M.S.Subbulakshmi : Three (not often heard) Classics

Yesterday was M S Amma's 98th Birth Anniversary. I had tweeted three krithis, one each of the trinity, yesterday in her remembrance. I thought I will now write a few words on each of these krithis and out it up on my blog.

As with any other singer, MS is also identified by a set of songs: Sriman Narayana, Sarojadalanetri, Akilandeswari, Kamakoti Peetasthithe, Maitrim Bhajatha (and many more) and rightly so for she owned these songs. (OK 'kuraionrum illa' also. So don't kill me now). Yet there were masterpieces which she sang as well as any other master. Unfortunately these have not been heard often enough. I want to bring to your notice three such masterpieces. Hopefully these will find their place in your MS playlist soon.

We start with a charming Dikshitar krithi in the rare ragam, Madhava Manohari. I heard this krithi first in the voice of D K Pattammal. Her version is a tad faster, surprising given that DKP is known for her slow speed renditions. There is a recording of Vijay Siva available and he sings the krithi is the same oru kalai speed of DKP. Later I heard Semmangudi sing this in a Bombay concert. After completing the krithi he says, "idhu Mahalakshmi kshetram" in his typical nasal voice. ("This is Mahalakshmi kshetram". He is referring to the famous Mahalakshmi temple in Bombay). After hearing all of these renditions, I chanced upon M S's rendition in youtube by accident. Instead of recommending some video, youtube put up this video as a recommendation. From the time I heard this recording, this has turned into my favorite version of this krithi. 

The krithi's language is Sanskrit and in this krithi it is quite easy to understand the words. M S does a terrific job with her unhurried and clear rendition. Here is the krithi:



From Dikshitar, we go to Syama Sastry. It is said that Syama Sastry would have attained eternal fame had he just composed the three swarajathis and nothing else. The three swarajathis he composed are in the ragas Bhairavi, Todi and Yadhukula Kambhoji. Semmangudi has sung all three of them. The Bhairavi swarajathi and Semmangudi's rendition are now part of Carnatic folklore. Semmangudi has a couple of recording of the Todi swarajathi, which he sings very well. As far as I know there is only one very bad recording (bad recording quality. Not bad singing) available of Semmangudi's Yadhukula Kambhoji swarajathi rendition. When I first heard that, I kept hearing it for days together. I gave it to friends of mine who learn music and they were delighted to hear the swarajathi sung by Semmangudi. Later we got hold of MS's rendition and my friend's told that MS's rendition helped them a lot in learning the swarajathi. Yadhukula Kambhoji is a raga I love. Syama Sastry a composer I admire and MS is a singer I adore. No wonder this is one of my favorite pieces



Now it is Tyagaraja's turn. I must confess I have also not heard this krithi too many times. And only yesterday I heard MS's rendition. So I cannot gush about it the same way that I gushed for the earlier two pieces. The reason I selected this krithi is because this krithi had left a lasting image in my eyes. During my engineering days I attended the college festival of Osmania University Arts College. There was a Carnatic music competition going on. I have always associated the ragam Todi with light blue color. So I was pleasantly surprised when one girl came on the stage wearing a light blue saree and started singing Todi. She sang the krithi 'munnu ravana', which I was hearing for the first time. I don't remember how she sang. I don't remember her face. All I remember now is the blue saree and the association of that color with Todi.

Here is MS singing the Tyagaraja krithi 'Munnu Ravana'. Tyagaraja and Todi can never go wrong and when MS joins, joy is guaranteed.



Two of these have been uploaded by V.Shrinivasan and one by Shankar Rajasekaran. My pranams to them for doing this service for rasikas like us.