Gwalior Gharana - History

History

During the time of Mughal kings Ustad Nathan Pir Bakhsh and his maternal grandsons were the legendary Haddu, Hassu and Nathu Khan. The main musician in the court at the time was Ustad Bade Mohammad Khan who was famous for his taanbaazi. Both Ustad Bade Mohammad Khan and Ustad Nathan Pir Bakhsh belonged to the same tradition of Shahi Sadarang.

Some sources believe that Ustad Nathan Pir Bakhsh settled in Gwalior and evolved the style features that led to this gharana. Others claim that individuals named Nathan Pir Bakhsh and Nathu Khan founded the gharana. The accepted version is that Nathan Pir Baksh left Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to escape the professional rivalry with Ustad Shakkar Khan that had taken an ugly turn. He arrived in Gwalior with his maternal grandsons Haddu Khan and Hassu Khan.

Another great khyal singer, also originally from Lucknow, was Ustad Bade Mohammed Khan who brought the Taan into khyal singing. Haddu Khan and Hassu Khan further enhanced the style of the Gwalior gharana as we recognize it today. Hassu Khan died prematurely. Haddu Khan's son, Rehmat Ali Khan (1852–1922) was a widely acclaimed singer who liberated the Gwalior style from the methodical form it followed to the emotional style that he preferred.

Read more about this topic:  Gwalior Gharana

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.
    —J.L. (John Langshaw)

    All history is a record of the power of minorities, and of minorities of one.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.
    Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)