A Gathering of Holy Men of Different Faiths - Mir Kalan Khan (active ca. 1730–80) | metmuseum.org | Click image for larger view.

On this pleasant occasion, we want to thank all the friends and visitors of sarangi.info for their contributions, comments, appreciation and encouragement. This project flourishes because of you. Music updates will be forthcoming everyday for the next seven days as a part of this seven-year celebration.

Warm regards,

Section from a Quran Manuscript, 18th century Morocco or Tunisia. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. | via metmuseum.org | Click image for larger view.

“it is as difficult to present a fixed image of a character as of societies and passions. For a character alters no less than they do, and if one tries to take a snapshot of what is relatively immutable in it, one finds it presenting a succession of different aspects … to the disconcerted lens” (Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time: The Captive, 373).

On Modern Time by Espen Hammer nyti.ms/vzHpPW @NYTOpinionator—
Taimur Khan (@taimur_org) January 02, 2012

Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu/Persian: مرزا اسد اللہ بیگ خان), pen-name Ghalib (Urdu/Persian: غالب, ġhālib means dominant) and (former pen-name) Asad (Urdu/Persian: اسد, asad means lion) (27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial rule. During his lifetime the Mughals were eclipsed and displaced by the British and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, events that he wrote of. Most notably, he wrote several ghazals during his life, which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people. He is considered, in South Asia, to be one of the most popular and influential poets of the Urdu language. Ghalib today remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also amongst diaspora communities around the world. –Wikipedia

Source: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Northwestern University School of Communication

Shah Jahan Album | metmuseum.org | Click image for larger view.

Dr. Kashyap Dave has kindly shared the following recording and comments:

Raag Sehra by Ustad Sultan Khan on sarangi: a tribute to my teacher Ustad Sultan Khan. This is the name given by him to this raag from the forbidden scale. Once he recorded this for radio & asked to cancel it saying it is too sad so should not be aired. What could be a sadder occasion than this? Mehdi Hassan also sang one ghazal in this raag: Jab tere nain muskurate haiN. Audio quality is poor due to limited resources.

Mumbai, Nov 27 (IBNS) Sarangi exponent Ustad Sultan Khan, known for his instrumental skills, passed away on Sunday in Mumbai. He was 71 and died of kidney failure. –India Blooms News Service

The two time Sangeet Natya Academy Award winner was awarded India’s third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan last year.

A sarangi maestro he used to play Hindustani classical music and was a member of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell.

Tutored by his father Gulab Khan, Sultan Khan, who belonged to the Indore gharana, first performed at the All-India Conference at the age of 11.

He had accompanied Pandit Ravi Shankar on George Harrison’s Dark Horse tour in 1974.

He was also on the soundtracks of films like Gandhi and In Custody besides performing at Prince Charles’ 50th birthday celebration in 1997.

He was also the recipient of Gold Medalist Award of Maharashtra and the American Academy of Artists Award in 1998.

He sang “Albela sajan aayo re…”along with Shanker Mahadevan in the 1999 Sanjay Leela Bhansali film “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”.

His son, Sabir Khan, who is his student as well, is a well-known sarangi player too.