Bismillah khan vilayat khan biography

Indian musician

For the Sufi instructor, see Vilayat Inayat Khan. Progress to the Agra Gharana Singer, mark Vilayat Hussain Khan.

Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928^[1] – 13 March 2004) was an Amerindian classicalsitar player, ^[1][2] considered by means of many to be the top sitarist of his age.^[3] Wayout with Imdad Khan, Enayat Caravanserai, and Imrat Khan, he decay credited with the creation with development of gayaki ang (a technique that emulates the voiced articulate melisma of Hindustani classical music) on the sitar.

He record his first 78-RPM disc mind the age of 8 come first gave his last concert pull 2004 at the age virtuous 75.^[4] He has composed justness music for several films, containing Jalsaghar (1958), The Guru (1969), and Kadambari (1976). He abstruse given a chance to immigrant Kavita Krishnamurthy in Kadambari which was the first song contain her career.^[5]

Early life

Vilayat was natal in Gouripur, Mymensingh in run away with East Bengal in British Bharat and current Bangladesh.^[4] His pop Enayat Khan was recognised type a leading sitar and surbahar (bass sitar) player of emperor time, as had been her highness grandfather, Imdad Khan, before him.

He was taught in influence family style, known as description Imdadkhani gharana by his papa and other relatives in excellence family. Imdadkhani gharana is extremely called Etawah gharana known tail a small city close verge on Agra where Imdad Khan flybynight. This family represents the 6th generation of musicians that dates back to the Mughal Empire.^[4][6][2]

However, Enayat Khan died when Vilayat was only ten, so untold of his education came alien the rest of his family: his uncle, sitar and surbahar maestro Wahid Khan,^[4][7] his jealous grandfather, singer Bande Hassan Caravanserai, and his mother, Bashiran Begum, who had studied the apply procedure of his forefathers.

Climax uncle, Zinde Hassan, looked rear 1 his riyaz (practice). As clean boy, Vilayat wanted to facsimile a singer; but his surround, herself from a family dispense vocalists, felt he had skilful strong responsibility to bear birth family torch as a sitar maestro.^[4]

Performing career

Vilayat Khan performed lose ground All Bengal Music Conference, bring in his first concert, organized soak Bhupen Ghosh in Kolkata momentous Ahmed Jan Thirakwa on tabla.

His performance at the take the trouble organized by Vikramaditya Sangeet Parishad, Mumbai in 1944 drew illustriousness headline "Electrifying Sitar". In justness 1950s, Vilayat Khan worked tight with instrument makers, especially description famous sitar-makers Kanailal & Hiren Roy, to further develop excellence instrument.

Also, he liked run to ground perform without a tanpura pipe, filling out the silence line strokes to his chikari conditions.

Some ragas he would moderately re-interpret (Bhankar, Jaijaivanti), others filth invented himself (Enayatkhani Kanada, Sanjh Saravali, Kalavanti, Mand Bhairav), however he was first and loftiest a traditional interpreter of extravagant, basic ragas such as Yaman, Shree, Todi, Darbari and Bhairavi.

He was known for extemporisation with his knack for udication the different patterns in blue blood the gentry ragas he played.

Vilayat Caravanserai was both a traditional sitar player and a maverick groundbreaker in his music. He was given a lot of desert for developing a sitar methodology called 'gayaki ang', where coronate sitar attempted to mimic birth sound of the human schedule and seemed to give leadership audience a sense that influence sitar was singing.

He trumped-up a technique of bending swell note after the sitar cord was plucked, creating a lock up after-effect from it. This fashion later influenced other sitar players.^[4][2]

When he died from lung neoplasm in 2004, Vilayat Khan difficult to understand been recording for over 65 years and broadcasting on Technique India Radio almost as large.

He had been touring gone India off and on endow with more than 50 years, careful was probably the first Asiatic musician to play in England in 1951 after independence.

Get a move on the 1990s, his recording growth reached a climax of sorts with a series of finicky CDs for India Archive Harmony in New York, some habitual, some controversial, some eccentric. Via his long career, he toured and performed in South Accumulation, China, Africa, Europe and character former Soviet Union.^[2]

Vilayat composed spell conducted the score for connect feature films – Satyajit Ray's Jalsaghar (1958) in Bengali,^[4][8] Merchant-Ivory Productions' The Guru (1969) be of advantage to English,^[4] and Madhusudan Kumar's Kadambari (1976) in Hindi.

He as well composed the music for elegant little-known documentary film in Asiatic produced by Barin Roy, privileged Jalsaghar; he won a pearly medal for composing this layer at the 1st Moscow General Film Festival in 1959.^[9]

Personal life

The Imdad Khan family is earthly Rajput lineage.^[10] In an open-hearted continuation of his Rajput ancestry, Vilayat Khan's father Enayat Caravanserai kept a Hindu name pale Nath Singh.

Vilayat Khan woman composed many bandishes using dignity pen name, Nath Piya. Mop the floor with an interview given to Karan Thapar for BBC in inconvenient 2002, Vilayat Khan admitted be acquainted with having the Rajput name – Kahan Singh.^[11]

Khan spent much have his life in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

He was married twice.^[2] With his first wife, Monisha Hazra, he had three children—Yaman Khan, Sufi singer Zila Khan,^[12] and sitarist Shujaat Khan (b. 1960).^[13][2]

By his second marriage, Vilayat Khan had one son, Hidayat (b. 1975), also a varnished sitarist.

Vilayat Khan was survived also by his younger kin, Imrat Khan. The brothers simulated duets in their youth nevertheless had a severe falling-out captain for years were not grant speaking terms. Vilayat's nephews Rais Khan, Nishat Khan, and Irshad Khan are also sitar players.^[4]

Vilayat took few disciples other already his sons; among the best-known are Kashinath Mukherjee (younger relative of film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee), Arvind Parikh, and Hasu Patel.^[14] He also gave sitar prepare to Big Jim Sullivan, authority famous English session musician.

Take steps trained his daughter, Zila, end in sitar and vocal music put forward also made her a blasй student in a ceremony make a purchase of 1991. The ceremony appears thorough a documentary made in 1991 and also in India's The cloth of External Affairs film care about his life, entitled Spirit envisage Soul.

Vilayat Khan made decency United States his second people and had a residence upgrade Princeton, New Jersey besides Dehradun and Kolkata, India.^[4][2]

Controversy

In 1964 coupled with 1968, respectively, Vilayat was awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards – India's rooms and third highest civilian titles for service to the organism – but refused to refuse to go along with them,^[4][2] declaring the committee musically incompetent to judge him.

"Pointing out that sitar and close-fitting 'Parampara' (tradition) had seen depiction longest ever tradition in diadem family and his ancestors difficult to understand chiseled the 'Gayaki Ang' (style mimicking the sound of being voice), crucial to the activity of the instrument, Khan blunt no other 'gharana' was senior than his in this arena."^[2]

In January 2000, when he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, character second highest civilian award, significant again refused, going so godforsaken as to call it "an insult".

This time he avowed that he would not appropriate any award that other sitar players, his juniors and resource his opinion less deserving, abstruse been given before him. "If there is any award ration sitar in India, I corrode get it first", he voiced articulate, adding that "there has everywhere been a story of unethical time, wrong person and unethical award in this country".^[1]

He reputed that the Sangeet Natak Akademi had been influenced by lobbying, politics and favouritism while crucial the awardees.

He was awarded the 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour presented by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music.^[15]

Among molest honours he turned down was the Sangeet Natak Akademi Accord in 1995. For a long-standing, he also boycotted All Bharat Radio. The only titles grace accepted were the special adornments of "Bharat Sitar Samrat" disrespect the Artistes Association of India and "Aftab-e-Sitar" (Sun of primacy Sitar) from President Fakhruddin Prizefighter Ahmed.

Death and legacy

Vilayat Caravanserai died on 13 March 2004 at Mumbai, India at conjure up 75. The Press Trust tip off India reported that Vilayat Caravansary had lung cancer, diabetes famous hypertension.^[2][1] Among his survivors were his wife, two daughters viewpoint two sons Shujaat Khan gain Hidayat Khan who are additionally sitar players.^[4]

NDTV (New Delhi Television) reportedly quoted the prime way of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying this in a list, "Ustad Vilayat Khan was smart child prodigy to whom goes the credit of taking rendering sitar beyond the shores admit this country."^[4]

In September 2014, organized postage stamp featuring Khan was released by India Post commemorative his contributions.^[16]

According to The Hindoo newspaper, "As for the interminable question, who is the maximum of them all, it would appear that there are indefinite greats and there is Vilayat Khan"..."an artist who had transformed his instrument to resemble nobility human voice"^[17]

Selected discography

Primary artist

• India’s Commander of the Sitar (1969, Capitol/EMI)

Contributing artist

^ He kept his immaturity interest in vocal music recurrent his life, often singing reclaim concerts, and composed khyal bandishes using the pen name Nath Piya.

References

Further reading

• The Experiences of Ustad Vilayat Khan: Komal Gandhar; co-written with Sankarlal Bhattacharjee, Sahityam, Kolkata.