The Dhrupad of the Dagar Bani

Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar Ustad
and
Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar

Dhrupad is a genre pertaining to the classical tradition of Northern Indian. It came out of the XV century characterized as devotional music. Originally, the dhrupad was a vocal form practiced among the congregations of followers of the god Vishnu. The practice of the dhrupad was handed down from the few musical families know as the gharana, who jealously guarded the transmission. The Khan Dagar family is the longest-living family that the history of Indian music recollects. Throughout the centuries, the Khan family took pride in preserving the particular performance style of the dhrupad: the Dagar Bani, one of the four medieval styles in which the dhrupad was anciently performed.



Il Dhrupad, termine derivato da "dhruva" (fisso) e "pada" (verso) è un genere vocale e strumentale appartenente alla tradizione classica dell’India del nord. La pratica del dhrupad è stata tramandata fino ad oggi all’interno di pochissime famiglie di musicisti (chiamate gharana) le quali ne hanno gelosamente custodito la trasmissione: tra queste il Dagar gharana è la più antica e la più nota. La musica dei Dagar è immediatamente riconoscibile per la cura del suono vocale, nelle sue infinite sfumature espressive che si stemperano nell’esecuzione di lunghi e intensi alap. Attualmente il dhrupad vive una fase di rinascita ed è considerato dalla musicologia indiana e occidentale un campo di enorme interesse: per la pratica del nada yoga (yoga del suono), per le raffinate tecniche vocali e, soprattutto, per l’esposizione dei raga in base ai principi dell’estetica classica indiana.

Albums

CD 1
Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar Ustad

The recording has been made in New Delhi on May 2002 and it performed by Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar , the only son of Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar. The master was born in 1927 in Alwar where his father resided as a court musician for the local sovereignty. On this recording the pakhawaj player is Pandit Dalchand Sharma, disciple of Acharya Pandit Totaram Sharma and of the famous maestro Purushottam Das.
sample

CD 2
Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar
 
Unfortunately, there is scarce documentation of musical activity of Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar, often recorded with non-professional equipment, therefore never having guaranteed a decent sound recording. Part of this patrimony is in the hands of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar, his only son and disciple, to whom we can thank for the possibility of publishing the present recordings of Raga Asavari and Darbari Kanara. The recordings were performed to the beginning of the 70's in the occasion of private concerts in the house of Laxmi Narayan Pitti, a businnessman of Bombay. Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar performed accompanied by the pakhawaj of Pandit Gopal Das, and on the vina by the young Ustad Asad Ali Khan. .
sample

 

credits & samples

CD 1
tracklist

1. Raga Malkauns, mangalacharan, alap and dhrupad chautal, Jajati Jajati Shri Ganesh
2. Raga Adana, alap and dhrupad sadra (jhaptal), Darat Lanka Belanka
3. Raga Bhairavi, Krishna sloka alap and dhrupad teora, Jagat Janani Jvala Mukhi

credits
Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar
Dhrupad singing
Pandit Dalchand Sharma
Pakhawaj
Francesca Cassio
Tanpura

CD 2
tracklist

1. Raga Asavari, alap vilambit
2. Raga Asavari, alap nom tom madhya and drut
3. Raga Asavari, dhrupad chautal "Ayo jit hi
4. Raga Asavari, dhrupad sultal, Ana sunai bansuri Kanha
5. Raga Darbari Kanara, dhrupad chautal, Mridang or vina sangha

credits
Ustad Allabande Rahimuddin Khan Dagar
Dhrupad singing
Pandit Purushottam Das
Pakhawaj
Ustad Asad Ali Khan
Vina


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