Ustad Sohan Singh Ji was a doyen of the illustrious Agra Gharana of music and he can be regarded as the hidden pride of the Sikh community. Hidden due to the fact that there is little mention of him in recent years among the Sikh community. However, he was a well distinguished artist and was held in very high regards by listeners and artists alike. He was a Grade-A artist with All India Radio (AIR) and was featured regularly on-air. There should be a lot of his recordings in the archives of AIR, but it is very unfortunate that only a handful have been made available.
Sohan Singh Ji was born in Qila Raipur in the Ludhiana district of Punjab in 1920. He developed an interest in music from a young age and learned the basics of music from Bhai Lal Mohamad from Amritsar, and then he went on to learn the Dhrupad tradition from Bhai Partap Singh Ji. Subsequently, he learned from Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi and also came briefly under the guidance of Ustad Umrao Khan, the son of Ustad Tanras Khan. In 1931, after listening to Ustad Faiyaz Khan in Baroda, he became deeply impressed with the versatile style of Agra Gharana and became a student of Ustad Faiyaz Khan from 1935 to 1944. After the passing of Ustad Faiyaz Khan, he kept in touch with Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan and received some guidance from him too.
In 1939, he took part in a music conference in Calcutta. Many notable artists attended this conference including Ustad Inayat Khan, Ustad Nathu Khan, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan and Kesarbai Kerkar. Coincidentally, Ustad Faiyaz Khan arrived after the performance of his student, Sohan Singh Ji. Ustad Nathu Khan Ji was backstage during the performance and when he saw Ustad Faiyaz Khan, he congratulated him on his fine performance. Ustad Faiyaz Khan was surprised and told him that he had just arrived at the hall. He was happy to know that Ustad Nathu Khan, being a person of ‘sur’, could not tell the difference between teacher and student.
Ustad Sohan Singh Ji served as a professor in the Government College for Women and taught music to students enrolled in the Masters in Arts (Music) course. Some of his favourite Raags include Desi, Barwa, Todi, Lalit and Jaijavanti. He was awarded the Padam Shri in 1983 by the Government of India. Ustad Sohan Singh Ji passed away in 1987 and is survived by his son, Harpal Singh who lives in Vancouver, Canada. The information above was obtained from the book ‘Punjab De Parsidh Raagi Rababi’ by author, Balbir Singh Kanwal. According to a few other sources, some of Ustad Sohan Singh Ji’s students include renowned Ghazal singer, Jagjit Singh, Prof. Ranjit Singh and Dr. Gurnam Singh. After the passing of Ustad Sohan Singh Ji, Doordarshan telecasted a documentary about him under the title ‘Great Masters’. If anyone has a copy of that documentary or more recordings of Ustad Sohan Singh Ji to share, please contact us.
The Shabad below was recorded during a Raag Darbar held in 1969 in conjunction with the 500 year anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Gurpurab. Please ‘right click’ and ‘save link as’ to download audio files. Enjoy!
Ustad Sohan Singh – Maeree Eishh Punee Jeeo Ham Ghar Saajan Aaeiaa (Gauri Purbi)
The three Shabads below are from the album, ‘Guru Nanak Foundation Quincentenary Shabad Recordings’ released in 1970, under the Regal label.
Ustad Sohan Singh – Bhavjal Bin (Bhairo)
Ustad Sohan Singh – Lal Rangile (Tukhari)
Ustad Sohan Singh – Meri Ichh Punee (Gauri Purbi)
The following recordings are from the collection of Mr. Romesh Aeri from Canada. He runs the wonderful ‘Ra Maxim’ channel on Youtube. Please check his channel out for rare recordings of various forgotten artists of Indian classical music. The recordings below are not Gurbani but they serve as a wonderful remembrance of Ustad Sohan Singh Ji.
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Barwa Part 1
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Barwa Part 2
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Darbari Part 1
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Darbari Part 2
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Desi Todi Part 1
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Desi Todi Part 2
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Jait Kalyan
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Nat Bihag (Incomplete)
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Ramkali Part 1
Ustad Sohan Singh – Raag Ramkali Part 2
*New Recordings Added – 13th November 2021
The Shabad below was kindly contributed by Sardar Joginder Singh Kalsi. Please visit his YouTube channel ‘Joginder Kalsi’ for more content.
Ustad Sohan Singh – Mat Dekh Bhoola Visre
The following Shabad is from an album released in 1976.
Waheguru ji bless your great effort
Thank You I have been looking for
the two shabads from the 500th SGND Jis Centenary LPs released in 1969
Meri Eich Punee and
Mere Lal Rangile
Great pieces
Thank you
Please find the rest and upload
I have 500 sala records.i listen many time Sohan Singh really it’s great composition
jyonde rho
Jina sikh ustad vidvan te pride kita ja sakda hai ohna vicho shining star ustad sohan singh my brother karanji singh raina from poonch kashmir was student udtad ji very long time after I listen voice of ustad sohan singh ji many many thanks
All I can say is that I am very grateful to you for passing on this remarkable treasure to the entire world full fans of Gurbani keertan lovers like me who cherish and appreciate such priceless gems. I will listen and enjoy each and every Shabad to maximum because this is like prescribed medicine and is needed on daily basis.
May WaheGuru bless you and thank you once again.
Mohinderpal Singh Sarang
You have done a very noble job to bring Ustad Sohan Singh ji’s gaeki of Agra Ghrana in Gurbani , together. We feel pruod and great full. I had met the great Ustad ji in Patiala where he introduced the concept of Shruti in our classical music. Thank you.
Thank you so much 🙏. It’s nice to hear Ustad Sohan Singh ji . I want to mansion that he had three sons . Mr. Amarjit Singh , Mr. Gurpal Singh and the third one is Mr. Harpal Singh and two daughters also . His cremation was done by his older son Mr. Amarjit Singh . His all the family members in Canada now. He was a legend and I m proud to be his one of his family member. Love u❤️
Thank you so much 🙏. It’s nice to hear Ustad Sohan Singh ji . I want to mansion that he had three sons . Mr. Amarjit Singh , Mr. Gurpal Singh and the third one is Mr. Harpal Singh and two daughters also . His cremation was done by his older son Mr. Amarjit Singh . His all the family members in Canada now. He was a legend and I m proud to be his one of his family member. Love u❤️