Ustad Shujaat Khan’s refreshing notes of Gaud Malhar
The Hindu
Ustad Shujaat Khan’s performance evoked the romance of rain
The distinguishing characteristics of a gharana emerge from the magical chemistry of many elements, especially the emotional and subliminal landscape that the musician has inherited and the intellectual assimilation of the nature of the raag. This realisation came to mind while listening to the sitar recital by Ustad Shujaat Khan, son and disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan, the doyen of Etawa Imdadkhani gharana. Performing for ‘Transcendence,’ the HCL Mega Concert, Shujaat Khan opened with Gaud-Malhar, the melodious monsoon raag. The surprise element for listeners was in the way the raag was presented — quite in contrast to how it is rendered conventionally. His Gaud Malhar sounded like an introspective interpretation of the raag. “People think that Gaud Malhar is just putting a teevra (sharp) gandhar in place of the komal gandhar (a flat variant) in Miyan-Malhar, but what I have heard from my buzurgs (elders) has led me to explore newer facets of it within the confines of the grammar. This is the beauty of classical music, I enjoy the creativity and spontaneity it offers,” said Shujaat.More Related News