WAQT, SAHIR AND AFGHAN MUSICIAN BRESHNA....(1907-1974)

                                         

                  ( Kabul Bazaar by Breshna )

  ( Sketch of Sher Shah Suri by Breshna );

                      ( A sketch of Breshna) 

   ( Balraj Sahni singing ,Aey meri Zohra jabeen )

WAQT, SAHIR AND AFGHAN  MUSICIAN BRESHNA....(1907-1974)

Some great music emerged from Afghanistan during  good old days. I need to say something about Breshna .For Waqt, lyricist Sahir Ludhianavi had  suggested to B R Chopra to engage Afghan painter cum musician , Abdul Ghafoor Breshna for composing song' Aey meri zohra jabeen'. And that proved correct. The tune set by Breshna became instant hit with Sahir's magical verses. All other songs were composed by music director Ravi. Breshna was a poet ,painter,singer , playwright and fantastic musician from Afghanistan. He was trained in Germany where he married a German girl. Most of his paintings have been destroyed and lost in the four decades of turmoil and war in Afghanistan. Amongst some great paintings of Breshna that were lost in the Afghanistan turmoil , one can include the' Bamiyan Buddhas 'painted by him.  

Breshna was born on April 10, 1907, in Kabul. In 1921 he was sent by King Amanullah and other teenage students to Germany for higher education. There he studied painting and lithography at the academy of arts in Munich, Leipzig, and Berlin, among others. In Germany, Breshna became acquainted with his future wife –Marguerhee, whom he married in 1928. In 1931 Breshna returned with his wife and the first son to Kabul. Breshna started as a teacher and later director of the college of arts and crafts into Kabul (1930-1939) He introduced a new understanding and drawing techniques. From 1939-1943 Breshna served as general manager of the National Press of Afghanistan. He and his wife translated  and illustrated from German language many books for Afghan children .

In 1968 for his services to the German Language, he received the distinguished honor of "large Distinguished Service Cross with star of the Federal Republic of Germany". Presented by Federal President Heinrich Luebke. 

Breshna's surviving   paintings are on display in many museums across the world.  He made a serious attempt to reconnect to themes and genres that had previously been lost or neglected.Breshna used his Western training to restore Afghanistan's traditional visual and literary arts. It is difficult to define his oeuvre as purely ‘modern’ or ‘traditional’.

Breshna died in Kabul in 1974 .He had composed the national anthem of Afghanistan that was used in 1970s. 

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.