Here is the continuation of my account on ‘Thrill’anas!
Enjoy reading!
A small peak at what finally was presented in my concert! Beginning with, in line with convention, was
my guru’s tillana in Behag, composed
on Lord Vinayaka, specially for his ballet,’ Vinayaka Vaibhavam’, full of
patterns in a pleasing tune. The Charanam has some lovely rhyme on the syllable
‘zha’.
azhaikkum
bhaktarukku teeyavar,
izhaikkum innal
kaḷaindē, naṇgu
uzhaikka balam
tandiḍum, tanga nool
ezhaitta āḍai aṇiyōnē!
pizhaikka vazhi
koorum avvai aruḷ
mazhaiyē! nandi
kubēran mudal vāzhvu
tazhaikka udaviya
sumukhanē! gnyāna
pazhamaḍainda
shankari shiva sutanē!
This was followed by Tanjavur Shankar Iyer’s Anandabhairavi,
which is an absolutely lilting piece in a slow pace Khanda Chapu.
Then was the filler in Mandari, in the Tanjore Quartret’s
inimitable lightning style, full of Bhrka laden sangatis and tongue twisting jatis. Shurutti tillana by Oottukkadu
Venkata Kavi provided the relief, based on a rakti raga, but interesting with gati bhedams happening between sections and his trademark Madhyama Kalams.
The ‘Pancha jati-Pancha tala-Pancha raga’ tillana by my guru
is a very rare gem, full of scholarly patterns and interesting transitions,
easily merging together the shifts in the jati,raga and tala, especially in the
climatic Madhyama Kalam. It is a part
of yet another ballet of his, Lakshmi
Prabhavam.
A very unusual but a precious find was the Vasanta tillana
by Veena Seshanna in chowka kala or a
slow tempo. This came as a refreshing surprise since, to me, Tillanas were
synonymous with medium and fast tempos. It gave a lot of scope for Ragam,
Niraval, Swaram and a Tani Avarttanm too!
Poochi Shrinivasa Iyengar is a well-known Tillana composer.
His 21 Akshara Lakshmeesha tala tillana set in Kapi raga, that was featured
next, is the epitome of showcasing a
tala’s beauty through a barely 2 minute composition!
The Kuntalavarali Tillana by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna,
Revati Tillana by Lalgudi Shri G. Jayaraman, the lesser known but a very
elegant Bilahari Tillana by Ariyakudi Shri Ramanuja Iyengar are some of the
other shining stars in the well-lit sky of Tillanas. It is as impossible to
measure the vastness of these compositions as it is of the sky. It looks so
approachable and limited to our eyes, but when we look beyond the horizon,
there is a totally new dimension added! As noted by a senior musician,
‘Tukkada’ is a very inappropriate name given to the compositions that feature
in the latter half of a concert. As he
noted, literally translated as ‘insignificant small pieces’, these compositions
are no small in genius and nowhere insignificant!
This concert will be
etched in my memory for inducing a lot of thirst and interest, the topic being
based on an off-beaten track and the immense knowledge I gained about the
seemingly humble Tillanas. I am immensely grateful to my family and my revered
gurus for their unfailing inputs throughout this thrilling journey. Looking
forward to more such exciting projects!
