Remembering Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab on his death anniversary.

Remembering Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab on his death anniversary.

The legendary Ustad #BadeGhulamAliKhan is considered to be one of the finest representatives of hardcore Indian music tradition in the early and middle 20th century. He belonged to the Patiala Gharana of Hindustani classical music.

By 1944, he was considered by many as the uncrowned king of Hindustani music. He had a unique voice, a wide range spanning three octaves, effortless production, all-round sweetness and unparalleled flexibility.

The career span of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was relatively short. He made his mark in Calcutta in the year 1938 and All India Music Conference in Bombay in the year 1944. He was titled the Master in each and every field of music that he explored. But, he breathed his last at the age of 66, much to the shock of his fans and music lovers. On 25th April, 1968 he breathed his last, depriving the world of much more priceless treasure that he could have given.

Khan was reluctant to sing for films, but sang two songs based on ragas Sohni and Rageshree for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, in which his voice was represented as Tansen’s by the music director Naushad.

He remains the inspiration for a whole generation of top-ranking singers and performers in both India and Pakistan.

TRIVIA

For a long time, Bade Ghulam Ali stayed away from singing in films despite requests and persuasions from well-known producers and music directors. However, he was coaxed and convinced by K. Asif to sing two songs based on ragas Sohni and Rageshree for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, with the music directed by Naushad. He demanded a very, very high price, reportedly Rs. 25,000 per song, when the rate for popular and star playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi was below Rs. 500 per song.

In this photo, he is with #LataMangeshkar and #SitaraDevi.