In praise of maestros

I was reading an article on an interesting blog called Debating Shastriya Sangeet, which contains some very interesting and well thought out articles - I highly recommend it.

In one post, there was mention made of maestros such as Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and how they allegedly may have compromised their music to enhance their popular appeal.

It made me think about the subject of popular appeal, and why the trio above have been favourites for years. In my opinion, the quality of these musicians is the main reason why they emerged as maestros in the first place - this translates to their unique offer.

In Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma's case, the crystal clear sound of his santoor and the meticulous preparation of his raaga overwhelms any misgivings I have about the santoor's limitations - the sound is so appealing (especially earlier recordings), it can soothe "the heart of a beast".

Ditto in case of Pt. Chaurasia. His simplicity and elegance says it all. He does follow a common set of rules in all his raaga development and after a while, it is possible to predict the next "stanza", so to speak, but again, he conquers all with his unique "sound". When listening to him, I can close my eyes and "float" without encountering "bumps" brought about by some technical jargon thrown into the composition.


In case of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, I consider him to be the most aesthetically pleasing sarod player ever born - his sound is absolulely crystal clear (no wooden muffled strokes), and he manages to traverse octaves without the tell tale change of volume across string changes (I don't know how he does that). He also prefers simplicity and elegance. I remember his Durga composition, which is based on a Khayal masterpiece. (Sa-Sa Re Pa Pa Dha Ma Pa Dha Dha, Dha Pa Ma Re), which loosely fits (Jai Jai Durga Mata Jai Bhavani, Bhavani).

I also remember the stock standard sarod Durga composition, which is full of complicated bol baanta, (Da-dir-dar da da -ra da ra, Da diri diri diri Da ra da da) and doesn't sound appealing at all. In fact, while the "deluded" sarod player is congratulating herself on having "bashed" the "dara diri" out of the poor instrument, the audience simply do not understand and do not care, because it doesn't sound better in the first place.

In case of all three, there is an inherent attractiveness in their music. Fundamentally, their music is "karna priya" or "sounds good". I believe that in music as in other arts and even in science and engineering, the simple elegant solution or offering is always the best. There is no need to wrestle with complicated compositions, raagas and taalas. If you want to do that, go study science or law or something analytical.

This sense of balance is usually missing from most musicians, rendering their offer inadequate. The greatest maestros seem to have this awareness "built in". Lesser musicians miss this point altogether.

Simple raagas, elegant (and original) compositions, popular taalas and music played from the heart - that's all that's required to win audiences over. It sounds simple, but is not very easy. That is why maestros like Pt Sharma, Pt Chaurasia and Ud Khan are not that common.