Entry for September 09, 2006
Kheyal is a main hindustani classical music genre. It means imagination, thought in hindi, mostly because kheyal doesn't follow only one preconceived poetical structure, or a particular tal and is based on various musical improvisation. Furthermore, Kheyal is rooted in three musical grounds : religious Hindu music (dhrupad), Persian music, and Sufi music, and has been richly fed by those multiple influences. Originating from the Laboratory of musical influences that used to be the Dargahs of soufi saints, maintained by the nobility of India's 18th decadent and music loving moghol empire, kheyal has developed rich patrimony of devotional, romantic even (shadowed) sensuous poems. The richness of the different gharanas of kheyal singers has multiplied language of poems, poetical structure but always reunites opposites : meditation and virtuosity, extremely slow and extremely fast playing speeds, ragas of restrained structure and freedom of inspiration. Kheyal is also played on string instruments as Sarengi and wind instruments (flute, shehenai).
The Agra gharana.. The Agra gharana was founded by a Rajput family of Dhrupad musician who were singing in the Nauhar bani style. Settled in Agra in the XVIth century, they converted to Islam and were allowed to sing in the court of Akbar.Through marriage they associated with Mian Tansen, a famous court singer from Gwalior. The gharana started singing kheyal at the end of the XVIIIth century. The distinctive features of the style are the melodic fluidity and complexity of the compositions associated to simple and sober poems. The compositions sung here are signed by Muslim artists with a devotion to Krishna.
