Allauddin Khan

From Freepedia

Allauddin Khan (Bangla: ওস্তাদ আলাউদ্দীন খান, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan) (1862-1972) was a Indian classical musician and one of the greatest music teachers of the twentieth century. A master in the instrument called Sarod, Ustad Alauddin Khan is also famous for being the Guru of Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Ali Akbar Khan (Allauddin's son) and numerous other influencial musicians. He himself was a disciple of many great musicians, most importantly the legendary Wazir Khan. Allauddin Khan was born in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.

1 Early life and musical education
2 Sarod education
3 Maihar Gharana
4 Ragas created by Allauddin Khan
5 Films
6 External link

Early life and musical education

At the age of ten, Khan ran away from home to join a Jatra band. Jatra is an ancient Bengali form of theater. This experience exposed him to the rich folk tradition of Bengal. After some time, he went to Kolkata, and accepted Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya, alias Nulo Gopal, as his Guru. He committed to practise vocal recitals under him for twelve years. Howverm Nulo Gopal died of plague after the seventh year. Khan became a disciple of Amritalal Dutt, with the goal of becoming an instrumentalist.

Sarod education

Alauddin Khan got interested in sarod after listening to Ustad Ahmed Ali Khan. He took lessons from him on sarod for five years. His next step was to go to Rampur to take lessons from Ustad Wazir Khan, the court musician of the Nawab of Rampur. Wazir Khan was a descendent of the great Tansen. Alauddin mastered the difficult skill of the Sen Gharana (Tansen school). He later became the court musician of the Maharaja of Maihar Estate in Central Province.

Maihar Gharana

It is during his time in the court of Maihar that Allauddin Khan reshaped the Maihar Gharana (Maihar School) of Indian classical music. Maihar Gharana was established in the 19th century, but Khan contribution was so fundamental that he is often thought to be the creator of the School. In this gharana, Instruments are played on the classical structure of the raga, but with a preference for composite ragas, this music consists of a first part of pure improvisation, the alap, then of one or two compositions accompanied by the tabla. In the second part the musicians develop various forms of improvisation on the notes of the composition and on the tal (the division of the rhythm cycle).