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A
Tribute to Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009)
"An absolute genius...the
greatest musician in the world" -Yehudi Menuhin
Ali Akbar Khan was one of the
most accomplished Indian classical musicians. Considered a "National Living
Treasure" in India, he was admired by both Eastern and Western musicians for
his brilliant compositions and his mastery of the sarode (a beautiful,
25-stringed Indian instrument). Concert violinist the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin
called Ali Akbar Khan, "An absolute genius...the greatest musician in the
world," and many have considered him the "Indian Johann Sebastian
Bach."
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's family
traces its gharana (ancestral tradition) to Mian Tansen, a 16th century musical
genius and court musician of Emperor Akbar. Ali Akbar Khan's father, the late
Padma Vibhusan Acharya Dr. Allauddin Khan, was acknowledged as the greatest
figure in North Indian music in this century.
Born in 1922 in East Bengal
(Bangladesh), Ali Akbar Khan (Khansahib) began his studies in music at the age
of three. He studied vocal music from his father and drums from his uncle, Fakir
Aftabuddin. His father also trained him on several other instruments, but
decided finally that he must concentrate on the sarode and on vocal. For over
twenty years, he trained and practiced 18 hours a day. After that, his father
continued to teach Khansahib until he was over 100 years old, and left behind
such a wealth of material that Khansahib felt he was still learning new things
from it in old age. Since his father's death in 1972, Khansahib continued his father's
tradition, that of the Sri Baba Allauddin Seni Gharana of Maihar and Rampur,
India.
Ali Akbar Khan gave his first
public performance in Allahabad at age thirteen. In his early twenties, he made
his first recording in Lucknow for the HMV label, and the next year, he became
the court musician to the Maharaja of Jodhpur. He worked there for seven years
until the Maharaja's untimely death. The state of Jodhpur bestowed upon him his
first title, that of Ustad, or Master Musician. Many years later, he received
the title of Hathi Saropao and Dowari Tajeem at the Jodhpur Palace's Golden
Jubilee Celebraton in 1993.
At the request of Lord Menuhin,
Ali Akbar Khan first visited the United States in 1955 and performed an
unprecedented concert at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He also made the
first Western LP recording of Indian classical music, and the first television
performance of Indian music, on Allistair Cooke's Omnibus, sowing the seed for
the wave of popularity of Indian music in the 1960's.
Khansahib founded the Ali Akbar
College of Music in Calcutta, India, in 1956. Later, recognizing the
extraordinary interest and abilities of his Western students, he began teaching
in America in 1965. In 1967, he founded the Ali Akbar College of Music, which
moved to Marin County, California, the following year. He currently maintains a
teaching schedule of 6 classes a week for 9 months of the year. Khansahib also
opened a branch of his college in Basel, Switzerland, run by his disciple Ken
Zuckerman, where he taught yearly during his world tour. Ali Akbar Khan
continued to tour extensively in Asia, Europe, The Netherlands, Australia,
Canada, and the United States.
Khansahib has composed and
recorded music for films throughout his career. He composed extensively in India
beginning with "Aandhiyan" by Chetan Anand (1953) and went on to
create music for "House Holder" by Ivory/Merchant (their first film),
"Khudita Pashan" (or "Hungry Stone") for which he won the
"Best Musician of the Year" award, "Devi" by Satyajit Ray,
and, in America, "Little Buddha" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
1997 was a landmark year for Ali
Akbar Khan. In February, he was the second recipient to receive the Asian Paints
Shiromani Award - Hall of Fame, following filmmaker Satyajit Ray. He celebrated
his 75th birthday in April and AACM's 30th anniversary in June. In August, the
Indian Embassy requested Khansahib to perform at the United Nations in New York
and at Kennedy Center in Washington DC; both performances were in celebration of
the 50th year of India's Independence. In September, Ali Akbar Khan was chosen
to receive the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National
Endowment for the Arts. It was presented by Mrs. Hillary Clinton at a ceremony
in the White House.
When Ali Akbar Khan first received
the title of Ustad as a relatively young man, his father merely laughed. But
later, when the patriarch was a centenarian, he told his son one day that he was
very proud of him: "I am so pleased with your work in music that I will do
something which is very rare. As your Guru and father, I am giving you a title,
Swara Samrat (Emperor of Melody)." Khansahib felt most fortunate to have
received this blessing from his father, mother, and uncle.
Links:
Discography
& Releases
Official
Web Site
The Ali Akbar Khan Foundation
The Ali Akbar College of Music
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