Khayal and Thumri

Context:

• Pandit Jasraj,  the great Hindustani musician who passed away recently was known for his Khayal and Thumri performances.

What is Khyal?

• Khyal or Khayal is the genre of Hindustani classical singing in the India.
• Its name comes from an Urdu word, borrowed from Arabic/Persian, meaning "imagination".
• Khyal bases itself on a repertoire of short songs (two to eight lines); a khyal song is called a bandish.
• Every singer generally renders the same bandish differently, with only the text and the raga remaining the same.
• A typical khyal performance uses two songs — the bada khyal or great khyal, in slow tempo (vilambit laya), comprises most of the performance, while the chhota khyal (small khyal), in fast tempo (drut laya), is used as a finale
• Some musicians credit Amir Khusrow with the creation of  khyal, but there is insufficient evidence for this.

Thumri:

• Thumri is a style of music with text that is romantic or devotional in nature.
• The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Awadhi and Brij Bhasha.
• Thumri is characterized by its sensuality, and by a greater flexibility with the raga.
• As in khayal, thumri has two parts, the sthayi and the antara.
• The first mention of Thumri goes back to the 19th century as it evolved mostly in Lucknow in the court of nawab Wajid Ali Shah accompanied by Kathak performances.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding “Khayal”:
1.It is a form of Hindustani classical music.
2.It consists of songs with very long lyrics.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2 
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

 Answer to prelims question