An evening of winsome indigenous music

The Pakistan-American Cultural Centre (PACC) was host to a scintillating evening of qawwali music on Saturday evening, courtesy Ustad Subhan Nizami and his group (humnawa or chorus).

Introducing the music programme, Rizwan Zaidi of the All-Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) traced the history of the qawwali dating back to the time of Amir Khusro, the great Muslim maestro of the Indian Sub-Continent.

The first number the group presented was a qawwali, the Naghma-e-Qudoosi. Ustad Nizami’s deep resonating melodious voice was fully supported by that of the other members of the group. What enlivened the performance further was the rhythmic clapping by the whole group to the beat of the numbers.

The number was all in praise of the Almighty and had a clear religious character to it. It was highly spiritual and inspiring. This was borne out by the packed hall of the PACC and the way people were crowding to the stage to express their admiration and their gratitude in the form of monetary appreciation.

The audience comprised all age groups from septuagenarians to tiny tots. What was common among the audience despite the chronological diversity was the rapt attention with which all of them listened to the numbers.

Another qawwali, Rab Rahman Raheem Karam Kar, was equally evocative of divine inspiration. So effective and symbolic was their music. However, all their music was not divine in nature. There were odes to spring and romance. For one they rendered a number, ‘Tum Bin Kaise Kate More Raat Re’. 

Their capability to transit from the lowest of notes to the highest ones with perfect ease was simply remarkable, as was their faculty of transiting from the lowest to the highest pitch.

What was most admirable about the performance was the effort on the part of the APMC to popularise sub-continental music and to bring home to the young folk that modern pop and beats are not all that there is to music. The message that there are very sublime forms of indigenous music seemed to have got along real profoundly.

This was evidenced by the way even the tiny tots sat right into the late hours of the night, along with the superannuated ones. APMC Director Ayla Raza deserves all the credit for the initiative of keeping our music and cultural heritage alive.