Word: mirza
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...Persia in 1817, a child was born. He was named Mirza Hussein Ali and he died in 1892-in the year of his 75th birthday-as Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i religion. In North India in 1894, a child was born. He was named Merwan Sheriar Irani and he died in 1969-in the year of his 75th birthday-as Meher Baba, Avatar of the Baba-lovers. In South India in 1895 a child was born. He was named Jiddu Krishnamurti and he still lives-in this, the year of his 75th birthday-as Krishnamurti, bright mystery...
...raga's path seems to change on the first beat of each cycle, which acts as a convergence point for the interplay of the two instrumentalists. Mirza sometimes suggests a rhythm in his strumming, picking right hand (the lute-like sitar is played vaguely like a guitar) which Khan then develops more fully during the coming cycle...
...other times, Khan pursues a new, syncopated tempo, while Mirza takes the first note as a starting point for "bending the pitch" of the next interval, to be played in "meend," a technique similar to the "blueing" of notes in jazz. "The beauty of the sitar lies in pulling the notes from one fret to another," according to Mirza. The drawn-out sounds create the strange, modal, wailing effect which western ears find so intriguing...
...BEATLES did a great deal for sitar music, but they knew nothing about it," Mirza told me last week. "They exploited it for the pop mania. There has been a great sinking of Indian music in the United States during the last year because of its commercialization and exploitation. Trying to cater to all tastes like a very bad cook has been responsible for its demise from interest...
...Mirza made no attempt to simplify his usual playing style to suit his culturally-distant American audience last Saturday, and his unassuming honesty-coupled with his virtuoso elegance-was received with great enthusiasm. The small size of the audience permitted a certain intimacy which provided the atmosphere in which Indian music was meant to be heard. The Brandeis listeners probably sensed little of the Hindustani culture in which the raga is firmly rooted, but they undoubtedly came away with a feeling for the romantic delicacy of Indian music well-performed...