"MY NAME IS GAUHAR JAAN!" THE FIRST VOICE RECORDED ON GRAMOPHONE
Sahar Adil
MyBangalore
s-gauhar-jaanquot-the-first-voice-recorded-on-gram ophone.html
April 13 2010
India
Vikram Sampath’s "My Name is Gauhar Jaan" captures the life of
feisty and eminent Hindustani classical vocalist Gauhar Jaan. India’s
first vocalist to record on the gramophone. The book was launched by
Pandit Jasraj
"My name is Gauhar Jaan!" The earliest recordings of Indian music are
distinguished by this high-pitched and flirtatious announcement, made
towards the end of the rendition. This declaration would then epitomize
a milestone in the history of Indian classical music, one that would
change forever its content, structure and style of presentation.
Author Vikram Sampath in his second book "My Name is Gauhar Jaan: The
Life and Times of a Musician, captures the life and times of feisty,
colourful and eminent Hindustani classical vocalist Gauhar Jaan who
was India’s first vocalist and musician to record on the gramophone.
Sangeet Martand, Padmavibhushan Pandit Jasraj, to launch the book in
Bangalore on April 12, 2010 at Alliance Francaise.
Speaking about the book, Pandit Jasraj said, " It is so interesting
that I feel that any music lover who gets his or her hands on the book
will read it through in one sitting." He reminisced that many thumris
composed by Gauhar Jaan like Kaise Yeh Dhoom Machayi Arrey Kanhaiya
Re as well as thumris sung by her like Jiyaa Mein Laagi Aaan Baan,
are still sung today by many across India. However, in most cases
the singers aren’t even aware that they are singing her compositions.
Vikram is doing just that, for people to reconise the thumris as
those that originally came from Gauhar Jaan.
The musical scene in India at the turn of the 20th century witnessed
tumultuous changes. The traditional custodians of the art form-the
devadasis down South and the nautch girls/tawaifs up North, had for
generations nurtured the art form. But successive laws passed against
their ilk, ensured that many of them died in abject poverty or were
faced with the abominations of the flesh trade. But, Gauhar Jaan
emerged on the sheer strength of their art and personalities.
Gauhar Jaan’s was the first Indian voice to be recorded in 1902. In
her illustrious career she cut close to 600 records. Gramophone
Company’s India agent Frederick William Gaisberg decided that she
would be the first Indian voice that he would record. He writes
glowing details about her flamboyance and appearance, as well as of
the wonder with which he heard her sing like a dream on his 3.5 min
long gramophone discs. Most of these discs end with a high-pitched
flirtatious announcement by the singer herself – "My name is Gauhar
Jaan" she screams out in most of these early records!
This book traces the story of her life with all its attendant myths,
legends and folklore, some of which are recorded, some apocryphal; as
well as the times during which she lived and created exquisite music.
According to Vikram, who says’s he could have well been possessed by
the ghost of Gauhar Jaan as he put together her life over two years
with intensive research.
"I discovered Gauhar Jaan originally during the research of my first
book, "Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars",
where I discovered she spent the last years of her life. It was
fascinating to see the life she lived and the contribution she made to
Hindustani Classical Music, "according to Vikram, the male singers at
the time were superstitious of recording their voice. Harbouring fears
that they might lose their voice once it was recorded. Gauhar Jaan,
with her flamboyant irreverence for these beliefs, paved the way, with
many women singers following her. This shift to technology ensured that
women performing artists could emerge from the clutches of their often
abusive rich patrons. Born in Azamgarh as Eileen Angelina Yeoward,
an Armenian Christian who later converted to Islam, Gauhar Jaan was
a nationwide celebrity in her times. Gauhar’s life is replete with
numerous such anecdotes. She is touted to be among the few people in
Calcutta in those days that flouted Government regulations and went
around the city in a four horse-driven buggy, for which she even paid
a penalty of Rs.1000 a day to the Viceroy! She was even known to have
thrown a lavish party worth Rs.20,000 when her cat produced a litter
of kittens! Her photograph is supposed to have (even) appeared on
match boxes (of those days) which were manufactured in Austria!
But as everything that goes up also comes down, Gauhar had her fall
too. She was duped by her near and dear ones, had cases filed against
her in the courts and she lost most of her property and wealth in
Calcutta. At this point, the Maharaja of the princely state of Mysore
in South India decided to invite her as a state guest to Mysore in
1928 and she was given a mansion and an annual pension there. An
emotionally broken Gauhar, whose personal life and love life were in
ruins, sought her final refuge in Mysore. But the tragedies of her
life ensured she didn’t live long and the first Empress of Indian
music breathed her last in Mysore in 1930.
Bangalore based author Vikram Sampath is an Engineer/mathematician
and MBA by educational background is currently a Financial Analyst
with Hewlett Packard. "This allows me to go off on my numerous
research travels, to different parts of the country." His first book,
"Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars" has
won critical acclaim. The interest for this book was piqued with the
popular series "the Sword of Tipu Sultan", when he was all of 12-13
years old. He was perplexed that the Wodeyar’s were shown in very
poor light, which he would much later prove wrong, with his book. .
With messages from eminent classical musicians of India like Pandit
Jasraj, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pandit. Arvind Parikh, the book
includes a CD of select original sound tracks of Gauhar Jaan’s music.