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Qawwali (Urdu/Persian: قوٌالی; Punjabi/Multani: ਖ਼ਵ੍ਵਾਲੀ, قوٌالی;
Brajbhasha/Hindi: क़व्वाली) is a form of Sufi devotional music popular on the
Indian subcontinent. It's a vibrant musical tradition that stretches back more
than 700 years. Originally performed mainly at Sunni Sufi shrines throughout the
subcontinent, it has also gained mainstream popularity.
Often listeners, and even artists themselves, are transported to a state of
wajad, a trance-like state where they feel at one with God, generally considered
to be the height of spiritual ecstasy in Sufism.
Qawwali music received international exposure through the work of the late
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, largely due to several releases on the Real World label,
followed by live appearances at WOMAD festivals. Although famous throughout the
world, its economic and spiritual hub remains the Punjab province of Pakistan
from where it gained entry into the mainstream commercial music industry and
international fame.
Origions
The roots of Qawwali can be traced back to 8th century Persia (today's Iran and
Afghanistan). During the first major migration from Persia, in the 11th century,
the musical tradition of Sema migrated to the Indian subcontinent, Turkey and
Uzbekistan. Amir Khusro Dehelvi of the Chisti order of Sufis is credited with
fusing the Persian and Indian musical traditions to create Qawwali as we know it
today in the late 13th century in India (Hindustani classical music is also
attributed to him). The word Sama is often still used in Central Asia and Turkey
to refer to forms very similar to Qawwali, and in India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh, the formal name used for a session of Qawwali is Mehfil-e-Sama.
Qaul (Arabic) is an "utterance (of the prophet)", Qawwāl is someone who often
repeats (sings) a Qaul, Qawwāli is the style of singing of Qawwāls.
The songs which constitute the qawwali repertoire are mostly in Urdu and Punjabi
(almost equally divided between the two), although there are several songs in
Persian, Brajbhasha and Saraiki. There is also qawwali in some regional
languages (e.g., Chhote Babu Qawwal sings in Bengali), but the regional language
tradition is relatively obscure. Also, the sound of the regional language
qawwali can be totally different from that of mainstream qawwali. This is
certainly true of Chhote Babu Qawwal, whose sound is much closer to Baul music
than to the qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, for example.
The poetry is implicitly understood to be spiritual in its meaning, even though
the lyrics can sometimes sound wildly secular, or outright hedonistic. The
central themes of qawwali are love, devotion and longing (of man for the
Divine).
Qawwalis are classified by their content into several categories:
A hamd is a song in praise of Allah. Traditionally, a qawwali performance starts
with a hamd.
A naat is a song in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. The opening hamd is
traditionally followed by a naat.
A manqabat is a song in praise of either Imam Ali or one of the Sufi saints.
Interestingly, manqabats in praise of Ali are sung at both Sunni and Shi'a
gatherings. If one is sung, it will follow right after the naat. There is
usually at least one manqabat in a traditional programme.
A marsiya is a lamentation over the death of much of Imam Husayn's family in the
Battle of Karbala. Once again, this would typically be sung only at a Shi'a
concert.
A ghazal is a song that sounds secular on the face of it. There are two extended
metaphors that run through ghazals -- the joys of drinking and the agony of
separation from the beloved. These songs feature exquisite poetry, and can
certainly be taken at face value, and enjoyed at that level. In fact, in India
and Pakistan, ghazal is also a separate, distinct musical genre in which many of
the same songs are performed in a different musical style, and in a secular
context. In the context of that genre, the songs are usually taken at face
value, and no deeper meaning is necessarily implied. But in the context of
qawwali, these songs of intoxication and yearning use secular metaphors to
poignantly express the soul's longing for union with the Divine, and its joy in
loving the Divine. In the songs of intoxication, "wine" represents "knowledge of
the Divine", the "cupbearer" (saaqi) is God or a spiritual guide, the "tavern"
is the metaphorical place where the soul may (or may not) be fortunate enough to
attain spiritual enlightenment. (The "tavern" is emphatically not a conventional
house of worship. Rather, it is taken to be the spiritual context within which
the soul exists.) Intoxication is attaining spiritual knowledge, or being filled
with the joy of loving the Divine. In the songs of yearning, the soul, having
been abandoned in this world by that cruel and cavalier lover, God, sings of the
agony of separation, and the depth of its yearning for reunion.
A kafi is a song in Punjabi, which is in the unique style of poets such as Shah
Hussain and Baba Bulleh Shah. Two of the more popular Kafis include Ni Main Jana
Jogi De Naal and Mera Piya Ghar Aaya.
A munadjaat is a song where the singer displays his thanks to Allah through a
variety of linguistic techniques. It is often sung in Persian, with Mawlana
Jalāl-ad-Dīn Rumi credited as its inventor.
Composition of a qawwali party
A group of qawwali musicians, called a party, typically consists of eight or
nine men — women are, for all intents and purposes, excluded from traditional
Muslim music as respectable women are traditionally prohibited from singing in
the presence of men, though these traditions are changing — including a lead
singer, one or two side singers, one or two harmoniums (which may be played by
lead singer, side singer or someone else), and percussion. If there is only one
percussionist, he plays the tabla and dholak, usually the tabla with the left
hand and the dholak with the right. Often there will be two percussionists, in
which case one might play the tabla and the other the dholak. There is also a
chorus of four or five men who repeat key verses, and who aid and abet
percussion by hand-clapping.
The performers sit in two rows — the lead singer, side singers and harmonium
players in the front row, and the chorus and percussionists in the back row.
Before the fairly recent introduction of the harmonium, qawwalis were usually
accompanied by the sarangi. The sarangi had to be retuned between songs; the
harmonium didn't, and was soon preferred.
Musical structure
Songs are usually between 15 to 30 minutes long. However, the longest
commercially released qawwali runs slightly over 115 minutes (Hashr Ke Roz Yeh
Poochhunga by Aziz Mian Qawwal). The qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has
at least two songs that are more than 60 minutes long.
Qawwalis tend to begin gently and build steadily to a very high energy level in
order to induce hypnotic states both among the musicians and within the
audience. Songs are usually arranged as follows:
1-
They start with an instrumental prelude where the main melody is played on the
harmonium, accompanied by the tabla, and which may include improvised variations
of the melody.
2-
Then comes the alap, a long tonal improvised melody during which the singers
intone different long notes, in the raag of the song to be played.
3-
The lead singer begins to sing some preamble verses which are typically not part
of the main song, although thematically related to it. These are sung
unrhythmically, improvised following the raag, and accompanied only by the
harmonium. After the lead singer sings a verse, one of the side singers will
repeat the verse, perhaps with his own improvisation. A few or many verses will
be sung in this way, leading into the main song.
4-
As the main song begins, the tabla, dholak and clapping begin. All members join
in the singing of the verses that constitute the refrain. Normally neither the
lyrics of the main verses nor the melodies that go with them are improvised; in
fact, these are often traditional songs sung by many groups, especially within
the same lineage. As the song proceeds, the lead singer or one of the side
singers may break out into an alap. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan also popularized the
interjection of sargam singing at this point. The song usually builds in tempo
and passion, with each singer trying to outdo the other in terms of vocal
acrobatics. Some singers may do long periods of sargam improvisation, especially
alternating improvisations with a student singer. The songs usually end
suddenly.
The singing style of qawwali is different from Western singing styles in many
ways. For example, in words beginning with an "m", Western singers are apt to
stress the vowel following the "m" rather than the "m" itself, whereas in
qawwali, the "m" will usually be held, producing a muted tone. Also in qawwali,
there is no distinction between what is known as the chest voice and the neck
voice (the different areas that sound will resonate in depending on the
frequency sung). Rather, qawwals sing very loudly and forcefully, which allows
them to extend their chest voice to much higher frequencies than those used in
Western singing, even though this usually causes a more noisy or strained sound
than would be acceptable in the West.
Singing Order in Chistiya:
Instrumental: This is supposed to be the announcement of the arrival of Khawaja
Moinuddin Chishti's, as Sufi believes their saints are free of time-space. Also
that Nabi, Siddique, Shaheed, and Saleh category of faithfuls are never dead,
just gone into some other state from where they visit whenever they are
mentioned, especially if there is a function in their honor.
Hamd
Naat
Manqabat Ali
Manqabat Ghous: Praise of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jelani
Manqabat Khwaja: Praise of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
Manqabat Shaikh: Praise of the Shaikh/Pir if it is his anniversary
Rang or Badhawa: If it is the death anniversary of the Pir, then it is usually
Rang, a poem by Amir Khusro. If it is the Shaikh's birthday, it is usually the
Badhawa.
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