Copies of rare works tune into music history

ENS - Ahmedabad Newsline - Ahmedabad,India

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Memorial Trust brings out copies of works by father of Indian music notation and Performing Arts Faculty founder Prof. Mawla Bakhsh

Vadodara [Baroda], India: The Sangeet Ratna Mawla Bakhsh and Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust presented a set of 11 rare manuscript volumes on Hindustani Music education to the Faculty of Performing Arts, M S [Maharaja Sayajirao]University, at a music festival that began on Friday.

Prof. Mawla Bakhsh, the founder-principal of Gayan Shala in the 19th century, which has now been re-christened as the Faculty of Performing Arts, and his grandson Inayat Khan, had authored 18 volumes on Indian music, of which 11 copies were handed over to the Performing Arts Faculty at the music festival held in Prof Mawla Baksh' s memory.

Prof. Mawla Bakhsh was the founder of music notations for Indian music and a music educationist of India. According to retired Prof R C Mehta, managing trustee of the memorial trust, the simplicity of Mawla Bakhsh's notations made oral teaching of music easier and Inayat Khan followed his custom.

Mehta said, "A very limited number of photocopies of the volumes authored by him and his grandson have been produced and the books are either in Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi.''

The original books with the trust, published some 100 years ago, are in a worn-out and tattered condition.

Pir Zia Inayat Khan, the grandson of Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan, was a special guest on the occasion. He appreciated the efforts of Prof Mehta and others to preserve his ancestor's contributions in an innovative manner.

According to Baroda royal scion, Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, who was present on the occasion, "The volumes are necessary to understand the importance of Mawlabakhsh and Inayat Khan as missionaries of music education,'' said Gaekwad.

Most of these graded books are in Gujarati and some are in Marathi as the city had a sizeable population of Maharashtrians in the erstwhile Baroda state.

He added that while books provided general information about the art of music and various 'ragas', as well as touched upon the skills required for playing instruments like the 'sitar'. "The volumes also contain Gujarati medieval poets Narsinh Mehta's biographical narrative poetry set to `ragas' and `talas' and devotional songs in Gujarati and Marathi for young girls,'' said Gaekwad.

[picture: Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan]