Folk Music of Pakistan

Pakistan was created by the partition of British India in 1947; Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, gained independence in 1971. This 1951 recording presents selections from both present-day countries and documents songs for many occasions — marriage, harvest festivals, village fairs, and courtship. There are a river boatmen’s song from the east and several songs and dances from the northwest, as well as Sindh and Punjab. The music features instruments typical to the Subcontinent, such as the sitar, tabla drums, and bansri, a type of flute. Liner notes include a brief history of Pakistani music, a description of the songs and instruments, and some translated lyrics.

Note: Some names and spellings referenced in the song titles have changed since these recordings were made. Sind province is now known as Sindh, the Northwest Frontier Province is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the language Pushtu is now more commonly spelled Pashto.

Track Listing

101	Dholak Geet (Punjabi Folk Song) Munawar Sultana and Iqbal Bano	03:44
102	Mahiya (Punjabi Love Song) Ali Bakhsh Zahoor and Munawar Sultana	03:37
103	Bhatiali (Boatmen's Song) Abdul Halim Chowdhry	03:24
104	Frontier Melody Ensemble with sarinda, flute, and ghara (clay pitcher)	02:15
105	Folk Dance Ensemble with tabla, flute, and alghoza	04:05
106	Kohiyari Ali Mohammed	04:43
201	Dholak Geet Munawar Sultana and Iqbal Bano	03:54
202	Tangtakore (Pushtu Ballad) Drummer and sarinda player	04:05
203	Pushtu Love Song Drummer and sarinda player	04:17
204	Bhawaiya Mumtaz Ali Khan	03:53
205	Folk Tune (Bengali Farmers' Song) Musicians playing alghoza and ghara (clay pitcher)	02:15
206	Khatak Dance: Dance Music from the Katak People in the Frontier Province (1) Khattak tribesmen accompanied by duff, hand-clapping, bagpipes, drums	02:07
207	Khatak Dance: Dance Music from the Katak People in the Frontier Province (2) Khattak tribesmen accompanied by duff, hand-clapping, bagpipes, drums	01:04