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Doyen of the fraternity of classical artistes in India, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is the nation’s foremost classical singer. Indeed he is today a living legend for two generations of music lovers who have enjoyed his exquisite music and derived inspiration from it.

 Born at Kasur near Lahore in what is now West Pakistan at the turn of the century, young Ghulam Ali Khan was initially trained by his father Ali Bux and later groomed by his uncle Kale Khan. Both his father and uncle were disciples of the late Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of Patiala in North India and consequently Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is known to represent the Patiala School of music.

 Bade Ghulam Ali Khan made his debut in 1939 at an All India Music conference in Calcutta and three or four years later took the country by storm at his first public concert in Bombay. Today at the age of fifty-nine this veteran artiste performs with the same vigor as he did twenty years ago and his voice with its amazing range moving through three full octaves with perfect ease and grace has not lost any of its earlier sweetness and flexibility. This utterly gifted artiste whose artistry represents the fulfillment of a great tradition in Indian classical music excels at giving expositions that are not only chaste and pure from a scientific angle but are also embellished with workmanship of such rare artistic skill that for sheer beauty they are difficult to match.

 Bade Ghulam Ali Khan has performed extensively in the Indian sub-continent and was recently commissioned to perform before the King of Afghanistan in Kabul. On this, his first Long Play record ever, are offered two exquisite performances which will be a rare musical experience for lovers of Indian classical music.

THE MUSIC

 SIDE ONE: Raga Goonkali

 Raga Goonkali is essentially a morning melody. It is sublime in character and is best suited for creating a devotional or prayerful atmosphere. In this Raga the third and seventh notes vis “Gandhar” and “Nishad” are dropped both in the ascent (arohan) and in the descent (avrohan). Its structure therefore is pentatonic, that is, permitting only the remaining five notes of which the second and the last notes are “komal” or flat.

In this exposition the artiste expounds a composition invoking the blessings of the creator. He starts the exposition in a slow tempo confining it to a “Tall” (rhythm) consisting of 16 beats (matras) divided into four equal parts of four “Matras” each. And in keeping with the sublime mood of the Raga the artiste goes on to weave such attractive variations and patterns that help to enhance the beauty of the composition and create the appropriate atmosphere.

 SIDE TWO: Raga Malkauns

 This Raga is usually expounded in the night. Like Raga Goonkali appearing on the other side Malkauns too is pentatonic in structure. It permits only five notes both in ascent and descent omitting the 2^nd and the 5^th. The mood of this Raga is romantic and the exposition can be either happy or sad depending upon the performing artiste’s mental state.

 The slow moving exposition in the first half of this side is confined to a “Taal” (rhythm) consisting of 14 beats divided into two equal parts of 7 beats each and is known as “Jhoomra”. After establishing the character of the Raga with the help of varied type of Alaps, the artiste goes over a faster melody in Teental consisting of 16 equal beats and the amazing range and flexibility of the artiste’s voice are clearly discernible in the intricate and picturesque patterns in the fast tempo.

Artists:

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (Vocal)

Tracks:

SIDE ONE: 

Raga Goonkali                   Teentaal                   - Ae Kartar Pooree Karo

SIDE TWO: 

 Raga Malkauns                 Bilampat  in Taal Jhoomra          - Eree Kab Avey Sajan

Raga Malkauns                 Drut Teentaal                                    - Ab Yahi Bheda Hota