A dirge for music

The untimely death of Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan in Lahore deprives us of another big name in classical music. But it is also a reminder of how rapidly we are losing a legacy that should have been preserved generation after generation. But this has not happened. We have lost a great part of our appreciation for classical music and all that it represents. No effort has been made to save it and keep it a living part of our society. Even Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television have for a large part abandoned classical music in its purest forms. The programmes that are broadcast come on late at night or at other off-peak hours. As a result of this neglect even the offspring of past masters have veered away from music perfected by their ancestors and gone into popular music of various kinds. Some have attempted to fuse this with the classical training they received in their youth.

There is little consciousness of what we are losing. The tradition of music we have inherited needs to be protected, otherwise we risk losing it forever. Other countries have found ways to do this. Some have been able to acquire commercial sponsorship for the arts in various forms. This is one reason why opera or ballet continues to grow and develop in the west and training programmes can be offered to upcoming exponents.

It is worth noting that India has been able to keep up support for classical art forms. Pakistani musicians visiting the country report gaining far bigger audiences than  at home. There has been some effort in the private sector to support all forms of music. The new should be able to coexist with the old. For this to happen we need more official patronage for music and an effort to impart greater interest for it among young people as is the case in many other places around the world.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 17^th,  2010.