Page 2 - SOUND... MUSIC-II - LESSON NOTES

kings and the nawabs. But Aurangzeb did not like the shrill and unpleasant sound of
the pungi. So he banned the playingof this musical in the royal court. There was a
barber who belonged to a family of musicians.He had access to the royal palaces. He

tried to improve the tonal quality of this instrument. He chose a pipe with a natural
hollow stem that was longer and broader than the original pungi. He carved seven
holes on the body of the instrument. When he played on, an impressive sonorous tonal
quality was produced. The barber played it before the king and his courtiers.
Everybody was impressed (the instrument was called Shehnai because it was born in
the Shah‟s chamber and was invented by a Nai; barber). Then onwards, the music of
shehnai came to be associated with auspicious occasions.
This chapter also briefly relates how Bismillah Khan, the Padma Bhushan recipient
made an immensely valuable contribution to the musical world of „shehnai‟. Bismillah
Khan secured for the shehnai a place among classical instruments. He improvised
many new ragas and his originality won him accolades at the international level as
well.
Born in 1916 in Dumraon in Bihar, Bismillah Khan belonged to the family of well-known
familyof musicians. His grandfather, Rasool Bux Khan was a shehnai player in the
court of king of Bhojpur. His father, Paigamber Bux, and his paternal uncles were also
great shehnai players.
Bismillah got fascinated by music at a very young age of three years. At the age of five
he used to regularly go to the nearby Bihari temple to sing the Bhojpuri Chaitha. He
was awarded a big „laddu‟ for his melodious singing by the local Maharaja. In Benaras
he got the trainingfrom his maternal uncle, Ali Bux, who played shehnai in the Vishnu
temple.
When BismillahKhan was fourteen, his talent came to be recognized in All India Music
Conference. A bigopportunity came his way when in 1938, All India Radio was
established in Lucknow, where he played shehnai frequently. In Benaras, the Ganga
provided him with much inspiration. Inharmony with the flowing waters of the Ganga,
Bismillah Khan discovered new ragas for theshehnai. He developed such devotion for
Ganga and Dumraon that he declined to settledown in America when he was offered
an opportunity.
At the most important moment in Indian history, the declaration of the Independence of
India in1947, Bismillah Khan‟s shehnai ushered in a new era. It was played prior to the
speech of our first PrimeMinister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.Unlike other musician, the
glamour of film industry failed to captivate Bismillah Khan. Although he contributed to
the music of two films, he did not pursue this option further. He was rewarded for his
dedication to shehnai with national awards – the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and
the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, he received the highest civilian award of India, the
Bharat Ratna. He was the first Indian invited to perform in Lincoln Hall, USA. Bismillah
Khan‟s love for both Muslim and Hindu temples gives a message that India is a land
with a liberal environment.