Ustad Amir Khan

"Amir Khan's music combined the massive dignity of the dhrupad with the ornate vividness of khayal." --- Susheela Mishra in the "Great masters of music" series.

Ustad Amir Khan (1912-1974) was among the greatest and most influential Hindustani vocalists of the twentieth century. To quote Ustad Faiyaz Khan (from Susheela Mishra's article ), "One must play with a raga with a lover's passion. One must learn to love it to pay court to it, like a cavalier, and then alone can a musician tell the story of joy and grief; of laughter and tears. Music must please and move." This is an apt description of Ustad Amir Khan's music. Amir Khansahib had an intellectual's approach to Hindustani music while always managing to bring out, with great sensitivity, all the emotive aspects of a raag.

As is well known to insiders, much of the recordings of great Hindustani musicians languishes in private collections. In recent years, thanks to the internet and the generous efforts of people at sawf.org and sarangi.info and numerous others on websites like esnips.com, a large number of recordings are now freely available online to music lovers. Unfortunately, these collections are often hard to locate. I have attempted here to put together a list of recordings by Ustad Amir Khan along with links to recordings online. This is just a beginning; I hope that, over time, and with the help of other fans of Amir Khansahib, I will be able to make this a more comprehensive list so that these gems are easily accessible to all music lovers who have access to the internet. Many links appear and disappear in time; I would appreciate information regarding broken links and any new links that may have appeared.

Musicography with links to online resources

  1. Abhogi "Laaj rakhi lee jo mori" on youtube
  2. Abhogi "Charan dhar aayo" on esnips.com
  3. Adana on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  4. Adana "Muhammad Shah Rangile" (78 RPM) on youtube
  5. Ahir Bhairav: Vilambit khayal "Jago re bande" on youtube on esnips.com
  6. Ahir Bhairav: Chhota khayal: "Piya para been parama sukha chatura" on LP/tape recording titled Surmanjari. AK's composition.
  7. Ahir Bhairav: Chhota khayal
  8. Aiman (Yaman): on sarangi.info
  9. Aiman (Yaman) kalyan: on sarangi.info
  10. Amirkhani Kauns: Madhya laya "Paar karo" AK's composition.
  11. Asavari Todi on on Rajan Parrikar's site
  12. Bageshree: "Bahu guna kamna" on Rajan Parrikar's site and on LP/tape recording
  13. Bageshree: "Kaise kate rajni" (from the film Kshudito Pashan, with Protima Banerjee) on youtube
  14. Bageshrikanada: "Gore gore mukh par" on sarangi.info
  15. Bahar on esnips.com
  16. Bairagi: "Man sumarata" on sarangi.info
  17. Barwa on youtube and on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  18. Basant Bahar: "Parana koyaliya kuka rahi" on youtube on sarangi.info
  19. Basant Mukhari: "Prabhu daata" on musicindiaonline.com and on esnips.com
  20. Bhatiyar: "Nisa dinana" on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  21. Bhatiyar: "Barani na jaye" on youtube on sarangi.info
  22. Bhimpalasi on youtube
  23. Bihag "Kaise sukh" on youtube on musicindiaonline.com
  24. Bilaskhani Todi: on sarangi.info
  25. Chandni Kedar Ye ri tu dhana dhana
  26. Chandrakaunsi: tarana on Patrick Moutal's website
  27. Charukeshi: "Laaj rakho tum more" on sarangi.info . AK's composition.
  28. Darbari: "Mori aalee, jab se bhanaka paree" (piya ke awan ki) on sarangi.info
  29. Darbari: "Tumari jay jay karta"
  30. Darbari: chhota khayal "Yare man biya biya" (Persian). AK's composition.
  31. Deshi with D.V. Paluskar: "Aaj gawat man mero" on youtube
  32. Deshkar
  33. Gaud Malhar (short live recording) on youtube
  34. Gurjari Todi
  35. Hansdhwani vilambit: "Jaya maate" on youtube on sarangi.info
  36. Hansdhwani dhrut: tarana on sarangi.info
  37. Harikauns
  38. Hemkalyan on esnips.com
  39. Hemkalyan on esnips.com
  40. Hindol Basant
  41. Jaijaiwanti on youtube and on esnips.com
  42. Jog: "O balma" on youtube on esnips.com
  43. Jog: tarana on esnips.com
  44. Jog: tarana (in Persian). AK's composition.
  45. Kafi Kanada Ab mori laagi
  46. Kalavati "Anmaani Piya So Rahat Hai"
  47. Kalashri
  48. Janasanmohini: "Kaun jatan " on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  49. Kaushikanada vilambit on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  50. Kaushikanada dhrut on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  51. Khamaj thumri "Piya ke aavan ke" on sarangi.info
  52. Komal Rishabh Asawari "Jagat Sapna" on youtube or on esnips.com . AK's composition.
  53. Lalit Vilambit khayal: "Tadapath hoon jaise" on sarangi.info
  54. Lalit Chhota khayal: "Tadapath hoon jaise" (second version) on LP/tape recording
  55. Lalit ("Jogiya mere ghar") in opening credits of the film "Raagini" on youtube
  56. Lalit ("Jogiya mere ghar") with a Farsee anthara added (perhaps his own composition) on youtube
  57. Lalit khayal: vilambit "Charan kaise aavu", dhrut: "Jogiya mere ghar aaye" on sarangi.info
  58. Madhukauns "Bairanbhai Rain" youtube and on esnips.com
  59. Malkauns: "Jinke man Raam" and "Aaj more ghar aali na balma" on youtube on sarangi.info
  60. Malkauns: tarana on youtube (with video)
  61. Malkauns: "Jinke mana raam" mehfil recording on sarangi.info
  62. Malkauns: "Lagi la manwa" live recording. AK's composition.
  63. Marukalyan on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  64. Marwa Vilambit khayal "Jag bawra" on LP/tape recording and (poor quality recording) from a concert in Pune on youtube AK's composition (?)
  65. Marwa Vilambit khayal "Piya more anat des" and "Guru bin gyan na pave" on youtube.com
  66. Marwa chhota khayal "Guru bin gyan na pave". AK's composition
  67. Megh "Barkha ritu aaye" on sarangi.info
  68. Megh tarana on esnips.com
  69. Miyanmalhar "Karim naam" on esnips.com
  70. Miyanmalhar and Ramdasimalhar "Karim naam" on sarangi.info
  71. Multani vilambit "Jaako mana Allah" on sarangi.info
  72. Multani dhrut "Balma mohe tumso laagali preet" on sarangi.info
  73. Multani "Daya karo hey girdhara gopala" bhajan from the film Shabaab on R. Parrikar's website on sawf.org
  74. Nand youtube or on esnips (part 1) on esnips (part 2)
  75. Nat Bhairav: "Sumaranko" on esnips
  76. Pancham Malkauns bandish
  77. Priyakalyan (or Ramkalyan) on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music . AK's composition. He also created the raag.
  78. Priyakalyan "Sarmad gham-e ishq" Persian composition. (clip from an interview) AK's composition. He also created the raag.
  79. Puriya bandish title
  80. Puriya Dhanashree "Tori jay jay karta" on esnips.com
  81. Raagmala with Bismillah Khan Sur Malhar, Bageshree, Chandrakauns, Ramkali, Bhatiyar, Desh. From the film "Goonj Uthi Shehnai". on youtube.
  82. Rageshree "Beguna ko guna de" on youtube (with video) and Patrick Moutal's online collection (video) and on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  83. Ramdasi Malhar Chhayee Badariya Kaari
  84. Ramkali on esnips.com on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  85. Shahana on youtube
  86. Shree "Hari ke charana kamala nisadina sumarana re" on sarangi.info and on youtube
  87. Shuddh Kalyan "Karam karo" on youtube and "Mandara Bajo Re"
  88. Shuddh Kalyan tarana on esnips.com
  89. Shuddh Sarang on youtube
  90. Suhakanada on The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music
  91. Suha tarana on youtube Suha sughrai
  92. Todi vilambit and madhya laya ("Man ki panchi") on esnips.com AK's composition for madhya laya.
  93. Todi vilambit ("Ja re ja pathikava" (Sadarang)) and madhya laya ("Man ki panchi") on esnips.com AK's composition for madhya laya.
  94. Todi tarana (short recording) on esnips.com
  95. Mian Ki Todi, All India Radio programme, vilambit khayal "Shagun Bicharo Bamna' and drut 'Garva Mai Sang Laagi'
  96. Yaman vilambit jhoomra on youtube (Kishori Ray's links) , continuation: also on youtube (Kishori Ray's links)
  97. Yaman kalyan "Kajra kaise daroon". AK's composition (?) and LIVE recording of Yaman Kalyan, Kalashree and Darbari (London) on youtube
If you know of others, please let me know the name along with (if possible) information about where to find them. Many of the bandish titles above are probably misspelled, especially the ones with question marks, since I have relied almost entirely on guess work. If you notice any mistakes on this page, please inform me, thanks.

My email address: mharan@stat.psu.edu

Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Daibashish Gangopadhyay for corrections and additions to the above list. Bhuvanesh Bhatt also provided corrections.

Several of the recordings listed above are available online at these wonderful repositories of Hindustani music: A short Films Division documentary on Ustad Amir Khan can be found here.

Perhaps the best website devoted to Ustad Amir Khan is one put together by John Campana and others at the University of Toronto: Amir Khan memorial website.

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