such claim. But I think the commentor who regretted that Ali Akbar did not realize his potential to become "a Shakespeare of Hindustani Music" has a point.<br /><br />How many of Ali Akbar's compositions are performed by Hindustani musicians of other gharanas? How many of the ragas he has composed are part of the standard repertoire? Contrast your answers to the above questions with a paragraph I am pasting below (quoting the wikipedia):<br /><br />In Shakespeare's day, English grammar and spelling were less standardised than they are now, and his use of language helped shape modern English. Samuel Johnson quoted him more often than any other author in his A Dictionary of the English Language, the first serious work of its type. Expressions such as "with bated breath" (Merchant of Venice) and "a foregone conclusion" (Othello) have found their way into everyday English speech.<br /><br />This is not to belittle Khan Saheb's greatness as a musician but just to correct a hyperbole that you perpetrated!Kalyan Mukherjeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07161301124636901098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-60306103809401395502009-08-16T19:40:18.504+05:302009-08-16T19:40:18.504+05:30Thanks very much for your prompt reply. Nothing yo...Thanks very much for your prompt reply. Nothing you have written is really disputable. Though I just want to underline the arduous task of measuring the impact of someone like Ustad-ji's lifetime work. To draw an example from cricket, granted that Sunil Gavaskar has played many silly shots and indeed done many silly things, but should we discount his impact on Indian cricket too much because of that (please see my Shakespeare-related comments on the first part)?<br />I admit that there may be something in the American lifestyle that attracted him (perhaps he dreamed of becoming a phenomenon here too, no one knows perhaps). But being an immigrant myself, I feel that Indian music establishment cannot escape responsibility entirely for failing to hold him back. I like your un-deified portrayal of Ustad Ali akbar Khan, but to me his life and work remain so extra-ordinary that I cannot imagine someone emulating them (certainly not the poster-boy of his school).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070444755648499434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-28423885070320361562009-08-16T16:36:33.064+05:302009-08-16T16:36:33.064+05:30Hi Prabal, thanks very much for your generous comm...Hi Prabal, thanks very much for your generous comment. As for the points you raise, I have very little to say.<br /><br />Khan Saheb started the Ali Akbar College in California in 1967. I<br />was already studying in the U.S. at Cornell University and not in touch with the music scene in Calcutta. Indeed, I had left India in 1962 for higher studies.<br /><br />But I don't think the Music Conference organizers were so heavily dependent on corporate sponsorship as they are nowadays. Of course, generous donations from "fat cats" was an essential part of the budget and this went mainly to secure the services of the "top artistes" like Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan and vocalists like Amir Khan and Bhimsen Joshi. (In Calcutta, at least, vocalists commanded a smaller fee.) But contributions from rich individuals had always sustained Hindustani music. The fees charged by Ali Akbar, Ravi Shankar were certainly not in the six-figure range but then at that time judges of High Courts would earn salaries of a few thousand rupees. Given the country's economic situation, Khan Saheb had little reason for complaint. I think the U.S. held other attractions for him; the easier availability of fast cars (an enduring passion of his!) for<br />example.<br /><br />As for the impact on the music world at large, I really am not in a position to judge. Certainly the `Ravi Shankar' label has a huge name recognition, but does it matter for Indian music? I have read that during the Concert for Bangladesh Khan Saheb, when not actually in performance with Ravi Shankar, plugged his ears with toilet paper to avoid noise pollution! Which suggests that Khan Saheb was not very sympathetic to the pop scene. But he did participate in a few duets with Julian Bream (guitar) and Larry Adler (harmonica). I have heard<br />recordings of these played over the BBC Third Programme in the sixties and can say that they were musically interesting and enjoyable.<br /><br />I cannot say the same of the LP discs produced by "George Harrison<br />and Friends". As for as Western exponents of the Sitar and Sarode, I have not heard Ken Zuckerman, reputedly the leading American student of Khan Saheb, nor Alam Khan, his youngest son. So I do not know if the loss for Indian music lovers is counter balanced by the overall gain in the profile enjoyed by Hindustani music in the wider world.Kalyan Mukherjeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07161301124636901098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-23764219369432673372009-08-16T10:41:19.420+05:302009-08-16T10:41:19.420+05:30It's refreshing to see a detached yet engaged ...It's refreshing to see a detached yet engaged assessment of Ustad-ji's work. I have two related points to make. While it is an inescapable fact that even in big US cities like New York and San Francisco an Indian classical musician, even of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's caliber, can lose his bailiwick, I wonder if he was already feeling suffocated in the changing waters of the domestic music scene, dominated by, to quote the author, the sponsor-walas. Also, I wanted to see little more on his impacts on international perception of Indian classical music (one may or may not approve the nature, but Pt. Ravi Shankar's influence is redoubtable). What may appear to be a loss for the Indian aficionados, could be a broader gain for the Indian classical music..Prabalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-54850902357671656602009-08-13T19:50:11.299+05:302009-08-13T19:50:11.299+05:30Being an avid listener of ICM and especially ustad...Being an avid listener of ICM and especially ustad AAK, I read Prof Mukerjea's post with great interest and a pang of regret. To me AAK will always remain the greatest master of the music. Everything in his music was subservient to the single purpose of projecting the aesthetically most complete picture of the raga. Having listened to an inspired performance by him, the listener is left with the feeling that the raga should be played only that manner and no other. His remains one of the very few musicians who could hold a lay listener spell bound with pure alap only. Based on my listening to AAk's recordings, his genius to me revealed itself fully in 4-5 recordings. His Basant Mukhari from the Anthology of Indian Music, Shree with Pt RS, duets with LS and to a lesser extent with VK, Bairagi, Jogiya Kalingda and a music cassette which had a number of short pieces by him (the Malkauns/Jaijaivanti/Bilaskahni/Asavari were superb) come to mind.<br /><br />Despite his genius being apparent from these recordings, I still find it difficult to hear most of his other recodrings where his performance can be down right bad e.g the Marwa/Puriya from his later years and his Emperor of Sarod. The depressing part of Prof Mukerjea's article for people like me is that music from AAK's peak in the 1940s-1950s will never be accessible to us and we can only feel regret at what we have missed. The article serves also as an illustration of how one's potential can be squandered away easily and how decades of one's professional life can be lost if one is removed from an intellectually stimulating environment. If only the ustad had more disciple in his personal life and spent more time in India ...<br /><br />RajeshRajeshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476496854441530272.post-41606509574810221682009-08-13T09:23:55.090+05:302009-08-13T09:23:55.090+05:30vary Beautifully thought and written. What a Music...vary Beautifully thought and written. What a Musician He was?As rightly said in the last.He is one of THE GREATEST MUSICIANS OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY.The only Music Director who made the Great USTAD AMIR KHAN SAAB sing a THUMRI for the film KHUDITO PASHAN.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14110827704195403241noreply@blogger.com