The excitement in the open air Key's High School auditorium was palpable. People had gathered to hear a young kid play a new instrument (new from a Carnatic music point of view), called Mandolin. The kid went by the name of Srinivas. He came, he played and he conquered everyone's heart. Those were the years when many ears heard the instrumentalists play. Those were the golden years for instrumentalists, both in the carnatic music field and in Tamil film music. It was late 1970s and most of 1980s when instrumentalists held sway. Let's have a nostalgic look at those times.
U.Srinivas was not the only prodigy who had exceptional skills on an instrument. Before him had come people like Veena Gayathri, on, what else, veena and Ravikiran on Gottuvadyam (which he later renamed as Chitraveena.) It was an exciting era when some experienced stalwarts brushed shoulders with exceptionally gifted youngsters. One one hand was the violin trio of Lalgudi, MSG and T N Krishnan, who between them had taken violin playing to a different level and were very much in demand as soloist. One the other hand were youngsters like Ganesh and Kumaresh, who provided the required excitement to the audience. On one hand were the veena veterans like Emani Shankar Sastry, Doraiswamy Iyengar. One the other hand were non tradionalists like S.Balachander and Chittibabu and the emerging talent of Ravikiran and U Srinivas. On one hand were Namagiripetai Krishnan and Sheik Chinna Moulana on nadhaswaram. On the other hand was Kadri, playing saxophone. Then there was Mali and his disciple N. Ramani. There was an excellent mix of staunch traditionalism counter balanced by experimental modernism when it came to instruments. There were staunch followers for every instrumentalist. There was variety, there was virtuosity and most importantly, there was great music from the instrumentalists of those time.
Some of the best concerts I have heard in the Key's High School auditorim, courtesy Kalasagaram, were instrumental concerts. Coincidentally, the ragam which brilliantly portrayed by multiple instrumentalists is Kambhoji. Ravikiran played an outstanding Kambhoji as the main piece in one concert here. He used to be a thin, lanky youngster, looking almost as if he was scared, but his playing was perfection personified. The Kambhoji, which he painted so effortlessly, was majestic and moving. My fellow listener, who was a great Madurai Mani Iyer fan, remarked while hearing this Kambhoji, "Mani Iyer's spirit must be hovering around here." High praise indeed, since he considered no one can sing Kambhoji like Mani Iyer. Ganesh Kumaresh played another great Kambhoji. In the kalpanaswaram section, they did some raga malika swarams. Ganesh was playing Mohanam and before he could end the Mohanam part, Kumaresh started playing swaras of Ranjani. After the concert, when we went to congratulate the brothers on their playing, I overheard Kumaresh tell Ganesh, "I just though I should play Ranjani. I didn't think it will come out so well." Such was the experimental spirit of the brothers. The other Kambhoji I heard was a serene one from T N Krishnan. Every phrase oozing with raga bhava, it was a Kambhoji I will not forget in a hurry. The annual Kalasagaram program used to feature quite a few instrumentalists. The instrumentatlists held sway for almost a decade or slightly more and many of the practioners drew more audience than the vocalists. How did this happen?
Charismatic vocal artists like Semmangudi and MS had started reducing the number of concerts they gave. People like Balamurali were also reducing the number of concerts they gave and probably were also pricey. While the next generation of vocalists, (after Semmangudi, GNB and Madurai Mani Iyer) had redoubtable talent, they did not possess the charisma and the crowd pulling ability of their seniors. You cannot question the talent or music of the great musicians like DKJ, KVN, M D Ramanathan, S Kalyanaraman, Nedanuri etc but it must be accepted that halls did not overflow when they sang. The same was the case when it came to female vocalists. Their seniors like MS, DKP, MLV and Brinda had blazed a trail which was very difficult, if not impossible, to emulate. Added to this was the fact that the number of 'colorful' vocalists, who could add the required excitement to a concert were limited. (Santhanam would later pull in the crowds and T N Seshagopalan would add color to vocal concerts.) Everything was set for instrumentalists to take over and they rose to the challenge.
Instrumentalists provided the much need color, excitement and variety which the vocalists did not provide. There were people like S.Balachander, who loved controversies and thrived on them. He was a very colorful personality indeed. He was also a lovely veena player. Not many people may know that he also sang quite well. I remember attending a lec dem of his, at the Madras Museum Auditorium, where he sang a lovely thanam in Naatakurunji. It was a very sedate thanam and when it ended only a few of us clapped. He then said, "You should all clap. You have become so used to rabble rousing that only if all the percussions bang together and raise a lot of dust do you people clap. You should clap for sedate music like what I sang." Needless to say everyone clapped. Chittibabu was another very colorful personality whose veena playing was loved by lot of people. U Srinivas drew large crowds, initially due to the fact that he was a prodigy and later due to the fact that he was virtuoso when it came to handling the mandolin. People also came to hear Kadri since Saxaphone was an instrument very new to Carnatic music. Mali was not heard too often those days but N Ramani was a regular fixture in almost all festivals. A concert of his on AIR National Program is still etched in my mind both for the amazing melody he generated and for T N Krishnan's superb accompaniment. Nadaswaram too was heard quite a lot with people like Namagiripettai Krishnan and Sheik Chinna Moulana being famous. The overall competence was very high with the percussionists also at the peak of their careers. Imagine a concert of N Ramani with Lalgudi and Sivaraman. Each a master in his own right. Kadri with T V Gopalakrishnan, Lalgudi with Karaikudi Mani, T N Krishnan with Ramabadran. It was great instrumental music that we heard.
Unfortunately, by the late 80s and early 90s, the scene was to change. Some of the masters, like S.Balachander, Chittibabu, Emani, Namagiripettai passed away. Many like Lalgudi, MSG reduced the number of assignments. Some like Ganesh Kumaresh took a different direction and did not reach the heights some felt they would reach. Some like N Ramani and Kadri slowly lost the large following they initially had. New instrumental talent was not to be seen on the horizon. While some like the sons and daughters of the violin trio played the violin, they did not rise in stature to the level of their fathers.
The scene today is not very encouraging from an instrumental point of view. Some instruments, like nadhaswaram, have almost disappeared. There are very few solo violinst today. Ranjani and Gayathri, who were good violinists have switched to vocal music. U Srinivas does not draw the same crowds that he did some time back but people like him and Ravikiran manfully continue. Veena players rarely get a chance in the sabhas though there is still a lot of talent in this area. The annual festivals mostly feature vocalists, who are now very dominant, and you rarely get to hear top class instrumentalists. Hope this trend will reverse and we will see some good instrumentalists soon.
It was a very similar case in Talim Film Music industry as well. The late 70s saw the coming of Illayaraja and with his coming started the golden era for the instrumentalists. It was not that instrumentalists were not required earlier. It was just that Illayaraja took them to a totally new level. There were two reasons for this. The importance that Illayaraja gave to preludes and interludes in the songs. And the importance he gave to the background scored. Coupled with this was his fascination of Western Classical Music and all this led to some superb instrumental scores for films of 80s and early 90s. In many songs before the advent of Illayaraja, the main melody was dominant and the interludes were short and sometimes the same interlude was repeated in between the multiple charanams. Illayaraja changed all that. In his songs every interlude was different. I can't think of many songs where he uses the same interlude between mu;tiple charanams. He built lot of complex preludes and interludes and the instrumentalists had to rise to meet the challenge this man was throwing at them. Guitar Prasanna, in one of his articles says that Illayaraja was responsible for elevating the musicianship of the instrumentalists of Kodambakkam. He says that he saw a large gulf between the instrumentalists of Tamil film industry and the Bombday folks, especially with respect to the string section. You can read the full article by Guitar Prasanna here.
Illayaraja used a lot of instruments in his songs. The violins of course were there due to his fascination with Western Classical Music. Guitar were used like they have never been used in Indian film music. The bass guitar was elevated to divine heights. The sax, the nadhaswaram, the shenai found their place in the sun. And what can say about that mesmerising flute? Words fail you. The percussion section too had their say with acoustic drums, bongos, mridangam and tabla having a field day. Guitar Prasanna makes a special mention about the acoustic drumming in Raja's songs. Those were the crazy days when Illayaraja could churn out hit after hit after hit after hit with a frightening regularity. Just think of songs like, 'Poon Kadave', 'Pani Vizhum Malar Vanam', 'Nee Dhane En Pon Vasantham', 'Andhi Mazhai Pozhigirathu' , 'En Iniya Pon Nilave', 'Vedam Nee', 'Illaya Nila', 'Kundalile Megam' and immediately you can see how many different instruments he had used in these songs. And these songs were not even the tip of an iceberg.
The paradox was that Illayaraja raised the standard of instrumentalists without allowing them any freedom!! They had to play exactly what he wanted them to play. He wrote out their parts so well that just by ensuring they played as he wanted, their own skill level increased. Guitar Prasanna wonders how they managed to play some of the pieces!! (Digression: Probably the tabla players had a much better time under the earlier music directors like MSV, who gave them a lot of scope to experiment. When questioned by SPB in a TV program, a leading tabla player, 'Pedda Prasad', said that under MSV he could play as he wanted, while Raja would want him to play only in a certain way. I remember reading an article during late 70s about Jesudas not singing for MSV. This was due to the fact that Jesudas did not like the way a tabla player played and wanted him changed. MSV put his foot down and said that this person has been with him for a long time and he wouldn't change him. A miffed Jesudas refused to sing for MSV for some time.)
Though Illayaraja had used synthesizers earlier, it was with the advent of Rahman that synthesizer took the center stage and sounded the death knell of the instrumentalists. Slowly the recording room of Illayaraja that held a large number of instrumentalists wore a deserted look. Sarang Dev, a music director, who recently released a fusion album, was lamenting the fact that it was very difficult for him to find capable instrumentalists. Now everything can be done on a synthesizer. A writer called Pa.Raghavan on his blog wrote on how Vijay Anthony came with his synthesizer and composed all songs without need for real instruments. He says that they had to fight hard with him and insists that he get real nadhaswaram players to play a nadhaswaram bit!!! The interludes in the songs have also started depending more on the synthesized beat and in many case the instrumental phrases played sound very simple. There is not much complexity. So, even the real instrumental players come and play some simple stuff. What has changed is that their names appear in the sleeve notes. 'Sound' has taken prominence over music. Illayaraja could not buck the trend and he too uses the synthesizer. It has always been a matter of great debate amongst his fans about Illayaraja's use of synthesizer but I guess in the current environment there is no choice. Still he does give some nice interludes with real instruments when he gets a chance. The songs of 'Uliyin Osai' and the songs of 'Naan Kadavul', (especially "Kannil Parvai", where, in the interlude, he beautifully does a graha bedam from Rasikapriya to Mayamalavagowla) are examples which show that he is still the master when it comes to giving such interludes. Ofcourse, 'Tiruvasagam' stands as a testimony of how he can write lovely parts for the instrumentalists but it was played by Hungarian musicians and not our local musicians.
As in carnatic music, instrumentalists are facing a decline in Tamil Film Music. Will this trend reverse. I am not too sure but I wish it does, both for the sake of the instrumentalists and the listener. Else we will all be left askin about the instrumentalists, "Kahan Gaye Woh Log..?"
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Aham Brahmasmi - God Delusion? (Thoughts on Naan Kadavul)
(Picture Source: Galatta.com)What happens when a man who thinks he is God is asked to play God by a blind beggar girl towards whom God doesn't even throw a sideward glance? This forms the crux of Bala's "Naan Kadavul".
Spoilers ahead: I will be talking about some scenes from the movie. So if you haven't watched the movie yet, watch it and then continue reading.
This is a very different movie for Tamil cinema. Not because it shows the plight of beggars or physically handicapped people but for a very different reason. That is what I want to examine through this post. Staying within the ambit of commercial cinema, Bala differs from it by not using some of the age old tools and techniques and in the process creates a refreshingly different movie.
So let's start. What is this movie about? Good question. Let me answer in the negative first. It is not about beggars and their plight, it is not about physically and mentally handicapped people, it is not about society's apathy towards them. It is a question about God which has been asked perennially, “Where is God?” This question continues to be asked again and again in the face of man’s cruelty to fellow human beings. It is also a question about faith. How do you believe in God or religion when your suffering never ends? And when you don’t even have a notional control over your destiny? When you are a slave with no hope for freedom? This forms the crux of Bala’s movie. People think he resolved this question. I think he didn’t. I will explain why.
Bala’s protagonist is an ‘aghori’. Someone who thinks he is a realized soul and who think he is God. Contrary to what people believe, Bala doesn’t give us a clue if this is true. The whole characterization of the protagonist is such that you do not know if he is really a realized soul or if he has God delusion!! Is he a real sanyasi or is he a psychic case? Again, I feel the director gives no clue. He mutters some mantras, quote ‘sidhar padal’ and generally gives out pithy comments. His indifference to his parents, his indifference to the blind girl can also be interpreted in the same way. Is he such a realized soul that he doesn’t care for earthly attachments or has he been brought up in such an environment that he has lost his ability to mingle with his fellow human beings? People can argue that Bala tells that Rudran is a realized soul by the dialogues of his mother and that of the physically challenged ‘saami’. I again beg to differ. The interpretations can differ here again. Did both the ‘saami’ and the mother make the statements because they realized Rudran’s greatness or because they just gave up? The ‘saami’ realizing he is no ‘saami’ and Rudran’s mother realizing that she has lost her son!!
So you have an ‘aghori’ as the hero, which provides the film with color. At the same time provides you with a confusion which is generally not present in the Tamil movie. Who exactly is this fellow? The side characters don’t help much. The fake sanyasis are as bewildered as we are. The police are equally confused and so are the beggars. This ganja smoking person, prone to suddenly bouts of shouting, causes confusion all around.
On the other hand is the blind beggar girl, of very kindly disposition but who has no control over what happens to her. Her happiness is always short lived and finally she has no recourse but to question the very existence of God.
What would a person, who claims he is God, do when confronted with a person who is losing her faith and who is pleading with him to release her from the suffering? Does realization finally dawn on him that he is no God? Does he realize how difficult it is to play God? Does he realize that it takes God to give life and as humans we can only take away life? Multiple questions but Bala provides no answers.
What Rudran does in the end can be interpreted in many ways. Everyone’s understanding is based on the dialog that Rudran speaks in the court, that of death being a relief to some. Again, I do not know if those were the utterances of a mad man or he really meant it. For nowhere is compassion evident in his characterization. Infact when he fights off the villains the first time, it is not because he is compassionate about the blind girl but because he is irritated!! So I would go to the extent of saying that we do not know if he slits the throat of the girl because he wants to release her from this suffering or because he couldn’t bear her shouting that long!!! Due to the protagonist absolute lack of compassion, the film lacks the emotional quotient overall and becomes an intellectual exercise. (I know, I know. Even I was shocked and moved to see the beggars and their lives but as I said earlier, that is not the crux of the film. The interaction between Rudran and Amsavalli is.)
So what exactly is Bala’s vision. I believe he has none and I don’t mean it in a derogatory way. What I believe Bala has done is to make two diametrically opposite views clash. On one hand we can look at it as clash between faith and loss of faith but more importantly between the intellect and the emotional. Rudran’s realization is more of the intellectual variety whereas Amsavalli’s realization is due to the emotional trauma she has suffered. What happens when pure intellect meets pure emotion? In this case the intellect kills the emotion but is the intellect changed due to this interaction? Questions remain.
Am I overanalyzing? Maybe so, but I have seen very few Tamil films which were worth analysis in the first place. This film is worth the over analysis
Spiritual films in Tamil cinema have been non existent. The only spirituality you get is the Devar or Ramanarayan kind, wherein if you pray hard a snake will appear in your house and kill the person who is troubling you. (Unfortunately that doesn’t happen in real life else many mother-in-laws would have ceased to exist in Tamil Nadu). The question of God has always been binary here. Either you believe him / her as in the bhakti movies or you become an absolute non believer, of whom there is no dearth in Tamil Nadu. So it is indeed a joy to see this kind of film. There are ofcourse many things which could have better but I would say Hats Off to Bala for risking this film in mainstream cinema.
Wilson’s camera work is good. The lighting and shot taking is in line with Bala’s in-your-face approach. Jeyamohan shines with his dialogs and I am sure he had a major say in the overall vision of the film. When the king (Raja) handles the music, you can rest assured that you will get nothing short of world class music. And it happens.
Faith is a very paradoxical thing. People whom you think God just gave up on continue keeping their faith. A case in point is the Jews. What united them after all the suffering was their faith. They had every reason to give up their faith in face of unimaginable cruelty but didn’t. This is a phenomenon that is worth exploring and Bala has taken the first step as far as Tamil cinema is concerned. Will there be others? That is the multi crore rupee question.
Spoilers ahead: I will be talking about some scenes from the movie. So if you haven't watched the movie yet, watch it and then continue reading.
This is a very different movie for Tamil cinema. Not because it shows the plight of beggars or physically handicapped people but for a very different reason. That is what I want to examine through this post. Staying within the ambit of commercial cinema, Bala differs from it by not using some of the age old tools and techniques and in the process creates a refreshingly different movie.
So let's start. What is this movie about? Good question. Let me answer in the negative first. It is not about beggars and their plight, it is not about physically and mentally handicapped people, it is not about society's apathy towards them. It is a question about God which has been asked perennially, “Where is God?” This question continues to be asked again and again in the face of man’s cruelty to fellow human beings. It is also a question about faith. How do you believe in God or religion when your suffering never ends? And when you don’t even have a notional control over your destiny? When you are a slave with no hope for freedom? This forms the crux of Bala’s movie. People think he resolved this question. I think he didn’t. I will explain why.
Bala’s protagonist is an ‘aghori’. Someone who thinks he is a realized soul and who think he is God. Contrary to what people believe, Bala doesn’t give us a clue if this is true. The whole characterization of the protagonist is such that you do not know if he is really a realized soul or if he has God delusion!! Is he a real sanyasi or is he a psychic case? Again, I feel the director gives no clue. He mutters some mantras, quote ‘sidhar padal’ and generally gives out pithy comments. His indifference to his parents, his indifference to the blind girl can also be interpreted in the same way. Is he such a realized soul that he doesn’t care for earthly attachments or has he been brought up in such an environment that he has lost his ability to mingle with his fellow human beings? People can argue that Bala tells that Rudran is a realized soul by the dialogues of his mother and that of the physically challenged ‘saami’. I again beg to differ. The interpretations can differ here again. Did both the ‘saami’ and the mother make the statements because they realized Rudran’s greatness or because they just gave up? The ‘saami’ realizing he is no ‘saami’ and Rudran’s mother realizing that she has lost her son!!
So you have an ‘aghori’ as the hero, which provides the film with color. At the same time provides you with a confusion which is generally not present in the Tamil movie. Who exactly is this fellow? The side characters don’t help much. The fake sanyasis are as bewildered as we are. The police are equally confused and so are the beggars. This ganja smoking person, prone to suddenly bouts of shouting, causes confusion all around.
On the other hand is the blind beggar girl, of very kindly disposition but who has no control over what happens to her. Her happiness is always short lived and finally she has no recourse but to question the very existence of God.
What would a person, who claims he is God, do when confronted with a person who is losing her faith and who is pleading with him to release her from the suffering? Does realization finally dawn on him that he is no God? Does he realize how difficult it is to play God? Does he realize that it takes God to give life and as humans we can only take away life? Multiple questions but Bala provides no answers.
What Rudran does in the end can be interpreted in many ways. Everyone’s understanding is based on the dialog that Rudran speaks in the court, that of death being a relief to some. Again, I do not know if those were the utterances of a mad man or he really meant it. For nowhere is compassion evident in his characterization. Infact when he fights off the villains the first time, it is not because he is compassionate about the blind girl but because he is irritated!! So I would go to the extent of saying that we do not know if he slits the throat of the girl because he wants to release her from this suffering or because he couldn’t bear her shouting that long!!! Due to the protagonist absolute lack of compassion, the film lacks the emotional quotient overall and becomes an intellectual exercise. (I know, I know. Even I was shocked and moved to see the beggars and their lives but as I said earlier, that is not the crux of the film. The interaction between Rudran and Amsavalli is.)
So what exactly is Bala’s vision. I believe he has none and I don’t mean it in a derogatory way. What I believe Bala has done is to make two diametrically opposite views clash. On one hand we can look at it as clash between faith and loss of faith but more importantly between the intellect and the emotional. Rudran’s realization is more of the intellectual variety whereas Amsavalli’s realization is due to the emotional trauma she has suffered. What happens when pure intellect meets pure emotion? In this case the intellect kills the emotion but is the intellect changed due to this interaction? Questions remain.
Am I overanalyzing? Maybe so, but I have seen very few Tamil films which were worth analysis in the first place. This film is worth the over analysis
Spiritual films in Tamil cinema have been non existent. The only spirituality you get is the Devar or Ramanarayan kind, wherein if you pray hard a snake will appear in your house and kill the person who is troubling you. (Unfortunately that doesn’t happen in real life else many mother-in-laws would have ceased to exist in Tamil Nadu). The question of God has always been binary here. Either you believe him / her as in the bhakti movies or you become an absolute non believer, of whom there is no dearth in Tamil Nadu. So it is indeed a joy to see this kind of film. There are ofcourse many things which could have better but I would say Hats Off to Bala for risking this film in mainstream cinema.
Wilson’s camera work is good. The lighting and shot taking is in line with Bala’s in-your-face approach. Jeyamohan shines with his dialogs and I am sure he had a major say in the overall vision of the film. When the king (Raja) handles the music, you can rest assured that you will get nothing short of world class music. And it happens.
Faith is a very paradoxical thing. People whom you think God just gave up on continue keeping their faith. A case in point is the Jews. What united them after all the suffering was their faith. They had every reason to give up their faith in face of unimaginable cruelty but didn’t. This is a phenomenon that is worth exploring and Bala has taken the first step as far as Tamil cinema is concerned. Will there be others? That is the multi crore rupee question.
(Digression: Initially people were worried if there would be parallels between this movie and 'Slumdog Millionaire'. They need not have feared. 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a third rate movie which is being hyped as a first rate one. A fairly reasonable review of "Slumdog Millionaire" appeared in Hindu today. Check out this link )
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Coffee with Semmangudi
The cup was made of silver and was shining. The coffee though was not exactly ‘Tanjavur Degree Coffee’. It was good but not great.
If you get an image of me sipping coffee leisurely with Semmangudi wipe that image clean off your mind. My idea is to write about the coffee book on Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer which was released last year during his centenary celebrations. I know I am late with the review but as the saying goes “Better late..” and all that.
The book is co-authored by V.Subramaniam and Sriram .V. (I guess Sriram put his initial after his name so that people will not mistake him to be a brother of Subramaniam). The title is “Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer – Life & Music”. This is supposed to be a coffee table book and is priced Rs.790/-. Published by East West Books. A CD comes along with the book.
Lets have a look at the book . Sriram writes about the Life part of Semmangudi while Subramaniam writes about the Music part. Sriram, as usual, does a good job documenting the life of the titan. With his usual free flowing and interesting style, he takes us through the life of Semmangudi, right from his childhood till his end. He touches upon the important incidents in Semmangudi’s life (which was a colorful one). He does point out a few of the controversial incidents that Semmangudi was involved in but in keeping with the spirit of the book doesn’t delve deep into it, which is fine. Overall a nice presentation of Semmangudi’s life though you would have got most of this material from Sriram’s earlier book and Sruthi articles.
Subramaniam deals with the Music and here is where you see a bit of confusion. No, there is no confusion about Semmangudi’s music or Subramaniam’s understanding of it. It is just that the author seems to be confused as to whom he is writing this for. Is it for a foreigner who will buy the book because of the production values or is it for a Semmangudi fan who wants to understand more about his music? I mean, when you are analyzing the music of a maestro like Semmangudi you should assume that the person reading it will have some decent knowledge of Carnatic music. So it is a bit of a pain to read Subramaniam’s exposition on what a raga alapana is, what nerval is and what kalpanaswarams are !! I am sure if someone needs explanation to understand this, he or she will not have a clue about the analysis that is provided. It would have been much better had Subramaniam directly addressed knowledgeable rasikas and had dispensed with the explanations. His analysis is nice though I would loved it to be more deeper. I guess for a coffee table book this itself was too much !!
The production values of the book are excellent. This is the type of production values that you need to have. The cover is glossy and the cover photograph is superb. Throughout the book there are lovely black and white photographs, some priceless concert song lists and some nice cartoons of Semmangudi. Towards the end there is brief writeup with photographs of Semmangudi’s gurus and photographs of his famous disciples.
You also get a CD along with the book. The CD contains excerpts from various concerts of Semmangudi. Again I wish they had not stuck to his masterpieces, which are freely available, but had instead included some rare to find tracks. That would have given me the effect of ‘degree coffee’.
All said and done, this is a very nice and important addition to the literature on Carnatic Music, where books are few and far between. So take out your hard earned money (or ill gotten wealth :) and buy this book.
Will write about two more books about Semmangudi and one book about MS soon.
Attribution: The photograph of Semmangudi has been taken from 'The Hindu' website.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Kamban - A few random thoughts
On Friday, NRR called me to check if I would be interested in attending a Harikatha performance by T N Seshagoplan. I was and we both attended the performance, which was a good one. When I heard Seshagopalan sing, I thought I should write about him in my blog. As the katha progressed and he started quoting from Kamba Ramayanam, I decided that I will write what I know about Kamban. Which, you will discover, is not much. (Did that ever stop a blogger? All that you need to blog is an blog account, internet connection and time. I have all three in abundance this lazy Diwali afternoon.)
First thing that impressed me about Kamban's poetry, as I heard TNS recite it, was how wonderfully it captured the particular scene and made it jump right in front of your eyes. The poetry enabled you to visualize it as if you were watching it on a screen. This aspect of Kamban's poetry was first brought to light to me by my mother. She recited parts of Narasimavataram (yes, Narasimavataram in Ramayanam. I will come to that soon) and showed me how the whole drama unfolded as if it was a film screenplay. Which brings me to the fact that film makers love Kamban. I mean, the description that Kamban gives about Sita and Rama looking at each other, 'annalum nokkinar, avalun nokkinal' has been used multiple multiple times in movies. Kamban says that when lovers meet after a long time, where is the need for words? Something our film makers have agreed upon. It is well known that Kannadasan modeled his famous song, 'Paal Vannam Paruvam Kandu' on Kamban's poem, "Kai Vannam Angu Kanden, Kaal Vannam Ingu Kanden". Kamban wonderfully plays with the word 'vannam' to provide different meanings to it within four lines. Kannadasan used the same technique to good effect in songs like the one mentioned above and in "Parthen Sirithen". I have also read the writer Sujatha mention in one of his columns that the dialogs spoken between Ravana and his son Indrajeet in the Hindi serial 'Ramayana' were from Kamba Ramayanam.
Now for the Narasimavtaram in Ramayanam. Looks like Kamban was very much taken by this avataram of Vishnu and wanted to include this episode into his Ramayana in the Yuddha Kandam. (I am not sure, but I think that this comes in the part where Vibishana tells Ravana as to who Rama actually is. ) The scholars of those times were not impressed and didn't think that this episode should be included in Ramayana. As was the case in those days, Kamban had to pass a test. The poetry would be read aloud in the temple premises and the Lord should provide some proof that he liked what he heard. When the poetry is read out, the Narasimha sculpted in stone on one of the pillars comes to life and shakes his head, exclaiming, "Sabash Sabash". ( Digression : Now, such stories are generally dismissed as the imagination of some guy who had time in his hands. Rao & Shulman in their book "a poem at the right moment" tell how such stories are nothing but an Indian way of providing criticism and evaluating literary works. What the story implies is the power of Kamban's retelling of the Narasimha legend. I was very fascinated by the poems my mother recited and headed for the dungeon in Osmania University library which had books in various languages. I still vividly remember thumbing through the pages till I got to the point where Hiranyakasipu breaks the pillar and Narasimha emerges from the pillar. Kamban shows that he is a master of drama as he effortlessly creates the required tension and resolution.
What fascinates you about Kamban's poetry is the extraordinary music in his poetry. The musicality attracts you like a magnet. It is very difficult to find another poet in whole of Tamil literature whose use of language is so fascinating. It is said that it was Kamban's extraordinarily beautiful poetry of was responsible for elevating Rama to Lordhood. (Is there such a word?) Valmiki is supposed to have portrayed Rama as an ordinary person but Kamban makes it clear right from the outset that we are dealing with Lord GOD himself. This is how people now think of Rama. (I remember hearing one Harikatha, wherein the person said that in Valmiki Ramayana, there were passages where Rama tells Lakshmana during vanavasam, "See what our father has done to us. He will be sleeping peacefully in a nice warm bed whereas we are lying down on the mud floor here". Or something to that effect. When I told this to a friend on mine, he remarked, "How can Rama say such things? It is just not possible" !! People are more ready to believe in their own image of Rama than what Valmiki says !!)
Kamban also stands as a testimony to the fact that great literature will survive all fashions. Kamban survived the change in political fashion. When DMK was on rise and spoke about the Tamil language, Kamban was one of the important enemies. He stood for everything that the Dravidian party hated. He has taken the literature of North India. (North Indians were enemies at that time. Now the Tamil leaders embrace the North Indian leaders regularly and also fight as to who should be given that honor !!). Second, the original tale was told in Sanskrit, which represented the Brahmin hegemony and hence should be hated. Third, it was about GOD. (Fourth, it was good literature !!!:) When the DMK leaders pointed out to ancient books which the followers should read, Kamba Ramayanam would never figure in the list. Thiru Kural and Silappadikaram became THE books of ancient times. I have seen a book by the former Chief Minister, Annadurai, where he has taken some 'erotic' passages from Kamba Ramayanam to prove that Kamban was only interested in you know what.
Jeyamohan, the Tamil writer, stated in one of his essays that while you would have expected the Vaishnavite Tamil Brahmins to come to Kamban's defense in the face of DMK onslaught, the defense came from every quarter. mainly from non-brahmins and non-Hindus. People like Rasikamani TKC, Mu.Mu.Ismail and Prof.Jesudasan are closely associated with Kamban. You can say that Kamban and those who loved his poetry, withstood the onslaught quite well. I saw a TV program of Yugi Sethu, wherein he interviewed the poet Na.Kamarasan. The poet is known for his strong opinions of Bharathi and Bharathidasan, which runs counter to popular opinion. In this program he said, "The slogans raised by Bharathi and Bharathidasan", when referring to their poetry. ('Bharathiyum Bharathidasanum Eyuppiya Goshangal"). He was summarily dismissive of Kannadasan, "He was a mediocre film lyricist". Even this man, who damned almost everyone, couldn't do the same to Kamban. He said, "I may have differences with him, but I accept Kamban as a poet". (The way he spoke gave almost gave an impression that Kamban was his next door neighbor. I love it when poets and writers speak this way.) Even Vairamuthu, a staunch follower of the Dravida movement, in an interview with Gowri Ramnarayan, in Hindu, said, "Yes. Kamban was a great poet."
Surviving political changes is probably more easy that surviving literary fashions. Kamban seem to have done that quite well. The aesthetics of poetry had started changing and what was once considered great poetry was frowned upon and thought of as inferior poetry. Heavy ornamentation was a strict no-no and music in poetry was not considered an asset. Poetry should be simple, ironical, talk in normal language, should be multi layered, should give rise to multiple interpretations etc etc. Kamban's poetry can be considered as an anti-thesis to this thought. So how come Kamban, whose poetry was sublimely musical, heavily ornamental survive?
There is an excellent interview with Prof. Jesudasan, conducted by Jeyamohan and others, ("Ilakkiya Urayadalgal", Ed: Jeyamohan and Sutradhari, Any Indian Publication.), wherein the professor gives his view on why he considers Kamban a great poet and why he maintains his relevance. If you get the book, read it. I can only capture a bit of it here. Prof. Jesudasan, a literary scholar, in his old age only read Bible and Kamba Ramayanam. He says that one of the central fact about Kamban's Ramayanam is that it speaks about 'dharmam' or 'aram'. (These two words, so central to Indian thought, are difficult to translate to English. 'Dharmam' may be translated as justice but it is beyond it. "Dharamam' and 'aram' are a way of life, moral values which are treasured.) Prof. Jesudasan goes on to say that Kamban is not someone who 'sang' about religion or bhakti. Instead is he the one who speaks about 'dharmam'. He speaks about 'dharmam' as if it has a life of its own. Even some of Rama's actions like Vaali Vadam and Sita's agni pravesham are governed by this 'aram'. He goes on to explain in detail about Kamban's ability for dramatization, the wonderful flow in his poetry ('thangu tadayillai') and mainly about Kamban's great view about mankind's strength and weaknesses. He says that he considers Kamban a greater poet than Shakespear.
It is indeed true that Kamban went beyond religion. There is lot of religious poetry which doesn't have too much poetry and is loved for either the music or just that it was sung by a great saint. (There are exceptions but not many of them.) Maybe it was his great grip over the language, the musicality of his verses or as Prof. Jesudasan says, his insisting on 'aram' that makes Kamban a 'great poet' and not just a 'religious poet'.
No wonder that Kamban is an inevitable poet for Tamils and remains as a benchmark against which other poets are measured (and routinely discarded) (I have pinched the last phrase from one of Rajan Parikkar's writings on Hindustani Music. It fits very apt here.)
I need to write about T N Seshagopalan soon. I still have the blog account and internet connection. Need to find a lazy afternoon.
Hope all of you had a lovely Diwali and those reading it on Diwali day, Wish you a very Happy Diwali.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
"Yugandhar" - Music which passed me by
It happened accidentally. I came to know of a 2003 Telugu movie called "Shambu" which had music by Illayaraja . I wanted to hear the songs of this movie and so on the Tamil Film Page (yes Tamil Film Page for a Telugu Album) www.tfmpage.com I asked a member called 'Rajasaranam' for the songs of this movie. Now, 'Rajasaranam' is a collector with a difference. He loves sharing his music and he immediately uploaded these songs. When I went to this site I also saw that he had uploaded the songs of an old Telugu film 'Yugandhar' in another folder. I downloaded it as well and when I heard it I was stunned. A bit of background will help in understanding why I was stunned.
'Yugandhar' is a 1979 movie starring N T RamaRao, Jayasudha, Jayamalini and others. It was a remake of the wildly popular Hindi movie 'Don'. This was one of the movie which ensured Amitabh's super stardom. This was remade in both Tamil and Telugu. Tamil movie went by the name of 'Billa' and Telugu movie was 'Yugandhar'. (Interestingly, when "Don' was remade in Hindi with Shahrukh, it was re-remade in Tamil with Ajith and I think plans for a Telugu re-remake are underfoot)
This movie happened in a era when TV has just come into the drawing rooms of selected people and was not as broad based as today. (The whole colony would congregate in a house with TV on a weekend to watch movies.) Going to movie was not an easy affair and was encouraged only during vacations. So when "Don' was released, I was one of the few who didn't see it. (In order to rectify the situation one of my friends narrated the whole movie to me.) 'Don' had become a craze, Amitabh the ultimate hero and the songs were blaring everywhere. Every temple in Hyderabad during 'Mahakali Jatra' time would have played the songs of 'Don'. You heard 'Main Hoon Don', 'Ae Mera Dil', 'Kaike Pan Banaras Wala' all the time and every song was 'by hearted' by everybody.
It was against this backdrop, of a film which had grabbed everyone's attention and songs which mesmerized everyone, that someone decided to remake this in Telugu and they named the movie 'Yugandhar'. N T R was to play the lead. To many of us, this was classic comedy. The contrast could not have been greater. A tall, thin Amitabh against a paunchy Rama Rao. A serious, angy young man against an old hero whose seriousness only induced laughter. You need to see NTR with his bell bottoms and mannerism to understand our skepticism at that time. The music was by, the then upcoming music director, Illayaraja. (Let me digress here a bit and say that NTR in his younger days of 'Kanya Sulkam' and 'Missiamma' (and some of Lord Krihsna roles) was an actor with an amazing sense of comic timing, the likes of which Amitabh could never do, though Amitabh fans may disagree. Unfortunately, in films of late 70s and 80s, NTR's acting was unintentionally humorous)
There was no way that anyone of us would match the movie when 'Yugandhar' came out. The verdict of all of us was clear. This was no patch to the original. (I don't know if 'Yugandhar' went on to be a hit, but amongst our circle, we were sure that it was a waste of time watching it.) The songs were also summarily dismissed by us. In those days, when movies were remade, the music directors were asked to copy most of the songs. In case of 'Yugandhar', Illayaraja was made to copy one of the songs. 'Kaike Pan Banaras wala'. We were surprised that it was the only one song that was copied and though we heard all numbers a decent number of times, we thought that the songs didn't hold a candle to the songs in 'Don'. It would take me almost three decades to realize my mistake.
I will talk about three songs in this movie which impressed me a lot on hearing them now. Let me start with the Janaki, SPB number, 'Daste Dagedha'. The proceedings start with a melancholic violin, a bass guitar in tow. Once Janaki starts, the instrumentation is sparse with only the tabla and bass guitar accompanying the song. The first interlude starts with the synthesizer and the synth plays like a violin. Again, all instruments except tabla and the ever present bass guitar stop playing when Janaki starts singing. The second interlude has some lovely solo violin passages before Balu enters with his best 'NT' voice. (NT is short form for NTR, which is a short form for N T Rama Rao, which in turn is a short form of Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao !!). A very nice song with minimal orchestration.
Next in my list comes the title song, 'Yugandhar'. (This was the equivalent of 'Main Hoon Don') This song's pallavi ends with 'Naa Peare Yugandhar' and the last time the refrain in sung, it ends with a threat to all his enemies, "My name is Yugandhar, REMEMBER". All of us used to go, "My name is Yugandhar, remember, November, December". (Sing it and try, it rhymes very well.) I heard this song in amazement now. Unlike most Illayaraja songs, the singing starts without any prelude. Balu proclaims the fact that he is 'Yugandhar' and in case the audience didn't understand Telugu, in the end proclaims in English, 'My name is Yugandhar'. The first interlude has guitar, synths and a sax each asking questions and replying to each other. The feel is one of jazz and the rhythm is a bit complex. After a nice bout of charnam the second interlude starts, with a breathless guitar which gives way to a wind instrument and later a small chorus. Wonderfully orchestrated song with good singing by SPB.
The song that totally blew me off 'Na Paruvam'. Infact I am so fascinated by this song that I thought I should see the song picturisation. Only when I remembered that this was filmed probably on Jayamalini, shaking her thunder thighs did I drop this suicidal plan (One more point of contrast. A svelte, suave and sexy Helen trying to lure a slim, serious Amitabh against a well endowed, thunder thighs Jayamalini enticing an old paunchy NTR !!) When this particular song was played we used to make fun of it singing, 'Naa paruvam dink chik dink chik'. As I said earlier the verdict was clear. This song was miles away from 'Ae mera dil', which was the superior song. What a mistake !!!
The whole song, 'Na Paruvam' has the stamp of a genius. There is a breathlessness associated with the whole song and an urgency. We can also see that the master was in fine fettle even in this very early score as he combines elements of jazz with the quintessential popular film song. The drum beats start the song, the synth joins in with an urgency and then comes the sax, which further accentuates the urgency. The whole thing has a jazz feel to it. The prelude ends with a few bars of the pallavi being played. Janaki joins in. When she finishes the pallavi, the instruments, guitar and synth, start again as if they waiting for her to depart. The wonderful speed with which the instruments are played get a further boost with the sax joining in. Throughout the charanam, the synth and guitar join in to heighten the tension, the bass guitar providing a solid backing. The second interlude has the same urgency as the first and this time a lovely guitar plays for a few seconds as if playing for a hard rock song. The sax again joins in to lead to the second charanam. Another thing about the song was the rhythm played during the beginning of each charanam. Deliciously complex. Don't get me wrong. 'Ae Mera Dil' is also a nice song. Very free flowing and jazzy in spirit. While keeping with the jazzy spirit of the original song, Raja changes the structure and enhances the orchestration, thereby giving us a great treat.
To me 'Na Paruvam' showcases the genius of Illayaraja in integrating different genres of music and presenting as a completely fused whole. Only someone who understands and who has internalized each form of music can do this. What an excellent concoction of music this song provides. I was listening to some of the recent stuff, including the recently released A R Rahman's "Main Yuvraaj" and Harris Jayaraj's "Vaaranam Ayiram". All I can say that even after three decades there is still currently no music director who has such a vision of music like Illayaraja nor can any modern music director come up with the sort of orchestration that Illayaraja had come up with and is capable of coming up with.
So I end this post with a thanks to 'Rajasaranam' for these lovely songs.
'Yugandhar' is a 1979 movie starring N T RamaRao, Jayasudha, Jayamalini and others. It was a remake of the wildly popular Hindi movie 'Don'. This was one of the movie which ensured Amitabh's super stardom. This was remade in both Tamil and Telugu. Tamil movie went by the name of 'Billa' and Telugu movie was 'Yugandhar'. (Interestingly, when "Don' was remade in Hindi with Shahrukh, it was re-remade in Tamil with Ajith and I think plans for a Telugu re-remake are underfoot)
This movie happened in a era when TV has just come into the drawing rooms of selected people and was not as broad based as today. (The whole colony would congregate in a house with TV on a weekend to watch movies.) Going to movie was not an easy affair and was encouraged only during vacations. So when "Don' was released, I was one of the few who didn't see it. (In order to rectify the situation one of my friends narrated the whole movie to me.) 'Don' had become a craze, Amitabh the ultimate hero and the songs were blaring everywhere. Every temple in Hyderabad during 'Mahakali Jatra' time would have played the songs of 'Don'. You heard 'Main Hoon Don', 'Ae Mera Dil', 'Kaike Pan Banaras Wala' all the time and every song was 'by hearted' by everybody.
It was against this backdrop, of a film which had grabbed everyone's attention and songs which mesmerized everyone, that someone decided to remake this in Telugu and they named the movie 'Yugandhar'. N T R was to play the lead. To many of us, this was classic comedy. The contrast could not have been greater. A tall, thin Amitabh against a paunchy Rama Rao. A serious, angy young man against an old hero whose seriousness only induced laughter. You need to see NTR with his bell bottoms and mannerism to understand our skepticism at that time. The music was by, the then upcoming music director, Illayaraja. (Let me digress here a bit and say that NTR in his younger days of 'Kanya Sulkam' and 'Missiamma' (and some of Lord Krihsna roles) was an actor with an amazing sense of comic timing, the likes of which Amitabh could never do, though Amitabh fans may disagree. Unfortunately, in films of late 70s and 80s, NTR's acting was unintentionally humorous)
There was no way that anyone of us would match the movie when 'Yugandhar' came out. The verdict of all of us was clear. This was no patch to the original. (I don't know if 'Yugandhar' went on to be a hit, but amongst our circle, we were sure that it was a waste of time watching it.) The songs were also summarily dismissed by us. In those days, when movies were remade, the music directors were asked to copy most of the songs. In case of 'Yugandhar', Illayaraja was made to copy one of the songs. 'Kaike Pan Banaras wala'. We were surprised that it was the only one song that was copied and though we heard all numbers a decent number of times, we thought that the songs didn't hold a candle to the songs in 'Don'. It would take me almost three decades to realize my mistake.
I will talk about three songs in this movie which impressed me a lot on hearing them now. Let me start with the Janaki, SPB number, 'Daste Dagedha'. The proceedings start with a melancholic violin, a bass guitar in tow. Once Janaki starts, the instrumentation is sparse with only the tabla and bass guitar accompanying the song. The first interlude starts with the synthesizer and the synth plays like a violin. Again, all instruments except tabla and the ever present bass guitar stop playing when Janaki starts singing. The second interlude has some lovely solo violin passages before Balu enters with his best 'NT' voice. (NT is short form for NTR, which is a short form for N T Rama Rao, which in turn is a short form of Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao !!). A very nice song with minimal orchestration.
Next in my list comes the title song, 'Yugandhar'. (This was the equivalent of 'Main Hoon Don') This song's pallavi ends with 'Naa Peare Yugandhar' and the last time the refrain in sung, it ends with a threat to all his enemies, "My name is Yugandhar, REMEMBER". All of us used to go, "My name is Yugandhar, remember, November, December". (Sing it and try, it rhymes very well.) I heard this song in amazement now. Unlike most Illayaraja songs, the singing starts without any prelude. Balu proclaims the fact that he is 'Yugandhar' and in case the audience didn't understand Telugu, in the end proclaims in English, 'My name is Yugandhar'. The first interlude has guitar, synths and a sax each asking questions and replying to each other. The feel is one of jazz and the rhythm is a bit complex. After a nice bout of charnam the second interlude starts, with a breathless guitar which gives way to a wind instrument and later a small chorus. Wonderfully orchestrated song with good singing by SPB.
The song that totally blew me off 'Na Paruvam'. Infact I am so fascinated by this song that I thought I should see the song picturisation. Only when I remembered that this was filmed probably on Jayamalini, shaking her thunder thighs did I drop this suicidal plan (One more point of contrast. A svelte, suave and sexy Helen trying to lure a slim, serious Amitabh against a well endowed, thunder thighs Jayamalini enticing an old paunchy NTR !!) When this particular song was played we used to make fun of it singing, 'Naa paruvam dink chik dink chik'. As I said earlier the verdict was clear. This song was miles away from 'Ae mera dil', which was the superior song. What a mistake !!!
The whole song, 'Na Paruvam' has the stamp of a genius. There is a breathlessness associated with the whole song and an urgency. We can also see that the master was in fine fettle even in this very early score as he combines elements of jazz with the quintessential popular film song. The drum beats start the song, the synth joins in with an urgency and then comes the sax, which further accentuates the urgency. The whole thing has a jazz feel to it. The prelude ends with a few bars of the pallavi being played. Janaki joins in. When she finishes the pallavi, the instruments, guitar and synth, start again as if they waiting for her to depart. The wonderful speed with which the instruments are played get a further boost with the sax joining in. Throughout the charanam, the synth and guitar join in to heighten the tension, the bass guitar providing a solid backing. The second interlude has the same urgency as the first and this time a lovely guitar plays for a few seconds as if playing for a hard rock song. The sax again joins in to lead to the second charanam. Another thing about the song was the rhythm played during the beginning of each charanam. Deliciously complex. Don't get me wrong. 'Ae Mera Dil' is also a nice song. Very free flowing and jazzy in spirit. While keeping with the jazzy spirit of the original song, Raja changes the structure and enhances the orchestration, thereby giving us a great treat.
To me 'Na Paruvam' showcases the genius of Illayaraja in integrating different genres of music and presenting as a completely fused whole. Only someone who understands and who has internalized each form of music can do this. What an excellent concoction of music this song provides. I was listening to some of the recent stuff, including the recently released A R Rahman's "Main Yuvraaj" and Harris Jayaraj's "Vaaranam Ayiram". All I can say that even after three decades there is still currently no music director who has such a vision of music like Illayaraja nor can any modern music director come up with the sort of orchestration that Illayaraja had come up with and is capable of coming up with.
So I end this post with a thanks to 'Rajasaranam' for these lovely songs.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Continuing Dikshitar and Semmangudi
My friend Shailesh pointed to this site which has lot of Dikshitar krithis and many of the krithis I had mentioned in my post. Check this out
http://sangeethamshare.org/sunil/guruguha/audio/krithis/
He also pointed out that Semmangudi had sung 'Brihadiswaraya' in Sankarabaranam. I have included that in the list.
Thanks to Shailesh for his inputs.
http://sangeethamshare.org
He also pointed out that Semmangudi had sung 'Brihadiswaraya' in Sankarabaranam. I have included that in the list.
Thanks to Shailesh for his inputs.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Semmangudi and Dikshitar Krithis
When Semmangudi passed away I had posted in Sangeetham detailing the rare krithis of Dikshitar sung by Semmangudi. Unfortunately Sangeetham bulletin board has closed down and I had this bad practice of not saving my own posts !! Here is an attempt to recreate that post.
Semmangudi is well known as a person who was responsible for popularizing Swathi Tirunal krithis and rightly so. What I wanted to highlight was the fact that he had also sung many rare Dikshitar krithis. I don't know from whom or where he learnt these from but it is our good fortune that he sang these krithis.
I can divide Dikshitar krithis into three. (In fact you can do that for most composers). The first are those krithis which are very popular and you get to hear them at many concerts. Examples are Vatapi Ganapathim, Hariharaputram, Siddi Vinayakam, Meenakshi Memudam Dehi, Akshaya Linga Vibo, Navagraha krithis etc. The second are those krithis sung by a particular school of singers and many serious concert goers would have heard it. Examples here would be Dakshinamurthe (Sankarabaranam), Sree Mathrubhootam (Kannada), Chintaya Makanda (Bhairavi) etc. The third are the very rare krithis, not often sung in concerts and even serious concert goers who have heard these very rarely. I will talk about the second and third type of krithis in this post.
(Before I continue let me point out that there were many vidwans who were responsible for propogating Dikshitar krithis. Check out the 'Resources' section in www.guruguha.org for more info. The audio section in this site may give you most of these songs. When I checked before posting this, the audio section was down at this site)
Here is my take on some of the rare krithis of Dikshitar sung by Semmanudi.
Vadanyeshwaram (Devagandhari) : Aaah. That is always my reaction whenever I hear this krithi. Very mellifluously rendered by Semmangudi with an outstanding Sivaraman on the mridangam. I have heard Semmangudi render this in only one concert, and boy, am I glad that he did render it !!! I love the way he starts the charnam and the way Sivaram joins in.
Balakrishnam Bhavayami (Gopika Vasantam): A charming krithi very well rendered by Semmangudi. Luckily this is available as a commercial release as well. Semmangudi brings into play his felicity of phrasing in rendering this song.
Mahalakshmi Karunarasa Lahari (Madhava Manohari): I heard this first from Pattammal and immediately taken in by the beauty of this krithi. Surprisingly, Pattammal sings this in oru kalai while Semmangudi sings it in rendu kalai. He has sung it in a concert in Bombay and after the conclusion of the krithi says, "Idu Mahalakshmi Kshteram", referring to the famous Mahalakshmi temple in Bombay.
Sree Ramam (Narayangowla): This was a krithi which was made popular by Semmangudi and he has taught vidwans like T M Krishna and Sanjay Subramaniam. He has rendered this is many concerts. I have heard a concert where he renders it immediately after a sound-and-fury 'Ennaganu Rama Bhajana'. The contrast is very striking and the peace Narayanagowla creates is indescribable.
Vishweshwaro (Kanada) : A small but delectable samasti charanam krithi. The Dikshitar books list the ragam for this song as Karnataka Kapi. Amazing how much Kanada can be packed into such a small krithi !!
Agasteeswaram (Lalitha): As with Vadanyeshwaram, only one recording of this krithi exists. Unlike the other krithi, this one is available commercially. It is a part of the three tape Krishna Gana Sabha recording with Lalgudi and Ramabadran. Semmangudi enhances the majesty of this Dikshitar krithi by his singing. See how wonderfully he phrases 'Nandeesham Sankaram'.
Hiranmayim Lakshmim (Lalitha): Not really a very rare krithi. D K Jayaraman made it popular and he used to sing it often. I didn't know the existence of a Semmangudi rendition of this song till I read a post by a veteran RMICan, Srini Pichumani, who referred to Semmangudi's rendition and said that though he was weaned on DKJ's version he found the Lalitha of Semmangudi fascinating. I searched for this piece and finally got it. It is a rendition wherein Semmangudi sings with MS. A top quality rendition. This is one more piece which showcases how the phrasings of Semmangudi work so well with the Dikshitar krithis. I feel that his style of singing suited the Dikshitar krithis very well, especially when he sang them slow.
Ramachandrena Samrakshitoham (Manji): I think he sung this in the 1972 Academy Concert with Karaikudi Mani on the mridangam. A nice krithi. MS has also sung this and it is available on in the 4 tape AIR release of MS.
Amba Nilayadakshi (Nilambari): He used to sing it in the late 50s. The pace was a bit fast though. A song which shows how a genius like Dikshitar can take a raga with limited scope and weave a majestic krithi around it. The same can be said of his krithi in Punnagavarali (Ehi Annapurne). Semmangudi has sung 'Ehi Annapurne' as well. There is a commercial release of the Nilambari krithi. He sings a lovely kalpanaswaram in that. Seshagoplan sings this often.
Bhaktavatsalam (Vamsavathi) : I have heard the recordings of this song by Semmangudi a long time back. Not an often heard song.
Mahaganapate (Todi): This is rare in the sense that this krithi is generally not associated with Semmangudi. I have heard him sing this krithi only once and it is a lovely rendition.
Kasivisalakshim (Gamakakriya / Poorvikalyani): V V Srivatsan, writing about this this krithi in Carnatic.com, said that he heard Semmangudi sing this krithi in Bombay and it was so good that he felt like giving up his mortal coil !!
There are more krithis like Ardhanareeswaram (Kumudakriya), Santhana Ramaswaminam (Hindola Vasantha) etc which I find difficult to classify as rare, for I keep hearing them once in a while.
Let me also add two krithis of Subbarama Dikshitar to this list. (Afterall I said Dikshitar, right :)
Parthasarathy (Yadhukulakambhoji): Probably the best Yadhukula Kambhoji I have heard from Semmangudi, if I discount the Syama Sastry swarajati. You _must_ listen to this krithi. It is interesting to note that both Subbaraya Sastry, son of Syama Sastry and Subbarama Dikshitar, of Muthuswami Dikshitar lineage, sang a krithi each on the presiding deity of Tiruvallikeni, Parthasarathy and both of them chose Yadhukula Kambhoji as the ragam !! (Subbaraya Sastry's krithi being 'Ninusevinchina')
Sankaracaryam (Shankarabharanam): This is one krithi which I absolutely refuse to load onto my mp3 player. For whenever I do, I cannot proceed beyond this !!! It takes a great man to compose a krithi like this and an equally great man to render it so outstandingly. Semmangudi's Shankarabharanams have always been attractive and this occupies an exalted place among them.
(Speaking of Shankarabaranam, if you get hold of it, listen to Semmangudi sing 'Dakshinamurthe', with only K S Narayanaswamy on veena as accompaniment. Words fail when you try to describe this. Semmangudi is supposed to have popularized this krithi. I think he learnt it from Brinda. S R Janakiranam in one Lec-Dem tells the audience, "All students of music must think about the great Semmangudi for a minute before starting this song, for he was the one who popularized it.")
Semmangudi belonged to the Tyagaraja school (having learnt under Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer and Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer). He then went on to tune many Swathi Tirunal krithis. Still he managed to learn and render many Dikshitar krithis. All this is a reflection of the hard work put in by him. As with the masters, it is we who benefit from their hard work. So all that we can do is to salute them and think of their effort every time we hear these songs.
Here is a list of the Dikshitar krithis that I know Semmangudi rendered. (There may be others I don't know). I have also given an idea of which concerts / tapes you can look for to get these krithis. (You may get most of them from the audio section of www.guruguha.org. Also check out sangeethapriya.org)
1. Agasteeswaram (Lalitha) - Krishna Gana Sabha concert (Commercially Available)
2. Akilandeswari (Dvijawanthi) - Sung in many concerts
3. Amba Nilayadakshi (Nilambari) - Music Academy concert (Commercially Available AVM)
4. Anandamamritakarshini (Amritavarshini) - AIR concert(?)
5. Angarakam (Surati) - Sung in many concerts
6. Ardhanareeswaram (Kumudakriya) - Sung more than one time. I think it was part of a RR Sabha concert
6. Balakrishnam Bhavayami (Gopika Vasantham) - Commercially Available (AVM)
7. Bakthavatsalam (Vamsavthi) - No info
8. Bhudamasrayami (Natakurunji) - Sung in many concerts
9. Cheta Sri Balakrishinam (Dwijavanthi) - Sung in many concerts
10. Dakshinamurthe (Shankarabaranam) - Commercially available (AVM)
11. Divakaratanujam (Yadhukula Kambhoji) - Sung in many concerts
12. Gajananayutam (Vegavahini) - Starting piece in many concerts
13. Govardana Gireesam (Hindolam) - Commercially available
14. Hariharaputram (Vasantha) - Sung in many concerts
15. Hiranmayim Lakshmim (Lalitha) - House concert (along with MS)
16. Kamalambam Samrakshatu (Ananda Bhairavi) - A house concert with MS (?)
17. Kamalambike (Todi) - I have heard only one recording and it was a bad recording !!!
18. Kasivisalakshim (Gamakakriya/Poorikalyani) - I have seen this in Sangeethapriya
19. Mahaganapate (Natanarayani) - AIR concert
20. Mahaganapate Manasa Smarami (Nata) - Commercially available Music Academy concert
21. Mahaganapatim (Todi) - I know of only one recording
22. Mamava Meenakshi (Varali) - Commercially available MA cocnert
23. Mahalakshmi (Madhava Manohari) - Bombay concert
24. Maye Tvam (Sudhatarangini) - Divine Unison tape
25. Meenakshi Memudam (Gamakakriya / Poori Kalyani) - I have heard one recording of this
26. Narasimha Agacha (Mohanam) - Commercially available (with Mani Iyer and L Subs)
27. Ramachandrena (Manji) - 1972 Academy concert
28. Ranganayakam (Nayaki) - Many concerts
29. Santhana Ramaswaminam (Hindola Vasantha) - No info
30. Seshachalanayakam (Varali) - No info
31. Shri Balasubramanya(Bilahari) - A concert with Mani Iyer and Paapa
32. Sree Kalahastisha (Huseni) - Commercially available
33. Sree Kantimatim (Hemavati) - Sung in many concerts
34. Shri Krishnam (Todi) - Sung in many concerts
35. Shri Lakshmi Varham (Abhogi) - Divine Unison tape
36. Shri Matrubutham (Kannada) - Sung in many concerts
37. Shri Parthsarathina (Suddha Dhanyasi) - Sung in many concerts
38. Sri Ramam (Narayanagowla) - Sung in many concerts
39. Sri Satyanarayanam (Subhapanthuvarali) - Commercially available (HMV AIR release)
40. Sri Subramanyaya namaste (Kambhoji) - In more than once concert
41. Sri Venkatagireesam (Surati) - Commercially available
42. Siddivinayakam (Chamaram / Shanmukapriya) - Many concerts. 1972 MA concert
43. Subramanyena (Suddha Dhanyasi) - Many concerts
44. Suryamurte (Sourashtram) - In more than one concert
45. Tyagaraja Palayasu mam (Gowla) - Commercially available MA concert
46. Tyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam (Anadha Bhairavi) - In many concerts
47. Vadanyeshwaram (Devagandhari) - One recording exists. Should be available in Sangeethapriya
48. Vallabha Nayakasya (Begada) - Multiple commercial recordings available
49. Vatapi Ganapatim (Hamsadhwani) - Commercial recording available
50. Visweswaro (Karnataka Kapi) - AIR recoding
51. Ehi Annapoorne (Punnagavarali) - I have heard a very bad recording. Probably was a wedding concert
52. Brihadiswaraya (Shankarabaranam) - Available at sangeethamshare.org It is always a pleasure to hear Semmangudi sing Shankarabaranam
Semmangudi is well known as a person who was responsible for popularizing Swathi Tirunal krithis and rightly so. What I wanted to highlight was the fact that he had also sung many rare Dikshitar krithis. I don't know from whom or where he learnt these from but it is our good fortune that he sang these krithis.
I can divide Dikshitar krithis into three. (In fact you can do that for most composers). The first are those krithis which are very popular and you get to hear them at many concerts. Examples are Vatapi Ganapathim, Hariharaputram, Siddi Vinayakam, Meenakshi Memudam Dehi, Akshaya Linga Vibo, Navagraha krithis etc. The second are those krithis sung by a particular school of singers and many serious concert goers would have heard it. Examples here would be Dakshinamurthe (Sankarabaranam), Sree Mathrubhootam (Kannada), Chintaya Makanda (Bhairavi) etc. The third are the very rare krithis, not often sung in concerts and even serious concert goers who have heard these very rarely. I will talk about the second and third type of krithis in this post.
(Before I continue let me point out that there were many vidwans who were responsible for propogating Dikshitar krithis. Check out the 'Resources' section in www.guruguha.org for more info. The audio section in this site may give you most of these songs. When I checked before posting this, the audio section was down at this site)
Here is my take on some of the rare krithis of Dikshitar sung by Semmanudi.
Vadanyeshwaram (Devagandhari) : Aaah. That is always my reaction whenever I hear this krithi. Very mellifluously rendered by Semmangudi with an outstanding Sivaraman on the mridangam. I have heard Semmangudi render this in only one concert, and boy, am I glad that he did render it !!! I love the way he starts the charnam and the way Sivaram joins in.
Balakrishnam Bhavayami (Gopika Vasantam): A charming krithi very well rendered by Semmangudi. Luckily this is available as a commercial release as well. Semmangudi brings into play his felicity of phrasing in rendering this song.
Mahalakshmi Karunarasa Lahari (Madhava Manohari): I heard this first from Pattammal and immediately taken in by the beauty of this krithi. Surprisingly, Pattammal sings this in oru kalai while Semmangudi sings it in rendu kalai. He has sung it in a concert in Bombay and after the conclusion of the krithi says, "Idu Mahalakshmi Kshteram", referring to the famous Mahalakshmi temple in Bombay.
Sree Ramam (Narayangowla): This was a krithi which was made popular by Semmangudi and he has taught vidwans like T M Krishna and Sanjay Subramaniam. He has rendered this is many concerts. I have heard a concert where he renders it immediately after a sound-and-fury 'Ennaganu Rama Bhajana'. The contrast is very striking and the peace Narayanagowla creates is indescribable.
Vishweshwaro (Kanada) : A small but delectable samasti charanam krithi. The Dikshitar books list the ragam for this song as Karnataka Kapi. Amazing how much Kanada can be packed into such a small krithi !!
Agasteeswaram (Lalitha): As with Vadanyeshwaram, only one recording of this krithi exists. Unlike the other krithi, this one is available commercially. It is a part of the three tape Krishna Gana Sabha recording with Lalgudi and Ramabadran. Semmangudi enhances the majesty of this Dikshitar krithi by his singing. See how wonderfully he phrases 'Nandeesham Sankaram'.
Hiranmayim Lakshmim (Lalitha): Not really a very rare krithi. D K Jayaraman made it popular and he used to sing it often. I didn't know the existence of a Semmangudi rendition of this song till I read a post by a veteran RMICan, Srini Pichumani, who referred to Semmangudi's rendition and said that though he was weaned on DKJ's version he found the Lalitha of Semmangudi fascinating. I searched for this piece and finally got it. It is a rendition wherein Semmangudi sings with MS. A top quality rendition. This is one more piece which showcases how the phrasings of Semmangudi work so well with the Dikshitar krithis. I feel that his style of singing suited the Dikshitar krithis very well, especially when he sang them slow.
Ramachandrena Samrakshitoham (Manji): I think he sung this in the 1972 Academy Concert with Karaikudi Mani on the mridangam. A nice krithi. MS has also sung this and it is available on in the 4 tape AIR release of MS.
Amba Nilayadakshi (Nilambari): He used to sing it in the late 50s. The pace was a bit fast though. A song which shows how a genius like Dikshitar can take a raga with limited scope and weave a majestic krithi around it. The same can be said of his krithi in Punnagavarali (Ehi Annapurne). Semmangudi has sung 'Ehi Annapurne' as well. There is a commercial release of the Nilambari krithi. He sings a lovely kalpanaswaram in that. Seshagoplan sings this often.
Bhaktavatsalam (Vamsavathi) : I have heard the recordings of this song by Semmangudi a long time back. Not an often heard song.
Mahaganapate (Todi): This is rare in the sense that this krithi is generally not associated with Semmangudi. I have heard him sing this krithi only once and it is a lovely rendition.
Kasivisalakshim (Gamakakriya / Poorvikalyani): V V Srivatsan, writing about this this krithi in Carnatic.com, said that he heard Semmangudi sing this krithi in Bombay and it was so good that he felt like giving up his mortal coil !!
There are more krithis like Ardhanareeswaram (Kumudakriya), Santhana Ramaswaminam (Hindola Vasantha) etc which I find difficult to classify as rare, for I keep hearing them once in a while.
Let me also add two krithis of Subbarama Dikshitar to this list. (Afterall I said Dikshitar, right :)
Parthasarathy (Yadhukulakambhoji): Probably the best Yadhukula Kambhoji I have heard from Semmangudi, if I discount the Syama Sastry swarajati. You _must_ listen to this krithi. It is interesting to note that both Subbaraya Sastry, son of Syama Sastry and Subbarama Dikshitar, of Muthuswami Dikshitar lineage, sang a krithi each on the presiding deity of Tiruvallikeni, Parthasarathy and both of them chose Yadhukula Kambhoji as the ragam !! (Subbaraya Sastry's krithi being 'Ninusevinchina')
Sankaracaryam (Shankarabharanam): This is one krithi which I absolutely refuse to load onto my mp3 player. For whenever I do, I cannot proceed beyond this !!! It takes a great man to compose a krithi like this and an equally great man to render it so outstandingly. Semmangudi's Shankarabharanams have always been attractive and this occupies an exalted place among them.
(Speaking of Shankarabaranam, if you get hold of it, listen to Semmangudi sing 'Dakshinamurthe', with only K S Narayanaswamy on veena as accompaniment. Words fail when you try to describe this. Semmangudi is supposed to have popularized this krithi. I think he learnt it from Brinda. S R Janakiranam in one Lec-Dem tells the audience, "All students of music must think about the great Semmangudi for a minute before starting this song, for he was the one who popularized it.")
Semmangudi belonged to the Tyagaraja school (having learnt under Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer and Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer). He then went on to tune many Swathi Tirunal krithis. Still he managed to learn and render many Dikshitar krithis. All this is a reflection of the hard work put in by him. As with the masters, it is we who benefit from their hard work. So all that we can do is to salute them and think of their effort every time we hear these songs.
Here is a list of the Dikshitar krithis that I know Semmangudi rendered. (There may be others I don't know). I have also given an idea of which concerts / tapes you can look for to get these krithis. (You may get most of them from the audio section of www.guruguha.org. Also check out sangeethapriya.org)
1. Agasteeswaram (Lalitha) - Krishna Gana Sabha concert (Commercially Available)
2. Akilandeswari (Dvijawanthi) - Sung in many concerts
3. Amba Nilayadakshi (Nilambari) - Music Academy concert (Commercially Available AVM)
4. Anandamamritakarshini (Amritavarshini) - AIR concert(?)
5. Angarakam (Surati) - Sung in many concerts
6. Ardhanareeswaram (Kumudakriya) - Sung more than one time. I think it was part of a RR Sabha concert
6. Balakrishnam Bhavayami (Gopika Vasantham) - Commercially Available (AVM)
7. Bakthavatsalam (Vamsavthi) - No info
8. Bhudamasrayami (Natakurunji) - Sung in many concerts
9. Cheta Sri Balakrishinam (Dwijavanthi) - Sung in many concerts
10. Dakshinamurthe (Shankarabaranam) - Commercially available (AVM)
11. Divakaratanujam (Yadhukula Kambhoji) - Sung in many concerts
12. Gajananayutam (Vegavahini) - Starting piece in many concerts
13. Govardana Gireesam (Hindolam) - Commercially available
14. Hariharaputram (Vasantha) - Sung in many concerts
15. Hiranmayim Lakshmim (Lalitha) - House concert (along with MS)
16. Kamalambam Samrakshatu (Ananda Bhairavi) - A house concert with MS (?)
17. Kamalambike (Todi) - I have heard only one recording and it was a bad recording !!!
18. Kasivisalakshim (Gamakakriya/Poorikalyani) - I have seen this in Sangeethapriya
19. Mahaganapate (Natanarayani) - AIR concert
20. Mahaganapate Manasa Smarami (Nata) - Commercially available Music Academy concert
21. Mahaganapatim (Todi) - I know of only one recording
22. Mamava Meenakshi (Varali) - Commercially available MA cocnert
23. Mahalakshmi (Madhava Manohari) - Bombay concert
24. Maye Tvam (Sudhatarangini) - Divine Unison tape
25. Meenakshi Memudam (Gamakakriya / Poori Kalyani) - I have heard one recording of this
26. Narasimha Agacha (Mohanam) - Commercially available (with Mani Iyer and L Subs)
27. Ramachandrena (Manji) - 1972 Academy concert
28. Ranganayakam (Nayaki) - Many concerts
29. Santhana Ramaswaminam (Hindola Vasantha) - No info
30. Seshachalanayakam (Varali) - No info
31. Shri Balasubramanya(Bilahari) - A concert with Mani Iyer and Paapa
32. Sree Kalahastisha (Huseni) - Commercially available
33. Sree Kantimatim (Hemavati) - Sung in many concerts
34. Shri Krishnam (Todi) - Sung in many concerts
35. Shri Lakshmi Varham (Abhogi) - Divine Unison tape
36. Shri Matrubutham (Kannada) - Sung in many concerts
37. Shri Parthsarathina (Suddha Dhanyasi) - Sung in many concerts
38. Sri Ramam (Narayanagowla) - Sung in many concerts
39. Sri Satyanarayanam (Subhapanthuvarali) - Commercially available (HMV AIR release)
40. Sri Subramanyaya namaste (Kambhoji) - In more than once concert
41. Sri Venkatagireesam (Surati) - Commercially available
42. Siddivinayakam (Chamaram / Shanmukapriya) - Many concerts. 1972 MA concert
43. Subramanyena (Suddha Dhanyasi) - Many concerts
44. Suryamurte (Sourashtram) - In more than one concert
45. Tyagaraja Palayasu mam (Gowla) - Commercially available MA concert
46. Tyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam (Anadha Bhairavi) - In many concerts
47. Vadanyeshwaram (Devagandhari) - One recording exists. Should be available in Sangeethapriya
48. Vallabha Nayakasya (Begada) - Multiple commercial recordings available
49. Vatapi Ganapatim (Hamsadhwani) - Commercial recording available
50. Visweswaro (Karnataka Kapi) - AIR recoding
51. Ehi Annapoorne (Punnagavarali) - I have heard a very bad recording. Probably was a wedding concert
52. Brihadiswaraya (Shankarabaranam) - Available at sangeethamshare.org It is always a pleasure to hear Semmangudi sing Shankarabaranam
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