‘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!

Greatest of All Times

Lalgudi was just any other town in Tamilnadu, before September 17, 1930. G. Jayaraman was born and this scenario totally changed. Lalgudi became synonymous with his name. And his name, synonymous with the Violin.

Lalgudi G Jayaraman was a multi-faceted personality. He was a violinist par excellence, a teacher whose renown is no less than one of the greatest, an intellectual, a fun loving human and above all, a dedicated student of music. I had the good fortune of learning about Lalgudi mama from my guru Chitravina N Ravikiran Sir. If Lalgudi mama received feedback about my guru’s concert anywhere, there would be a phone call next moment from him to my Sir, analysing about a korvai that he would have played, a raga alapana that Lalgudi mama would fondly reminisce of his days, etc. My guru would tell me, “It was so refreshing to talk to mama. His child like enthusiasm even at this age and stage is just unbelievable.” Such was the greatness of Lalgudi mama.

Chowdiah remarked: "All of us must stop playing now that this boy has appeared." Irrespective of seniority or achievements, Vidwans were all praise for his music and most importantly, the presence of mind he applied when accompanying artistes.  Arrogance or ego had no place in his life. In an interview he has said, “My eyes are set on a star not easily reached. Besides I am quite self-critical. I see my flaws all the time. Even minor faults frustrate me, and when I was younger, they would even make me weep all night. Sometimes I have even asked myself: "Why was I ever born?" Worry and sleeplessness would induce fever. At such times my father used to encourage me.”

He was one artiste who could easily blend with any style he was accompanying, be it Madurai Shri Mani Iyer’s Sarva Laghu patterns, GNB Sir’s sprightly Bhrkas or Alattur Brother’s wizardry over Laya. This was because he evolved a style in the violin, so close to the vocal style. His style is best described in his own words-“In my style you cannot distinguish between deflected and straight movements in bowing. The same richness of tone, the same continuity is maintained in both. Also one will not realise that the bow is moving over the different strings in turn because of the evenness of the sound produced. Jumps and breaks are completely avoided. And changes in fingering are so imperceptible as to go unnoticed.”

Who can beat the happiness one derives by just listening to his Naa Jeevadhara in Bilahari or Ora joopu joocheti in Kannadagowla ? Do I enjoy the crystal clear tone of his touch? Or the perfect shruti alignment? Or the impeccable Bhrkas, the graceful Gamakams, the lyrical quality of the instrument that he was the pioneer in bringing about, or the Bhava that would move me to tears? What aspect of his music cannot surpass anything else? Each is as best as the other. And this can be attributed to nothing but single minded saadhaka, that, as my guru says, Lalgudi mama did like a tapas, a penance. Be it the attractive swarams in Ide Bhagyamu of Kannada or the Bhairavi Ragam Tanam Pallavi, his music stood true to the statement, ‘Greatest of all times’. 

He lived for music and his music shall live for all of us, generations and generations to come. I still remember the day of his 80^th Birthday celebrations in the Music Academy, when I first ever played my Chitravina on stage as part of an instrumental tribute to his greatness.  It was something that I will never forget, for the grand manner in which it was organized or the most cherished blessings that he gave me that day.  He had beautifully sewed a violin into his signature and I would cherish his personally autographed memento as a treasure close to my heart forever.
 

‘THRILL’ANAS!!! -Part 1

Tillanas are a very integral part of our classical arts. Primarily from a dance origin, these mostly short and crispy compositions made their foray into music also, and have been enjoying a glorious position in the post main section of innumerable concerts.

 But how is it to take up these miniature pieces of stupendous brilliance as a theme for a full-fledged concert?! The research behind is the first installment of this two-part write up.

Recently, I faced this interesting challenge when I was asked to perform a thematic concert on ‘Tillanas across 300 years’. It was an exhilarating task for me, from collecting these thrilling pieces of various composers to presenting them in a conventional kutcheri format. This inspired my Guru to even call them ‘Thrillanas’ on a light note, to who I owe the title courtesy here!!

I first made a list of composers who have made their mark in these compositions, from Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi and Poochi Shrinivasa Iyengar to Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and my own guru Chitravina Shri N. Ravikiran. Once I shortlisted around 15 tillanas, it came to choosing the appropriate ones, showcasing the varied styles of composing and my own comfort levels that I could gain only through constant practice.

A little research into the beginnings of this unassuming musical form showed that the ‘Kaivara Prabandhams’, prevalent in the medieval era are the fore-runners of present day Tillanas. The first composer as recorded is Melattur Veerebhadrayya (1739-1763) followed very closely by Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi (1700-1765). A small note of interest here is, both Melattur and Oottukkadu are towns of close proximity. They, along with couple of other small towns, were rich in the Bhagavata Mela tradition, an art which is a mix of dance, music and story-telling. So the Tillanas could have been an important aspect of this art form and hence the pioneers of Tillanas. Of the two, the Venkata Kavi seems to have explored a lot, foraying into dance based jatis, North-Indian Taraana styled Tillanas, his immensely scholarly and popular ‘Kalinga Narttana Natangam, in Gambheera Nattai whose capture of Lord Kishna’s Kalinga Narttanam is absolutely unparalleled in its sheer imagery, beauty, skills, etc. It took all of few minutes to note the evolution of Tillanas from being highly dance oriented in the first, full of interesting and deceivingly simple kanakku or mathemeatics, filled with shollus and jatis.  Then came the time where composers started making it more “paattu kutchery friendly”! Thought the former were not impossible to perform, this set of composers set their sights on simple and alluring tunes and ragas, less complicated jatis, etc. Recent trends lean towards interesting pattern based mathematics or korvais, from the obvious tishrams and khandams to the brain-racking chaturashra tishrams and dove-tailing patterns. All this weaved in both light classical and heavy weight ragas.

When the entire homework was done, it felt like I had just dived into a huge ocean and barely saw a fish there. That is how small I felt!

The last part will have what I finally got to present in the kutcheri and a few more tidbits on the topic. 

Stay thrilled till then!

BRILLIANCE

Brilliance. In dictionaries, it is defined as ‘very bright and vivid’, ‘extremely clever or talented’ and ‘excellent’. At one go, all three might sound similar, almost the same. It is a known fact, instilled in everyone from school days that a talented child is always bright and the vice versa. And hence he or she excels in the normal parameters used to describe brightness or talent.

But in deep introspection, I would paint a different dimension to it. They are not one and the same. These are various avatar-s, forms or incarnations of brilliance.

 In the recent December Music Season 2011, as any die hard rasika would, I attended quite a handful of concerts. The incarnations of brilliance, as I would call, were very evident in each concert and helped me in giving shape to this thought. To top all this, I should not forget the fellow rasikas and newspaper reviews, whose views in a purely conversational and leisure mode, contributed immensely to mold this primitive thought.

In the yester years, we have had stalwarts who have walked this Earth and created music of ‘sheer brilliance’. What can be spoken about Brindamma’s shruti, or Ariyakudi mama’s vibrancy, or MS amma’s devotion, etc.? Each of these artistes was brilliance personified, standing on his or her own strength, not stooping down to anything lower than that. It is a widely accepted fact that all these stars had a profound practical knowledge of music, yet each had his or her own way to bring out that knowledge on stage. So, if Brindamma chose to present Vilamba kala (slow paced) compositions in her performances, it was not because she was anywhere close to being inefficient in the faster speeds. It was her ‘path’, the one she created for herself to reach the supreme, the ultimate of any activity.  It is the same with that of stars on the other end of the spectrum, like Ariyakudi mama or GNB mama. They created magic with fast speeds and were equally adept in handling slower compositions. It was a different path that they chose. But the destination is one and the same.

Both were accepted as brilliance because they were nothing but that. Rasikas and critics knew just the right thing by which brilliance could be judged.

These days, brilliance is very wrongly interpreted as only ‘vibrancy’. A brilliant concert, in today’s terms can be described as one, full of high energy, superfast bhrka-s, not even having a moment of silence lest the energy should drop, even if that moment of silence could create more than what so many minutes of continuous music could. Why isn’t silence, at the right moment regarded as brilliance, when a lightning sangati, at the precise moment, is, evoking rapturous appreciation and applause? In which way is a gamaka laden raga alapana less vivid than bhrka laden exposition? It is like a painting. Give a brush to a worthy artiste; he can create magical brillliance with it, whatever color he uses. Are people who give importance to that silence or tranquility less talented or excellent than those who tag durita kalams and full energy and excitement, important? In some cases it can turn out to be the vice versa too.

A parallel can be drawn with the dashavatarm-s of Lord Vishnu. In the ‘Parashurama’’ avatar, He was described as a very aggressive, energetic ( for the purpose of slaying evil kshatriys-s, reason behind the incarnation)  and a powerful sage. But in the ‘Vamana’ avatar, He was characterized as a highly peaceful and soft spoken Brahmin boy.Would anyone say that Lord Vishnu was less brilliant in either of these avataram-s? They were just forms to show that brilliance is only subjective. It is not objective. One must ideally be like Lord Krshna, ninth of lord Vishnu’s ten incarnations. He knew how to be both mischievous and enthusiastic and when to be subtle and calm!

In the end, one must understand that brilliance has varied forms. Each form is beautiful in its own way, giving ample space to delve into the beauty and savor it endlessly. If this point is driven home, a whole new world is awaiting each person, a world he or she has never considered, due to its ‘lack of brilliance’. So let us all, as the new age listeners, know that brilliance can never be categorized. It is ‘a culmination of talent, cleverness to present the brightest form of art we consider to be vivid, in the most excellent manner!’

A NEW LIFE, A NEW BEGINNING…

College… It is a dream every child cherishes from very young, even before he or she reaches high school! The stage where each one of us sheds our skin as a girl or a boy and gear ourselves to adorn the hat of a woman or a man. A place where we will no more have parents and teachers rushing to our sides when we have petty fights with our friends. A place where friendship acquires a newer meaning. And most of all, a place where there are no more punishments for unkempt hair or one plait and unpolished shoes or uniforms not ironed [It used be a nightmare of every school student!].

College life can be like a roller coaster ride, either taken in the best or the worst sense. We need to tread carefully across this stage, as we are more prone to falter and fall. It is that stage of life where we are neither children nor complete adults. We get to at last vote, watch adult movies [!!], swipe credit cards, drive cars and ride bikes. But we cannot buy a house, sign high level documents or even escape from EXAMS. A totally baffling stage according to me. In college we can dare to crawl till the edge. Either we would have been scared of the edge before college, in school or we would be scared of the fall once out of college, in the society.

Teachers here [henceforth professors!] play a pivotal role in shaping up a student. If we manage to get into their good books, then we are saved from many of the consequences of being an ‘unruly child’ in their lingo! They can be devils if they want to but when it comes to being an angel, I think a real angel would have to hide her face in shame in front of them. We all would have had our own school teachers’ experiences and encounters.

Friends are an inevitable part of college life. I have seen so many people isolating themselves from the class and be in a world of their own in school. This is just next to impossible in college. They become so important that almost every action of ours would be centered on catching their favor or maybe just to amuse them. So much so that scoring good marks may also be to win a bet with a friend! They are the people we can trust and sometimes it might get bitter. But that is where our common sense needs to interfere; to get friends who will match our wavelength and be with us throughout, rain or shine.

Finally I am forced to conclude this blog by only wishing everyone out there a great life. As my college starts tomorrow, the excitement in me is just struggling to pour out! We shall all come out as men and women, serve the humanity in whichever way and leave a mark behind us when we leave the planet. And this is what every college aims to achieve for its students. All through the way I will forever be grateful to my school teachers and well wishers who have helped me cross the stage of girlhood in the most beautiful way and are always wishing the best for all of us…

Dikshitar- A journey

The youngest among the music Trinity, Muttuswamy Dikshitar’s compositions are full of evocative appeal and sublime emotions, coupled with a high degree of knowledge in the Sanskrit language, the Mantra shastras and mythology.


Ancestors of Muttuswamy Dikshitar were reportedly from Virinchipuram in North Arcot. His father Ramaswamy Dikshitar was well versed in Sanskrit and music. He also composed a number of krtis on Shri Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of Tiruvarur where he had settled down. Muttuswamy was born on March 25^th 1775. Eldest of four, he followed his father’s footsteps to become proficient in Vina and Vocal music.

Muttuswamy was under the tutelage of a Chidambaranatha Yogi who had been the one to initiate Ramaswamy Dikshitar into the Srividya cult. In this five years he spent in Varanashi, he was influenced by the Hindusthani style. This is evident in some of his compositions, where he has used Hindusthani ragas like Dvijayavanti (Chetah shri), Yamunakalyani (Jambhoopate), Hameerkalyani (Purahara nandana), etc.

After the demise of Chidambaranatha Yogi, Dikshitar left for Tiruttani, which is said to be a significant milestone in his life. It is believed that during his stay there Lord Muruga had himself come in the disguise of an elderly man and put sugar candy in his mouth and disappeared. Thereafter, the nae ‘Guruguha’ became his mudra. Of all the group compositions he has composed, The Guru Vibhakti krtis are said to be the first.

His exposure to Western Music was through an invitation from Chinayya Mudaliyar of Manali. He composed Sanskrit lyrics for Western tunes (most of them are in the ‘Major scale’, corresponding to Shankarabharanam of Carnatic). Thus he has composed around 35 ‘Nottuswaras’, written on various deities.

Dikshitar’s meeting with another musical genius of that time, Shyama Shastri was when he had come to Tanjavur to teach music to The Quartret. The Shriranjani varnam left incomplete by the composer, his father Ramaswamy Dikshitar was given a full form with Dikshitar, Shyama shastri and his younger brother Chinnaswami Dikshitar composing a charanam each, thereby giving proof of the acquaintance between Syama Sastri and Dikshitar.

Dikshitar was a wide traveler. From visiting the abode of Lord Pasupatishvaram in the Northern country of Nepal to Rameshwaram in the South, the deity being Lord Ramanatha, Dikshitar has measured the expanse of our huge country.

Moreover Dikshitar’s compositions were an Encyclopedia by themselves. Almost all of his compositions include the Kshetra (place), deity and spouse, sacred tree and the tank, favorite delicacies and color, local customs and  even the architectural beauty of the temple. In compositions like the ones on Goddess Kamalamba, the songs are full of Tantric details, referring to the Chakra, the Yogini, etc.

He has also composed a complete series of songs in the Asampurna 72 Melakarta System. The talams he has used are many. Of the complex ones, he has composed in Mishra Jhampa (Dakshinamurte), In fact each of his Navagraha compositions dedicated to each of the nine celestial planets are composed in the Sapta talas.

Couple of songs are also composed in Manipravalam (Shri abhayamba – Shri). There are also compositions in Ragamalika (Shri Vishwanatham, Simhasanasthithe, Purnachandrabimba), a feature that was rare to find among the contemporaries. The former  holds a stature of special mention since it is set in 14 ragams, hence known as the Chaturdasha Ragamalika Krti. Rarer of the lot yet again a masterpiece, the Dashavatara ragamalika, Madhavo mampatu is an example of his boundless creativity.

There are compositions that are brimming with information from the Lalitopakhyanam. They are all devoted to Goddess Lalita, the presiding deity of the Shrividya chakram.

On the whole, Dikshitar was a true Vaggeyakara, a devout devotee and a multifaceted human being, whose contributions to this world are immeasurable and priceless.

“Shri naathaadi guruguho jayati jayati”

A BIRTHDAY REMEMBERANCE TO THE TRAIL BLAZER

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar was, in the words of a contemporary, the "architect and maker of modern Carnatic music. He was the torchbearer of one of the many styles that were emerging then. It is a pity that our generation never got to watch his concerts live and interact with him. But technology has facilitated us in our quest to listen and learn by getting us numerous recordings and accounts of his lifestyle which are indeed a very valuable source to learn about the Sangeeta Upasaka.

His life and music followed the movement of the oonjal, the swing. In fact it is a well known fact that he spent all his time singing and swinging! In the 1920s he introduced the shortened kutcheri as we know it today, with the varnam, a few short krtis, the mid-section consisting of a main raga and krtis followed by a ragam-tanam-pallavi, and the tukkadas towards the end. With intense discipline and practice he developed an enviable repertoire: it is rumoured that he knew the most number of songs, almost a hundred, in the Raga Todi alone. His hallmark was the madhyamakala or medium tempo. Tricky and very difficult to emulate, he maintained this unique tempo throughout the concert and held the audience in complete attention.
It was his belief that the essence of Carnatic music was to convey raga bhava, and the alapana would reflect the embodiment of the krti to follow. So while his raga alapana was brief, the perception was that people could actually guess which song he was going to sing by listening to the alapana. This is enough proof that every time he sang a particular Raga, it would always sound refreshingly new.

Humility as a pose and artifice, stood self - indicted and self exposed. He always attributed his "humble" success to the great masters like his Guru Poochi Iyengar, Thirukodikaval Krishna Iyer and others. How he would spend the time on a performance day, avoiding sleep in the afternoon and doing musical dhyanam all the time, indicate what reverence he had for the Art.

Ariyakudi mama’s music is the touch-stone on which we can judge the standard of the music of others, probably because, it is in the truest and basic traditions of our classical music. In the words of Shri G N Balasubramaniam, a contemporary who considered Ariyakudi his guru, ‘his is probably the one instance of a unique wedlock of seeming incompatibles, "sastra" and "sravya" and tradition and modernity’. He believed that music was a divine gift that God in His manifestation as Nada Brahman gave to the world. He was a true believer in using the Tambura shruti and was noted saying that, of the instruments of shruti, there is none to excel the Tambura. Upholding the  tradition and classicism of Carnatic Music were the sole meaning of his music filled life. He felt that it is quite possible to please the hearers without transgressing the bounds of tradition after seeing many musicians caught in the desire to cater to the taste of the audience. He gave a lot of importance to Sahitya bhava and considered any performance soulless if a musician did not have the knowledge of the Sahityam.

It is my good fortune that under a scholarship scheme, I am able to learn from one of his foremost disciples and one who has observed him from a very close range, Shri Alepey Venkatesan. Even if Ariyakudi mama left us long time back, his music lived and will live. Well, history will never change…

PS : Ideas and certain points courtesy Ariyakudi’s presidential address at The Music Academy and ‘Voices Within’.