Obituary
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| R. I. P. Jagjit Singh February 8 1941 ~ October 10 2011 |
Jagjit Singh, who died on Monday aged 70, was a singer and composer who popularised a poetic form of singing that originated in the Middle East and spread to India in the 12th century — winning a huge following both in modern India and among Indian expatriate communities around the world.
The ghazal originated in Arabic verse of the 6th century and typically consists of a series of five or more rhyming couplets and a refrain. Usually centred around melancholy themes of love and loss, each couplet forms a complete two-line poem, which may be completely unrelated to its neighbouring couplets except for the formal unity of rhyme and metre.
The form spread into India with the Delhi Sultanate courts and via Sufi mystics, and developed as an Urdu poetic form, usually accompanied by musicians using classical instruments. Although the ghazal is today found in the poetry of many languages of Indian subcontinent, it was then traditionally seen as the poetry of the elite.
Known to his fans worldwide as “The Ghazal King”, Singh, together with his wife and fellow singer Chitra, won acclaim for simplifying its complex traditional musical form. He put greater emphasis on melody and used Western instruments such as saxophones and guitars alongside Indian classical instruments, such as the tablaa and sitar, while sacrificing none of the emotional impact of the poetry. Audiences have regularly been moved to tears, for example, by Singh’s expressive Chithhi na koyi sandesh, dedicated to Vivek, his only child who died in a car accident in 1990 at the age of 19: “No letters or any news. Who knows where you have gone, breaking this heart...”
As well as recording more than 50 albums, Singh sang and composed for Bollywood, notably for the films Prem Geet (1981, “Love Song”) Arth (1982, “Meaning”) and Saath Saath (1982, “Together, Along”), as well as for Indian television. He also composed and recorded songs written by India’s former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who in 2003 awarded Singh the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award.
One of seven children, he was born Jagmohan Singh on February 8 1941 into a Sikh family at Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. Shortly after his birth his father renamed him Jagjit on the advice of a guru. Jagjit’s early years were spent in Bikaner, where his father worked for the local public works department.
The Sikh religion places great emphasis on musical performance and as a child Jagjit trained under Indian classical music teachers and began performing shabads (devotional Sikh hymns) in temples on the birthdays of Sikh gurus.
In the early 1960s he travelled to Bombay (now Mumbai), hoping to find work dubbing Bollywood stars, but had little luck with the film studios. For several years he lived in a run-down hostel, where he recalled being plagued by bedbugs and by rats that chewed his feet at night, and eked a precarious living performing at small musical gatherings and composing music for radio jingles and advertisements.
But Singh’s talent began to be noticed by recording companies and in 1975 HMV invited him to compose and record his first album, The Unforgettables (1976). A song from the album, Baat Niklegi, proved an instant hit with Indian audiences and launched Singh and his wife Chitra, whom he had married in 1970, on the path to fame. They performed and recorded together for 20 years, but after the death of their son Chitra lost her voice, so Singh continued to perform and record on his own.
Singh was dismissive of purists’ objections to his modern take on the traditional ghazal, observing that “tradition is a fake word, used by people as an excuse to avoid progress. Maybe, 50 years from now, what I’ve done will be tradition.” But he did refuse to associate himself with Bollywood’s gaudier productions: “I don’t like films with four dances, two or three fights and two sex scenes. If somebody comes to me, I’ll have to check the song. Firstly, the lyrics have to be dignified. That means no vulgar double meanings. Then the melody should fit my image. I cannot sing just any nonsense.”
In 2007 Jagjit Singh gave a performance – in the Central Hall of India’s Parliament – of a famous ghazal by the last Moghul Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of what is known in Britain as the Indian Mutiny, but in India as the First War of Independence.
His wife survives him.
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Jagjit Singh ~ A Tribute
http://newsonair.nic.in/Ghazal-king-Jagjit-Singh.asp
Ghazal king Jagjit Singh, the soul-stirring voice behind 'Hazaron khwaishe aisi', 'Ye kaghaz ki kashti and 'Jhuki jhuki si nazar', has passed away but his ghazals will continue to enthrall the music lovers world over for many years to come. The 70-year-old singer alongwith his wife Chitra almost rediscovered the ghazal genre for common Indian in 70s and 80s. Singh, a Padma Bhushan recipient, was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, on February 8, 1941.
After graduation, he shifted base to Mumbai, to explore career in the world of music. In the next decade and half, he earned nationwide fame as ghazal singer and music composer. He sang in several languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali.
His personal life, though, was marked by a tragedy: His only son, Vivek, died in a car accident in 1990 when he was just 18.
Singh was of the view that music was for inspiration and not for competition. "The moment one brings competition into music, the soul is lost."
In a recent interview , he had regretted the fact that devotion and practice were disappearing from music at a time when everyone was running after instant fame.
"Music is a vast subject. There is mathematics and grammar in music. Unless one knows all of it, he cannot become good singer. One should learn music for 15 years before actually trying their hands at singing ghazals," he had said.
Among his most memorable numbers were 'Tum itna jo muskara rahe ho', 'Apni Marzi Se Kahan Apne Safar Ke Hum Hain' and 'Pehle Har Cheez Thi Apni Magar Ab Lagta Hai Apne Hi Ghar Mein Kisi Doosre Ghar Ke Hum Hain'.
His last concert was planned with Ghulam Ali on September 23 at Shanmukhananda Hall, Matunga, in Mumbai but was cancelled after he was taken ill the same day. The duo had given a stirring performance days ago in Delhi.
Singh began his musical journey singing 'shabads' or devotional songs in gurudwaras. He studied in DAV College, Jalandhar where his fee was waived because of his voice. He got a chance as professional singer in Jalandhar's All India Radio station, which offered him six live music segments a year for small payments.
But success was a faraway dream for the singer, who came to Mumbai in 1961 to try his luck in playback singing but after some failed attempts, a dispirited Singh returned to Jalandhar.
Not one to give up, the ghazal maestro decided to give himself another chance and returned to the city of dreams in 1965. Singh managed to get two of his ghazals recorded with HMV. This was also the time when he decided to do away with his turban and hair.
However, playback singing continued to elude him and he earned by composing jingle, ad films and documentaries. He met his wife Chitra during one such recording and after two years, they decided to marry in 1970, which was also a turning point in his career.
Bollywood's loss was ghazal's gain, as Jagjit's fresh voice infused a new life into the dying genre, which was confined to select admirers. In 1975, HMV asked Jagjit to compose his first ever LP album 'The Unforgettables'.
The album featured Jagjit-Chitra ghazals, which were completely different. Singh is also credited with introducing modern instruments along with traditional sarangi and tabla in ghazals.
The next album Singh recorded was the Punjabi 'Birha Da Sultan', poems of Shiv Kumar Batalvi, which continue to be popular even today. Jagjit and Chitra then composed and sang the first-ever double album "Come Alive".
Two more double albums "Live at Wembley" and "Live at Royal Albert Hall", recorded in concert, followed in 1979 and 1982. Soon the couple were busy doing sold-out concerts.
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| (Clockwise, from top left): Jagjit Singh Dhiman, popularly known as Jagjit Singh, Young Jagjit Singh, Little Jagjit Singh with father Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman and Jagjit Singh's family-Step daughter Monica, wife Chitra and son Vivek | |
Listen to one of his countless Ghazals:
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Oct 10) condoled the demise of noted ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, saying he would be remembered for his "golden voice". Noting that he is among Jagjit's admirers, the Prime Minister said he shared the sorrow of his fans. In his condolence message, Singh said by "making ghazals accessible to everyone, he gave joy and pleasure to millions of music lovers in India and abroad....he was blessed with a golden voice". The Prime Minister said the ghazal maestro's music legacy will continue to "enchant and entertain" the people. http://news.oneindia.in/2011/10/10/pm-condoles-jagjit-singh-death.html |
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"I am in shock after hearing about Jagjitji's death. It is such a big loss, an end of an era. He was one artist who never needed films to get popular. He was an instant hit," said singing legend Lata Mangeshkar. |