Maestro Ali Akbar Khan passed away peacefully on the evening of June 18, 2009, surrounded by his family and close disciples. He was 87 years old and had been suffering from kidney disease for several years.

Khansahib’s long life and career spanned epochs and continents. He was one of the last “court musicians” of the old India and was the first Indian musician to record in the West. Yehudi Menuhin, who invited him to perform and record in the USA in 1955, called him “an absolute genius…. perhaps the greatest musician in the world.”

Ali Akbar Khan was the only son of Allauddin Khan, a legendary musician who revolutionized Indian instrumental music and trained some of India’s most renowned musicians, including his son and Ravi Shankar. His training was extremely rigorous, and he sometimes had to practice up to 18 hours a day. His concert debut at the All India Music Conference in Allahabad in 1939 opened a new chapter in Indian instrumental music by redefining the way the sarod is played. He was recognized both as a consummate classicist and innovator on the sarod, a 25-stringed skin faced lute. He will be remembered as the single most influential master of this instrument.

He received all of India’s highest music awards and was considered a “national treasure”. In the USA he was honored with the MacArthur “genius award” and the National Heritage Fellowship, which was presented to him by Hillary Clinton at the White House in 1997.

Khansahib opened the first Ali Akbar College of Music in Calcutta in 1956. Then with the great wave of interest for Indian music in the West, he opened his school in San Rafael, California in 1967, where he taught for the next 42 years. He trained thousands of students from the West and India at this institute.

Basel, Switzerland, was fortunate to have benefitted from Maestro Khan’s yearly visits for more than 20 years. In 1985 he opened the Ali Akbar College of Music – Switzerland, directed by his disciple Ken Zuckerman, and he conducted annual seminars which attracted students from all over Europe. Although ill health prevented him from coming to Basel during the last 4 years, the College continues to promote his work with ongoing classes and yearly seminars.

In 2005, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Ali Akbar College in Basel, he wrote, “Many years ago my father gave me the mission to spread this music “as far as the sun and moon shine.” This has been my life-long work and I don’t want it to die. It is of great importance that my closest students and disciples, like Ken, continue this work in the future. Therefore I ask you all to give him your good wishes and support to continue this mission so that the great tradition of Indian classical music can be passed on to future generations. I would also like to thank the city of Basel and the Music Academy of Basel for all its help and support during the past 20 years. I have always felt very welcome in Basel and have many fond memories of my visits here.”

The Annual Seminars regularly attract up to eighty students from more than ten countries. The seminars are open to all students, from beginning to advanced levels, and instruction is offered in sitar, sarod, tabla, vocal, theory and history. The seminars with Ali Akbar Khan and Swapan Chaudhuri have offered a unique opportunity for students to work with two of India’s most renowned performers and teachers.

Visiting Lecturers - The Ali Akbar College regularly invites some of India’s finest musicians to give seminars and workshops. Over the years some of the guest lecturers have included Lakshmi Shankar, Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Sultan Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Prof. George Ruckert, Sankar P. Chowdhury and the Gundecha Brothers.

Concerts - In addition to annual concerts with Ali Akbar Khan and Swapan Chaudhuri, the Ali Akbar College has invited some of India’s top virtuosos to perform in Basel. These have included Bhimsen Joshi, Nikhil Banerjee, Mohiuddin Dagar, V.G. Jog, Alla Rakha, Kishori Amonkar, Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ram Narayan, Sultan Khan, Swapan Chaudhuri, Zakir Hussain, Anindo Chatterjee, Ajoy Chakraborty, Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Parween Sultana, Ronu Mazumdar, the Gundecha Brothers and many others.

During the last 20 years, the Ali Akbar College has given training to over 1500 students from more than 14 countries, and has been an active organizer in presenting over 180 concerts of India’s finest virtuosos!

Music Academy of Basel - Since its founding in 1985, the Ali Akbar College has worked closely in cooperation with the Music Academy of Basel. The annual seminars with Maestro Khan and Swapan Chaudhuri have regularly taken place on the campus of the Music Academy. These events, as well as concerts, workshops and some of the regularly scheduled introductory classes, are presented in cooperation with the “Studio für Musik der Kulturen - SMK” (Studio for musics of the world’s cultures), a department of the Music Academy which also presents concerts and workshops of music traditions from around the world.


Television - The Ali Akbar College was the subject of a 1-hour documentary film produced by the Swiss-Italian Televison Network, entitled Il Filo d’Oro: Ali Akbar Khan - La Strada Del Suono, (The thread of gold: Ali Akbar Khan – the highway of sound), directed by Werner Weick. The film, which received high praise from critics, gives a close-up portrait of Ali Akbar Khan, from his early childhood under the tutelage of his father, to his recent years of work in Basel, as a teacher and in performance. Also, the College’s popular “Tabla for Kids” seminar was featured in the childrens’ television program on DRS 2 “KIDZ”.

“My father learned from a great teacher and we always keep the traditional things, like a father to son, or students and disciples. Therefore I want to keep what my father learned, I don’t want it to die. It must spread all over the world.“

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

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Following tradition, the musician doesn’t perform a set program, but rather plays different ragas as inspired at the moment. The choice of raga is not usually a matter of whimsy: in accordance with centuries old philosophical traditions, certain ragas are considered to be appropriate to specific times, seasons of the year, and even states of mind.

Ragas are not to be confused with the Western notion of “scales”, for while each raga has a characteristic pitch structure, much more is implied. The order in which the notes of the raga are introduced, and the manner in which the raga itself is revealed and unfolded are all extremely important. So, also, are matters of ornamentation, pitch alteration, and melodic structure. Historiclly speaking, one actually finds a close correlation between the concept of raga and the early western western church modes.

Although notational systems exist, the tradition is largely an oral one, passed on by each master to students. Performances are appreciated by the audiences in many of the same ways as jazz improvisations: that is, performers are expected to demonstrate extensive knowledge of the traditions of the individual raga (in the same way a jazz musician is expected to know “the changes”). Nonetheless, in both traditions, the performer is admired when able to cast some new light on the familiar: it is the ability to honor the integrity of the raga while doing so in an intensely personal way that wins the greatest esteem.

Form

The basic form for the interpretation of a raga is made up of four parts, ALAP, JOD, JHALA and GAT.

Alap
This is a slow introduction where the performer contemplates the raga note by note, composing phrases, at first quite simply, with the two or three notes nearest the tonic, but gradually becoming more and more complex as he extends through the first octave and then later, over the whole range of the instrument. The alap is performed “ad libitum” rather like a Western cadenza, deriving momentum from the emphasis in the developing phrases. Much use is made of microtonal inflections, ornamentation and glissando. The artist, through his use of these means of expression, reveals his understanding of and sensitivity to the raga he is playing. A truly creative musician is always trying to draw out of a raga some hitherto unseen facet, by way of his improvisation.

Jod / Jor
When the artist feels that he has completed his exposition of the raga through the alap he introduces a rhythmic pulse in to the music, starting again by playing short phrases against his regular striking of the drone strings. As the rhythmic dimension enters the music, the improvisations become more and more extended, eventually with very fast staccato passages called “tans”, full of rhythmic subtlety and requiring considerable technical virtuosity. After several stages of increasing the tempo, the performer can either finish this section or go on to one final movement.

Jhala
Jhala is a section where the artist performs a variety of virtuosic rhythmic patterns utilizing the “chikari” strings (high pitched drone strings). Depending on the performance, the jhala can either be the culmination of the first part (without tabla accompainment), and/or the climax of the “gat” portion.

Gat
This movement is really in “Rondo” form with the main subject being a previously composed motif (usually traditional), which is set to a recurring rhythmic cycle called a “Tal”. The tabla player, whose main function is to mark this “Tal”, accompanies the melody instrument to the end of the performance. As with the western Rondo where the main theme returns after each variation, the Indian performer, having improvised for a few cycles will return either to the beginning of the theme, or to the first beat (the “Sum”) of the new cycle (not necessarily the same). The theme, or “gat”, also serves as a time keeping pattern and the main performer may repeat the gat for several cycles while the tabla player improvises. Actually, it is usual for this whole movement to consist of two gats, one slow and one fast. Near the end of the performance the melody instrument makes a transition into jhala again to bring the performance to a climax.

Tala
Talas are the rhythmic frameworks around which Indian music is composed and improvised. Each tala has a constant number of beats, organized into phrases. Sometimes the phrases are equally divided (ie. Teental, 4-4-4-4), and sometimes they are of unequal lengths (ie. Dhammar 5-2-3-4). Both soloist and accompanist are required to always be aware of the returning of the first beat of the tala. Although in the midst of a composition or improvisation it is permitted (and even encouraged), to emphasize beats and phrases contrary to the framework of the tala, all variations must eventually return to the first beat of the cycle. This moment of return provides much of the exitement of Indian music and gives the musicians extensive scope to show their virtuosity and creativity.

Knowledgable audiences, both in India and the West, are able to follow the movements of the talas and thus, have an increased awareness and appreciation for the musicians’ ability to artistically develop their improvisations within the structures of the rhythmic cycles and return to the first beat. But even uninitiated listeners can sense the moments of rhythmic and melodic return, where all the elements seem to meet again. Many times these moments bring an added thrill to the music and along with it, even spontaneous applause from both experienced and first-time listeners alike.

Some of the more common talas:

TEENTAL
16 beats, 4-4-4-4
DHAMMAR TAL
14 beats, 5-2-3-4
JHAPTAL
10 beats, 2-3-2-3
EKTAL
12 beats, 2-2-2-2-2-2
RUPAK TAL
7 beats, 3-2-2
CHACHAR
4 beats, 3-4-3-4
KEHARWA
8 beats, 4-4
DADRA
6 beats, 3-3 back

Every contribution helps this unique institution continue its cultural work in Switzerland. The College is registered as a tax-exempt, educational institution and all contributions from individuals and corporations are tax-deductible.

Special thanks go to: Lotteriefonds der Stadt-Basel, Pro Helvetia, Süd Kultur Fonds, Techno LTD, Vitra, Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel and KPMG Fides, to name only a few.

If you or your company would like to make a contribution to the College, please write to us or call at:

Ali Akbar College of Music - Switzerland
Birmannsgasse 42
CH-4055 Basel
Switzerland
Tel. 41 61 272 80 32
Fax 41 61 272 80 42