Ghazal

Ghazal is the sung setting of the classical Urdu and Persian poetic form of the same name: short, autonomous couplets on love, loss, longing and wine, each complete in itself, delivered in a light-classical style between poetry recitation and song. The singer, accompanied by harmonium, tabla and sarangi or guitar, lingers on individual lines, repeating and embellishing them for an intimate, knowing audience. *Begum Akhtar* defined the modern art of ghazal singing; *Mehdi Hassan* in Pakistan and *Jagjit Singh* in India later carried it to mass audiences, the latter simplifying its musical language for film-era listeners.