Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (1928, in Amritsar – 3 February 2015) was a Pakistani classical music singer of the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

from the Hindustani classical music genre. Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan was the recipient of numerous awards including the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

(1988) and

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

(2000) (Star of Excellence) from the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

Personal life and early years

His father's name was Bhai Lal Mohammad (died 1962), who belonged to the Gwalior-

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...

Gharana. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, along with his father and family, moved to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 1947 and settled in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan lived in

Iqbal Town, Lahore Allama Iqbal (Urdu, pnb, ) is an administrative zone in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries a ...

with his sons Qadir Shaggan (vocalist and music director) and Mazhar Shaggan ( rabab and mandolin player).

Career

Ghulam Hassan Shaggan's father Bhai Lal Mohammad was appointed music supervisor at

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

. His son, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, had opportunities to perform at the radio station. Over a period of 12 years, as Shaggan gained recognition, he started performing more frequently at

, The

All Pakistan Music Conference The All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) is a volunteer organization founded in 1959 for the promotion of classical arts in Pakistan and continues to preserve and promote Pakistani classical and folk music and dance. It hosts a concert of musi ...

, and other events in Pakistan and abroad.Ghulam Hassan Shaggan sings raga on YouTube
Uploaded 18 December 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2019

International tours

In the 1990s, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan had received recognition in Europe as an outstanding representative of the

North Indian classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani language, Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is ...

tradition. His talent was first recognized by French

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

s Gerard Kurgijian and Martina Catella. They invited him to perform in France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the UK. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan also collaborated with the alternative/

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

band

Fun-Da-Mental Fun-Da-Mental is a British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop– ethno-techno– world fusion music group formed in 1991. The group is notable for its energetic fusion of Eastern and Western musical forms, for its outspoken political stance, and for i ...

. This band used an arrangement of his original bandish in Raag Bhopali in the band's 2001 album, ''There Shall be Love!''Ghulam Hassan Shaggan's profile and recordings on sarangi.info website (scroll down for his Profile)
Retrieved 13 August 2019

Final years

Even in his final years before his death in 2015, he continued to perform in public with youthful enthusiasm with the characteristic vigor of the

gayaki.

Awards and recognition

*Sangeet Samrat Award at the music conference in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1962 *

Award by the President of Pakistan in 1988 *

(Star of Excellence) in 2000 from the

He received countless awards and titles during his 1962 tour of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. 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 Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. During the same 1962 tour of India, he was presented with a certificate of recognition by

sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...

maestro Hafiz Ali Khan of

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

Death and legacy

Ghulam Hassan Shaggan died on Tuesday, 3 February 2015 in

at age 86. His son, Qadir Shaggan, reportedly said that his father had been suffering from heart disease. When his condition suddenly deteriorated, he was taken to

Punjab Institute of Cardiology Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), located in Lahore, Pakistan, is a 347-bed tertiary care hospital providing nationwide comprehensive cardiac care services. Services provided This hospital services include cardiac emergency, OPD, diagnostic ...

, where he was pronounced dead. Among his survivors are two sons, Qadir Shaggan who is also a classical music vocalist and a music director. The other son, Mazhar Shaggan, is a rabab and mandolin player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaggan, Ghulam Hassan 1928 births 2015 deaths Hindustani singers Pakistani classical singers Musicians from Amritsar Recipients of the Pride of Performance Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Gwalior gharana 20th-century Indian singers Classical music in Pakistan Singers from Punjab, India Pakistani music educators 20th-century Khyal singers