(b Agra, 1881; d 5 Nov 1950). North Indian (Hindustani) vocalist. He was trained by Ghulam Abbas and his brother Kallan Khan and by Fida Husain Kotavala, his paternal uncle. Ghulam Abbas was systematic in his teaching, requiring Faiyaz to memorize a large number of melodies and to listen analytically to important contemporary musicians. According to Agra gharānā tradition, he studied dhrupad as well as khayāl. In 1906 he won his first gold medal, singing in Mysore at the Dussehra festival; from that time he cherished winning and wearing medals. In 1911 the ruler of Mysore dubbed him Aftab-i-musīqī (Urdu: ‘Sun of Music’), by which title he was known thereafter. In 1911 Faiyaz became an honoured musician at the Baroda court. Singing at the invitation of other princes, he won a musical competition in 1921, receiving from the Maharaja of Indore a large monetary prize or, according to a second account, a precious bejewelled necklace. He travelled widely and participated in music conferences arranged by the scholar Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. At the Lucknow conference in 1925 the title Sangīt cūdāmani was conferred on him, and in Allahabad he earned the titles Sangīt bhāskar (Hindi: ‘Sun of Music’) and Sangīt saroj (‘Musical Lotus’). He sang on major radio stations and made commercial recordings, and became known all over India.
His musical style was unmistakably that of the Agra gharānā. He had a powerful low-pitched voice with a range of over two and a half octaves and was skilled in laykārī. From his dhrupad training, he introduced into khayāl the singing of ālāp and non-tom before beginning the composition; this became part of Agra gharānā khayāl style. Unlike other Agra gharānā musicians he performed lighter genres; thumrī, dādrā and ghazal. His repertory was enormous, and he was a gifted composer, using the mudrā (pen name) Prem Piya.
A charismatic performer and an exceptionally fine musician, Faiyaz Khan played an important role in popularizing classical music among growing urban audiences. Although he never liked to teach, many members of the family and others learnt from him. His death marked the near-end of the tradition of princely patronage.
V.H. Deshpande: Gharāndāj gāyakī (Marathi, 1961; Eng. trans., 1973, 2/1987, as Indian Musical Traditions: an Aesthetic Study of the Gharanas in Hindustani Music)
R. Mehta: Āgrā gharānā: paramparā gāyakī aur chīzen [Agra gharānā: lineage, style and compositions] (Baroda, 1969)
B.R. Deodhar: ‘Aftab-e-mousiki Ustad Fayyaz Khan (1881–1950)’, Quarterly Journal for the Performing Arts, x/1 (1981), 27–32
B.C. Wade: Khyāl: Creativity within North India's Classical Vocal Tradition (Cambridge, 1984)
Classical Music of India, perf. F. Khan, HMV EALP 1292 (1965)
Faiyaz Husain Khan, HMV EALP 1365 (1971); reissued as EMI TC-CKDA 10014 (1978) [rāgas Bhankar and Des [Desh]
For further recordings see M.S. Kinnear: A Discography of Hindustani and Karnatic Music (Westport, CT, 1985)
BONNIE C. WADE