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OF EARLY RECORDINGS IN GENERAL AND AGRA GHARANA RECORDINGS IN PARTICULAR | ||
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John Campana | ||
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Foreword: This article was written in 1997, therefore it does not reflect the new record releases of the consanguinial members of Agra/Atrauli gharana. Five CDs of Vilayet Hussein Khan were released in 2000, thus filling a pre-existing, gaping lacuna in the Agra archives of music. Nothing more by Faiyaz Khan Saheb, Latafat, Sharafat, and still a sepulchral silence surrounding the music of Khadim Hussein, Azmat Hussein, and Anwar Hussein. It should be stated too that the discographies of the Agra gharana associates (disciples not related by blood) have still to be updated. As for the blood line, no commercial releases to speak of, but a treasure trove of privately recorded material, especially in the case of Ustad Khadim Hussein Khan, the keeper of the 'achob' repertoire of Agra gharana, it seems, from the many rare rags recently compiled. This paper aims to provide, among other things, a general update of the present state of the preservation of early recordings. I will use toward this end, the example of Agra gharana (a music tradition shared by individuals related by blood and/or mode of instruction and musical knowledge) which, more than any other gharana of Indian classical music, is practically extinct today due in part to a paltry, commercially recorded representation of its core exponents. In order to illustrate this point, I have included two discographies: one of Agra gharana commercial releases, and the other, of private recordings. It will be clear upon comparison, that the wider representation of the rich gharana gayaki (style of singing), is available only to collectors and interested acquaintances, instead of being part of the wider patrimony of outstanding human accomplishments which should be accessible to all. Why Agra gharana? A cursory analysis of commercial and private catalogues would reveal that other gharana s (Kirana, Patiala, Jaipur, Gwalior, Rampur-Sahaswan, etc.) have at least a fair representation of their gayaki on disc. One is forced to wonder at the unevenness of such a state of affairs, especially since Agra gharana has had and continues to have a powerful musical influence in India and abroad. Finally, this is an appeal to recording companies, societies of record collectors and the general public as well, to help preserve an art which can easily die of neglect and old age if not digitally preserved. While searching the Web under the keywords "78 rpm", I was amazed at the number of "hits" my query produced. After much browsing, it was clear that the West is still being seduced by the preservation of the artistic past of the East. The various sites revealed vaults full of available world music of old and the machines on which to play it with full technical support of the resellers. Various companies still produce styli or transfer the 'antique music' from wax cylinders or 78s onto CD. There is even a company in Vancouver which, for a fee, will transfer their own 78s onto tape. This of course, all available to order and buy through the Internet. I was impressed not only by a well ordered system of sales and support, but by a genuine enthusiasm for the music as well as the media on which it was originally recorded. Buying from the Web is definitely less romantic than discovering the original 78rpm recording of Bade Ghulam Ali's "Aye na balam" as I did in the darker recesses of Zacharya St., Calcutta, or Zohrabai in the happy confusion of Mumbai's Chor Bazaar, but certainly less frustrating. One cannot consult a price catalogue or attend an auction of old discs on Zacharya St. or anywhere else in India, so far as I know. The West has done more than India when it comes to transferring antique music to CD, but then they are drawing from a rich past of recorded "ethnic music" from various countries. The market here is so brisk and the efforts to preserve the sound so earnest (quality is tantamount to increased value of the record), that the old discs are not allowed to gather dust and die. Be it for love or lucre, they are subjected to the best of care. What struck me too during web browsing was the conspicuous lack of Indian 78s in the myriad links I accessed. It is widely known that there were sound recordings made in India as early as the end of the last century, but no one even mentions their existence. However, it is most reassuring to know that thousands of discs are being carefully preserved in India through the efforts of the members of the Mumbai based Society of Indian Record Collectors. Michael Kinnear should also be commended for his invaluable books which provide meticulous archival and technical information of the old recordings. His knowledge and passion for the media of recorded music, take away many of my personal anxieties regarding the future of early recorded Indian music. Indian music is in a precarious state as we reach the end of the millennium (we made it!). Not only have the lines which defined gharanas as distinct musical entities blurred, they have practically disappeared, thereby initiating the process of transmuting gharanas into an amalgam of hazy, chameleon styles. The reasons are undoubtedly many, but the primary one is that although there are still those who try to keep the names and traditions alive, there is practically no one left at the gharanas' helms. The late twentieth century is an age in which the titles of panit, ustad (teacher, knowledgeable person) or khalifa (head of a gharana ; usually directly related by blood to the founder) are conferred by concert organizers or tape and CD producers, not by the teachers or elders. Eternity claims more and more senior musicians each year and everyone feels the long term effects at each passing as well the structural damage incurred by the Indian music edifice as a whole. We are fortunate, however, to have a rich, recorded musical legacy of the present greats. Digital technology assures us of the longevity of their music, but what of the past masters whose voices are buried under the rubble of 78rpm surface noise? Worse still, what of the greats of old, the stalwarts who are forced to live in the anonymity or well guarded secrets of private collections? It is time that this problem be addressed before the entire structure collapses. For a music based on oral-aural tradition as Indian music is, it is imperative that at least the aural tradition, still preserved on early recordings, be kept alive through the concerted efforts of producers, collectors, sound engineers and musicians as well. Given the rarity and almost impossible commercial access to early Indian music recordings such as 78rpm, wax cylinders, and wire, it would be preferable for collectors not to include recordings on these media under the 'commercial' rubric. LPs have also become rare collectibles, having been totally replaced by CD technology. Apart from a few tapes and CDs presently available on the market, the true core of the Agra gharana gayaki is, at the moment, very poorly represented. It is a worrisome state of affairs when an Agra ustad who died as late as 1985 has never been heard of by the present generation of listeners. And Sharafat Hussain Khan is certainly not the only one to swell the ranks of musicians cast into oblivion by an almost complete lack of commercial recordings. What then of Ata Hussain, Khadim Hussain, Anwar Hussain, Azmat Hussain and others whom, in my mere thirty year association with this music, I have yet to really discover? In 1995/96 Yazoo opened the doors to what it brilliantly called "The Secret Museum of Mankind" with a three CD-set of "Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-1948". Among the many treasures of sound bytes are also three entries from India: Master Manohar Barve on his 'Ghungru Tarang', Narayanrao Vyas singing a drut (fast) composition in rag Durga and Vidwan Rajamanikkam playing a violin piece entitled Inthakannananda. The company, almost apologizing for the technical flaws inherent in the original technology, advises the modern listeners to "approach this CD in its historical perspective" and also that the flaws "should be viewed as being of minor consequence in view of the considerable musical and historical importance of this project". Furthermore, they do not fail to remind us that "this compact disc was compiled from extremely rare old 78s which have been remastered to produce the best possible sound". Museums usually store much more than they can display. Yazoo's secret museum of mankind has dusted off more treasures, recently coming out with a first CD of yet another set, this one dedicated to the music of North Africa. In 1994 EMI, in a bid to air out its own hidden treasures, produced the "Chairman's Choice" series entitled "Great Gharanas" and "Great Memories", consisting mostly of previously released commercial recordings as is their wont. In keeping with my earlier observations on what should be considered commercial or not, it should be mentioned that many of the recordings were 78s and therefore a welcome addition to the corpus of commercially available recordings. One two-CD set of the series Great Memories features Ustad Abdul Karim Khan of Kirana gharana (1904 recordings) strangely thrust in the company of two baiji-s (courtesan performers) (Mohammad Bandi and Acchanbai, 1904, 1910 recordings respectively), who were unknown to me before this record release. Another set showcases two previously unreleased greats, Peara Sahib and Maujuddin Khan, ustad to many tawaif (courtesan) singers of repute. Yet another unforgettable EMI offering was the five 1904 recordings of Ustad Kalle Khan, uncle of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. For me this was particularly generous since I already had one piece by the ustad and yearned for more. Listening to these recordings reconfirmed to me that not only is this music timeless and truly 'classical', but that it is imperative to preserve one of mankind's greatest achievements. In the case of Indian music it is a question of keeping a living tradition alive. The only thing besides the colourful pops and scratches which characterise the old recordings as music of a gone by era, is the quality of the music which, almost a century later, will continue to teach and be an inspiration. These reasons will unfortunately always be secondary to the commercial viability of early art music preservation. While Yazoo commissioned Mr. Pat Conte, a New York mail carrier, the original collector and owner of the recordings, to be the series' editor, EMI turned the task over to the usual anonymous editors who report, to be kind, only half erroneous information such as, that Rag Bhankar by Faiyaz Khan came from an "original sound recording made by All India Radio in 1971". The LP of Faiyaz Khansahib's Bhankar and Desh hori dhamar did indeed come out in 1971, but the original recording had to have been made before 1950, the year of the ustad's death. And this is the case with all the artists EMI had previously recorded and re-released. To make matters worse, most of the Indian music CDs are devoid of other fundamental information such as year of actual recording, accompaniment, label, technical specifications, etc. It is through the passionate archival efforts of members of the Mumbai based SIRC that the greats of the past acquire not only a historical, human presence but also a secure niche in the annals of recorded history. Suresh Chandvankar, secretary of SIRC, actually went to Sholapur to interview acquaintances and rasiks (connoisseurs) who had any recollection of Mehboobjan of Sholapur. From his findings Mehboobjan ceased to be a discorporate voice rising faintly from the sound crevices of old 78s. She acquired the presence of someone who lived and sang, and experienced joy and sorrow, success and disappointments. Who better suited to edit material and oversee projects than the collectors themselves? EMI would do well to appoint as curators for their own version of the secret museum of Indian music, the people from whom they requested the original 78rpm disc recordings - the same ones who carry out research and preserve the early records out of love and through personal expense. Long before RPG of EMI, did these SIRC members come to realize that for the benefit of all they should "ensure that a sizable part of our musical heritage was not lost to the ravages of time" (Introduction to the EMI series' liner notes). A handful of 78s remastered by EMI, although much appreciated, is but a drop in the vast ocean of early recordings of Indian music. Some of the collections of SIRC associates number as high as 25,000 while others a mere ten or 15,000 78 rpm recordings. My friends at SIRC have estimated that there are at least 5,000 discs dedicated to classical and semi-classical Indian music. Although much more is being done in India to preserve the musical treasures (Mr. Chandvankar informs me that happily, another commercial project regarding 78s transferred to audio tape is in the final stages of completion by Gramco of India with the aid of some SIRC members), the ravages of time were not always the only threat to the preservation of this treasure in sound. Countless tapes and other recordings have forever merged with the universal Nada through general neglect and premeditated recycling. Innumerable 78s have reincarnated as the protective casings for modern commercial cassettes, and who knows how many pictures and wall hangings are still being supported by the original wire that was used to record some artists whom today we still consider unrecorded. SIRC has launched an appeal for the creation of a sound archive to be housed near Mumbai or Pune. This endeavor deserves our full support. I further propose that the people of SIRC, of which I and several other Canadians are members, either acquire or hire the necessary technology and experts to produce their own CDs, thereby self-funding and finding a more permanent archive to hold their treasures of sound. The 78s would once again be part of the commercial mainstream and the entire world (India included) would, in this age of mass communication, be exposed to the musical achievements of India. Oblivion is unfortunately not only the fate of Agra gharana , but of many Indian musical traditions which, besides dying a natural death, are helped along that road in various ways. The corpus of recordings by the artists of the Agra gharana bloodline are considerable. They all still exist even though some are scattered in various collections all over the world (vide Mehta/Desai article "Music Compositions in the repertoire of the Agra Gharana " in the Indian Musicological Journal, ed. R.C. Mehta). Some of the recordings of Ustad Faiyaz Khan Saheb are still to be found. Besides the LPs and AIR releases, there are even two or three CDs of the ustad's, the latest hailing from Hindustan Musical Products Ltd. The name of the company is offensive more than on a subliminal level. It is difficult to imagine Faiyaz Khan and his music as products. Nonetheless, the disc is well produced and the quality of the recordings faithful to the original matrix: sonorous and full of presence, in spite or perhaps aided by the charming surface noise, snaps, crackles and pops. I had to inspect the CD to make sure it wasn't really a well disguised 78. On a more serious note however, Hindustan Musical Products Ltd.'s 'apology' on the CD needs further consideration in view of sound archiving in general. We are informed that what they present are: Recordings taken from our Archives compromising quality & reproduction for the sake of nostalgia. The operative word here is nostalgia. It should be noted too that "our Archives" is the password which seems to bypass any copyright protection (if any is applicable here), allowing anyone who possesses previously recorded material the right of entry into an artificial public domain of the Indian cultural patrimony of classical music. Most of the material has already been published by HMV. Nothing has really been added to the pre-existing Faiyaz Khan discography. Last summer I came across a couple of recordings by the ustad I didn't even know existed. I am always surprised by the 'new' material which sporadically surfaces, and not only in India. There seems to be an endless supply of it and mostly in good, caring hands. In a way, this is better than a museum since the world-wide collection of this music infuses it with a continuous and dynamic life. The people in possession of these recordings are the true curators even though they realize at times that they are the keepers of a veritable "secret museum" that they themselves help to perpetuate. There is an elusive quality in all beauty which makes it seductive and we collectors are easy prey to both the beauty and the seduction of the past especially since most of the music we hear today pales miserably when compared to what is on most of the old 78s. I say most, since not all that was recorded achieves greatness by virtue of being recorded close to a century ago. The following words, probably pronounced at the outset of sound recording, can doubtless apply to any age in which recordings are made, and more so today when CD technology seems to promise digital immortality: I am terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever. -- Sir Arthur Sullivan The great artist, who is always bigger than life, once again lives in a newly acquired recording. For now Ba®e Ustad Alladiya Khan, the teacher of Moghubai and Kesarbai among others, lives only in written or spoken accounts and in the talim imparted to disciples and their disciples who have survived him. So far stories of possible recordings by him are either wishful thinking or fabrications by mischievous collectors. Hearing his recorded voice would be an unparalleled experience, but then again it might not. I've created many virtual Alladiyas in my head, splicing together the taan-s (fast run of notes), laya (tempo) and dizzying musicality of Moghubai, Kesarbai, Laxmibai, Mallikarjun Mansur, Nvrittibuwa and Kishori for good measure. The closest I got once was when I finally came upon the recording of Jaunpuri by Bhaskarbuwa Bhakle. To my infinite chagrin, all that I could hear was surface noise, not at all charming or nostalgic this time. I still haven't heard the voice of Bhaskarbuwa, but I know the 78RPM recording exists somewhere, and I am comforted by the thought (I later came upon another tape copy of the same recording and was able to decipher a tan which did characterize the rag as Jaunpuri). The Oxford University computer scientist who created a virtual Maria Callas among others, is still fending off criticism by those whose moral and biological feathers he ruffled by creating software which made the diva digitally sing arias the real one had never performed before. You'd think he had physically cloned Maria Callas, so vehement was some of the criticism levied against him and his work, and this was pre Dolly the sheep too. The results were far superior than digitally sampling the sitar and have the program play Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. The whole thing gets quite ludicrous in my opinion, when Caruso is forcefully thrown into a jugalbandi (duet) with Elvis Presley. Imagine Louis Armstrong singing the part of Othello, or Mahalia Jackson doing the "Ave Maria" of Schubert. It would be fascinating; you can almost hear it. But imagine Amir Khan Saheb singing Alhaiya Bilawal or Madhuvanti for example. Before the Oxford scientist gets to the simulation, which is doubtful, I will, until I find them, continue to imagine Amir Khan singing these rags. I will also be repeating the process which I applied to the creation of the virtual Alladiya, only that now I will mentally clone the rishab of his Marwa (minus a shruti [microtone]or two), the Dhaivat of his Shahana (with less nyas [melodic rest] ), and so on, and attempt to create his Madhuvanti; or better still, if anyone reading this has it, I will gladly trade you a superb baithak (traditional musical sitting) where he sang Lalit for over an hour... Why this need for Amir Khan's Madhuvanti you may well ask. With some artists it is easier to mesh sensibilities and reach the core of the rag faster and dwell in its holy of holies for the full duration of the performance and beyond. Change the name of the artist but the aesthetic dynamics are the same. For me most of the artists who can work this musical magic are no longer alive, that is why finding and preserving their music is that more impelling. One rag that I found by Faiyaz Khan in London last summer, was Ahir Bhairav and the other Hijaz. I didn't think that Ahir Bhairav could reveal any more facets not only of its inner beauty but also of what made it so beautiful. Hijaz I'm still working on, since aside from the book explanation of it, this was my first 'living' performance of this unique rag. I wasn't really surprised to discover new truths, as it were, about Ahir Bhairav because, after all, that is why I am a collector of this music, especially the earliest recordings by the greats where ustads, gurus, ustanis (feminine form of ustad) still speak and teach us, clearly and eloquently beyond the surface noise, radio interference and muffled tabla and sarangi accompaniment. Listening to old recordings is a reconfirmation of the living presence and timelessness of Indian classical music, its quintessence captured on whatever medium of sound. This is not nostalgia, but the reaffirmation of Gurukul (oral/aural music tradition involving guru and disciple), the only way this music can be really learned. The SONY gharana (referring to learning from recorded music), as Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (or was Ali Akbar Khansaheb?) called it, can still impart valuable lessons for the students of this music. It isn't unlike listening to an ustad's riyaz (practice) from behind a curtain or a door or from outside a window. There are countless stories of furtive talim in Indian music and mythology as well. Clearly it is not a substitute for the Teacher, but a wonderful source of beauty, knowledge and inspiration; and if it's nostalgia you're after, then it's that too. Let the 78s be remastered. Let them be produced and sold in abundance, even if the marketing ploy is nostalgia; but let this be done systematically and with generosity even if it means that the wealth of beauty and knowledge can no longer be brokered by individual collectors. Besides the recordings of Faiyaz Khan Saheb and Zohrabai, there are also 78RPM recordings by Ata Hussein, Vilayet Hussein, Khadim Hussein, Azmat Hussein, Sharafat Hussein and perhaps even Latafat. The latter also appears, along with Sharafat and Faiyaz Khan, on the Chairman's Choice Great Gharana s series. In 1976 he had already recorded an LP with EMI. Aside from the 78RPM recording Sharafat made when he was twelve years old, the only other one was released posthumously by EMI in 1987, and before that, I have recently discovered, an LP which I have never seen or heard. RPG failed miserably when out of ignorance or lack of resources he excluded Vilayet Hussein Khan, the true prince of Agra gharana , from the double CD. This would have been the best occasion to present to modern listeners the music of certainly one of the greatest vocalists of the century (T-Series subsequently produced the five CD set). There is enough material by the ustad in AIR Delhi to fill volumes, and yet All India Radio has never released a single recording by him. A good number of 78s by the ustad also exist in many collections. Several collectors would gladly offer his recordings for re-release. Ignorance and neglect in this case, are unfortunately the main reasons for the permanent deletion of Ustad Vilayet Hussein Khan from future sound archives. The next step is oblivion. The second list (private recordings) below gives a good idea of the number of recordings available by the ustad. His memory and music will live on through the efforts of others, and in spite of EMI or AIR. The following is a general list of Agra commercial recordings, most of which are still available on the market. Not included in this list are the 78s by the Agra stalwarts. These are part of the second list based on private Agra Gharana holdings.
AGRA GHARANA COMMERCIAL RECORDINGS Far from being a properly annotated or a complete discography, this list's aim is to simply report information on whom and what (based on my holdings) has been recorded and is generally still available. The list is made up mainly of disciples not related by blood and therefore recipients of an even more abridged version of am talim, an abridged form of instruction generally imparted to a son-in-law or daughter's son. Disciples not related by blood usually receive a further watered down version of am talim. Khas talim is the full spectrum of gharana instruction reserved only for the son or the son's son. There are only four khandani (core family members) ustads present in the first list, all four recipients of khas talim as either sons or adopted sons. Faiyaz Khan Saheb was taught as if he were the true son of his maternal grandfather Ghulam Abbas Khan. Sharafat Hussein Khan received the same grace from Faiyaz, who had also practically adopted him. Yunus Hussein was the son of Vilayet Hussein and Latafat the son of Altaf Karim and brother of Khadim Hussein. This list is not only a poor representation of the Agra gharana khas talim , but also of aam talim. We are fortunate, however, to still have a grand display of the generosity of Agra ustads in the number of disciples they taught. The gharana will still live through them, whereas other gharanas became defunct when the bloodline came to a biological halt. Indian art music may very well suffer the same fate if it is allowed to collect dust or become the sole property of a few guardians of secret museums or archives.
ACCHANBAI (EMI's recently resurrected disciple of Muzaffer Khan)
Copyright 2004 Machh Music Productions
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