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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 9: Neraval - Paratpara

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In this part of the series, we will examine a main aspect of MS's singing: her brilliant neravals. I have always enjoyed MS's neravals more than any other artists for the following reasons: her ability to create great tension, unparalleled use of vocal dynamics, outstanding diction and the resplendent raga that emerges during the neraval. Not to mention the other key factor that draws us to her neravals: the artha bhava and the emotive appeal of her voice.  Her neravals are not only about exploring the raga, which she does effectively, but also exploring the emotion hidden in the lyrics. Of letting us experience or at least glimpse what could have gone through the composers mind and heart when they composed those words. The elation they may have felt, the bhakti bhava that would have taken hold of them, their own surrender to the supreme being. The neraval brings for all these images to our mind, for MS loses herself in the raga and the lyrics and yet, as a master musician, she...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 8 - Syama Sastry : Mayamma & Kanakasaila viharini

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  In this post, I will take up two Syama Sastry krithis sung by MS Subbulakshmi.  The greatness of Syama Sastry (as well as his two contemporaries) is that he could take up what many consider a 'minor' raga and compose a krithi of great seriousness and grandeur in that raga. For example, Ahiri is considered to be a 'minor' raga, in the sense that it does not give much scope of kalpana of an artist and has limited prayogas. Yet, Syama Sastry created a gem of a krithi in this raga, 'mayamma,' which has gravitas and oozes karuna rasa. (Dikshitar too took up this raga and created a mammoth Kamalamba krithi, while Tyagaraja created the brilliant 'adaya sri.') Similarly, Syama Sastry took up another raga with limited scope, Punnagavarali, and created a 'heavy' krithi, 'kanaka saila viharini'. We will now hear both these krithis in the voice of MS. First, the Ahiri krithi, 'mayamma.' In this recording you get MS singing a slokam from Mee...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 7: Syama Sastry - Rave Himagiri Kumari

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  We have heard MS sing the Tyagaraja and Dikshitar classics in this series's earlier part. In this part, we will look at MS singing Syama Sastry. Many Tyagaraja krithis are redolent with high poetry, while Dikshitar krithis are embedded with deep Sanskrit scholarship and sthala puranas. Syama Sastry's krithis, on the other hand, are simple and direct pleas to the Goddess. Syama Sastry rejects exalted language in favour of simple words. His krithis oftentimes have the feeling of prose rather than poetry. Despite the simple and sometimes simplistic lyrics, the combination of music and lyrics makes his krithis emotionally heavy, and only the best artists can do justice to his compositions. While he was known for his superb use of the chapu thala, what stands out is the merging of the thala with the bhakti bhava, which provides an unforgettable experience to the listener.  Even when he takes up a 'minor' raga like Ahiri or Paras, he fills them up with so much raga bhava an...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 6 : Dikshitar - Sri Mooladhara

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In the last essay, I spoke about the structure of Dikshitar's krithis and why it is important to maintain the structure. The last essay focussed on the rare krithi in the rare raga, Mahalakshmi in the raga Madhava Manohari. In this post, we will hear another not oft heard Dikshitar krithi in a famous raga: 'sri muladhara chakra vinayaka' in the ragam Shree. Once again, I want you to observe the excellent pace chosen that highlights the majesty of the composition and MS's restrained singing, as well as her superb grip on the kalapramanam, never trying to up the tempo.  What we get finally is a relaxed rending of a great krithi, giving us a clear understanding of the depth of the composition, the brilliant way in which Dikshitar unfolds the raga, the charming Sanskrit words enunciated melodiously and the overall structure built by the great composer. The krithi also gives a masterclass on how great voice modulation and volume control can enhance the rendering of the krith...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 5: Dikshitar - Mahalakshmi

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  When it comes to singing krithis, there are predominantly two schools of thought: one that believes that kriti is one more way of expressing your manodharma and another that believes that kriti structure is sacrosanct. The artist must not tamper with the structure.  The first school of thought encourages on-the-spur sangatis, and the artist can elongate a word, condense it or glide over it based on the 'mood of the day.' We generally hear, "You will never hear this artist sing the krithi the same way twice." T N Seshagopalan may be seen as a good example of this approach. The second school of thought believes that the structure of the kriti must be kept intact, and whenever the artist sings the krithi, the same set of sangatis are repeated the same number of times, and they don't encourage the artist to go their own path. They rather ask the artist to stick to a particular 'padantharam.' The Brinda-Mukta school, Semmangudi school and the Pattamal school ...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 4 : Tyagaraja - Emi Neramu

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We have looked at MS's handling of great krithis in two major ragas, Todi and Khambhoji. In this part, we will look at MS's handling of a Tyagaraja krithi in the raga Shankarabaranam. The krithi is the excellent 'emi neramu," which we unfortunately don't hear much. (It is not a recent phenomenon. I have not heard it in concerts over the last few decades, at least.) Once again, the choice of the kalapramanam is in keeping with the majestic structure of the song and the raga, Sankarabharanam, that shines when sung at a slow pace. The words are wonderful, and I want you to observe how she phrases the sentences. The phrasings in this song are a delight, both in the anupallavi and the charanam.  The way Tyagaraja sets up the charnam shows us what a great 'vaggeyakara' he was. The 'vaak' (words) and the 'geya' (music) merge perfectly. The words fit perfectly into the rhythm, and how they are phrased makes life easy for the singer and the percussio...
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M S Subbulakshmi and her music - Part 3 : Tyagaraja - Koluvamaragadha

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In this article, we will again look at a grand krithi replete with challenging sangathis and an innumerable number of them.  Just like 'O Rangasayee' that we heard in the last part, this song too is built brick by brick, sangathi by sangathi, and slowly revealing the grandeur of one of Carnatic music's majestic ragas: the mighty Todi. We must observe that the sangatis, especially in the anupallavi, can enthuse the musicians to such an extent that they would go over the top, and sometimes the music tends towards cacophony, with the violinist, mridangist and if present, the upa paaka vadhiyam like ghatam or kanjeera joining the din. Given the structure of the sangatis, which demand a lot from your voice and are crowd-pleasing in their construction, it is no wonder we get to hear some excess in this krithi.  In this rendition of MS, we hear more than just the voice control and precision we seek from her; we also hear her aesthetic decisions. There is a sense of quietude even i...
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