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The
oldest of the khyal gharanas and one to which most others can and do
trace the origins of their style is the Gwalior gharana. The rise of
the Gwalior gharana started with the reign of the great Mughal
emperor Akbar (1542-1605). The favourite singers of this patron of
the arts, such as Miyan Tansen, first amongst the vocalists at the
court, came from the town of Gwalior.
Some
sources believe that Nathan Khan and Peer Baksh settled in Gwalior
and evolved the style features that led to this gharana. Others
claim that individuals named Nathan Peer Baksh and Nathe Khan
founded the gharana. The accepted version is that Nathan Peer Baksh
left Lucknow (in Uttar Pradesh) to escape the professional rivalry
with Shakkar Khan that had taken an ugly turn. He arrived in Gwalior
with his grandsons Haddu Khan and Hassu Khan.
Another
great khayal singer, also originally from Lucknow, was Bade Mohammed
Khan who brought the tăn into khayal singing. Haddu and Hassu Khan
further enhanced the style into the Gwalior gharana as we recognize
it today. Haddu Khan's son, Rehmet 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.
Apart
from the emphasis on notes (swara), another distinguishing feature
of the gharana is its simplicity because through simplicity alone
can the singer and the listener arrive at the full beauty and impact
of the raga. One means to this is of course the selection of
well-known ragas so that the listener is saved the effort of trying
to identify the raga. Attention can be focussed on the raga and the
presentation of it. While the khayal singer does include raga vistar
(melody expansion) and raga alankara (melody ornamentation to
enhance the beauty and meaning of the raga), there is no attempt to
include the tirobhava feature i.e. using melodic phrases to obscure
the identity of the raga in the interest of adding interest or
mystery to the listener's experience.
The
singing itself places bandish (the composition) at the heart of the
presentation because of the gharana's belief that the full melody of
the raga and guidance on its singing is provided by the bandish. The
sthayi section is sung twice before the antara, to be followed by
the slow tempo of the swara vistar (note expansion). This slow
rendition of the notes is known as the behlava, and is sung from Ma
in the lower register to Pa in the higher register, following the
pattern of the aroha (ascent) and avaroha (descent) of the raga.
The
behlava is divided into the sthayi (from Ma to Sa) and antara (from
Ma, Pa, or Dha to Pa of the higher register). The dugun-ka-alap
follows in which groups of two or four note combinations are sung in
quicker succession but the basic tempo remains the same. Thus the
drumming pattern of the table (i.e. tabla theka) is left unaltered.
The
bol-alap is next in which the different words of the text are sung
in different ways, to be followed by murkis in which notes are sung
with ornamentation to a faster pace. Bol-tăns entail the formation
of melodic sequences with the words of the song. The other tăns,
including the gamak, follow.
The
sapat tăn is important to the Gwalior style and refers to the
singing of notes in a straight sequence and at a slow pace. Both
dhrupad and khayal singing evolved in Gwalior and there are many
overlaps. In the khayal style there is one form, mundi dhrupad, that
incorporates all the features of dhrupad singing but without the
mukhda. The Gwalior gharana usually prefers to begin ragas in the
medium tempo (madhya laya) rather then the slow tempo (vilambit laya)
as is the norm with other gharanas.
The
chosen ragas include Alahya-Bilawal, Yaman, Bhairav, Sarang, Shri,
Hamir, Gaud-Malhar, Miya-ki-Malhar.
Artists
Major
artists in alphabetical order
·
Balkrishnabua
Ichalkaranjikar
·
Sunanda Patnaik
·
D V
Paluskar
·
Ulhas Kashalkar
·
Eknath
Pandit
·
V D Paluskar
·
Pandit
Jal Balporia
·
Pandit V.R. Athavale
·
Krishnarao
Shankar Pandit
·
Pandit Vinaychandra Maudgalaya
·
Laxman
Krishnarao Pandit
·
Pandit Vinayakrao Parwardhan
Malini Rajurkar
·
Meeta
Pandit
·
Narayanrao
Vyas
·
Nissar
Hussain Khan
·
Omkarnath
Thakur
·
Rajubhaya
Poochwale
·
Ram
Marathe
·
Shankarrao
Pandit
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