Sahana and Pillappan
Sahana is a quintessential carnatic ragam. We don't find this ragam in Hindustani music. Ofcourse we can't expect such vakra ragas in Western music. Any phrase of Sahana is enough to give you a sense of joy and peace. This raga is well suited for portraying 'karuna rasa'.
As you know, in Carnatic music we have both kalpana sangeetham and kalpita sangeetham. In case of kalpita sangeetham, pre-composed music, the greatest Sahana must be 'meragadu rammanave', the kshetragnar padam. The best rendition of it, no surprise here, was by Brinda and Mukta. There is a CD of Brinda Mukta, AIR recording of Padams and Javalis. The rendition in that is outstanding with both of them in top form. In the clip below, this padam starts around the 1hr 35m mark.
From the krithi perspective, the most famous Sahana would be 'Giripai' and MD Ramanathan's rendition is generally accepted as the golden standard for this krithi. The record he gave of this song (for HMV) was played often on AIR and was very popular.
This krithi also has the distinction of being one of the last krithis composed by Tyagaraja.
Others like MS and Maharajapuram Santhanam have also sung this krithi.
Not many Dikshitar krithis have become popular in Sahana though he has a composed a few of them like in Kamalamba Navavarnam and Abhayambha krithi. Here we have Seetha Rajan and disciple singing 'Kamalambikayah' in Sahana.
It is surprising that the man whose krithis dipped of karuna rasa, Syama Sastry, did not compose a krithi in Sahana.
Tyagaraja has other great krithis in this ragam as well. One of them is 'emanadhichchevo'. Here is Brinda singing this short charming krithi, prefacing it with an brief alapani.
Another popular Tyagaraja krithi is 'vandanamu raghunandana' from Prahalada Bhakta Vijayam. This was made popular in the concert stage by DKP. It is a simple but charming krithi with the rhyming pattern giving us a lot of joy.
'E Vasudha' is another Tyaragaja krithi that is often sung. This is one of the Kovur Pancaratna krithis, five krithis dedicated to Sundareswara at Kovur. Here is R.K.Srikantan singing this in an unhurried manner. Observe the strength of his voice even at that age. Amazing personality.
There is another krithi, 'dehi tava pada bhaktim' which is not as often heard as the ones quoted here. Here are the Mambalam sisters singing this krithi during Tyagaraja aradhana.
'Raghupathe Rama' is another Tyagaraja krithi, which is rare but in this season I heard it being sung in more than one concert. D K Jayaraman with this krithi.
Moving to kalpana sangeetham, I guess all of you will have your own favorites. MDR's Sahana was one always sought out. Then there is Semmangudi singing a couple of line from the navarasa sloka in Sahana and what brilliant Sahana it is. Sahana is apt for the line 'karunyam bali bhojane'
I thought these were the best Sahanas in kalpita sangeetham. A couple of months back a friend of mine posted a nadaswaram clip on Facebook and the very first phrase of Sahana played by the vidvan blew me away. Then I listened to the whole clip transfixed. Here was a man practising his art in a temple and producing an excellent Sahana. Later found out that his name was Pillappan and he is from Paganeri, a small town close to Sivagangai. What an extraordinary artist. So many phrases he plays are possible only on the nadaswaram. You never know where great artists are hidden in this land. I end this post by bowing before this great artist. Hope you will enjoy his playing as well.
As you know, in Carnatic music we have both kalpana sangeetham and kalpita sangeetham. In case of kalpita sangeetham, pre-composed music, the greatest Sahana must be 'meragadu rammanave', the kshetragnar padam. The best rendition of it, no surprise here, was by Brinda and Mukta. There is a CD of Brinda Mukta, AIR recording of Padams and Javalis. The rendition in that is outstanding with both of them in top form. In the clip below, this padam starts around the 1hr 35m mark.
From the krithi perspective, the most famous Sahana would be 'Giripai' and MD Ramanathan's rendition is generally accepted as the golden standard for this krithi. The record he gave of this song (for HMV) was played often on AIR and was very popular.
This krithi also has the distinction of being one of the last krithis composed by Tyagaraja.
Others like MS and Maharajapuram Santhanam have also sung this krithi.
Not many Dikshitar krithis have become popular in Sahana though he has a composed a few of them like in Kamalamba Navavarnam and Abhayambha krithi. Here we have Seetha Rajan and disciple singing 'Kamalambikayah' in Sahana.
It is surprising that the man whose krithis dipped of karuna rasa, Syama Sastry, did not compose a krithi in Sahana.
Tyagaraja has other great krithis in this ragam as well. One of them is 'emanadhichchevo'. Here is Brinda singing this short charming krithi, prefacing it with an brief alapani.
Another popular Tyagaraja krithi is 'vandanamu raghunandana' from Prahalada Bhakta Vijayam. This was made popular in the concert stage by DKP. It is a simple but charming krithi with the rhyming pattern giving us a lot of joy.
'E Vasudha' is another Tyaragaja krithi that is often sung. This is one of the Kovur Pancaratna krithis, five krithis dedicated to Sundareswara at Kovur. Here is R.K.Srikantan singing this in an unhurried manner. Observe the strength of his voice even at that age. Amazing personality.
There is another krithi, 'dehi tava pada bhaktim' which is not as often heard as the ones quoted here. Here are the Mambalam sisters singing this krithi during Tyagaraja aradhana.
'Raghupathe Rama' is another Tyagaraja krithi, which is rare but in this season I heard it being sung in more than one concert. D K Jayaraman with this krithi.
Moving to kalpana sangeetham, I guess all of you will have your own favorites. MDR's Sahana was one always sought out. Then there is Semmangudi singing a couple of line from the navarasa sloka in Sahana and what brilliant Sahana it is. Sahana is apt for the line 'karunyam bali bhojane'
I thought these were the best Sahanas in kalpita sangeetham. A couple of months back a friend of mine posted a nadaswaram clip on Facebook and the very first phrase of Sahana played by the vidvan blew me away. Then I listened to the whole clip transfixed. Here was a man practising his art in a temple and producing an excellent Sahana. Later found out that his name was Pillappan and he is from Paganeri, a small town close to Sivagangai. What an extraordinary artist. So many phrases he plays are possible only on the nadaswaram. You never know where great artists are hidden in this land. I end this post by bowing before this great artist. Hope you will enjoy his playing as well.
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