Whenever I refer to Music from Pakistan I relate to a very specific genre which I bet you have never heard the name of. “Qawwali” as it is popularly known, has been in the sub continent for about 1600 years now. Qawwali is a form of music practiced by Sufis to inspire religious devotion and instruction.
Sufism is a mystical school of Islamic thought where truth and divine love are achieved through personal experience. Sufis are synonymous with the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ found in many parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Think of a Sufi like a Buddhist meditating in the isolation of the social circle to attain Nirvana.
Although, this form of Music predates the birth of Islam, it was revitalized by Amir Khusrow in the 13th century. A legendary musician, politician and philosopher who mixed elements from Turkey, Persia and India in the creation of a new music. The Qawwali band is known as the ” Qawwal Party” which consists of 7 or 8 individuals who divide their arduous task of performing. There is one lead singer accompanied by 3 or 4 backup singers. These backup singers not only sing but handle a musical instrument as well, mostly a harmonium. One person in the party operates a Tabla – a conventional type of drum which is run merely by the fingers of the operator. The rest of the people in the party usually clap to make the music more melodious.
Qawwali players must be extremely talented musicians and poets, able to adapt to different moods of ceremonies and able to improvise in several languages in different poetic traditions. Often, Qawwals are part of historic families who pass down this ‘trade’ to their offspring. Praise of saints and martyrs of Sufism as well as direct address to the Prophet Muhammad are common among them.
During a concert, one singer will recite poetry, hand gestures and religious phrases and the second singer will create improvised call and response variations. The main singer then commands the chorus to sing a hypnotic refrain. The variation, improvisation and repetition are carried out to such an extent that the music become hypnotic and meditive, rather like the whirling of the dervishes, leading to a trance-like state. Similarities are seen here with many kind of communal music and shamanistic traditions, from voodoo to African drumming to House and Techno and the minimalist music of composers like Steve Reich. In this heightened state, the participants can achieve fana – spiritual enlightenment. The structure of each song is usually the same – it starts off with a slow ambient opening, then becomes more rhythmical and driving as the music becomes faster pulsed and more intense. It is not uncommon for members of the audience to become extremely ecstatic and throw money at the musicians. Audiences in the States even bang their heads against the wall until unconscious in more extreme manifestations of this ecstatic ritual. One legendary star of qawwal said that “the violence of the ecstasy depends on each person’s pain of seperation from his homeland”.