Season Tales -16

A highlight of my lec on Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar was an old lady coming to me and giving me a book titled Chitra Ramayanam. Published in 1911 it was gifted by Muthiah Bhagavatar to her father. It has Muthiah Bhagavatar’s signature in it. To me, it was as though he had come in person.

Raga Lakshana Discussions at Music Academy on 31st December 2008

The last of the lec dems at the Academy for the season took place today. On stage (apart from Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao and AKC Natarajan) were Dr N Ramanathan (NR), Chingleput Ranganathan (CR), Dr Ritha Rajan (RR), Dr RS Jayalakshmi (RSJ) and Suguna Purushottaman (SP). The ragas discussed were Rudrapriya, Karnataka Kapi, Darbar and Kanada. All of these are now classified as janyas of the 22nd mela Kharaharapriya.

After a few preliminary remarks by NR, Rudrapriya was taken up for discussion. CR spoke of how according to his Guru, Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer, the best rendition of the song Amba Paradevate (composed by Krishnaswami Ayya) was by Naina Pillai. Later Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai made it his own. Naina’s renditions according to CR made use of phrases such as N S N P M G G R S, P D N P M G R S.

A clipping of the Alathoor Brothers singing this song was played. CR drew attention of the audience to the use of the prayoga P N S  in the rendition and as to how Alathoor Subbier later asked CR to render it as PDNS as that would conform to the arohana and avarohana defined (S R G M P D N S/S N P M G R S).

A clipping of T Viswanathan singing and playing on the flute Amba Paradevate as per the Tirupamburam style was played.

RR said that the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini (SSP) gives a lot of glide phrases in the Muttuswami Dikshitar kriti Rudrakopajata. These phrases are N and G centric. These glides are more akin to the Hindustani Kapi of old (not to be confused with the present day Hindustani Kapi of the Carnatic tradition) which was marked by occasional use of the Kakali Nishada and Antara Gandhara.  The Tanjore Quartet have a pada varnam in Rudrapriya which also uses these glides. The usage of jhanta prayoga in N is also present, though according to RR this may have been a way of expressing a dhirgha N. The SSP specifies N,G, M, R as nyasa swaras for this raga. The song Valli Devasenapate from SSP has prayogas such as SNRSNSR. The notation for Amba Paradevate given in the SSP has phrases which recall to mind the old Hindustan Kapi. RR sang these and showed. Some were PMPNSRR, MGRMP, NPMPNS, PNSR. She also said that these same prayogas were present in the old way of rendering the javali Parulanna Mata (now sung in modern Hindustani Kapi of the Carnatic tradition). The use of RMPD also suggests its origin from the old Hindustan Kapi. Antara Gandhara is heard in places like MGM. The song Muruga in SSP also has such phrases.

RR was of the view that this raga was originally the old Hindustan Kapi and was rechristened as Rudrapriya for Carnatic music as there was already a Kapi (the Karnataka Kapi) flourishing here. It was once a composite raga reflecting many influences and phrases but the arohana/avarohana definitions have straitjacketed it into a bare bones raga scale.

NR said that it was Muttuswami Dikshitar who gave this raga a shape.

RSJ said that in the SSP there were differences in the way Muttuswami Dikshitar handled the raga and the way Balaswami and Subbarama Dikshitars handled it. The former used phrases such as RMPDN, RGMPDN, SGRG. The latters (pardon this terrible usage but I cannot simply type Balaswami, Subbarama etc again, but there I have done it) use phrases such as SNDN, SRG, RGMPDN, GMPDN, PDN etc which are more indicative of Kharahapriya.

There was a debate here as to how when the ascent and descent scales specify a sequence, notations for songs appear to vary from it. SP was of the view that even in ragas such as Shankarabharanam, we use phrases such as SDP, SP etc, but because the raga is so well known everyone accepts. On the other hand Rudrapriya being a less well-known raga, there is an emphasis to adhere to the scales.

NR recalled that Pattamadai Krishnan (a disciple of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar and who set to tune many songs of Subramania Bharati) did alapanas in Rudrapriya.

The discussion shifted to how Tyagaraja handled this raga. Lavanya Rama and Sri Manini Manohara were taken up for discussion. It was agreed that the second kriti used the same varnamettu as Gananayakam and that it was a kriti that had surfaced relatively recently (was that a euphemism for buruda/factory/dupe?). The raga for Lavanya Rama is given as Purna Shadjam in books. Poona Rajagopal’s book lists it under Rudrapriya. It was agreed that the publisher/compiler may have listed it as such based on prayogas such as SRGMPNS which occur in the song. But the record of Veena Seshanna of Lavanya Rama also states that it is Rudrapriya.

So where do we go from here?

The next raga taken up was Kapi, which I must clarify here is Karnataka Kapi today though old texts only call it Kapi. The usage of Antara Gandhara and Kakali Nishada is specified at certain places in all texts on this raga. If you thought all this was simple, four records were then played:

1. Ramnad Krishnan singing a brief raga alapana which had so many traces of Darbar.

2. KVN singing the present day Kapi (the Carnatic Hindustani Kapi to be precise) as a prelude to Sumasayaka (of Swati Tirunal) which was always listed under the old (Karnataka) Kapi.

3. Madurai Mani Iyer singing a fast version of Venkatachalapate of Muttuswami Dikshitar which sounded more like Kanada.

4. A vilamba rendition of the same song sung at home by Smt Ramani, NR’s mother in law.

To add to the confusion, Venkatamakhi gives the scales for this raga as SRGMPDNS/SNDPMGGRS while KV Srinivasa Iyengar gives it as SRGMRPMPDNS/SNDPMGRS. More confusion to follow for the Tyagaraja kriti Nityarupa is sung in both Kapi and Darbar.

RR then sang Nityarupa as per the Kanchipuram Naina Pillai style. She said that the SSP definition for Kapi differs from what is sung now in that it allows for DSNP/GGRS/RPMP/RGMP/RPMPRS/PMRMRS phrases. The song Akhilandesvari of Syama Sastry shows usage of MPRMRS in addition to above. The phrase RMP is avoided in all sources but is in vogue in today’s Kapi. Other phrases pointed out by Subbarama Dikshitar but not used by him are SNMPM/PMGMR. Tyagaraja kritis use phrases such as SNDNP/RGMP/RMPDN/SNDP/RGMGR all of which are akin to Rudrapriya.

To further add to the confusion, NR stated that the present day Carnatic Hindustani Kapi is Pilu in Hindustani Music. A clip of Pt Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhim performing this raga together was played. Dr Pappu said that there was a Bharata Natyam Kapi and a Kuchipudi Kapi as well!! NR said that Jagadoddharana was set in Dana Kapi or Madhyama Kapi in some books. ( I needed a Mocha Kapi just then).

Darbar was taken up for discussion next. There are two versions, the Muttuswami Dikshitar and the Tyagaraja ones. NR was of the view that Dikshitar’s Darbar was a composite raga like the Kapi of old and RR agreed with him. She said that Dikshitar’s Darbar showed shades of Sahana, Kanada, Kharaharapriya (present day) and Athana. She sang phrases like DNNDD (Kharaharapriya), NSRPG (Kanada), DPRSDMPRGMDPDPDPDPRS (Nayaki), SPMDD (Sahana). She said that Dikshitar kritis in the SSP reflect the old Darbar while the later kritis in the same book reflect the influence of the Tyagaraja school.

RSJ pointed out that Dikshitar’s Darbar as per the SSP has the phrase GMRS with a line on top. No sahitya occurs for this phrase in the book and it always appears after R. So was this Subbarama Dikshitar’s way of showing a gamaka svarupa? There was also a discussion on whether the phrase GGRS now so common was originally RMRMRS. It was pointed out that the notation for Subbaraya Sastry’s Mina Nayana has no G anywhere in it.

Kanada- NR stated that KV Srinivasa Iyengar had emphatically stated that this was not a raga at all and that it was the Kannada of the 28th mela which had deviated to become Kanada of the 22nd mela. RR sang phrases to demonstrate this. She also sang parts of the Devaranama Na Ninna Dhyana to show how this raga had shades of Surutti in the old style of rendition. Though the arohanam moves as GMDNS there is an ata tala varnam and a tillana which use the phrase PDNS. Here again it would appear that the raga had moved from a composite framework to a simpler straighter structure.

AKC wanted to know what the end recommendation was. But nobody was willing to give anything. It was more a scholastic discussion. Dr SAK Durga pointed out that Rudrapriya had already been discussed in 1931 and 1956. I dont know where we got with all this. I would have expected a better coordinated discussion within a set framework at least. But I suppose that ragas cannot be discussed like I would do pumps or valves. Even two pumps from the same line differ in performing charateristics. So how can ragas be so tied down? All said and done I agree with Dhanammal. It is better sing music than to debate it.

Attendance was close to what it was for Nedanuri’s lec dem. The programme sheet said that R Vedavalli would moderate this discussion but she was not present.

Music Academy Lec Dem on 30th December 2008

This had Professor Rithvik Sanyal on the Different Schools and Styles of Dhrupad Singing. He must be a learned professor and I could see the depth of his knowledge and his singing (what little that he did) was great. But he spoke too much and spoke only on one style, that of his own Ustad, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. And the content of the speech was too high brow, better suited for the Experts Committee of the Vidwat Sabha and not for a chitrrarivu like mine.

I noticed several of the Experts Committee nodding sagely. Others nodded.

Music Academy Lec Dem on 29th December 2008

This morning we were taken out of the claustrophobic confines of the city to the broad expanse of fields, streets and squares of villages. Three speakers Meegada Ramalinga Sastry, Arimalam Padmanabhan and Balakrishna Bhatt spoke and demonstrated the music of the theatre styles of Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The first speaker Meegada Ramalinga Sastry came in traditional Andhra costume of panchakaccha, kurta and a lovely angavastram that I would do anything to possess. He also wore ear studs, todas on the wrists and several rings. And when he sang, what music it was. Beats several of todays classical musicians hollow. He had gamaka shuddham, sruti shuddham and could sing wonderful bhrigas. Beginning with a verse that asks people to come and pay homage to the Telugu mother, he stated that out of the 500 or more Padya Natakas available in Telugu, only five are presented regularly. These are Satya Harischandra, Gayopakhyana of Chilakamarti Lakshminarasingaiah, Pandava Udyoga Vijaya of the Tirupati Venkata Kavulu, Sriramanjaneya Yuddha and Chintamani.

He sang verses from Harischandra first. These had the themes of Gangavatarana, the philosophy of life and death and also several moving verses from the cremation ground scene in the play. It was amazing that those of us not familiar with Telugu could also understand. Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao explained at certain places. Then followed several dramatic verses from Sri Krishna Pratignya when He visits the Kauravas for the last time before the war and tries to negotiate for five villages for the Pandavas. Lastly, at the request of Prof TR Subrahmanyam he also sang Adigo Dwaraka which is a verse describing Krishna’s capital city. An amazing offshoot of this was Dr Pappu singing two verses one romantic and the other a Telugu version of Subadhra Kumari Chauhan’s poem on the plight of flowers (vaguely remembered reading this in school) called Pushpa Vilapa Kavyam.

Arimalam Padmanabhan spoke on music in the plays of Sankar Das Swamigal (1867-1923), the man who pioneered the concept of the Boys Companies in Madras. He began by singing Kayada Kanagathe, the song for Valli Tirumanam which was composed by Swamigal over a 110 years ago and which is still sung in theatres all over Tamil Nadu. Swamigal was trained by his father and by Vannasarabham Dandapani Swamigal who made him a master of the chandam. In fact after Arunagirinatha, it is Sankaradas Swamigal who is considered the next master in that field and Chandam Sankaradas is a frequently used expression. Several of the Boys Company greats made it big in films and most of them could sing well (The TKS Bros, Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, TS Baliah and others could sing really well). The speaker mentioned that among the last few of the Boys Companies were MN Nambiar who died recently and SS Rajendran is perhaps the sole survivor. He said that SSR knew of several of the drama songs by heart.

Swamigal used songs in place of dialogues and composed them in the styles of kritis, javali, tillana, Parsi mettu and ghazal. He used Tamil verse models such as venba, kalippa, kalitturai, chandam and vannam as well. Swamigal was the first man to write scripts for Tamil plays. Till then it was all an oral tradition. He used the Rama Natakam of Arunachala Kavi and the Nandan Charittiram of Gopalakrishna Bharati as his models and subsequently, while he wrote plays on a number of themes, he never touched these two subjects, such was his respect for the two authors.  Swamigal’s scripts brought about standardisation in Tamil drama which enabled two actors from different theatre groups to come together and act in a play at short notice without any prior rehearsal. The speaker compared it the Carnatic tradition where a singer, a violinist and percussionists from different schools come together and successfully perform a concert.

The most famous star from Swamigal’s troupe was SG Kittappa and he wrote several songs exclusively for Kittappa. One among these which was demonstrated was Eno ennai ezhuppalanal in Bhimplas which is a dialogue between Satyavan and Savitri. It was originally notated in Malkauns. The speaker said Swamigal was familiar with the songs of Tyagaraja and Syama Sastry and demonstrated how the tune of Birana varalicchi brovumu (Kalyani) was used for Enna Vidi Vandadu in Pavalakkodi. There were similarly entrance songs for stars and while Kittappa frequently appeared singing the lines Shivudano Madhavudano from Evarani (Devamrtavarshini, Tyagaraja), Jayajayagokulabala of Narayana Teertha was also popular. He said that less than tens years ago he heard a theatre artiste in a village make her entry singing Bhaja Re Gopalam (Hindolam, Sadasiva Brahmendra). It was this kind of music said the speaker that drew artistes such as Ariyakkudi and Maharajapuram to witness theatrical performances. (I am not so sure about Ariyakkudi for he was derisive about theatre. However, Malaikottai Govindasami Pillai and Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar were both mad about theatre).

The speaker then sang snatches of a tillana in Todi composed by Sankaradas Swamigal which is not in any written script of the playwright but is remembered by 0ld theatre artistes. This one, “Pom, pom purattukara muniye” is part of an argument between Valli and Narada when she questions his right to suggest a suitable match for her. An early instance of women’s rights.

Then followed a song, “Vela Samayamide” structured on Bala Kanakamaya Chela (Athana, Tyagaraja). Finally a song in Dhanyasi from Alli Arjuna, “Ettanai Neramaga” was presented. It was amazing how music, which purists today consider the exclusive property of a chosen few, was practised by theatre artistes and therefore made popular. Padmanabhan sang very well. (In a subsequent conversation with me, he informed that he had brought out on the lines of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, a full folio of Sankaradas Swamigal’s plays. I plan to get a copy asap).

The last demo was by Balakrishna Bhatt who had stepped in gamely in the last minute as replacement for Jayshree Anandaraj, granddaughter of the famous Gubbi Veeranna. He said that Yakshagana, traditionally performed in the fields after harvest and also known as Bayalatta was an amalgam of dance, costume and song with an epic parable as its core. The central theme was good triumphing over evil. The dance to propitiate Ganesa was demonstrated with music played over a laptop/CD connected to the PA system. This being a last minute arrangement there were glitches in the music with the PA system making many digestive noises aided in full measure by the mini hall’s sound man. But still it was a wonderful performance.

Bhatt then showed the various elements of aharya (costume) for the dance. He then demonstrated sections from Kamsa Vadha and also Tara Sashanka. In the second, his miming of the doubts and temptations that beset Tara as she espies the beauty of the sleeping Chandra was outstanding.

The time was clearly not enough. Each speaker needs at least an hour and a half to do full justice to his topic. But the Academy needs to be congratulated for making a beginning and opening a window. We will hopefully have more of this. Jayalakshmi Santhanam said as much in her comments.

BM Sundaram asked about the musical instruments used in Yakshagana. Bhatt replied that the jalra, maddala and chenda were used. All were percussive in nature and this Arimalam Padmanabhan noted was different from the Tamil Terukoothu which is the equivalent of the Kannada Yakshagana. In the former, the mukhaveena is also used.

Dr N Ramanathan wanted to know how old Telugu drama was. Ramalinga Sastry said it was from the 1860s. Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao was of the view that it was much older for theatre (he decried the use of the English word drama) which along with dance came under the term Natya, is classified as such even in Bharata’s Natya Sastra. The Dasarupaka (what is that) is even older than Bharata he said. Dr SAK Durga said that theatre did not come from the Dasarupaka but from the Uparupaka (now what is that). These were deep waters and I preferred turning to Prasanna Ramaswami and discussing Sanjay’s concert of yesterday at the Sri Parthasarathis Swami Sabha. AKC Natarajan who was beaming with delight right through the lec dems came forward and honoured the speakers with the covers. The more I see AKC the more I love this man. He is childlike in his expressions.

Season Tales – 15

As Tyagaraja said in Etula Brotuvo I have wandered like a stray bull filling my stomach and paid the price for it with a bad upset on Saturday. So missed the lec dem at the Academy. Reports have it that Thayumanavar was outstanding in his lec dem on the art of konnakkol. So I was not lucky.

On Sunday 28th I lecced (no dem) at the Tag Centre and so I missed the AKC Natarajan/BM Sundaram lec dem as well.

Music Academy Lec Dem on 26th December

Today’s lec dem was on the Abhyasa Gana exercises in the Sangita Sarvartha Sara Sangrahamu of Vina Ramanuja. The presentation was by Rajshri Ramakrishna of the Madras University. This book was published in 1859 (150 years ago) and is really the first printed work in Carnatic Music. It was first presented at the Music Academy in 1980 by Savitri Rajan and Michael Nixon and there is a detailed article by them on the book’s contents and this has been published in the Journal of the Music Academy, Madras, 1981 (Vol LII).

The new element in the presentation was the abhyasa ganamu (partly dealt with by Nixon and Rajan) which basically deals with the exercises taught to beginners in music. It would have been better if this portion had received the main focus instead of a long introduction about the book which took over ten minutes in a lec dem of thirty five minutes.

Here, the contents of the sahitya for the sarali and jhanta varisais as composed by Ramanuja was taken up.  The demonstration was rushed through. But AKC, who quite rightly choses to intervene only when necessary asked the speaker to demonstrate the talas clearly and complete full cycles. The speaker did this.

There was a brief comparison of how the abhyasa ganas were treated in the subsequent books such as the Prathamabhyasa Pustakamu of Subbarama Dikshitar (1905), the Gayaka Siddhanjanam of the Tachur Brothers (1905), the Sangita Swara Prasthara Sagaramu of Nathamuni Pandita and the Thenmattam Brothers’ Sangitananda Ratnakara, both of which are early 20th century publications.

It was interesting to see how the beginners exercises had changed and finally crystallised into what we hear today. Of course, the raga for beginning, Mayamalavagaula has not changed.

Questions:

Dr Premeela Gurumurthy (HOD, Department of Music, Madras University) wanted to know if there is any reference in any of the books to Purandara Dasa writing down the beginners’ exercises. The speaker replied in the negative.

AKC Natarajan stressed on the importance of these lessons and said that there were also known as Chikku Varisais. He said that if these are learnt while young, pronunciation, knowledge of swarasthanas and clarity in musical expression would automatically follow as benefits. He also pointed out that in one of the lessons sung, the exercises did not progress beyong panchama. When asked why was this, the speaker replied that the book had the lesson set only till panchama.

The Bodhaka Award was presented to Kalyani Sharma of Bombay today. Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao read the citation while N Murali and AKC did the honours.

Born on 25^th April 1936 at Trivandrum to K Venkatarama Iyer and Janaki Ammal, Kalyani Sharma completed the Vidwan course in vocal music and the Sangita Bhooshanam course on the veena at the Swati Tirunal Music College, Trivandrum. She learnt vocal music from Sangita Kalanidhi Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and trained on the veena under Sangita Kalanidhi KS Narayanaswami. Later she underwent special training in Padams and Javalis under Sangita Kalanidhi T Brinda and Sangita Kala Acharya T Muktha. She has since performed regularly at various concert venues in India and abroad. She began her teaching career at the Swati Tirunal Music College and later moved to Bombay where she taught at the Sangita Vidyalaya of the Shanmukhananda Sabha. An A-grade artiste of the All India Radio, she has numerous lectures and publications to her credit.

 

The awardee’s students then presented a music session. I did not stay for this.

Season Tales- 14

I tried the canteen at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. They had only pongal. Most curiously, this was served on a plate with a plastic sheet cut to size and placed over it. My question is do they wash the plates before using them again or does the plastic sheet say it all? Also would it be cheaper and more hygienic to have a plantain leaf cut to shape? The pongal was ok, the ice cold sambar and chutney (both open to the four winds of heaven) were not.

Season Tales -13

Went to Sri Krishna Gana Sabha to listen to Sanjay yesterday. Concert was v good but I did not like the violin accompaniment.

Season Tales -12

Sanjay sings at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha today. I have begged and borrowed tickets.

Season Tales – 11

Had breakfast at the Academy this morning. Idli dry but vadai and pongal above average. Coffee still awful.