BISMILLAH KHAN -BLOG4

Sound of Music-part 2-blog 4

9th May, 2020

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Today we will be starting the second part of the unit 'The Sound of music"

Let us continue the lesson.

Summary

Bismillah Khan made a valuable contribution to the world of music through the ‘shehnai’. For this, he was honoured with India’s highest civilian honour – the Bharat Ratna in 2001. He hailed from a family of musicians. He improvised many new ragas with the shehnai and thus, placed it among other classical musical instruments. He won accolades on the international level too.

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in his royal court. He disliked the sound and so, the pungi was termed to be a noisemaker. A barber tried to improve the pungi’s tone. He got a hollow stem, wider and longer than the pungi, made seven holes on it and blew into it, closing and opening the holes. It produced soft, melodious music. As this instrument had been developed by a barber called ‘nai’ in India and was played in the king’s court called ‘shah’, the instrument was named ‘shehnai’. The shehnai became a part of auspicious occasions. It was a part of the group of nine musical instruments that were played at the royal court.

Bismillah Khan was born at Dumraon, Bihar in 1916 into a family of musicians. His grandfather Rasool Bux Khan played the shehnai at the court of the king of Bhojpur. His father, Paigambar Bux and his paternal as well as maternal uncles were shehnai players. As a child, Bismillah Khan would visit the Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri Chaita for which the king rewarded him with a laddu weighing 1.25kg. At the age of three, Bismillah Khan visited his maternal uncle, Ali Bux at Benaras. He saw him playing the shehnai and was fascinated by it. At the age of five, he started learning playing it.  He would spend hours practicing, at the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya, by the banks of the holy river Ganga. The flowing waters of the river inspired him to improvise and Bismillah Khan invented ragas which were considered to be beyond the range of the shehnai.

At the age of fourteen, he performed at the Allahabad Music Conference and his talent was appreciated by Ustaad Faiyaz Khan. In 1938, he started performing from the Lucknow station of the All India Radio. The day India gained independence, on 15th August 1947, Bismillah Khan performed from the Red Fort and greeted the country through his shehnai. He recited raag kafi which was followed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech.

Bismillah Khan performed all around the world. His first foreign performance was in Afghanistan where the king was so impressed that he gifted him many souvenirs. Bismillah Khan composed music for two films – Hindi film titled – ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’ directed by Vijay Bhatt and Kannada film titled – ‘Sanadhi Apanna’ by Vikram Srinivas.

He was the first Indian to perform at the Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also performed at Montreal, Cannes and Tokyo. In Teheran, an auditorium was named after him – Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan.

Ustaad Bismillah Khan said that music was India’s richest heritage and had to be taught to the children. Although he had travelled all over the world, he was attached to Dumraon and Benaras. Once a student asked him to set up a shehnai school in the USA and promised to recreate the temples of Benaras there. Bismillah Khan asked him whether he would transport the river Ganga also, as he was attached to it as well.

Bismillah Khan is a true example of a secular Indian as being a Muslim, he played the shehnai at the Kashi Vishwanath temple. For him music was above religious barriers.

Now ,take out your literature notebooks and start with the Question Answers

Answer these questions in 30–40 words.

1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?

A. Aurangzeb disliked the sound produced by the pungi. It was considered to be a reeded noisemaker as it was loud, shrill and unpleasant. So, he banned playing of pungi in his royal court.

2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?

A. Although the shehnai is also a reeded musical instrument like the pungi, it differs in shape, size and the quality of sound produced by it. It was made with a hollow stem which was longer and broader than the pungi and had seven holes on it. The sound produced by the shehnai was soft and melodious in contrast to the shrill noise made by the pungi.

3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?

A. Traditionally, the shehnai was played at the royal court as part of the traditional collection of musical instruments called ‘naubat’, in the temples and at weddings. Bismillah Khan invented new ragas with the shehnai and thus, brought it on the stage among other classical musical instruments.

4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?

A. Bismillah Khan got his big break when in 1938 the All India Radio opened its Radio Station at Lucknow. He played shehnai from the radio station regularly and his music became popular through it.

5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?

On 15th August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai from the Red Fort and greeted the entire country. The event was historic as it was the day when India gained independence from the British rule. Bismillah’s performance was followed by the historic speech – ‘Tryst with Destiny’ given by India’s first Prime Minister – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?

A. Bismillah Khan was attached to the temples of Benaras and the river Ganga. He could not leave them and so, refused to set up a shehnai school in the USA.

7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan

loves India and Benaras.

A.Bismillah’s love for India and Benaras are shown by the fact that he refused to set up a shehnai school in USA as he could not leave Benaras and river Ganga. Secondly, when he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, he declared that Indian Classical music was India’s richest heritage.

That's all for today!!

Classwork- Summary for recapitulation
Homework- Question answers