`I live music'
C.S. SARVAMANGALA
|
It's to the credit of Irshad Khan that even an ancient instrument like the surbahar breathes music even now
|
PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.
LAUNCH PAD Irshad Khan has drawn substance and vigour from the absolute musical ambience of his home
"I've been living music all my life, I've not been learning music," says Irshad khan, the sprightly and confident inheritor of the Imdadkhani Etawah gharana, summing up his musical journey in one single stroke. Son and disciple of Ustad Imrat Khan and nephew of Ustad Vilayat Khan, he is one of the finest exponents of the sitar and surbahar in contemporary times. Ustad Sahebdad Khan, a mystical musician, Irshad's grandfather's grandfather is said to have invented the surbahar from the Kachua veena. Imdad Khan, after whom this mighty gharana is named, and his son Inayat Khan who introduced the gayaki ang and standardised the size of the sitar, were vibrant carriers of this lineage. Vilayat Khan and his brother Imrat Khan further developed the gayaki ang initiated by their father and Vilayat revolutionised the sitar by bringing about several structural changes and replacing the pancham with a steel gandhar string.
Listening to his father and uncle all his childhood, young Irshad inherited the sitar in a wholesome frame that contributed in a big way to his musical prowess. However, it is his individual mastery, which emerged out of a consistent engagement with music and a rich manodharma that has earned him a prime place in the Imdadkhani lineage. Like all artistes born into great musical traditions, he has drawn substance and vigour from the absolute musical ambience of his home and worked at the individual level to attain such an artistic calibre.
His large ancestral home in Calcutta, The House of sitar and surbahar, located in Park Circus on Inayat Khan Avenue, stands as an abode of music in memory of the eminent Etawah masters who took the sitar and surbahar to great heights of sophistication.
Steeped in a vocal tradition, Irshad took to singing even before he picked up the sitar. Irshad traces his vocal background to his paternal grandmother who belonged to the tradition of the legends, Ustad Amir Khan and Abdul Karim Khan.
Irshad's music is resplendent with gayaki ang in a masterly style and form. Arvind Parikh, a long time associate and disciple of Vilayat Khan, describes the gayaki ang as vocalised elements in the playing of sitar and not vocal music through the medium of sitar. Irshadji's music, especially his Raageshri profusely employed such vocalised elements in exquisite patterns revealing a fine sensibility at work. In Tilak Kamod and Khamaj, the blend of vocal music and sitar came as a refreshing experience. While juxtaposition of vocal and instrumental music has been a trendy feature these days both in Hindustani and Carnatic concerts, Irshad explains how as an artist in the vocal tradition, his singing aimed at highlighting that particular accent of vocalism, the difficult and traditional centuries-old style of vocal music, on the sitar expressed through his gayaki.
The vibrant tantrakari, the wide spectrum of his toda patterns and the lightning tans, he executes with great precision are related to the proper way of learning sitar, to a proper technique and a soul, feels Irshadji. "The sitar is like a part of my body and an extension of myself," he succinctly conveyed.
As a surbahar artiste, Irshad lends himself to a more difficult vocation. A larger and heavier instrument with thicker strings and frets calls for greater practice and physical strength. The dhrupad-based music that he plays on the surbahar is more deep-sounding and heavy, and demands a receptive audience.
Like other master artistes of his gharana who could find their creative expression through these two apparently alike but differently constructed instruments representing different moulds of taalim, different genres of playing and musical experience, Irshad displays a rare versatility. In changing times, artistes like Irshadji have a responsible role to play in revitalising the surbahar and not letting it recede into history.
Performances world-over, extensive recordings and multi-genre music activity, which includes workshops, seminars, demonstrations and teaching assignments have made him a very articulate and communicative artist.
Perhaps these assets enable him to practice music therapy through which he tries to exploit the energy of various ragas.
His therapy involves emotional power evoked by the musician through the medium of the selected raga, which is generally associated with a rasa.
Mahua Art Gallery is hosting Irshad Khan's concert on February 17, Chowdiah Memorial, 6.15 p.m.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
