MUSIC
Karunamaya Goswami
Tagore's musical life may be divided into three phases: the first phase extends from 1881 to 1900, the second phase from 1900 to 1920 and the third phase from 1921 to 1941. The first phase is called the period of preparation, the second phase is called the phase of experimentation and the third phase has been termed as the phase of composition per excellence. In the first phase of his musical life Rabindranath Tagore had mostly turned his attention to composing songs in imitation of some existing stock-songs in Hindi. In the second phase he began to create melodies of his own on the basis of Hindustani classical musical forms. It marked the beginning of Tagore style musical compositions. Most of Tagore's patriotic songs were composed in this period. He began to pay increasing attention to folk musical forms from this time onward. The third phase provided the mature Tagore compositions widely acclaimed for their characteristic Tagore style:
The characteristic Tagore songs are those which he composed in the last phase on the basis of experiences and experimentation on every wide range. Rich in variety and novelty these compositions are regarded as Tagore's great contributions to the stock of Indian music.10
The mature Tagore musical style was evolved out of a combi-nation of folk melodies particularly baul with classical melodies and baul form with classical musical forms. Coming to the last phase of his creative life Rabindranath paid highest attention to heightening the lyrical suggestivity with the help of music. This was, of course, the motto of his whole career as a composer.
Rabindranath Tagore has himself put his songs in four principal groups which he called Puja (worship), Swadesh (homeland), Prem (love) and Prakriti (nature).- There are two minor groups called 'variety' and 'occasional.' Tagore's 'worship' class of songs are about 650 in number. These songs were composed in Brahmasangeet tradition. He belonged to old Brahma society under the leadership of his father and the dhrupada based musical line of the society was his musical ideology which is of course true not only, of his devotio-nal songs but also of songs of other categories. The devotional songs on one indivisible God of Brahma religion were composed by hundreds of Bengali lyricists, but the best of this kind was composed by Rabindranath Tagore. His Brahma songs stand for the highest achievements in the domain of Bengali devotional songs. Allegiance to God has been communicated in a combination of lyricism and music that inspires every believing soul. So when the
Brahma religious movement has gone on the wane, Tagore songs have remained lovable. They have never assumed the limitations of communal prayer songs. They reflect the spirit of universal prayer. This enables Tagore songs of devotion to withstand the test of time.
Tagore had composed some three hundred songs on nature. They have been known as seasonal songs as they muse natural states in Bengal through the changing cycles of weather. Here we notice the fullest blossoming of the romantic attitude to nature pioneered in Bangla lyrical compositions by Biharilal Chakrabarty who is also said to have inspired Tagore. Tagore does not merely describe the visible changes in nature: in flowers, in plants and creepers, in wind, in river and in sky etc.; he also communicates the corresponding states of human mind. The existence of human element in Tagore songs on nature is, therefore, very deep.
The relation between music and nature has always been very intimate. This took rather an organised shape in classical music where seasonal melodies have been planned and six major ragas have been exclusively left to six seasons. Civilization of man grew up in the lap of nature in early days. Pulsations in nature were quickly felt in the state of human mind. Natural festivals were parts of man's living. But people were being increasingly cut off from nature as the rural civilization was on the wane and cities as the centres of modern industrial civilization grew up and expanded. Rabindranath Tagore tried to revive that sinking relation between man and nature in his songs and in seasonal festivals that he introduced in Shantiniketan. He came to north Bengal to take charge of the estate at the age of thirty. There he passed year after year in the midst of trees, creepers, green and golden fields, shadowy villages, and roaring rivers. At the age of forty Rabindranath founded the Shantiniketan school. There he lived very close to rural environ ment. He composed sixteen songs on summer, one hundred fifteen on rain, thirty on autumn, five on late autumn, twelve on winter and ninety six songs on spring. These make the best of Bengali seasonal songs. The seasonal festivals introduced by Rabindranath Tagore and the dance sketches and songs he composed on the season-cycles are regarded as his great contributions to the musical culture of Bengal. Tagore composed over four hundred love songs. In respect of number they stand next to devotional songs. The trend of composing love songs extends from the first to the last phase of Tagore's creative life. He never failed to be inspired with the intrinsic charm of love. As in music, so in theme, a gradual development marks Tagore's composition of love songs. In love songs of the first phase of his musical life we get the feeling of a highly personalized love, a known environment of living, as if we get Rabindranath himself in love. But in, later phases the portrayal of feeling passes into a change and personalized state of mind merges into a universal urge. In the mature Tagore songs of love we feel the presence of an eternal urge that tends to make universal man crave for universal woman of his fascination and universal woman crave for universal man of her choosing. In this sense of course they become songs of spiritual impulse. Like the best of Bangla love songs Tagore songs on love are never songs of union between man and woman. They never reflect a joyous mood. They are songs of separation symbolizing rather like the Vaishnavite songs the eternal separation between the eternal masculine and the eternal feminine. Sometimes the beloved is so much spiritualised that it becomes difficult to distinguish between a love song and a song of devotional sentiment. Songs of human love were first composed by Ramnidhi Gupta. Since then throughout the 19th century innumerable love songs had been composed by hundreds of Bengali poets. But the most sublime form of it from lyrical as well as musical points of view was attained by Rabindranath.
Tagore's musical ideal was dhrupada. Once he told Dhurjatiprasad Mukhopadhyay, "We have got two things in dhrupada; on the one hand we have got its vastness and depth and on the other we have got its control and symmetry."11 Depth, control and symmetry are the virtues which characterize the musical compositions of Tagore. It must be said here , that Tagore had only taken the essence of dhrupada music. He never followed its intricate ways of improvi-sations. His highest objective in musical composition was to heighten the lyrical suggestivity. He did it with a kind of missionary zeal throughout his life without submitting to natural musical temptations. The way of music, particularly when it is the way of Hindustani classical or semi-classical music, is always elusive. It mesmerizes one into the depth of countless ways of improvisations. But Tagore himself being a great admirer of Hindustani classical music could get rid of intricacies of performance and set the lyric to melody with a stern poetic motto of bringing out the message of vani or the lyrical part of the song. Rabindranath had not only followed the ideology himself, he had also founded this tradition of musical composition through more than two thousand of his songs. He had also largely followed the dhrupada structural design. It was a four stanza musical division. Prior to him musical compositions in Bengal were mostly made of two musical stanzas. But Rabindranath Tagore founded the tradition of four stanza musical composition which formed the basis of modern Indian musical exercises.
In these ways Tagore had taken single-handed efforts to improve upon the 19th century trends of music and founded a sublime tradition of his own which is regarded as the most wonderful musical achievement in modern India.
D. L. Ray attained a great fame by devising an encouraging musical style which was the product of a brilliant combination of Hindustani classical music and western musical pattern. He applied this neo-musical style with great success to his patriotic songs. The western way of lively gradual musical rise and fall added a new dimension to the expressiveness of his compositions. Interesting comments on this musical innovation was made by Kalidas Ray, a renowned Bengali poet and critic. He said:
This kind of liveliness was not present in our music. D. L. Ray derived this liveliness from Western music and instilled it into the music of our land. He introduced in our country what is known as movement in Western music. In our musical system melody expands pretty slowly. But D. L. Ray noticed that enthusiasm and speed have great musical value. It expands the area of melody and instills liveliness in it.12
D. L. Ray achieved unprecedented success in utilizing western chorus singing style in the raga musical frame. He had done a pioneering job in the use of marching music in patriotic songs. D. L. Ray has left testimony of great strength as a composer of love songs. He made use of raga music. But he did not opt to make use of the traditional raga musical ways. He rather adopted a personal approach and worked very hard for distinctly varying musical com- positions to suit the suggestivity of varying lyrics. He exploited tappa and kheyal and a combination of tappa and kheyal known as tap-kheyal. But everywhere he has left marks of individual approach.
Jyotirindranath Tagore initiated the trend of composed music and it took a shape in him before Rabindranath achieved considerable success in what may be called a creative musical approach.
Dwijendralal Ray is regarded as the greatest composer of humo-rous songs in Bangla. He is, in fact, the founder of the tradition of modern Bangla humorous songs. He achieved equal success in satirical songs as well as songs of pure humour. He composed a new musical pattern for songs of humour in which western musical elements played an effective role.
It is true, although unfortunate that D. L. Ray has not been offered the position in the history of music in Bengal which he deserves as a composer. Proper attention could not have been paid to him in presence of Tagore who outshone all his contemporaries. Moreover there is no institutional support for propagation and evaluation of D. L. Ray's work. But it must be recognised that he modernised the art musical approaches in Bengal and heralded Bengal's entry into world music.
Rajanikanta Sen (1865-1910) occupies an important place in the history of modern Bangla art songs. He is particularly reputed for his devotional and patriotic songs. Rajanikanta Sen was born in the district of Sirajganj in Bangladesh. Guruprashad Sen, his father was a judge. He was also a poet and musician. Rajanikanta was found to be keen in singing and composing songs since his young years. But he earned the real reputation of a composer as he settled in Rajshahi as a lawyer. D. L. Ray went to Rajshahi in 1894. There he heard him singing humorous songs which inspired him to compose songs of similar sentiment. Rajanikanta was inspired with ideas of the anti-partition movement and himself took part in it. But soon misfortunes began to loom large over him. He lost his children and he himself fell ill with ailment in kidney and then with cancer. Even from deathbed Rajanikanta Sen composed some brilliant devotional songs.
Today Rajanikanta is best remembered for his patriotic and devotional songs. His humorous songs have fallen out of use. In patriotic songs he portrayed the salient themes which had been adopted by Bengali poet since the Hindu Mela days. The idea of boycott of foreign goods inspired him most. His 'accept as blessing the coarse cloth given by mother' is regarded as the best Bangla composition on the swadeshi spirit of boycott. Critics feel that only one song like this motivated the people of Bengal to consume countrymade goods. This song earned him countrywide reputation. Rajanikanta Sen will long be remembered for hil; devotional songs. Songs of such touching humility have been rarely composed in Bengal. He composed melodies out of a raga background. But the singing style he evolved was simple, unintricate and devoid of superfluous improvisations. It touchingly communicates the spirit of self-surrender. The world of Rajanikanta Sen's compositions is not very big and varied. Most of his compositions do not seem to be fascinating to the present-day Bengalis, but some of his songs definitely stand for what excellence one can achieve in music. These are enough to rank him as one who enriched the musical culture of Bengal remarkably.
Atulprasad Sen (1871-1934) is one of the great five makers of modern Bengali musical culture which he had enriched in many ways. His greatest contribution, perhaps, is that he integrated the styles of Hindustani light classical forms with the Bangla art musical styles. He founded the style of composing Bangla songs in thumri genre. Thumri is the sweetest and most lyrical of Hindustani classical forms. With its initiation a new chapter was found to begin in the history of musical compositions in Bengal. We have so long heard of Bangla songs composed under the influence of tappa, dhrupada and kheyal, three of the four major Hindustani musical genres. But now thumri, under whose impact Bengal stood at the doors of an age of immense possibilities of mellifluous lyricism and musical charm. Atulprasad composed music of various tendencies, but he was at his best in thumri, and the light classical nature of thumri appears to have influenced everything he did on music, because it occupied the core of his heart.
Atulprasad Sen was born in Dhaka. But he had settled himself as a lawyer in Lucknow. He composed his songs there and in songs alone he communicated the deepest urge of his soul. His songs are over two hundred in number. They have been broadly divided into four groups which he called 'God,' 'Nature,' 'Man' and 'Motherland'. His way of classifying his songs shows that he was under the influence of Rabindranath Tagore in doing so. Like D. L. Ray he had long been in England and knew western music well. But Atulprasad never took interest in pursuing western musical styles in his compositions. Raga music, particularly the light classical was his principal musical source. Under the influence of Rabindranath Tagore he took interest in the folk music of Bengal and made brilliant utilization in his compositions of baui and Kirtan melodies. In some cases his blending of folk styles with light classical ways had produced wonderful charms.
Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam are the two most important makers of modern musical culture of Bengal and they till satisfy a great part of the musical tastes of the Bengalis. Nazrul appeared on the musical scene of Bengal during the hey day of Tagore age, but soon he was able to establish his distinction and initiate some new trends of far reaching consequences.
Kazi Nazrul Islam began to compose songs at an early age. He worked for folk musical troupes known as Leto. The songs he composed and sketches he wrote for the leto troupes have been mostly lost. We particularly know of his musical contributions since he settled in Calcutta in 1920 after his regiment was disbanded at the end of the First World War.
If the musical life of Kazi Nazrul Islam is divided into several phases, then the first phase should be called the phase of patriotic songs extending over a period from 1920 to 1926. He is found to put maximum emphasis on composing patriotic songs during this period. Kazi Nazrul Islam is regarded as a great composer of Bengali patriotic songs. His immortal compositions of this genre have always been sung with fervour. Nazrul appeared on the musical scene of Bengal when a great vacuum was persisting in the trend of patriotic songs at the death of some major Bengali composers and at the departure of others including Rabindranath Tagore from this trend. Nazrul had ably filled in the vacuum and represented in his songs the fiery spirit of the contemporary anti-British struggles. Kazi Nazrul Islam's patriotic songs may be classified into several groups in regard to the subjectmatter. They are: songs on reverence for motherland, songs of freedom movement, songs on awakening the youth, songs on awakening women, songs on Muslim awakening, songs of socialist inspiration, songs on communal harmony and patriotic humorous songs.
Some of the themes are traditional and some of them were freshly added by Nazrul Islam to the stock of Bangla patriotic songs. The old trends too assumed newer dimensions in Nazrul's compositions. The portrayal of heroic sentiment in songs on freedom movement for instance, took an unprecedented spirit in his compositions. The language and melodies he created for his songs were different from the earlier ones and the spirit of a rebel was perfectly communicated in his songs of rebellion. The rebel poet of Bengal started a line of rebellious songs parallel to the line of rebellious poetry. But the trend of patriotic songs of socialist inspiration was a creation of Kazi Nazrul Islam himself. The composers of patriotic songs in Bangla had long been speaking of political independence. In fact, this formed the very core of the tradition of Bengali patriotic songs. But the idea of economic independence or the idea of founding a society free from exploi-tation of the weaker sections by the strong ones was first introduced.by Nazrul into the stream of Bangla patriotic songs. He derived his inspiration for composing such songs from socialist revolution in Russia. Nazrul was a political activist and he parti-cularly composed songs of socialist inspiration as he, with some of his friends, founded political parties which were declared to be dedicated to reshaping the Indian society under socialist ideology. The Bangla version of the Communist International that Nazrul made is regarded as a great piece of composition. The trend of socialist songs flourished very greatly in Bengal under the auspices of the Indian people's Theatre Association. But the trend is found to begin in the patriotic compositions of Nazrul.
Kazi Nazrul Islam composed a large number of songs on the idea of a broadbased social awakening. His inspiring songs on the awakening of youths and women must be mentioned in this respect. But his songs on awakening of Muslims demand a special mention, because this trend was also one creation of his own. Bangla patriotic songs by and large were on social awakening. But the spirit they represented till the advent of Nazrul was Hindu in nature. They stood for a broadbased awakening among the Hindus. The particular context of Muslim awakening was only added by Nazrul Islam to the stock of patriotic songs in Bengal. This had gone a long way in inspiring the Muslims of Bengal to respond to the call of freedom and social change. Kazi Nazrul Islam had also greatly enriched that section of Bengali patriotic songs, which stands for communal harmony, more particularly harmony in the relation between Hindus and Muslims. The tradition of composing such songs is as old as the tradition of Bengali patriotic songs .itself. Most of the representative composers of Bangla patriotic songs strove for such sons urging Hindus and Muslims to shun the ways of disunity and live in amity with each other and together struggle for freedom and for the good of motherland. Such songs were known as milangan or songs of unity. Rabindranath Tagore composed a beautiful miiangan as far back as 1886 which he himself sang in the second annual session of the Indian National Congress. Kazi Nazrul Islam appears to have taken the matter of urging for Hindu-Muslim amity with utmost seriousness not only in musical compositions but also in every other kind of creative enterprise. He had himself made it known in many occasions that the spirit behind combining the Hindu and the Muslim ways of culture in his creative efforts was to bring these communities closer so that they could overcome all the bitterness in their relation and live in peace and harmony. This combination, Nazrul knew, had not been artistically effective every-where, but still he did it with a missionary zeal to bring Hindu and Muslim minds closer in literature and music. Kazi Nazrul Islam had, in fact, composed some of the immortal songs in Bangla language on communal harmony.
The second phase of Nazrul's life as a composer is called the Gazal phase. It began at the end of 1926 when he paid exclusive attention to compose songs in that genre. Gaza1, a kind of love song was first developed in Persia, now called Iran. In course of time Urdu gazals flourished very greatly and great Urdu poets paid attention to this form. But the attention of lyricists from Bengal could not have been drawn to this popular and expressive musical form and none before Atulprasad Sen did ever take any interest in composing some gazals. Even Atulprasad, as it has been said earlier, composed only a few gazals, not more than seven in number and he lived far away from Bengal for which this did not appear as a musical phenomenon to create a respectable impact. When Nazrul began to compose gazals in Bangla and they were being sung in Calcutta by eminent vocalists, they created an impact and music loving people of Bengal began to respond to this genre with great enthusiasm. A new era of Bengali art music was begun by Kazi Nazrul Islam. It has been called the gazal era by the critics. Nazrul composed a large number of gazals and gave shape to a musical beauty which was so long unheard of in Bengal. People of Bengal felt for the first time that they had so long been deprived of the romantic charm of a light classical music and Nazrul's compositions opened the possibilities of a new musical era in Bengal. Gazal's lively romanticism, Persian association and engaging mode of improvi-sation contributed greatly to its popularity.
The third phase of Nazrul Islam's musical life is known to us as the Gramophone Company phase. It is called so because he worked with the gramophone companies in Calcutta, particularly with His Master's Voice. It began either at the end of 1928 or in the beginning of 1929 when he joined the HMV. First he joined as the lyricist and tuner and then he became the trainer and the chief trainer. The gramophone company phase marked a tremendous and varied flourishing of Nazrul's talent as a composer. He was found to compose songs on all the possible themes, in all the possible musical forms and at an incredible speed. He surprised everyone by his gift of impromptu composition. Most of his (over three thousand) songs were composed at this period. Kazi Nazrul Islam is recognised to have greatly contributed to build the golden age of gramophone records in Bengal. A kind of massive response to music was made possible in Bengal on the founding of gramophone companies and films. In his songs Nazrul had also made a massive response to satisfy the popular and diverse urge. He could give leadership to the first ever large scale production of music on a commercial basis. Modern songs, devotional songs, songs of folk tradition and raga songs are the principal sectors of Nazrul's compositions during the gramophone company phase of his musical life.
The trend of composing modern song forms the most important musical phenomenon in Bengal during the post Tagore period. The principal impulse behind founding this trend was to suit the trading demands of record companies and the films. Popular appreciation and entertainment were its motto. Nazrul's distinction as a composer was that he could spontaneously respond to the popular urge and keep by and large true to artistic commitments. Modern songs were composed principally on the theme of love and Nazrul Islam composed a good number of songs of lasting artistic merit in the modernist musical trend. In fact he laid the very foundation of modern Bangla songs.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was also a great composer of devotional songs. They may be broadly divided into two categories, Islamic songs and Hindu religious songs. He was the founder of the trend of Islamic songs in the art music tradition of Bengal. Islamic devotional songs had so long been composed only in the folk music level. But these could not bring musical satisfaction to the educated, modern Muslims. They required songs befitting to the urge of the new age. Nazrul was the first among the Muslim poets and composers in Bengal to give musical shapes to the devotional urge of the modern Muslim mind-and to make a solid start by composing nearly two hundred songs on various Islamic themes. This was a' distinct contribution of Nazrul towards enriching the music culture of Bengal.
The trend of composing Bangla art songs following the folk music styles had also taken a beautiful shape in the compositions of Nazrul Islam. The trend was initiated by Rabindranath Tagore by the beginning of the 20th century, particularly when he composed patriotic songs during the anti-partition movement. The trend soon earned popularity and the attitude to sophisticating the folk music styles. was appreciated and adopted by the contemporary compo-sers. The record companies and film makers had also taken a favourable stance on the matter. Kazi Nazrul Islam had also enriched this musical tendency by composing a large number of songs of folk music tradition and enlarged the scope of this newly developed musical genre. Rabindranath had principally adopted the baul form. Atulprasad had also followed Tagore's suit. But Nazrul followed different Bengali folk music styles like baul, jhumur, jhapan, bhatiali and bhawaiya. The trend had thus been enlarged and diversified. Particular mention must be made to Nazrul's exploitation of jhumur, the favourite musical style of the Santhals. Its dancing rhythm and characteristic application of off-beats added a new charm to Bangla art music compositions. Some of Nazrul's experimentation in this field are looked upon as pioneering works of what was later known as modernised versions of traditional folk styles. ,
In Bangla raga musical compositions Nazrul achieved a great success. The process began in 'the third phase of his musical life and reached its culmination in the fourth phase, known as the radio phase which started in 1938 when Nazrul began to actively take part in programmes organised by the Calcutta Radio Station and continued the practice down to 1942 when he fell incurably ill while taking part in a children's programme in. the studio of the same radio centre. Nazrul's musical orientation basically had a classical bias and he is found-to have exploited the various forms of Hindustani classical music to compose music for almost every kind of song he wrote in Bengali. Nazrul did not take considerable interest in dhrupada. But his love for kheyal and thumri was almost endless. He applied the charms of these Hindustani forms to Bangla songs in countless ways. Nazrul had also made experimentation on raga music and created seventeen new ragas. He initiated an age of spectacular creativity in Bengal on the basis of raga music leading to wonderful consequences. Particular mention should be made to the trend of classico-modern songs of Bengal which Kazi Nazrul Islam had pioneered.
The decade that began in 1930 stands historically as a period of transition between the old and the new ways of Bangla art songs. The origination of the art of modern songs and division of labour between a lyricist, a singer and a composer to produce finished song, improvements in the recording methods, introduction of Talkies and background singing, expansion of radio music progra-mmes are some of the important features of the new ways of music in Bengal. Nazrul Islam stands as a bridge between the two ages and he is the last representative of the ageold way of art music in Bengal.
Mention must here be made to those who contributed greatly to enrich the musical culture of Bengal at that period of transition. As lyricists we get Hiren Basu, Hemendra Kumar Ray, Tulsi Lahiri, Anil Bhttacharya, Ajay Bhattacharya, Pranab Ray, Subodh Purakayastha, Shailen Ray, Banikumar, Sourindramohan Mukherjee, Premendra Mitra and Dhirendranath Mukherjee. As composers and music directors we get Hiren Basu, Hemendra Kumar Ray, Tulsi Lahiri, Binay Goswami, Himansu Datta, Nitai Matilal, Kamal Dasgupta, Subal Dasgupta, Krishnachandra Dey, Shailesh Dattagupta, Chitta Ray, Raichand Baral, Bishanchand Baral and Pankaj Kumar Mallik. As singers we get Angurbala, Indubala, Harimati, Kamala Jharia, Radarani, Shaila Debi, K. Mallik, Krishnachandra Dey, Kanan Debi, Juthika Ray, Shachin Deb Barman, Abbasuddin, Satya Choudury, Mrinal Kanti Ghosh, Jaganmoy Mitra, Suprabha Sarkar and Kundanlal Saigal. These lyricists, composers and singers together contributed to build up the golden age of modern Bangla songs and music of Bengali films. The background of their contributions was created by Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul- Islam. The modern musical experimentation in Calcutta had also made the background of modern songs and film music of entire India.
Indian People's Theatre Association movement founded in the year 1943 in the context of an opposition to imperialism and fascism influenced the total creative pursuits of Bengal, not to speak of music alone. The cultural ideology of the communist party of India was the driving force behind the movement and the distinct trend of ganasangeet or people's song in Bengal, originated under the auspices of the People's Theatre Association. In the first bulletin of the association published in 1943 it was said:
It is in this situation that the Indian People's Theatre Association has been formed to co-ordinate and strengthen all progressive tendencies that have so far manifested themselves in the nature of dramas, songs and dances. It is a movement which seeks to make our arts, the expression and the organisers of our people's struggles for freedom. economic justice and democratic culture. It stands for the defence of culture against imperialism and fascism and for enlightening the masses about the causes and solutions of problems facing them. It tries to quicken their awareness of unity and their passion for better and just world order.13
Songs were looked upon as an effective medium of organising the working people to this end. These were not the traditional patriotic songs of Bengal. They were the new songs composed by some activists of the people's theatre movement. The songs were composed on themes of social change, forming of progressive society free from exploitation and rise and victory of the working people. Binay Ray, Jyotirindra Maitra, Hemang Biswas and Salil Choudhury were the principal minds behind composing people's songs and the musical squads of Indian people's Theatre Associa-tion began to organise sessions at various places. A new section of invigorating songs was added to the tradition of Bangla patriotic songs. It had an humble beginning in the compositions of Kazi Nazrul Islam. But under the auspices of the People's Theatre Association it flourished so well that it could take the shape of a distinct trend of Bangla.songs.
This was the musical context of Bengal in 1947 when the state of Pakistan came into being upon the partition of the sub-continent of India. Bengal was divided into two provinces. East Bengal with its capital in Dhaka was made the eastern province of Pakistan and West Bengal with its capital in Calcutta remained in India. In addition to the compositions of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam the then Bangla musical context was fed principally by the enriched trend of romantic modern songs and the trend of patriotic songs including the freshly introduced people's songs.
The musical developments in West Bengal during the 'post partition years are found chiefly to concentrate on the trend of romantic modern songs which was nourished by the expanding scopes of record companies, films and the radios. A 'batch of talented lyricists-and composers joined those who had been working from the thirties. Promising singers were also coming for-th. Among others Mahini Choudhury, Shyamal Gupta, Gouriprasanna Majumdar, Pulak Banerjee and Shibdas Banerjee did a wonderful job as lyricists. As composers brilliant contributions were made by Anupam Ghatak, Rabin Chatterjee, Hemanta Mukherjee, Nachiketa Ghosh, Salil Choudhury, Dilip Sacker, Sudhin Das Gupta, Prabir Majumdar, Abhijit Banerjee and Anal Chatterjee. Persons like Hiren Basu and Jnanprakash Ghosh took part in enriching the musical environment.
They together built up the trend of romantic modern Bangla songs which, through ups and downs, is still continuing there. As matters stand to-day the musical culture of West Bengal appears to pass into a stage of decay and instead of concentrating on exploring the traditional way of Bangla art music, the composers are increa-singly depending on nothing more than systematic noise in the name of imitating Western music and music of Hindi films. Again the compositions of the- early decades are coming up to cater to the aesthetic taste. Tagore songs and songs of Nazrul. are found to stand the test of time.
The post partition musical creativity in East Bengal (East Pakistan) had chiefly flowed into two distinct streams, namely, modern songs and patriotic songs. But mention must here be made to the tribulations Dhaka had to face to assume the role of a cultural capital when a deep vacuum had been created in the field of music at the large scale migration of Hindus from East Bengal to India as the consequence of partition. The cultivation of music in Bengal was still limited mostly to the Hindus, although some stalwarts from among the Muslims had already made their marks in this field. An account of this situation has been given in the autobiography by Abdul Ahad who was the first among the Bengali Muslims to receive training in Tagore songs in Shantiniketan in the lifetime of Rabindranath Tagore and who later earned reputation as a trainer .of Tagore songs in Calcutta. Like some other Muslim musicians he came to Dhaka from Calcutta in 1948 and joined the Dhaka Radio Station. Abdul Ahad served the causes of music in various capacities, but the most remarkable role he played was that of a composer who singularly tried to fill the vacuum in the initial years and for many more years dominated the music scene here as a composer of music for various types of songs, particularly the modern and the patriotic songs. Abdul Ahad has respectfully recalled the memory of those who took pioneering role immediately after the partition of India to fill in the musical vacuum and inspire the younger generation to rise up to the need of the age and learn and deliver music. Their expectations came true and efforts were fruitful. A generation of men of musical culture was soon found to grow and the vacuum was gradually filled in quite successfully. Mention first of all has been made of the late Abbasuddin who was also fresh from Calcutta for the inspiring role he played as a versatile singer and organiser to do everything possible to tide over the period of vacuum. Names of Bimal Ray, Laila Arjumand Banu, Afsari Khanam, Anjali-Ray, Shahjahan Hafiz, Sultan Alam, Abdul.Halim Choudhury, Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Abdul .Latif have also been mentioned, who as singers and some of them as singers and composers rendered great services.
Of the two important trends of musical composition which have been mentioned earlier, the modern musical trend .did not have the congenial atmosphere to flourish during the initial years in Dhaka for absence of patronizing institutions like the film and the record company. The only medium which extended support to the growth of this .musical genre was the, radio. It got support of films in the early sixties and that of television in the late sixties. The support in real sense by the record company could never be extended here. Primarily the Dhaka Radio Station and subsequently the radio stations in Rajshahi and Chittagong were the institutions under the umbrella of which the trend of modern songs flourished in East Bengal. Lyricists like Sikandar Abu Jafar, Azizur Rahman, Mohammad Moniruzzaman and Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal and composers like Abdul Ahad and Samar Das contributed greatly towards the growth of Bangla modern songs in East Bengal.
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