A decade of Swara Samrat festival

Published: 28th Jul, 2022

Context

The 10th edition of Swara Samrat festival is being celebrated as a centennial of sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

About

About the event

Swara Samrat festival (also known as SSF) is a four-day annual mega festival of Indian classical music and dance.
This festival is the brainchild of Sarod maestro Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, his wife, Manasi Majumder and their son Indrayuddh Majumder.
The festival is dedicated to Swara Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
It generally held during the winters in Kolkata, India. This event is going to be for the year 2020-21.This year it will be organised in Delhi.
Awards are given for both Musicand

Swara Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

Ali Akbar Khan was born in Shibpur, a small hamlet in present-day Bangladesh, on April 14, 1922 to Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan and Madina Begum.
Ali Akbar Khan (known more familiarly as Khansahib) was regarded as a “musician’s musician.”
He was the master of the sarod (a 25-stringed, fretless instrument), in the Maihar gharana (ancestral tradition), and was known for his incredible breadth of artistry and knowledge.

Some major Awards

In 2018, SSF honored Janaab Abul Khair Litu (Chairman, Bengal Foundation, Bangladesh) with the SSF Lifetime Achievement Award for his enormous contribution to the propagation, promotion and facilitation of proper training of Indian Classical Music & Dance as well as other forms of Arts across Bangladesh.
In 2019–20, Pandit Vijay Kichlu, an eminent musician, musicologist, music producer and founder of ITC Sangeet Research Academy was honoured with the SSF Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong contribution to the entire fraternity of Indian classical music and dance across India and abroad.

Hindustani Classical Music

Hindustani music is one of the two principal types of South Asian classical music.
(The other principal type, Karnatak music, is found in the Dravidian-speaking region of southern India.)
It is found mainly in the northern three-fourths of the subcontinent, where Indo-Aryan languages are spoken.
The roots of Hindustani Music is traced to the emergence of Dhrupad & Dhamar. It further developed into Vocal & Instrumental Streams.
Further emergence of Khayal from Dhrupad as a result of influence of the Mughal Kingdom, Classical Music underwent a change in character, moving from Temples to the Courts.
Names like Miyan Tansen have been one of the greatest influence on the Hindustani Style.
Instruments: The most prominent instruments of Hindustani music are the
Sitar (a long-necked fretted lute with about 30 melodic, drone, and sympathetic strings)
Sarod (a short-necked unfretted lute with sympathetic and drone strings)
Sarangi (a bowed fiddle)
Shehnai(an oboe like wind instrument)
table (a set of two drums played by one musician, the right-hand drum carefully tuned)
tambura(a large long-necked lute with four strings, used only to play the supporting drone, a single repeated chord)

Styles of Singing

Various styles of singing in the North Indian Style are Dhrupad, Khayal, Thumri, Tarana and Tappa.

Dhrupad: The most ancient form. "Dhruva" means fixed & "Pada" means text.
Khayal: The most popular form of singing at present, 'Khayal', an urdu word means imagination.
Thumri: A Form of light Classical Music, developed during the later part of the Mughal rule, Thumri allows for extreme flexibility and freedom.
Tarana: Like khayal, tarana has sthayi & antara but difference lies that it uses syllables like nadir, tanana, yalali etc.
Tappa: Also a form of light Classical Music, it originates from Punjab and is richly ornamental, with quick turn of phrases and incessant volleys of Taans emerging from each word, in a swinging rhythm.

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