By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
“Music,” Indian sarod master Amjad Ali Khan said, “is the greatest wealth that I inherited from my forefathers, one that I am constantly sharing with the world.”
“I believe in blessings and hard work,” Khan continued, during a recent interview with the Northwest Asian Weekly. “We can only do our best and leave the rest to the power up there. Music for me is a way of life. It’s not a profession but a passion.”
Khan will perform with his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 21. He sat down with the Northwest Asian Weekly to discuss his life, career, and—above all—music.
Amjad Ali Khan, center, and his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash (left) and Ayaan Ali Bangash (right). Courtesy of Amjad Ali Khan.
As the youngest son of music master Haafiz Ali Khan, Khan grew up saturated in the family tradition, and began his own public performances around the age of 6.
“I cannot remember a particular day that I was initiated into the world of music. It was a part of me from as early as I can remember,” Khan said. “Indeed, I cannot think of a moment when music has been separated from my life. My father lived for music.”
“For my father,” Khan continued, “there was no question of a life outside music. Life itself was music and music was life. Since my childhood, I always wanted my instrument, the sarod, to express the entire range of human emotions—to sing, shout, whisper, and cry.”
Khan also spoke of the sarod’s importance in the history of Indian music.
“Although we automatically assume Indian music and its instruments to be ancient, the sarod is one example of an instrument that evolved from other structurally similar Indian and Afghan lutes, around the middle of the nineteenth century,” Khan explained. “The sarod as we know [it] today traces its genealogy and origin back to the rabab of yore.”
All music, Khan said, evolves due to factors that make the music a “sociological reality rather than simply an aesthetic function. So it was with the rabab, the folk instrument of ancient Afghanistan, Persia, and several other countries, each with a variation giving it an identity of its own.”
But how did the sarod become the instrument Khan and other sarod musicians play today?
“The Pathan Bangash family, who were from Central Asia, pioneered the task, and contributed to the evolution of the present day sarod,” Khan said. “It was the quest of Ghulam Bandegi Khan Bangash for something more that resulted in the modification of the rabab with certain additions.”
One of the biggest changes, Khan said, was the new element of melody, which was largely made possible by the addition of a metal chest on the instrument’s fingerboard, as well as metal strings instead of strings made of animal guts. This concept of melody led to the name, “sarod,” which literally means “melody” in Persian, Khan said. Ghulam Bandegi Khan Bangash’s son further refined the instrument into its more modern form.
Khan feels that music connects the world, and that music can even be found within, in the beating of one’s heart.
“The heartbeat is an indication of rhythm and what we speak; conversation, recitation, chanting, and singing, all part of music,” Khan said. “Musicians and listeners of music have been communicating with each other across all barriers through this ‘language’ from time immemorial. Musical vibrations can convey moods and emotions, and have the ability to mold and shape our consciousness.”
Khan said that, as he sees it, current modern ethos encourages children to act like emotionless automatons. But through music, humanity can continue to cultivate a sense of kindness and compassion, he said.
Asked about his most memorable concerts over the years, Khan said that there were “too many to state! [My] most memorable ones were perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize concert and the concert for United Nations (UN) Day at the UN Assembly Hall—and of course so many more.”
“Indian classical musicians improvise,” he added, “and whatever performance takes place on the stage cannot be repeated again.”
Amjad Ali Khan performs with his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, on Feb. 21 at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts.