All language subtitles for Dhrupad (Mani Kaul.82)

I,Fakirullah, a speck in the cosmos,
tell those who delight in music...

....that my humble eyes saw
a book in AD 1670...

...copies of which were made in
the lifetime of its author

It was Maan Kutuhaal

It is said that Dhrupad was patronized
by Raja Mansingh,ruler of Gwalior

Many talented singers were
in his court

The king himself discussed music
with them

Amongst them, Nayak Bakshu...

...and Nayak Pandabiya had come to
Kurukshetra to bathe in the Ganges

Also Mohmood Lohang,of extraordinary
voice, and Nayak Kam

The king was minded...

...that rarely did so many superior
singers gather in one place

Therefore, the form and nature of ragas
should in some way be written

Mansingh Tomar,ruler of Gwalior,
rides outside his fortress

With a sword of music, a shield of
tuned strings, the artist wanders

The great warrior's wits win him
many musical battles

The note: a taut bow
Syllables: true arrows

Their target: ecstasy

The assembly acclaims
the heroic scholar

Where has the rhythm flown?

From the midst of the assembly,
Haridas Dagar declares

Seekers of wisdom, the army of
ignorance is being overwhelmed

In Dhrupad,the syllable must not be
disturbed in the alaap or the pad

For example: one note

Now two notes

Now three

The same notes are divided
in the raaga

Ancient music has two facets

One celebrated nature and existence

The seasons,birth,marriage,death:
life's cycle is a matter of rhythm

The second accompanied
ritual and sacrifice

These two facets inspired the Chandh

In the Magadh empire,tribal
social divisions disintegrated

...replaced by villages and city states

These had an agricultural economy

The village derived from the
first facet of ancient music...

...accompanying agrarian festivals,
birth and marriage

The second facet of ancient music
broke from its original function...

....and developed an independent,
classical tradition in the city states

During the Upanishads and the Brahmanas...

...music was integrated into
a "classical" form

Two important works, Natya Shastra
and Dattilam...

...recorded the birth and
evolution of music

Although mainly about theatre...

...Bharata's Natya Shastra
is a comprehensive study of music

It distinguished Gandharva
and Gaan music...

Gaans, composed of Dhruvs (stanzas),
was linked with theatre

Gandharva, performed in the early evening,
adhered rigourously to classicism

Dattil's Datillam is solely concerned
with Gandharva

It has separate chapters
on notes and rhythms

He created a fortress of sound;
aaroha,avroha,sthayee and antara

With his great precision

...six raagas soar like towers:
their 30 "wives"

Moorchanas and shrutis
are the battlements

The seven notes are seven arches,
their scales are their swinging doors

Cymbals, like cannon fire,
engender a cosmic sound

The Dhrupad quatrain offers
a fourfold challenge

His voice is such, his throat seems
lined with polychrome ichor

Haridas Dagar hails
his master's master

The infinite music jousts
are the gems of wisdom...

...as precious as diamonds and pearls.

Dhrupad came into being
a thousand years ago

It is strongly linked with the
musical forms of 300 BC

A 14th century treatise,
Sangeet Ratnakar,confirms this

Its chapters on Sruthi,Swar,Gram,
Moorchana,Taan,Sadharam Jati...

...Varna,Alankar and Taal indicate
the same classicism...

...as Dhrupad of today

The perception of 2,000 years ago..

...is of great significance
in current usage

As you know, there are many
schools of intepretation

However, even when the same raaga is
performed by a particular gharana..

...different atmospheres are created

Performing in a house or a hall,
for an audience great or small

...creates subtle differences in the rendition
of unwritten Hindusthani music

To predeterminate it is to destroy it

But grasp its range and it is magnificant

Is there a particular way of applying
the shruti for each raga?

Yes,shruti is a tiny sound,
I'll give you an example

-Is that Raga Kambhoji?
-Yes with the note in nishaad

Our family has always had one player,
one theoretician and two singers

Both my grandfathers were singers

The theoretician was Inayat Khan Sahib,
Behram Khan Sahib's grandson

My father and Nasiruddin Khan Sahib
were singers

...and Riyazuddin Khan Sahib
was the theoretician

That was the family tradition

We were taught two ragas
in five years

I learnt Yaman,then Bhairav

I was told I could learn the afternoon
Raga Sarang if i wished

In a moorchana each note achieves
its own octave

This is sa

We get to sa.Now from re

Also from ga to ga,ma to ma,pa to pa,
in ascending and descending order

The word Taan is very old

It is in the Natya Shastra and
the Sangeet Ratnakar

The aakar the khyalis use today
is also called taan

The Dhrupad taan and Khayal taan
are different.This is the Khayal taan

Now the Dhrupad taan.

That's the Dhrupad taan.

In the sthayee antaraa improvisation...

..word patterns must be chiselled,
combined with notes,and set to rhythm

This is the wordless alaap.
In this we have words

There's only a stylistic difference

I'll show you what little I know

Syllables may be tuned differently
in another style

That is the difference.

We practise the Dagarvani style
called Sadharani

A specific place was reserved
for musicians...

...where they sat,played and rested.

In another specific place
the King listened to music...

Recitals and music dialogues
would last four to five hours

There were different places for the
different schools of musicians

They recieved a regular salary

They could practise,teach their
children,live well

But,suddenly,the feudal states
were abolished

Some musicians moved to Bombay
others moved to Delhi or Calcutta

Behram Khan went to King Bahadur
Shah Zafar

Then he went to Rana Ranjit Singh's,
in Lahore,as the Rana's teacher

He recieved many titles and
had many students

Among them were Gokibai and Alyapoot

Also Chajookhan and Hyder Khan Der

Hyder Baksh, who played the sarangi
was also Behram Khan's student

He had other students,including
Akbar Khan and his own son

Both my grandfathers were his students

On his way back from Patiala,
Behram Khan came to Alwar

When Maharaji Ramsingh of Jaipur heard
that the great scholar was in Alwar...

...he gave him land and a salary
so that he could live in Jaipur

From there,both my grandfathers
came to Udaipur

As long as the states existed

...we lived together discussing
everything together

When the states were abolished
we went different ways

When we meet now,we have
the same discussions

Through these discussions
we have kept Dhrupad alive

Some abandoned Dhrupad for Khayal;
others became players or gave up

Most Dhrupadiyas lived within a state

Few outside that state were
familiar with their music

Now Dhrupad is being propogated,
there are many conferences about it

And people are becoming interested
in the schools of ancient instruments