Finding melody
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Renowned musicologist Shakuntala Narsimhan spoke on the notable features of Rampur-Saheswan gharana. JITENDRA PRATAP
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SIMPLE NOTES: Shakuntala Narasimhan.
Dhrupad-Dhamar singers are classified into four different categories, according to their individual mannerisms in the deployment of their vocal utterances, known as the `banis' - Goberhaar, Khandaar, Dagarhaar, and Nauhaar.
Khayal singers, on the other hand, are categorised under the names of the cities and towns - Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur, Patiala, Indore, Atrauli, Kirana, Bhendi Bazar, and Benares - where these were developed. The late Rampur doyen Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, however, regarded himself as belonging to Gwalior gharana.
Ustad Inayet Hussain Khan of Saheswan, a small town in western Uttar Pradesh was the son-in-law of Gwalior's Ustad Haddu Khan. As per the Gwalior tradition, Inayet was given a dowry of Rs.250 of the choicest khayal compositions (bandish) by his father-in-law. Later on, he came under the tutelage of Bahadur Hussain, the celebrated rabab player and the scion of the Tansen dynasty (Senias). As such, the notable nuances of the `dhrupad-dhamar' traditions of the Senias were imbibed into his khayal singing and further enriched with unique `tarana' compositions of Bahadur Hussain, which are among the most coveted repertoire of the Rampur-Saheswan vocalists.
Origin and development
Recently, at The India International Centre, Shakuntala Narsimham of Bangalore gave an elaborate discourse on the origin and development of the Rampur-Saheswan gharana and its notable features. Narsimham herself is a renowned musicologist besides being a proficient vocalist. She has the unique distinction of being equally proficient in the Carnatic as well as the Hindustani systems of classical music. She learnt Hindustani classical music from Ustad Hafiz Ahmed Khan of the Rampur-Saheswan gharana.
Narsimham further illustrated the salient features of her gharana by playing extracts from the recordings of the three generations of the gharana vocalists - the late Ustads Mushtaq Hussain and Nissar Hussain Khans, the second generation's Ustad Hafiz Ahmed Khan, and the third generation's Ustad Rashid Ahmed Khan.
One wished the quality of the 78 revolutions per minute records were re-processed with digital equipment and played directly through the auditorium's sound system, rather than being played on a portable two-in-one. She concluded the evening's discourse with tuneful rendering of some of the gharana's well-known khayal and tarana compositions.
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