Bahadur Khan

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Ustad Bahadur Khan

Ustad Bahadur Khan (born Bahadur Hossain Khan, January 19, 1931) was considered a great Bengali Sarode maestro of his times.

Early Life & Family

Ustad Bahadur Khan, a Bengali, was born in January 19, 1931 in Shibpur, Comilla, Bangladesh, (then British India), and died in October 3, 1989 in Calcutta, India. He was the son of famous Indian classical musician Ustad Ayet Ali Khan, nephew of the Sarode legend Ustad Alauddin Khan, cousin of Sarode legend Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Surbahar legend Shrimati Annapurna Devi, and cousin-in-law of Sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ustad Bahadur Khan learnt playing Sarode initially from his father Ustad Ayet Ali Khan in Bangladesh, and then from his uncle Ustad Alauddin Khan in Maihar, before he finally settled in Calcutta. He also practiced vocal music and earned many gold medals for his performances. He was later guided in Sarode by his senior cousins Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Shrimati Annapurna Devi for long time. Ustad Bahadur Khan was one of the three celebrated musician sons of the great maestro Ustad Ayet Ali Khan. His two other brothers, Ustad Abed Hossain Khan and Ustad Mobarak Hossain Khan were famous Sarode and Sitar maestros based in Bangladesh, and were the highest civilian honour recipients from the Government of Bangladesh for their contributions to classical music.

Music & Accomplishments

One of his most distinguished characteristics of his Sarode playing was that he could easily yield with several different nuances of the instrument. His strokes had unbelievable control and his tone was amazingly rich and his "odd" squeaky musical notes a rarity. With a few deftly placed notes, he would sketch out the contours step by step and then gradually bring out the soul of any "Raga" chosen by him. His duet recitals with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee are remembered by many. In sum, pathos, poignancy, and serenity in a "Raga" were distinct features of his recital. His special contribution to Indian classical music, that he could wonderfully combine folk music elements with that of the classical music, made an unique niche for himself among fellow musicians.

Ustad Bahadur Khan was a regular performer at the All India Radio, Radio Pakistan, and Radio Bangladesh. He composed and directed music for many films of the legendary Indian filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. He received the best music director award for Ritwik Ghatak's film Subarnarekha (The Golden Line). Other films that brought out his musical virtuosity into celluloid were Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-clapped Star), Komal Gandhar (E Flat), Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Reason, Debate and A Story), Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Named Titash), Nagarik (The Citizen), Shwet Mayur (White Peacock), Yekhane Dariye (Where I Am Standing), Trisandhyay (Three Twilights), Notun Pata (New Leaf), Garam Hawa (Hot Winds), and Ajantrik (The Unmechanical) to name a few. He also directed music on documentaries on Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore and painter Jamini Roy, and was also a highly esteemed figure in the Indian film-music industries of Bombay and Calcutta.

Ustad Bahadur Khan was an celebrated performer of his time and his musical prodigy led him to be considered as one of the best Sarode players of the Indian subcontinent. He was an Indian cultural representative to abroad in many occasions and a short list of his admirers' would include, Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jaipur Royal Gayatri Devi, Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. He has extensively traveled Europe, Asia, and North America to perform Sarode recitals; and was an honorary delegate of India to the former USSR and China.

Teaching

Ustad Bahadur Khan was a highly sought-after musical guru, and a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music, in California, USA, where he taught Indian classical music. His eminent disciples include Kirit Khan (son - Sitar player), Bidyut Khan (son - Sarode player), Shahadat Hossain Khan (nephew - Sarode player), Tejendranarayan Majumdar (student - Sarode player), Kalyan Mukherjee (student - Sarode player), and Manoj Shankar (student - Sitar player). All of them are acclaimed classical musicians who spread through their music the legacies of Ustad Bahadur Khan. Shahadat Hossain Khan has been awarded the "Ekushey Padak", Bangladesh's highest civilian honour, for his contribution to classical music, in 1994.

Death & Legacy

Music lovers of the world did not get what they eminently deserved from this "artiste extraordinaire" for his introvert, withdrawn and somewhat eccentric nature. Yet he remained a revered maestro to all the connoisseurs of music everywhere in the subcontinent just like another reclusive legend Shrimati Annapurna Devi, who is his cousin, and Pandit Ravi Shankar's first wife and trainer. In his untimely death in 1989, the Indian classical music lost a musical virtuoso who had the genius of enriching it in no lesser way than his fellow musical legends like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee of the "Senia Maihar Gharana" of Indian classical music.

Every year, a one-day music festival takes place commemorating the death anniversary of the Ustad in Calcutta, India (organized by "Ustad Bahadur Khan Music Circle"); whereas in Bangladesh, his legacies are being spread among classical musicians by his followers (notably by Shahadat and other family members) through the "Ustad Ayet Ali Khan Sangeet Niketon" (Ustad Ayet Ali Khan Memorial School of Music), a music school in memory of Ustad Bahadur Khan's father the late Ustad Ayet Ali Khan, at their native village Shibpur.

Discography

  • Ustad Bahadur Khan: Raga Ahir Bivash, Raga Dayabati; HMV, India & EMI, U.K.
  • Ustad Bahadur Khan: Raga Nat Bilawal, Raga Rageshri; Classic Collection, Atlantis Music, India
  • http://www.sawf.org/audio/bilawal/bk_natbilawal.ram Listen to Raga Nat Bilawal from the South Asian Women's Forum, California, U.S.A.

Quotes

On Ustad Bahadur Khan's Recording: Raga Nat Bilawal, Raga Rageshri: "The performances are great, the slow sections demonstrating the Sarod's ability to create a mini-civilization within one note, of course holding the listener's attention easily." ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

External links

Notes & References

  • [1] Article from Bangladesh on Classical Music.
  • [2] On Ustad Ayet Ali Khan.
  • [3] On Ustad Bahadur Khan.
  • [4] "Great Ustad Ayet Ali Khan", The Daily Star Insight, 2006.
  • [5] On Ustad Abed Hossain Khan.
  • [6] The Daily Star Newspaper, Bangladesh.
  • [7] Review of Subarnarekha.
  • [8] Bangladesh Film Archive, U.K.
  • [9] Bangladesh Film Archive, U.K.
  • [10] Ustad Bahadur Khan's works at The Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
  • [11] The Daily Star Newspaper, Bangladesh.
  • [12] Faculty, Ali Akbar College of Music, California, U.S.A.
  • [13] Jaan Haag.
  • [14] ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta.
  • [15] Sitarist Tadao Ishihama, Japan.
  • [16] The Daily Star Newspaper, Bangladesh.
  • [17] Research Database on Alauddin Khan.
  • [18] On Alauddin Khan's students.
  • [19] The Arts, New Age, Bangladesh.
  • [20] MP3.Com
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