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Abdul Ahad (music director)

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Abdul Ahad
আবদুল আহাদ
Born(1918-01-18)18 January 1918
Died14 May 1996(1996-05-14) (aged 78)
Occupationmusician
AwardsIndependence Day Award (1978)

Abdul Ahad (18 January 1918 – 14 May 1996)[1] was a Bangladeshi composer, music director and singer.[2] He was the recipient of Independence Day Award in 1978.[3] The Government of Pakistan awarded him Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 1962 and Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 1969 for his contribution to music.[4]

Early life

Ahad was born in Rajshahi in the then Bengal Presidency. He took lessons from Ustad Bali and Ustad Manju Sahib.[4] He took part in the All-Bengal Music Competition in 1936 and stood first in the Thumri and Ghazal section.[4] In 1938, he won a scholarship from Shantiniketan as the first Bengali Muslim student.[5] In Santiniketan, he sang the song Diner Por Din Je Gelo and was beloved by Rabindranath Tagore.[4]

Career

After spending four years at Santiniketan, he joined Master's Voice in Calcutta in 1941 as a music teacher.[4] Artistes including Pankaj Mullick and Hemanta Mukherjee recorded Tagore songs under his direction.[4] In 1941, Ahad joined HMV Calcutta and gradually became a music director for the recording industry as well as the film industry.[4] He got success as a music director in feature films such as Duhkhe Jader Jiban Gada, Asiya (1960), Nabarun and Dur Hyay Sukh Ka Gaon.[4] After the 1947 Partition of India, Ahad joined Radio Pakistan and became a key person in the musical arena of Dhaka.[6] He introduced many new talents to the music world, composed numerous songs and wrote several books on Bengali music.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Abdul Ahad recalled through his songs". The Daily Star. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  2. ^ Khan, Mobarak Hossain (2012). "Ahad, Abdul". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ^ "Independence Day Award" (PDF). Government of Bangladesh. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Star Melodies' homage to Abdul Ahad". The Daily Star. 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  5. ^ Rahman, Syedur (2010). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780810874534.
  6. ^ Zaman, Habibuz (1999). Seventy Years in a Shaky Subcontinent. London: Janus Publishing. p. 64. ISBN 9781857564051.
  7. ^ Arnold (ed.), Alison (2000). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent. New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 858. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)