Event Reviews

Discerning connoisseurs and musicians, who apprehended the impending demise of the dhrupad mode of classical melodic expression were pleasantly surprised by excellent performances of Ustad Wasifuddin, an inveterate practitioner of this genre at a Five-Star hotel in Lahore by the middle of last month. An exposure to his soulful rendition of ragas Lalit Gauri and Behag convincingly belied the notion that this "worn-out" mode would soon get out of circulation and become a thing of the past. Soaked in mellifluous voice his performance created an enduring impact on the votaries of art music.

Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar is a superb artiste and a master craftsman. His masterly delineation of the themes of ragas in the dhrupad style of singing was mellismatically knitted within the prescribed scalar limits of asthai-antaras, which were so absorbing and pleasing to the ears that they created pin-drop silence in the hall, enabling the attendees at the concert to enjoy every minute of it. In an environment that was congenial to the creation of an excellent listening experience, the visiting Indian classicist demonstrated the best of his performing skill and enviable melodic prowess.

An artiste dedicated to perfection, Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar hails from a family of famous professional singers, whose endless efforts to prevent dhurpad, one of the oldest modes of melodic expression, from being pushed into historical oblivion have resulted in the rejuvenation of this sophisticated vocal art. This illustrious gharana of Muslim musicians has over two hundred years produced such luminaries as Zia Moinuddin, Naseer Aminuddin, Nasser Zahairuddin and Nasser Fiazuddin besides Wasifuddin Dagar. One of his ancestors, Behram Khan, said the maestro while claiming his ancestral roots in the Punjab, was employed in the court of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in Lahore in the early 19th century.

Gifted with a rich voice of uniform timbre and effortlessly maneuverable within three octaves, Wasifuddin did not overdo a thing during his performance. Critically analyzed, his alap was perfect, his elaboration of raga themes was excellent and his use and manipulations of the two taals (time measures -chautaala and Asool-e-Fakhta) for raga Lalit Gauri compositions were simply impeccable. All these essential ingredients of dhrupad style of singing flowed with effortless ease throughout his renditions that brimmed with grace, depth and liveliness. He handled the intricate melodic phrases in a complicated raga composition with the same ease, verve and grace that were the hallmark of his asthai-antaras in raga Lalita Gauri and Behag in two different taals. .

In both these ragas, the same perfect commingling of sense, words and music were starkly discernible even for uncultivated listeners. His expositions of ragas were surcharged with melodic excellence of the highest quality. In tempo and movements, with all the subtleties and complexities of natural changes, they seemed to beat in consonance with the mysterious stir manifest in listeners' responses and gestures. The consummate skill with which the visiting artiste elaborated the step-by-step progression of the themes of the ragas were felt and applauded by his musically enlightened Lahore audiences

Dhrupad is a grand old style of devotional music. It has a free masculine character and in selected taal - Asool Fakhta, Chautala and Dhammar, it requires a good command of the breath. As the saying goes, the man who has the strength of five buffaloes should dare sing dhurpad. The salient features of Dagarbani style of dhurpad, one of the four in vogue, are: the correct enunciation of notes; chaste rendering of compositions traversing in an unbroken run in three octaves, the use of gammak (trill) and meend (glide from an upper melodic note to the lower) given to musical phrases; the perfect sense of time; the rare degree of aesthetic sensibility and a feel for the invocation in its lyrical component. All these essential inputs were abundantly evident in the performances of Ustad Waifuddin Dagar.

In this style, a vocalist begins singing dhurpad with an alap in the middle or lower octaves without lyrics or rhythmic accompaniment. This is followed by a composition, which has poetic content and is accompanied by Pakhawaj, a single-barrel drum. Once the asthai-antara has been completely recited, the vocalist follows it with a dramatic improvisation known as bole-baant, where the words are used in increasingly complex rhythmic patterns. Gradually, the tempo becomes faster and the melody goes on to the upper ranges. Not too long ago, dhurpad compositions had four parts: asthai, antara; sanchaari and abhog. The sanchaari and abhog components, which have musical characters of the first two parts but are slightly more complex, are no more used. Dhurpad compositions are mostly set to Chautal (4+2+2+2) time measure.

In the domain of dhurpad singing, it remains an indisputable fact that the followers of Dagarbani gharana traditions did reach the pinnacle of glory and acquired such high level of excellence that has hitherto remained unsurpassed by anyone in the fraternity of musicians.

The dhrupad style of singing was pre-eminent during the reign of Emperor Akbar and the majority of vocalists in his court, including Mian Taansen, came from Gwalior, presumably following the tradition created by Raja Maan Singh (1486-1516), who was responsible for adding some new innovations in this robust form of vocalization.

Before making his presentation Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar claimed that his music was completely devotional in nature and was treated as a vital part of meditation and worship. In his opinion, it was the shortest way to deliverance from mundane needs. "The sur", he explained, "is so light and elusive that it cannot be seen much less touched as is the case with spoken words; it can only be felt. Therefore, we treat it with much respect and sacrosanct element of worship".

The two systems of music, the Western harmonic and the Oriental melodic are so fundamentally divergent that any attempt at making a fusion of these two systems will result in the destruction of their fine points and better virtues. This is the opinion of a majority of enlightened connoisseurs and professional musicians, which was substantiated by the performances of Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, creating a feeling of serene exaltation, bordering on ethereal precincts.

During his tour of Pakistan, which was sponsored by the Indian Embassy in Islamabad Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar first performed in Islamabad (December 12-13), later in Lahore (December 14-15) and then in Karachi (December 16-17).