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THUMRI
The thumri is
one of the most interesting forms of music which is still popular among
contemporary classical vocalists. Because it enjoys comparative freedom from
the rigid conventions of orthodox classical music, it is considered a light
form of classical music.
The most widely current theory connects the origin of both the thumri and
the dadra with
the royal courts of Awadh, especially that of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who
himself was musician of great merit.
Thumri is derived from the
word thumak, meaning a
lady's graceful gait. It is indicative of a striking note of tenderness, and
the themes of its songs are invariably related to some phase of human love
in a state of amorous separation or union. Like other genres, the thumri has
its own distinguishing characteristics. The poetic content of its songs play
a major role in creating the desired pleasing effect. Sometimes its poetic
themes have double meanings, referring to matters both spiritual and mandane.
Many musicians therefore consider it the most lyrical of all light classical
forms.
Vocalists recommend that a thumri be
rendered in a special quality of voice. The female voice is generally
considered superior to the male voice in producing the desired effect. The thumri can
be accompanied by plucked, bowed, or wind instruments such as the sitar and sarod,
sarangi and violin,
or flute and shehnai respectively.
The three most popular styles of thumri are Banarsi,
Lucknavi, and Punjabi.
The Lucknavi style,
developed by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, is characterized by a certain grace and
flexibility of tonal embellishments, while the Punjabi style
resembles the tappastyle
of singing.
Among the greatest exponents of both the Banarsi and Lucknavi styles
of thumri singing
have been Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Fayyaz Khan Payare Sahib, while
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his brother, Ustad Barkat Ali Khan,
successfully represented the Punjabi style.
Present-day exponents of the Punjabi
style in Pakistan are Ustad
Salamat Ali Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Farida Khanum. |
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Ghulam Ali
Ghulam Ali, an acclaimed ghazal and thumri singer, was born in 1942 in
village Kaley Ke Naagrey, Daska, Sialkot. His father, Daulat Ali Jaffri,
loved music, particularly the kheyals and thumris of
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Barkat Ali Khan.
Ghulam Ali began singing as a child, performing for a children's programme
broadcast by Radio Pakistan. When he sang a thumriin Raag
Pilu before Bade Ghulam Ali
Khan in 1958, the Ustad immediately recognized the boy's talent. There began
a long journey of devotion and dedication to music. For fourteen years
Ghulam Ali studied and served under two luminaries of the Patiala
gharana, Barkat Ali Khan and Mubarak Ali Khan, both brothers of Ustad
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Barkat Ali taught him the nuances of the thumri and dadra,
while Mubarak Ali Khan taught him kheyal singing.
In Lahore, he sang for the first time in 1960, rendering a thumri in Raag
Pilu and a kafi of
Bulleh Shah at the All Pakistan Music Conference. He sang his first ghazal, "Sham
Ko Subhey Watan Yaad Aiee," in
1964. It received wide acclaim. Over three decades Ghulam Ali has sung about
5,000 ghazals from the works of Ghalib, Dagh, Mir, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Faiz
Ahmad Faiz, and Ahmad Faraz. Almost all Ghulam Ali's renderings are based on
his own compositions. His singing is particularly cherished by Pakistanis
and Indians living abroad, who play his cassettes and remember home.
For the past ten years Ghulam Ali has perforemd regularly at private
functions in India. Among his friends and listeners are Pundit Ravi Shankar,
Ustad Allah Rakha, and Hari Parshad Chaurasiya. They are appreciative of his
interpretations of the ghazal andthumri.
At home, he has sung before such well-wishers as Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad
Amanet Ali, and Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan, and Farida Khanum. He is a
recipient of the President's Pride of Performance Award.
At concerts in the Far East, Europe, and the United States, Ghulam Ali has
covered a wide repertoire of Urdu poets, from Ghalib to Faiz. He sings to
please, not to impress, and the aesthetic quality is always prominent in his
performances.
A widower, Ghulam Ali moved to Islamabad in 1985 with his mother, four
daughters, and two sons. He rehearses daily and tutors his 17-year old son,
Nazar Abbass Ali, for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. |
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Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano, born in Rohtas on 16 August 1938, is ranked as one of the best
female exponents of ghazal singing.
Her complete grasp on both ghazal and thumri singing
reflects refinement and elegance on one hand, and sensuousness and
playfulness on the other. She has adopted a style which is simple,
spontaneous and lyrical, yet subdued and elegant.
Iqbal Bano's father was a strict, conservative Pathan from Swat. Her mother
was from Delhi. Their neighbours, good friends of the family, were Hindus
who ran a musical training academy in their home. Iqbal Bano used to lead
the prayers in her school. One day, her neighbours heard her recite this
prayer and were amazed at the quality of her voice. They asked her parents
to send her to their academy for training. Reluctantly, her father agreed.
Thus began Iqbal Bano's journey into music. She studied at the academy and
gradually progressed. Her first singing appearance was with a group of
children on a radio programme. After some months, she was taken to the
regular music studios of the radio station, where she was introduced to
musicians and a professional atmosphere for the first time.
She began her formal training under the guidance of Ustad Chand Khan Sahib,
who coached her in the intricacies of classical music for a year and a half.
Using her God-given gift, she learned quickly. Her speed at picking up new
notes and combinations was a source of great pride for herself and her
teacher.
Soon after independence, Iqbal Bano and her family moved to Pakistan. Her
teacher, who was losing his star pupil, tried his best to dissuade her
father from leaving, but what was lost to Delhi, became the prize of Lahore.
Her first public performance in Pakistan was at the Lahore Arts Council
under the guidance of Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed. She sang well, and her audience
were very appreciative. One concert soon led to another, and her career was
truly launched. When her family moved to Multan, Iqbal Bano continued to
sing for radio, films, and later television. She also won the President's
Pride of Performance Award.
While she has sung for over 50 films (she went to see her first, “Gumnaam”, wearing
a burqa so that she could test the audience's reaction), her first love is
still performing for a live audience. She always inquires about the type of
people invited to the gathering, as this helps her to select what she should
sing. |
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Surriya Multanikar
Surriya Multanikar was born in 1940 in Multan. He earliest childhood
memories are of wanting to excel as a singer. No one in her immediate family
could either teach or advise her, so she taught herself by listening to film
songs and copying their tunes and lyrics.
Surriya was only seven years old when Roshan Ara Begum visited her house in
Multan. She taught Surriya a ghazal which
Surriya skillfully presented the next day. Impressed by the child's voice,
Roshan Ara asked her parents to provide her with a qualified teacher. A year
later she sang for Pir Sharif, who predicted that the child would someday be
famous. Because her family could not afford to pay for her training, Pir
Sharif asked Fauji Khan, his disciple and a well-known music teacher of
Multan, to give Surriya her initial training free of charge. Three months
later, when Pir Sharif died, Surriya went home. No one spoke of music until
three years later, when Fauji Khan came to visit the family. With great
difficulty, he persuaded them to let him teach the young girl in fulfillment
of the wishes of his Pir.
At the age of thirteen Surriya sang in front of Ustad Khan Sahib Bundoo
Khan, a well-known classical singer, who was impressed by her voice. She
later auditioned for radio, and soon her career as a child star began. She
sang under the name Surriya Begum until her first public performance in
Karachi, where Ustad Khan Sahib Bandoo Khan gave her the name Multanikar.
She started her career in mid fifties and won popularity on the basis of "Barey
Bey Murawwat Hein Yeh Husn waley". She is considered to be a top class
singer of Seraiki folk songs and Khawaja Farid's Kafis.
She is equally excellent at rendering ghazals and
some of her best performances are reflected in the singing of Ghalib's ghazals.
In her highly individual style of singing there is a unique combination of
folk and classical traditions.
Now in semi-retirement, Surriya Multankiar still sings for Radio Multan on a
regular monthly basis and also performs for Pakistan Television
occasionally. She yearns to teach someone who would learn with the same
passion with which she would teach, but she has yet to find a pupil who
fulfills those requirements. She vows that she will continue singing until
the last breath leaves her body."Music is and will always be my life and
soul. it is an integral part of me which I treasure most religiously," she
says. She was awarded pride of performance medal in 1986. |
