Faiyaz Khan - Singing Career

Singing Career

Faiyaz Khan served for a long time as the court musician of Sir Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, the Maharaja of Baroda, where he was awarded the "Gyan Ratna" (Gem of Knowledge). The Maharaja of Mysore awarded him the title "Aftab-e-Mousiqui" (the Sun of Music). Faiyaz Khan's specialities were dhrupad and khyal, but he was also capable of singing thumri and ghazal. According to well known musicologist Dr. Ashok Ranade who was a former Director of Music Centre, University of Bombay, "There was no chink in his armour". He was a frequent performer in the musical conferences and circles of Lucknow, Allahabad, Calcutta, Gwalior, Bombay and Mysore and in concerts organised by provincial princes who vied with one another to have the Ustad perform in their respective courts. The rulers of Baroda held him in high esteem and he was offered the seat to the right of the Maharaja of Baroda during the official functions of the royal court.He also performed at Jorasanko Thakurbari, the residential abode of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), who was an admirer of the Ustad. It is known that he had held a musical session at Jorasanko a few years before the passing away of Tagore. Other well-known admirers include maestros such as Ahmad Jaan Thirakwa, Ustad Amir Khan]], Ali Akbar Khan, Vilayat Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar]]. Some of his best-known students are Dilip Chand Bedi, Sohan Singh, Asad Ali Khan and Shrikrishna Ratanjankar, apart from in-house disciples such as Khadim Hussain Khan, Vilayat Hussain Khan, Latafat Hussain Khan, Ata Hussain Khan and Sharafat Hussain Khan. Faiyaz Khan himself was an admirer of Abdul Karim Khan. S.N.Ratanjankar was perhaps the last of his pupils who excelled both as a teacher and as a performer.