Listening to Ustad Faiyaz Khan's renditions of Raaga Ramkali - Part 4 of 4
- Anagha Bhat
- Jan 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 16
Image 04 - Ustad Faiyaz Khan in a concert 1
Most of what we have of Ustad Faiyaz Khan’s renditions of Raaga Ramkali comes to us in fragments.
The recording quality of most tracks remains poor or, at best, average, and most versions are incomplete. And despite these limitations, what has survived offers a goldmine of musical insight.
These tracks allow us to witness different facets of Khan sahab’s genius , each rendition of Ramkali standing out for a different reason.
Here, I have considered four Ramkali recordings from the archive .
Track 1
The first recording is a short, roughly seven-minute piece that includes a brief alaap and a khayal bandish, “Un sang laagi”, in drut teentaal.
As with many of Khan sahab’s recordings, one notices how the core of the raaga is established in under two minutes.
This could only have come from a deep clarity of the raaga and an instinctive sense of time.
Yet again, there is almost no reliance on unusual melodic combinations.
At times this is achieved with great subtlety, as heard around 1.50 min, and at other times through a shift from from subtle to bold statements, as heard between 4.05 – 4.08 min.
He adds layers of meaning to the bandish through different modulations, without ever over-dramatising it.
His renditions of “Unsang laage” are a hallmark of the level of mastery he had over kehen. It would seem as if he dismantled / unfolded a bandish in the most graceful way, looking at each and every part intently, before setting it back into place with so much care and intention.
One senses this clearly in this recording, he seems to churn out every ounce of bhaav through kehen alone.
Pt. Babanrao Haldankar, in his writings on the aesthetics of Agra gayaki 2 , points out that the Agra gayaki employs both the grace of musical phrasing through skilful choice of words, and the equally refined art of pronunciation.
One hears a softer articulation, a gentle and slightly delayed landing on most hard consonants. Further he writes that the pronunciation of a letter should sound as if it has evolved from a note, and not merely from prose.
A better-quality four-minute recording of the same bandish bears testimony to this, while also revealing Khan sahab’s powerful and precise taankaari at around 2.21 min.
His taans were not about speed alone - even in his later recordings, which do not capture their full scope, one hears their precision, gamak-laden strength, and the clarity with which they bring the raaga to the foreground.
Track 2
Track 3
Moving to a slightly longer recording , of around seventeen minutes, consisting largely of a nom-tom alaap, followed by a short khayal bandish, “Sagari rain jaage”, in Madhyalaya teentaal.
The recording seems to start from mid alaap section that is in its second stage, Khan sahab employs his signature pukaar here.
This nom-tom alaap particularly highlights the different laya patterns he creates, with much of the movement centred around Sa’, using seemingly straightforward, alankaarik shorter phrases, and completing them with long, sweeping statements.
Around 6.00 min, one almost feels that this Ramkali is being built entirely around the axis of Sa’, with laghulaya constantly at play.
The quality of the recording does not capture the full scope of the gamak-laden faster phrases around 6.50 min, but one can still sense their force.
At one point, he creates a complete section using only the phrases dha–Sa’ and Re’–Sa’.
He builds Sa’, reinforces it, adds pukaar and then, around 9.30 min, seems to cover the entire span of the raaga through a broad avaroha , almost like a synopsis.
Faster sentences follow around 9.45 min, some shaped through a hold-and-release pattern, and just when one begins to feel him bound by a quicker pulse, there is a shift into a slower tempo around 10.16 min.
Throughout this alaap, he keeps using the same phrases, but internally structuring them into micro-patterns of twos, threes, and fours, each time reorganised differently, as heard around 12.00 min.
Track 4
The last recording considered here is a fifteen-minute AIR Delhi broadcast featuring an alaap followed by a dhamaar in Ramkali. There is an outpouring of emotion from the very beginning.
As with the earlier longer recording, the opening of the nom-tom is missing, leaving one to imagine how expansive it might have been.
At 1.17 min, Khan sahab uses phrases with a higher shade of komal Rishabh.
At 2.45 min, he goes as high as the upper octave pancham, at which point the very effective vocal support on Sa’ feels so strong that it almost sounds like a tanpura in itself.
Powerful gamaks between 4.41–5.06 min create a cascading effect of sapaat taans.
Again, at 6.20 min, an entire section unfolds using only Sa’ and laghulaya variations.
However, what stands out most in this recording is the treatment of layakaari in the dhamaar. While many recordings capture Khan sahab’s brilliance in nom-tom alaap and bandish’s kehen , this one reveals his command over bol-baant and his play with just the mukhda, from around 11.20 min onwards, along with his precision in handling laghulaya within a highly structured framework of a dhamaar.
It is particularly interesting that from around 3.30 min until the very end, he almost entirely does not use the signature ma’–pa–dha–ni–dha–pa phrase, and yet the core of Ramkali remains firmly intact.
Despite differences in length and format, each rendition feels so complete with the quick establishment of the core of the raaga, the judicious use of musical elements , and an unforced command over laya, sur, and bhaav.
In the context of Ramkali, Pt. B. R. Deodhar ji 3 makes an interesting point. He notes:
“Musicians, who concentrate on alapi, favour such well-known raaga-s as Todi, Asavari, Multani, Miya-Malhar, Yaman, Puria, Darbari-Kanada. But Khan Sahib had mastered Nom Thom even in raaga-s, such as Ramkali, Desi, Sindura, Barwa, Khat, Megh-Malhar, Maluha-Kedar. He had received such excellent training in delineating the specific note placement in a raaga, and its minute details, that, with the very start of the Nom Thom, he could convey the entire outline of a raaga.”
We are fortunate that these recordings even exist ! We can only feel grateful to all who preserved and shared them, allowing us the rare privilege of hearing Khan sahab today.
Refer here for a full list of References used.
An Archival photo of Legendary Hindustani Classical Vocalist Aftab-e-Mausiqui Ustad Faiyaz Khan Saheb singing with all his medals embedded on his coat. Legendary Tabla Maestro Ustad Karmatullah Khan accompanied him on Tabla and Pandit Hanmantrao Walvekar (Dharwad) accompanying him on Harmonium. This rare photo is from the Dyodhi - Champanagar Music Festival held in 1942- Source HCMAE Facebook Page.
Haldankar, Srikrishna. Aesthetics of Agra and Jaipur Traditions. Popular Prakashan, 2001
Comments