Curated by Shadaj Iyer
Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan Sahab. One of the greatest musicians of the Agra Gharana. He was not only a great musician but an extraordinary composer and a renowned guru as well. His gayaki had all the embellishments of agra gayaki, with bol banavat, bol taans, layakari, khatka and bal tans and yet his renditions stood apart.
Early life:
Born in Agra (1895-1962), Khan sahab was born into a family of musicians, and he began his training under his father Ustad Nathan Khan Sahab. After he lost his father at the age of 6, he continued to learn from his uncles Kallan Khan and Mohammad Baksh. However, in his work, “Sangeetagyon ke sansmaran” he mentioned the names and materials of 42 gurus from whom he took taaleem in the course of his distinguished life. Some of the names include Ustad Ghulam Abbas Khan, Bhaskarbua Bakhale, Tassaduk Khan and Ustad Faiyaz Khan. In 1914 he moved to Mumbai to live with and learn from his older brother, Mohammad Khan.
Musical journey:
Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan sahab started his initial training at the age of seven and after 18 years of regular talim he started performing on stage. Khan sahab was able to mesmerise different kinds of audiences because of his versatility, purity of raag and command over laya. Vilayat Hussain Khan joined as a teacher in Gomantak Kalakar Samaj of Maharashtra. He worked there for several years. Ustad Ji had several disciples who became very prominent figures in the musical world like Smt. Bai Nawekar, Shri Ratnakant Ramnathkar, Pandit Jagannath Bua Purohit, Anjani Bai Jambolikar, Gajananrao Joshi and Datta Bua Ichalkaranjikar to name a few. In the year 1935, he was appointed as the court musician of Mysore. He served there for 5 years. The king of Mysore also conferred him with the title of “Sangeetacharya”.
He later moved to Kashmir in the year 1940, on a request by the king of Kashmir to become his guest and teach him. He worked there as the court musician of Kashmir for a few years. During this period he gave talim to Karan Singh the Prince of Kashmir. After the independence of India, he was appointed as the Music adviser of All India Radio in Mumbai. He later moved to Delhi and joined All India Radio, Delhi as “Salahkar”(adviser) and served there till his last breath. He also received the “Sangeet Ratnakar” from the Allahabad Sangeet Parishad.
Features of his gayaki:
Ustad Ji’s performance had a huge impact on the audience because of the sheer variety he had on display. Khan sahab was an authority on the purity of raags. He used to sing the rare raags with the same perfection and ease as the common raags, which made him different from many of his contemporaries. Most of the musicians used to sing the common raags only as a result, the rare raags were out of circulation and creating a huge demand for the rare raags. He did not believe in complicating his performance. His renditions were simple and had a perfect mix of sur, laya, taal and tayyari which kept the audience engaged. Ustad ji believed that the purity of the raag should be maintained throughout the performance even while singing taans. He developed a special technique which helped him maintain the purity of the raag. He used to sing each note multiple times while singing taans for example:
GG MM PP NN SS
GGG MMM PPP NNN SSS
This technique was extremely effective while singing rare raags where movement is limited. He believed that each raag has its character and he was against the usage of sapaat taans in every raag. He used khatka and bal (spiral) taans very beautifully.
He had a rich heritage of Dhrupad. He used to apply a lot of elements of dhrupad in his khayal renditions. His mastery over laya was a result of his drupadh training. So much so that many renowned tabla players used to fear accompanying him on stage. His taan patterns were heavily influenced by the jhala portion of the nom tom alap.
Vilayat Hussain Khan sahab: The composer
Khan sahab was by far the greatest composer ever. He made a significant contribution to the world of Hindustani classical music by composing several compositions. He made compositions in the raag which lacked a bada khayal or chota khayal. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he brought many rare raags out of extinction by composing bada khayal, chota khayal or both. Drut bandishes in raags like Kaunsi Kanada, Hem Kalyan, Malti Basant, Sohni Pancham, Maluha Kedar, Savani Nat, etc. were all composed by him. The composition that was most dear to him was the one in raag Dhanashri which he dedicated to his eldest son Yusuf Hussain Khan after his early demise. Pls, note how Khan sahab has expressed his grief through this bandish. The poetry alone is enough to tear up your eyes.
Tero dhyan rahat din rain
Mohe parat naahi chain
“Pran Piya” man laagat naahi
kis bid raakhu jiya
bhar bhar aaye nain
Much like his gayaki, he kept his compositions simple. He focused on meaningful poetry and the chalan of the raag. He would incorporate all the important phrases of the raag in the bandish.
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