An evening with a Pakistani classical music instrument

The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) on Friday evening hosted a talk and performance by Noor Zahra Kazim on Sagar Veena, a stringed instrument invented by her father Raza Kazim, who continued developing it for several decades so that the instrument could conform to his theory of human nature and the role of music in shaping human behaviour.

The Pakistani public is generally not aware of the instrument called Veena. Although the event was told that Veena is a generic name for any stringed instrument, these days the term Veena is used to denote a particular kind of stringed instruments that resembles the Sitar but it has extended circular parts attached to both ends, whereas in Sitar, the extended circular part, called Tumba, normally lies on one end that is kept as the base.

The Sitar has more beautiful sound but the Veena’s sound is more complex and serious. Some historical theories also say that the Sitar was invented by Amir Khusrau by modifying the Veena, which is an older instrument than the Sitar. Some varieties of the Veena, also called Beena, like the Rudra Veena and Suchitra Veena, are still in vogue these days and there are many esteemed players of them in India.

Coming to Sagar Veena that was played by Noor, the instrument resembled the Veena due to it large Tumba attached to both ends. However, it was played unlike the Veena as the instrument was placed horizontally on the stage and the player sat in the middle plucking its strings with her fingers and an instrument made of brass.

A presentation was screened during the event that showed the evolution of Sagar Veena over time. Baela Raza Jamil, Noor’s sister, informed the audience during the presentation that her father invented Sagar Veena as he felt the need of a musical instrument that had a rich resonating sound and could produce music in more octaves than what a human voice is capable of.

It was said the first Sagar Veena was developed in 1971 by Kazim, who modified a stringed instrument called Kachhua, which is a wooden Surbahar (bass Sitar). He continued modifying the instrument and the latest Sagar Veena was created in 2012.

Noor said the idea of Sagar Veena was to have an instrument whose vibrating and resonating parts were separate. The performance was solo as there was no other accompanying instrument. Noor played two Raag — Bageshri and Gaur Sarang — in a slow tempo for around 20 minutes each.

Before starting the performance, she said it was not the regular Sagar Veena but a shorter version of it that she was to play. She explained that she could not arrange the regular instrument in Karachi, due to which her performance might be affected.

However, the audience received the performance with applause and was touched by both the Raag. It was particularly a pleasure to hear Gaur Sarang, which is not often performed these days. Musicologists categorise Gaur Sarang as an afternoon raag, but its notes as well as the Bhav (emotion) it conveys are similar to many early night raag like Chhayanat, Kamod, etc.

As Sagar means ocean, perhaps the instrument has been named so because the resounding effects of its notes sound similar to the echoes produced by sea waves when they interact.

As there was no Tabla or any other percussion instrument, the temp had to remain slow. Music expert SM Shahid, who was in the audience, told The News that Sagar Veena sounded best in Alaap and slow tempos because its resonating effect clearly came out in the slow movement of notes.

He added that one of the outstanding qualities of the instrument was its ability to produce Meend, which means changing from one note to another with a gliding effect. He said the Sitar had a limited potential to produce Meendh because one could not make a string vibrate without pause for long, but in the Sagar Veena, the plucking instrument could make gliding sounds for a prolonged period.

There was also no screeching sound that is often heard during Sitar performances. It was told in the presentation that Kazim invented the plucking brass tool in such a shape that it did not produce the screeching sound.

In the question-answer session, Noor remarked that it required financial resources to propagate a new instrument like the Sagar Veena. She said her father was a lawyer by profession who spent all his limited finances in the pursuit of his passion, including music. However, she added that the instrument had gained popularity and recently an Australian musician got one Sagar Veena.

When The News asked Noor why many of her performances did not feature any percussion instrument like the Tabla or Pakhawaj, which is played along with Suchitra Veena or Rudra Veena, she said she had performed with the Tabla in the past and had also experimented with the Pakhawaj, but often the percussion instrument would overpower the main instrument and that spoiled the musical effect she wanted to create. She said it was extremely important for the Tabla player to have the percussion gel with the main instrument so that the Tabla complemented the Sagar Veena, not overshadowed it.