Ghulam Hassan Shaggan

Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (1928, Amritsar – February 3, 2015) was a Pakistani classical singer of the Gwalior Gharana from the Hindustani classical genre. Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan was the recipient of numerous awards including the Pride of Performance (1988) and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2000) (Star of Excellence) from the Government of Pakistan.^[1]

Personal life and early years

His father’s name was Bhai Lal Mohammad (died 1962), who belonged to the Gwalior-Kapurthala Gharana. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, along with his father and family, moved to Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Lahore.^[1]

Shaggan Sahib lived in Iqbal Town, Lahore with his sons Qadir Shaggan (vocalist and music director) and Mazhar Shaggan (rabab and mandolin player).

Career

His father Bhai Lal was appointed music supervisor at Radio Pakistan where the son, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, started performing. This was a time of intense emotional and financial troubles which abated over a period of 12 years, as Shaggan gained recognition and started performing more frequently at Radio Pakistan, The All Pakistan Music Conference, and other events in Pakistan and abroad.^[2]

International tours

In recent years, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan has received recognition in Europe as an outstanding representative of the North Indian classical music tradition. His talent was first recognized and expounded by French musicologists Gerard Kurgijian and Martina Catella which led to performances in France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the UK. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan also collaborated with the alternative/trance band Fun-Da-Mental, contributing an arrangement of his original bandish in Raag Bhopali to the band’s 2001 album, There Shall be Love!^[3]

Final years

He continued to perform in public with youthful enthusiasm in his final years with the characteristic vigor of the Gwalior gayaki.

Awards and recognition

Among several titles and awards, Ustad Hassan Shaggan received the Sangeet Samrat at the music conference in Calcutta in 1962, the Pride of Performance award in 1988 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) in 2000 from the Government of Pakistan.^[1] He received countless awards and titles during his 1962 tour of India. He was conferred with the titles of Sangeet Rattan, Sangeet Alankar, Sangeet Samrat, Sindh Sangeet Mandalam and King of Music from the Sindh Sangeet Mandal in Mumbai. On the same tour, he was presented with a certificate of recognition by sarod maestro Hafiz Ali Khan of India.

In the year 2014 Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan was honoured with the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the Lahore music forum.

Death

He died on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 in Lahore, Pakistan.^[1]

References