Hindustani classical music

Hindustani classical music ([hin̪d̪us̪t̪ɑːn̪i]) is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music. The style is sometimes called North Indian classical music or Shāstriya Sangīt or Klāsikī Mausīqī. It is a tradition that originated in Vedic ritual chants and has been evolving since the 12th century CE, in North India and to some extent in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. Today, it is one of the two subgenres of Indian classical music, the other being Carnatic music, the classical tradition of South India.

Characteristics

The tradition was born out of a cultural synthesis of several musical traditions: the Vedic chant tradition, dating back to more than three thousand years ago, various external influences from the 12th century AD from when it started to evolve, as well as various native folk traditions prevalent in the Subcontinent region.

It is traditional for performers who have reached a distinguished level of achievement to be awarded titles of respect; Hindus are usually referred to as pandit and Muslims as ustad. An aspect of Hindustani music going back to Sufi times is the tradition of religious neutrality: Muslim ustads may sing compositions in praise of Hindu deities, and vice versa.

Classical music

Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a similar term is also used to refer to the period from 1750-1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from roughly the 11th century to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period. The major time divisions of classical music are as follows: the early music period, which includes the Medieval (500–1400) and the Renaissance (1400–1600) eras; the Common practice period, which includes the Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1750–1820), and Romantic eras (1804–1910); and the 20th century (1901–2000) which includes the modern (1890–1930) that overlaps from the late 19th-century, the high modern (mid 20th-century), and contemporary or postmodern (1975–2015) eras.

Bhimsen Joshi

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Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi ( pronunciation ); 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011) was an Indian vocalist from Karnataka in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs).

In 1998, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. Subsequently, he received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, in 2009.

Early life

Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi was born in a town called Ron, in the erstwhile Dharwad (today Gadag) district of Karnataka on 4 February 1922 to Gururaj Joshi (who had authored a Kannada-English dictionary) and Godavaribai, a home-maker. Bhimsen was the eldest among 16 siblings. He lost his mother at a young age and was raised by his stepmother.

As a child, Bhimsen was fascinated with music and musical instruments like the Harmonium and Tanpura and would often follow processions accompanied by music bands. This exercise often tired him and he would curl up somewhere and sleep, forcing his parents to go to the police after efforts to trace him failed. Fed up, his father Gururajacharya Joshi come up with the solution, writing "Joshi mastarancha mulga" (son of teacher Joshi) on Bhimsen's shirts. This worked and those who found the boy sleeping would safely deposit him back to his house.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan may refer to:

Rashid Khan (musician)

Ustad Rashid Khan (Hindi: रशीद ख़ान,Bengali: রশিদ খান, Urdu: راشد خان‎) (born 1 July 1966) is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Soma Khan.

In a story told in several versions, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi once remarked that Rashid Khan was the "assurance for the future of Indian vocal music". He was awarded the Padma Shri, as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006.

Early life

Born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. He received his initial training from his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909–1993). He is also the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

As a child he had little interest in music. His uncle Ghulam Mustafa Khan was among the first to note his musical talents, and for some time trained him in Mumbai. However, he received his main training from Nissar Hussain Khan, initially at his house in Badayun. A strict disciplinarian, Nissar Hussain Khan would insist on voice training (sur sAdhanA) from four in the morning, and make Rashid practice one note of the scale for hours on end. A whole day would be spent on practising just a single note. Although Rashid detested these lessons as a child, but the disciplined training shows in his easy mastery of taan (arpeggios) and layakaari today. It was not until he was 18 that Rashid began to truly enjoy his musical training.