GREAT SINGERS OF INDIAN MUSIC

 Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was born in 1872 in Kirana (Uttar Pradesh, North India) in to the Kirana musical family is perhaps the most important figure in 20th century Hindustani Music.
Some consider him to be the founder of Kirana Gharana.    His father, Kale Khan was the grand son of Ghulam Ali.  He  during his  visits to Baroda met  lady Tarabai Mane,  the daughter of Sardar Maruti Rao Mane, a member of the royal family and  got married. The couplesettled down in Mumbai. In 1922 Tarabai Mane left Abdul Karim Khan, which apparently had a major impact on his music - making it pensive and meditative.
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was invited to the Mysore court, where he met famous Carnatic masters, which also influenced his music. In particular, the singing of his Sargam was a direct influence of Carnatic practice. He became a frequent visitor to Mysore Darbar which conferred on him the title Sangeet Ratna..

The innovations he brought to his vocal style distinguishes Kirana style from others. The slow
melodic development of the raga in Vilmabit (slow tempo) was the most characteristic aspect of
his music. He worked hard to maintain his voice to be sweet and melodious, which shaped his
music. The thumri style he developed was also quite different from the poorab or punjabi ang.
His thumari progresses in a leisurely langour with ample abandonment. He was also the first
hindustani musician to seriously study Carnatic system and probably the first to be invited to
sing all over the south. He has even recorded a Thyagaraja Krithi. He was also influenced by
Rehmet Khan of the Gwalior gharana and adopted the direct style of presentation.
     Ustad Abdul Karim Khan left a galaxy of disciples, who along with their disciples made Kirana
gharana a popular Hindustani gharana. Karim Khan and Tarabai had three daughters: Hirabai
Barodekar (Chempakali), Kamalabai Barodekar (Gulab) and Sarswati Rane (Sakina or Chotutai)
and two sons: Suresh Babu Mane (Abdul Rehman) and Papa (Abdul Hamid or Krishna Rao Mane). Suresh Babu Mane and Hirabai Barodekar became very famous singers and were partly trained by Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. Sawai Gandharva and Roshanara Begum were the other two great disciples he had. Sawai Gandharva had numerous disciples who have kept the Kirana name flying high, like Gangubai Hangal and Pt Bhimsen Joshi.
         Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1880-1950) was born at Sikandra near Agra. After early death of his father Safdar Hussain , his grandfather adopted him and brought him up as his own son who became wonderful artist and most reputed and respected exponents of Hindustani classical music in recent times.He had the exceptional good fortune of receiving his talim(training) in Dhrupad singing from his grand father, Ghulam Abbas Khan; and in Dhamar from his grand uncle, Ustad Kallan Khan, both of whom were leading musicians of the rangila gharana in the second half of the last centur At the age of   18, Faiyaz Khan had become such a "polished"  and dignified  artist that he began to give recitals in places like Mumbai, Calcutta and Gwalior . The various gharanas in Hindustani music constitute a rich heritage of artistic traditions,
which has been transmitted to us orally through generations of great musicians. The Gwalior,
 Agra, Kirana, Delhi, Jaipur, Atrauli, Patiala and other gharanas have produced some of our
greatest maestros and so many others. Ustad Faiyaz Khan popularly called "Aftab-e-Mousiqui", was "the ultimate flowering of the genius of the Agra or Rangila Gharana." He summed up in himself the finest traditions of his gharana and was its greatest exponent in recent times. He belonged passionately to his age, "and yet, he belonged to an infinitely more glorious past of our music and its traditions".Faiyaz Khan's musical lineage goes back to Tansen himself.
 
 
In addition to all the valuable training and experience given to him by his loving grandfather- (Nana)-cum-Ustad, there was Faiyaz's own native genius "an eternally intangible factor" that 
shapes the destinies of great men. Ghulam Abbas Khan, who is said to have lived to the  incredible old age of 120, saw his favourite grandson mature into a maestro with a grand  future ahead of him.
Once when certain mischief mongers tried to arrange a competition between the great Bhaskar
Buwa Bhakle and the young Faiyaz Khan, the former is reported to have been so impressed with
Faiyaz's performance that he refused to stand up as a rival, and to the utter disappointment
of the men behind the mischief, embraced him "as a brother."    Faiyaz Khan captivated the audience so deeply that they showed their appreciation by handing over to him a purse of 33,000 rupees.
        Though Ustad Faiyaz Khan had settled down in Baroda as a court musician, he was always
travelling because no music conference was deemed incomplete without his performance. Thanks to All India Radio, thousands of his admirers all over the country used to be thrilled by his rich
velvety voice whenever he broadcast from Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta or Lucknow. To the last, he
remained the President of the All India Society for Contemporary Music.

As one of the privileged few in whose home, the Aftab-e-Mausiqui gave several informal all-night
music soirees, I feel at a loss for words when I try to describe the spellbinding effect of his
voice, a rich, masculine, sonorous, trembling with emotion, a voice capable of a thousand
nuances and shades moods and fancies, turns and twists, a voice that touched the very chords of
the listeners' hearts. His voice was at its grandest in the mandra (lower) notes. Its range was
not wide, in fact, it was quite limited in the taar saptak (higher octave), but in these 2 or 2
1/2 octaves he used to bring out "a living picture of the raga pulsating with life and
personality."

Each raga was `a living personality' for him. Often he used to say; " One must
play with a Raga with a lover's passion. One must learn to love it to pay court to it, like a
cavalier, and then alone can a musician tell the story of joy and grief; of laughter and tears.
Music must please and move."
 Though his music had its roots in time-honoured tradition he was no conservative. "Of course", he said  once, "one must realise that our present-day music has fallen from the heights of its past
glory. Yet I am an inveterate optimist and believe that some good will come out of the present
revival."
 His deep knowledge of, and long practice in, each raga, can be gauged when one hears how during his stay in Kashmir with Pdt. Bhatkhandeji, he sang Rag Yaman for  hours daily, for one full month. His style of alap, bant barhat and Tankartab was remarkable.
He has composed many songs under the pseudonym "Prem Piya" and contributed many old songs to Bhatkhande's "Kramik Pustakmala." Though fully aware of the limitations of the textbook teaching in music schools and colleges, he was sensible enough to admit:"I recommend textbooks for beginners only. But a textbook cannot produce a musician. Music institutions should concentrate more on Gayaki or style. How can the music of Tansen be turned
into a textbook? Music in this country was handed down orally from generation to generation
with the help of memory and tradition and has flourished up to this time." The Ustad's opinion
on broadcasting was characteristically humorous: "I like it immensely, except for the red light
which is the signal for a forced landing. I enjoy being on the air."

The song Man Mohan Brij ko Rasiya (in Paraj) which Faiyaz Khan has made famous, is a sample of Saras Piya's compositions.  He had imbibed the romantic Thumri style and  rendered  Dadras and Ghazals so imaginatively. In live concert quite often  one would find his rendition   the Bhairavi Thumri "Babul Mora" and drawing tears out of the listeners' eyes. Faiyaz Khan used to say that Malkajan's Bhairavi-Thumris were peerless. And Malka even in her obscure later years never missed the Ustad's concerts in Calcutta. Unlike some highbrow musicians, Faiyaz  Khan never looked down on light classical types of songs. He used to say:- "It is not a child's
play to sing a Thumri or a Ghazal. The essence is the bol-but one has to be very imaginative
and original." Even into a simple Dadra he could pour a lot of genuine emotion.
He had left  behind many  renowned disciples.

He was a maestro and a phenomenon in the world of Hindustani
music, and "his art symbolised the grand evolution of Hindustani music from the ancient Dhrupad
- Dhamar to the more modern Khayal - Thumri." His music was characterised by dignity, grandeur and rich emotion.

It is indeed a pity that gramophone records do him no justice. Even his long tapes and LP Discs
hardly give gilmpses into his grand world of music. But those of us who have been lucky to hear
him in person will never cease mourning: "Daiya Kahan gaye we log" (Where have those great ones
gone"?)

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan  born in 1902 in Kausur in Western Punjab  could be attributed      as an artiste who  had the much effect t on the 20th Century Hindustani Classical Music scenario. This great singer amalgamated the best of four traditions; his own Patiala - Kasur style, sculpturesque Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the intricate gyrations of Jaipur and finally the robust behlavas (embellishments) of Gwaiior.
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had a relatively short career span. He blazed the trails of Kolkata in 1938 and in the 1944 All India Music Conference in Mumbai, was virtually anointed Lord of all he surveyed in the field of Indian Music. But 24 years later, he was dead, prematurely at 66, having given the World less of himself than it would have wished to have.
The character of his Gayaki was derived from an inclination towards looking
beyond the traditional method of intoning a Swara to discover unchartered facets of beauteous
melody, often achieved by very subtle inflexions of notes.

In 'Thumri', Bade Gliulam Ali Khan looked beyond the tradition of bol-banav where verbal
and musical expressions are unified. He saw in Thumri an avenue for playing with notes with
even greater abandon than was possible in the raga-restrained Khayal. From this perspective
was born the now well-established Punjab-ang of Thumri. His creations could heard:

Raag  Asawari - Ab Bhai Bhore; Madhumad Sarang - Mor Mandip Ab Aayo / Thumri In Bhairavi
 Khayal Tarana (Raag Behag), Thumri Bhairavi, Thumri Pilu
 Raag Darbari Kanada, Thumri T Series
Raag Bihag, Thumri - Bol: Paniya Bharan Kaise Jaanu
Raga  Malkauns, Thumri Bhairavi - Bol: Suniyo Nand Kumar, Thumri Pilu
Raga  Jaunpuri, Behag, Thumri - Paniya Bharan Kaise
Rga : Malkauns, Thumri, Dadra - Saiyan Gaye Pardesi
Raga  Jaijaiwanti, Darbari Kanada, Dadra, 
Thumris & Dhuns. Baju Band Khul Khul,  Naina Jadu, Ham Sang Tum Sang, Kurban Se Mariye, Piya Man Mandira, Balam Aye
 

Smt Hirabai Barodekar (Champakali)born in 1905  in a muasical family,was one of the most well known female vocalists of 20th century. Her mother was Tarabai Mane and father, the legendary

Kirana master Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Hirabai Barodekar had her initial training from brother Suresh Babu Mane and doyen of Kirana Gharana Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, who was a cousin of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. In 1922 Tarabai  left Abdul Karim Khan, thus, she got only limited guidance from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan.

Hirabai had a very successful career. Her sweet and melodious voice was much appreciated. She was also an expert in Khayal, Thumri, Marathi Natyageet and Bhajan. She was the popular face of classical music and credited with having popularized classical music among the masses.
She  sang ‘Vande Mataram’ from the Red Fort on Independence Day, in 1947.
Deafting the norms of those days she became a recording artist quite early in her career while
recording companies changed the name that is how Champakali became Hirabai Barodekar. Hirabai passed away at the age of eighty-four, on 20 November 1989.