Good News is consisted of successful sitar player Anwar Khurshid and a younger generation tabla player Arshad Khan Thirakwa. Anwar Khurshid explains his music with his words:
“I emphasize the following concepts in my music: The perception of divinity, how divinity exists in different forms like a storm—above the waves in an ocean on the surface, but peace, calm, serenity, tranquility, depth are left unstirred at the bottom of an ocea. How there are veils that don’t allow us to see divinity such as indulgence in material goods, alcohol, sex, land, money, power, ego, and even like some priests whose pride of one’s own connection with God can cloud the view. It is these veils that we must shed to see divinity clearly. The music aims to describe these concepts.”
Group Members
Anwar Khurshid
Anwar’s interest in music began at an early age. He learnt vocal music and performed on stage very early on. He began teaching himself flute at the age of ten. In a few short years and under the guidance of Ustad Arif Jaffery, Anwar began performing live for Peshawar radio station. In 1980, he began formal study of sitar under the tutelage of the late Ustad Nasirudin. In 1985, after Ustad Nasirudin passed away, Anwar Khurshid began studying Tabla under Ustad Muhammad Tufail Khan. Over the next four years, Khurshid would develop the strong background in tabla and keen sense of rhythm which is evident in his sitar playing to this day. He reverently recognizies Ustad Qazi Zahoor ul Haq, Ustad Zahid Farani, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Ghulam Hyder Khan as major influences on his music. Currently he resides in Toronto and is the director of Sitar School of Toronto. He has performed in many countries and on various occasions. You can find more information about Anwar and the sitar school at www.sitarschool.com
Arshad Khan Thirakwa
Arshad Khan is one of the well known tabla players of India in the younger generation. He was initiated to tabla at the age of four under his uncle Ustad Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa and he is the grandson of the legendary tabla maestro late Padma Bushan Ustad Ahmed Jaan Thirakwa Khan Sahib. Representing the fifth generation of his family, Arshad has been vibrantly keeping his tradition alive by developing his own unique style of Tabla playing which comprises various Gharanas, namely Delhi, Purab, Farukhabad, Ajrara, Punjab and Banaras. His style is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity founded in formidable knowledge and study. Arshad is very competent in solo as well as a reliable accompanist for instruments and vocal music. He has performed nationwide and in several countries; and has accompanied a number of great artists including Pundit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pundit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Ghulam Ali, Farida Parveen, Ghulam Abbas. He was awarded the Youth National award by the Navyug Youth Cultural Association, New Delhi being the young artist of the year 2005-06. More information about him is available in his website at www.arshadtabla.com
Anwar and Arshad would like to thank to Dr. Lowell Lybarger, Dr. David Courtney and Mr. Saqip Razaq for their valuable contributions to the Hindustani musical heritage and for permitting the use of their work for the compilation of the texts in this booklet.
Indian Classical Music
Classical music of the Indian subcontinent has a rich history of being one the most developed expressions of our cultural heritage. Its foundations pre-cede 5000 years, going back to the ancient Indus civilization. Many instruments such as harps, flutes and percussion instruments were found during the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, the centres of the Indus valley situated in present day Sindh, Pakistan.
The earliest form of Indian music was based on chants or recitation of hymns, found in scriptures or Vedas, the earliest of which were the Rig Veda and Sama Veda. The music of the Vedic era was of a simple nature, yet it retained a systematic order, the basis of which is still in existence today. The earliest musical treatise, the Natya Shastra was written 2000 years ago and gave details on dance, vocal and instrumental music. The next important treatises on music of the early period were the Brihaddeshi and Sangeet Ratnakar.
Sarangdev’s Sangeet Ratnakar was written at the end of the 12th century and gave valuable information on the state of music before the coming of the Muslims. The text revealed the progression of Indian music since the Vedic era. Prabandhas had now replaced the Vedas, different scales (raags) were being used and the text also included a detailed description of musical instruments. The music was still firmly rooted in religion and often performed in temples as part of worship rituals.
Indian music underwent several innovative changes after the advent of Muslim rule beginning from the late 11th century. Islamic influence brought in its wake a changed perspective in the style and structure of Indian music, which over the course of time evolved to become a unique blend of Hindu and Muslim traditions. This unique synthesis resulted in the creation of new raags and musical genres such as qawwali, tarana, khayal and thumri. Instruments such as the rabab, sarod, sitar, tabla, santoor and naqqara were developed and introduced into the Indian fold.
The first encounter of Indian music with Muslims was through Sufi saints who were attracted by traditional Hindu temple music. Sensing that music was an essential feature of the daily lives of the local inhabitants, Sufis used music to spread the message of Islam across to the populace of India. Many Sufi saints such, foremost being Hazrat Amir Khusrau, held regular sessions of sama or qawwali at their khanqahs to propagate Islam to the masses.
Instruments
Sitar
The myth about sitar is that it was conceived by Hazrat Amir Khusro, the sufi saint and a disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi, who fashioned it from the Persian instrument Setar. It has since then become an instrument to play devotional and mystic music. Sitar is perhaps the most well known of the Indian instruments. It is a long necked instrument with an interesting construction. Anwar’s Sitar has 17 strings. These are, two playing strings, four drone strings and eleven resonating strings. The instrument is generally to tuned to the first, fourth and fifth note of a scale. These strings are plucked with a wire finger plectrum called mizrab or zakhma. There are also a series of sympathetic strings lying under the frets. These strings are almost never played but they vibrate whenever the corresponding note is sounded. The frets are metal rods which have been bent into crescents. The main resonator is usually made of a gourd and there is sometimes an additional resonator attached to the neck. The sitar developed during the collapse of the Moghul empire (circa 1700). It reflected the culture of the times in that it showed both Indian and Persian characteristics.
Tabla
Tabla is one of the most prominent drums in our globalized musical world. The tabla consists of two drums, the dayan (right) which is made of wood and the bayan (left), made of metal. The playing surface consists of goat skin and a black spot (siyahi) made of iron shavings and glue. The instrument possesses a wide array of sounds. Depending on where one places the fingers and strikes the drum, different types of sounds are produced. These sounds are related with some onomatopoeic syllables, called “bol”s, that are spoken and used to represent actual drum strokes. A great variety of bol-s are available for performance which form a drum language. A few examples, from simple to complex are: dha, dhin, tirakita, dhagetirakita, titekatagadigena, dhatrikadhetetekatagadigenadha, ad infinitum….
Please visit www.sadarang.com for more information on sitar, tabla and Hindustani music.
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