Very few musicians like Bismillah Khan reach level of poetry in music: Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Sarod exponent Ustad Amjad Ali Khan believes there are some classical musicians who get into the grammar of music, others connect with its literature, but there are very few like shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan who can reach the level of poetry in their music.

Khan was given the Bismillah Khan Samman at Yaad-e-Bismillah on August 20, an event organised by his disciple Soma Ghosh to commemorate the legacy of the shehnai legend, at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

Khan remembered the renowned shehnai player as a "kind, gracious, and a colourful musician".

"It's a great honour when we receive awards like the Ustad Bismillah Khan sahib or any award in the name of great masters, great musicians. It is very satisfying. It is the greatest honour. So, I am very happy and I am very honoured to receive this award," Khan told PTI in an interview. He added that Bismillah Khan's music went beyond grammar and literature to reach the realm of poetry.

"He was a very colourful musician. His music was colourful because many classical musicians get involved with the grammar. Some get involved with the literature but very few musicians come to the level of poetry like him," the 79-year-old said.

Khan also recalled performing with the shehnai legend and remembered the failed opportunity to collaborate for the first time with Bismillah Khan 50 years ago.

"Once we were in Patna for the Durga Puja, that was about maybe 50 years back. And the first time we met, there were some technical problems of tuning the instruments, but somehow we tuned and we decided to perform. But that night, there was such a big storm and rain, the concert got cancelled," Khan said.

The duo could perform together after 30 years of that incident in a concert at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi that was attended by 10,000 people.

Sharing an anecdote from the 1970s, Khan said that Bismillah Khan once had a spiritual moment during his sarod recital.

"Pandit Ravi Shankar used to do a festival in Banaras. So, I was playing sarod at around 3 or 4 in the morning. There was a big audience and Ustad Bismillah Khan sahab was also sitting there. He told me this story after a month. He said, 'when you were playing, it was time for my prayer. Now, I was stuck that should I sit or go to pray?' He said, 'you played so well, the effect of the melody was so great that I kept sitting and thought that God is melody'," he said.

When asked about the spiritual dimension of music, something Bismillah Khan was known to embody, Khan reflected on the connection between the divine nature of sound and its connection to God.

"Connection is through music. The sound of the whole world, which is called 'Naad Brahma'. Through the sound, we feel connected to God. So, conversation, recitation, chanting, singing, they are all part of music. So, we worship God through our sound. Some people worship through words, we worship without words," he said.

Khan also added how Bismillah Khan elevated the shehnai from a traditional wedding instrument to a centrepiece of classical music performances.

"In earlier days, they used to make shehnai players sit on the third floor in all the weddings and parties because they didn't want a lot of noise. But the shehnai of Ustad Bismillah Khan sahib and his personality slowly brought Shehnai on stage. And he not played shehnai on stage but also in front of the microphone. And he played Shehnai in such a way that it echoed in films as well," he said.

The event also saw a classical music performance by vocalist Soma Ghosh, shehnai players Lokesh Anand, Afaq Bismillah Khan, and Zakir Hussain. PTI COR MAH MAH