Grieved artistes pay tribute to legendary king of ghazal

The grieved artistes and classical music lovers have paid tributes to legendary king of ghazal, Mehdi Hassan, who gave a unique identity to the classical music of the country.
Terming his death as a great loss for classical singing, Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Director General Tauqeer Nasir said Mehdi Hassan was an institute of classical singing that was based on almost a century. “His contributions for making Ghazal singing popular are notable as he gave a new dimension to Urdu literature and poetry in terms of singing in a melodious way,” he said while talking to APP.
Mehdi Hassan’s melodies will keep on echoing in the hearts of people. Now it is the responsibility of art institutions and media to transfer his singing to the young generation by promoting the classical tunes of Mehdi Hassan, he said. “Mehdi Hassan was a university of classical singing and his songs, singing skills and style is the text of this university. We should acknowledge our artistes in their life by giving them due recognition and pass on their skills to future generations to keep them alive,” Tauqeer Nasir remarked. The PNCA gave honour to Mehdi Hassan by holding a Ghazal festival in his life, adding on June 19 and 20, the PNCA will hold another Ghazal Festival in Lahore to pay tribute to the services of Mehdi Hassan for his dedication to classical singing. The fans of Mehdi Hassan expressed their sorrow and grief on social networking, saying, “Death of such artistes is unable to make them dead in hearts of people where they will remain alive, but the classical music industry will suffer as it has lost its main singer.”
Institute of Preservation of Arts and Culture (IPAC) also paid tribute to Mehdi Hasan for his contribution to Ghazal singing and playback singing for Lollywood. Mehdi Hassan was highly regarded in the Pakistan film industry and was honored with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan and Gorkha Dakshina Bahu by the Government of Nepal. He remained a leading singer of film industry. He was the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians. Mehdi Hassan had his musical grooming from his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were both traditional dhrupad singers.
Hassan started to perform at a young age and the first concert of dhrupad and kheyal with his elder brother in 1935. In 1957, Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio Pakistan, primarily as a thumri singer, which earned him recognition within the musical fraternity. Some of the popular albums of Mehdi Hassan include, Kehna Usey, Nazarana, Andaz-e-Mastana, Series of Classical Ghazals, Ghalib Ghazals, Khuli Jo Aankh, The Legend and other collections from his concerts.