Versatility of Tyagaraja - Part 1
Let me start my music blog by writing about one of the greatest composers of all time, Tyagaraja.
Tyagaraja holds the pride of place in Carnatic Music. In this post I will try to illustrate the reasons why he is held in such high esteem. V.Raghavan, T S Parthasarathy and lot more people have written about the greatness of Tyagaraja. Many of these are scholarly works. What I am about to write is my own experience with the krithis of Tyagaraja.
The first reason I feel Tyagaraja is so popular is due to the variety of song structures that he has given. I will try and give examples of those.
1. Divya Nama Sankirthanam - This is probably the most simple song structure. Here the pallavi is set to a tune. Usually this is of one or two lines. After that you get multiple charanams, all with the same tune but with different words. This would be very much suited for bhajan type of singing. The tune is also is quite simple and charming. An example of this would be a Divyanama Sankirthanam like 'tava dAsoham' in Punnagavarali and 'karunajaladhe dasarathe' in Nadanamakriya.
2. Some krithis from the 'Geya Natakas' - There are some krithis from Prahalada Bhaktha Vijayam and Nauka Charitram which follow the very similar pallavi-charanam structure of Divya Nama sankirthanams but the tune is a bit more complex than the Divya Nama sankirthanams. Examples of these are songs like 'Eti Janmam edi' and 'Vandanamu Raghunandana'. While the Divya Nama Sankirthanams can be sung as bhajans, the krithis mentioned above are not very amenable to bhajan singing.
3. One line or two line krithis !! - Actually these are not one line krithis. Here the pallavi has one of two lines, anu pallavi has one or two lines and there are multiple charanams with one or two lines each. The difference from Divya Nama sankirthanam songs is that each line he is set to a different tune whereas the tune is same for every charanam in the Divya Nama Sankirthanam. An famous example of this is the Harikambhoji krithi 'Enduku Nirdaya'. Here 'Enduku Niradaya' has a different tune compared to the charanam line 'Satrula Mitrula', which in turn has a tune which is different from the charanam line 'udata bhakthi'.
4. The famous Krithi structure - Tyagaraja made this form, which I shall describe, very famous. Here we have a one or a two line pallavi, followed by a two line anupallavi and a four line charanam. Here the last two lines of the charanam will have exactly the same tune as the two lines of the anupallavi. Infact in many music books, where notation for these sort krithis is given, for the last two lines of the charanam, they simply say, 'sing as the anupallavi'. Tons and tons of krithis of Tyagaraja have this structure. Let me take two of them and illustrate. If you take the song 'Samaja Varagamana', the last two lines of the charanam starting with 'yadava kula murali' is same as the anupallavi 'sama nigmaja sudha maya'. Similarly the last two lines of the charanam, 'jagamele paramatma' are the same as the anupallavi 'nagaraja dhara'.
5. Charanam with more then 4 lines - Tyagaraja in many krithis departs from the above mentioned structure. Here the number of lines in the charanam are more than four and the last two lines need not be the same as the anupallavi. Many of his Tiruvaiyaru and Tiruvottiyur kshetra krithis follow this structure. Some examples are 'Vidulaku Mrokeda' in Mayamalavagowla, the famous 'Sudari Ni Diya Roopamu' in Kalyani, the Suddha Saveri krithi 'Darini Telusukonti', the Kambhoji krithi 'O Ranga Sayee', the Mohan krithi 'Mohana Rama' etc
6. Charanam with Madhyamakalam - The ending of the charanam in such krithis is in madhyamakalam, i.e. in a speed which is more than the one in which the charanam is sung. Dikshitar employed this technique in most of his songs, which end in a madhyamakalam. You can understand what madhyamakalam is if you sing the lines 'karankusha pasa' in the Dikshitar krithi Vatapi (Hamsadhwani). Tyagaraja has given such endings in some of his krithis. A prime example would be the Bilahari krithi 'Dorakuna'. Every charanam ends with a madhyamakalam. I particularly like the madhyamakalam on the last charanam, 'ramuni jagadhodhruni suraripu bhimuni triguna deedhuni ...'
7. Charanam as Madhyamakalam - Here the whole charanam is sung in madhyamakalam, not just the last lines. A couple of songs in this format which I love are 'Eesa pahimam' in Kalyani. Lalgudi and his disciples sing it very well. The other song is 'Koluvaiyunnade' in Devagandhari. The madhyamakalam here is a wonderful description of the seva done to Rama. 'udu raja mukudu ..' is the charnam and the madhyamakalam
8. Pancharatna krithis - I am sure all of us are very conversant with this. He there is a pallavi, anupallavi and multiple charanams. The charanams keep increasing in length. For all the charanams the swara as well as the sahitya are sung.
The different types of song structures, each with a different complexity, gives the musician a lot of variety to choose from. He has the flexibility of choosing any of these based on where he/she is singing, who are the audience etc. Even within a concert it gives them the sort of choice that they would want to make the concert a non monotonous one.
These are some of the song structures that I could remember. I will write about the different subjects handled by Tyagaraja in my next post.
Tyagaraja holds the pride of place in Carnatic Music. In this post I will try to illustrate the reasons why he is held in such high esteem. V.Raghavan, T S Parthasarathy and lot more people have written about the greatness of Tyagaraja. Many of these are scholarly works. What I am about to write is my own experience with the krithis of Tyagaraja.
The first reason I feel Tyagaraja is so popular is due to the variety of song structures that he has given. I will try and give examples of those.
1. Divya Nama Sankirthanam - This is probably the most simple song structure. Here the pallavi is set to a tune. Usually this is of one or two lines. After that you get multiple charanams, all with the same tune but with different words. This would be very much suited for bhajan type of singing. The tune is also is quite simple and charming. An example of this would be a Divyanama Sankirthanam like 'tava dAsoham' in Punnagavarali and 'karunajaladhe dasarathe' in Nadanamakriya.
2. Some krithis from the 'Geya Natakas' - There are some krithis from Prahalada Bhaktha Vijayam and Nauka Charitram which follow the very similar pallavi-charanam structure of Divya Nama sankirthanams but the tune is a bit more complex than the Divya Nama sankirthanams. Examples of these are songs like 'Eti Janmam edi' and 'Vandanamu Raghunandana'. While the Divya Nama Sankirthanams can be sung as bhajans, the krithis mentioned above are not very amenable to bhajan singing.
3. One line or two line krithis !! - Actually these are not one line krithis. Here the pallavi has one of two lines, anu pallavi has one or two lines and there are multiple charanams with one or two lines each. The difference from Divya Nama sankirthanam songs is that each line he is set to a different tune whereas the tune is same for every charanam in the Divya Nama Sankirthanam. An famous example of this is the Harikambhoji krithi 'Enduku Nirdaya'. Here 'Enduku Niradaya' has a different tune compared to the charanam line 'Satrula Mitrula', which in turn has a tune which is different from the charanam line 'udata bhakthi'.
4. The famous Krithi structure - Tyagaraja made this form, which I shall describe, very famous. Here we have a one or a two line pallavi, followed by a two line anupallavi and a four line charanam. Here the last two lines of the charanam will have exactly the same tune as the two lines of the anupallavi. Infact in many music books, where notation for these sort krithis is given, for the last two lines of the charanam, they simply say, 'sing as the anupallavi'. Tons and tons of krithis of Tyagaraja have this structure. Let me take two of them and illustrate. If you take the song 'Samaja Varagamana', the last two lines of the charanam starting with 'yadava kula murali' is same as the anupallavi 'sama nigmaja sudha maya'. Similarly the last two lines of the charanam, 'jagamele paramatma' are the same as the anupallavi 'nagaraja dhara'.
5. Charanam with more then 4 lines - Tyagaraja in many krithis departs from the above mentioned structure. Here the number of lines in the charanam are more than four and the last two lines need not be the same as the anupallavi. Many of his Tiruvaiyaru and Tiruvottiyur kshetra krithis follow this structure. Some examples are 'Vidulaku Mrokeda' in Mayamalavagowla, the famous 'Sudari Ni Diya Roopamu' in Kalyani, the Suddha Saveri krithi 'Darini Telusukonti', the Kambhoji krithi 'O Ranga Sayee', the Mohan krithi 'Mohana Rama' etc
6. Charanam with Madhyamakalam - The ending of the charanam in such krithis is in madhyamakalam, i.e. in a speed which is more than the one in which the charanam is sung. Dikshitar employed this technique in most of his songs, which end in a madhyamakalam. You can understand what madhyamakalam is if you sing the lines 'karankusha pasa' in the Dikshitar krithi Vatapi (Hamsadhwani). Tyagaraja has given such endings in some of his krithis. A prime example would be the Bilahari krithi 'Dorakuna'. Every charanam ends with a madhyamakalam. I particularly like the madhyamakalam on the last charanam, 'ramuni jagadhodhruni suraripu bhimuni triguna deedhuni ...'
7. Charanam as Madhyamakalam - Here the whole charanam is sung in madhyamakalam, not just the last lines. A couple of songs in this format which I love are 'Eesa pahimam' in Kalyani. Lalgudi and his disciples sing it very well. The other song is 'Koluvaiyunnade' in Devagandhari. The madhyamakalam here is a wonderful description of the seva done to Rama. 'udu raja mukudu ..' is the charnam and the madhyamakalam
8. Pancharatna krithis - I am sure all of us are very conversant with this. He there is a pallavi, anupallavi and multiple charanams. The charanams keep increasing in length. For all the charanams the swara as well as the sahitya are sung.
The different types of song structures, each with a different complexity, gives the musician a lot of variety to choose from. He has the flexibility of choosing any of these based on where he/she is singing, who are the audience etc. Even within a concert it gives them the sort of choice that they would want to make the concert a non monotonous one.
These are some of the song structures that I could remember. I will write about the different subjects handled by Tyagaraja in my next post.
Comments
Mukund.
For eg., Lalgudi Pancharatna is composed in Todi, Madhymavati, Bhairavi, Kambhoji and Kalyani (all major ragas)
A performing musician once told me that Tyagaraja's greatness can be realized if we study his krithis in Kambhoji. No two krithis in Kambhoji are alike