‘THRILL’ANAS!!! -Part 2

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!