Hindustani instrumental sitar: Ilyas Khan

The video is an audio recording of a programme which took place in 1956 at the Constitution Club in New Delhi. In the programme, Ilyas Khan, the sitar maestro of the illustrious Lucknow-Shahjahanpur gharana presented Raga Chhayanat followed by a Dhun in Raga Kafi. Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) was born in Lucknow to a family of musicians. His father belonged to the Shahjahanpur gharana of sarod players while his mother came from the Lucknow gharana of sarod players. He was introduced to the sitar by his father. He was a disciple of Abdul Ghani Khan - a dhrupad singer from Kalpi. Later, he trained under Yusuf Ali Khan, the sitarist and sitar maker. His technique was based on the dhrupad ang according to which he rendered his alap in four folds with the execution of meend and gamak. The meend was executed in the Purab-ang baj style.