Thumri was originally a vocal form linked to kathak dance and women performers employed adaa, or hand gestures, and facial expressions to communicate the multi-layered imagery hidden in the song-text including its erotic overtones. While thumri and its allied form dadra was performed primarily by women performers, there have been male vocalists of repute who have handled these forms with the delicacy that they deserve.
Faiyaz Khan was one of the most prominent among these vocalists.
Raag Khammaj
We begin with a bandish ki thumri in the raag Khamaj set to a medium-paced sixteen matra Teentaal. As is evident from this composition, a defining characteristic of a traditional bandish ki thumri is the syllables of the song-text being studded into the time-cycle, with almost each syllable perched on each matra of the taal framework. But as is often heard in thumri renditions from the past, Faiyaz Khan intersperses the main composition with couplets that are not part of the original composition in order to further the narrative. Some would find it difficult to believe that Faiyaz Khan, equipped with a strong voice, would have rendered thumri-dadra with such passion. But the pukaar or projection of the voice he uses to heighten the emotional content, his spontaneous choices of criss-crossing between moving with the rhythm and moving away from it, his brilliant use of words like "haan" that are not part of the composition but enable him to playfully engage with the rhythm and also gently coax the meaning out of the song-text, are excellent examples of the essence of thumri singing.
Needless to say, he gives these elements his individual flourish that they have now come to be identified as integral parts of his gayaki or vocal style. Listeners will also note that he increases the speed around 9.43” and sings a taans or fast melodic patterns, boltaans or fast melodic phrases using the words of the song-text, and bol baant or changing the scansion of the song-text across the metrical format of the taal. The track draws to a close with a short but sweet laggi section from the tabla, a part that was originally linked to the rhythmic patterns of the dancer’s footwork but has retained a life of its own in the aesthetic universe of thumri and its allied forms.
Tilak Kamod thumri
Often thumri and dadra compositions are not necessarily restricted to one raag. The melodic elaboration, in particular, allows the vocalist to move from one to another raag, not in an anarchic manner or even to demonstrate an ability to be able to jump from one to another raag, but to use the device as a means to extend the emotional trajectory. Faiyaz Khan does this in the next piece, a dadra set to the six matra Dadra taal. The composition seems to use a blend of raag Tilak Kamod and Manjh Khamaj, but he moves away from the main melodic structure during the elaboration.
As is required in the dadra form, his elaborations are shorter than are heard in the thumri form, returning to the refrain of the composition to maintain the lilt of the taal. His astute use of dynamics and change of tonal colour is evident through the pie.ce.
This is the last of a three-part series on Faiyaz Khan. You can read the first part here and the second part here.
Faiyaz Khan was one of the most prominent among these vocalists.
Raag Khammaj
We begin with a bandish ki thumri in the raag Khamaj set to a medium-paced sixteen matra Teentaal. As is evident from this composition, a defining characteristic of a traditional bandish ki thumri is the syllables of the song-text being studded into the time-cycle, with almost each syllable perched on each matra of the taal framework. But as is often heard in thumri renditions from the past, Faiyaz Khan intersperses the main composition with couplets that are not part of the original composition in order to further the narrative. Some would find it difficult to believe that Faiyaz Khan, equipped with a strong voice, would have rendered thumri-dadra with such passion. But the pukaar or projection of the voice he uses to heighten the emotional content, his spontaneous choices of criss-crossing between moving with the rhythm and moving away from it, his brilliant use of words like "haan" that are not part of the composition but enable him to playfully engage with the rhythm and also gently coax the meaning out of the song-text, are excellent examples of the essence of thumri singing.
Needless to say, he gives these elements his individual flourish that they have now come to be identified as integral parts of his gayaki or vocal style. Listeners will also note that he increases the speed around 9.43” and sings a taans or fast melodic patterns, boltaans or fast melodic phrases using the words of the song-text, and bol baant or changing the scansion of the song-text across the metrical format of the taal. The track draws to a close with a short but sweet laggi section from the tabla, a part that was originally linked to the rhythmic patterns of the dancer’s footwork but has retained a life of its own in the aesthetic universe of thumri and its allied forms.
Tilak Kamod thumri
Often thumri and dadra compositions are not necessarily restricted to one raag. The melodic elaboration, in particular, allows the vocalist to move from one to another raag, not in an anarchic manner or even to demonstrate an ability to be able to jump from one to another raag, but to use the device as a means to extend the emotional trajectory. Faiyaz Khan does this in the next piece, a dadra set to the six matra Dadra taal. The composition seems to use a blend of raag Tilak Kamod and Manjh Khamaj, but he moves away from the main melodic structure during the elaboration.
As is required in the dadra form, his elaborations are shorter than are heard in the thumri form, returning to the refrain of the composition to maintain the lilt of the taal. His astute use of dynamics and change of tonal colour is evident through the pie.ce.
This is the last of a three-part series on Faiyaz Khan. You can read the first part here and the second part here.
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