Semmangudi and Song Structure

July 25th was the 111th birth anniversary of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. On this occasion I had written a thread on Twitter on him. I am expanding it here and saving for future reference.

One of the aspect of his music that I love is the way he structures a krithi. There are many ways to sing a krithi. Semmangudi believes in structuring the krithi in such a way that it is highlights the development of a raga. By structure, I mean his selection of sangatis, how many times you repeat a line, how you phrase the words, the pauses, everything. This gives it an order. And once this order is established, it is repeatable. The important thing is just not just the selection of sangatis but in which order they are sung. The idea is to slowly reveal the range of the raga. Each sangati must very naturally flow into the next one. This is how the edifice of the raga is built using the krithi. Once this structure for a particular krithi is established, this becomes what is commonly called as a 'patantharam'. It is very common to hear, this Semmangudi's 'patantharam' or DKP's 'patantharam' and so on. 

A small digression here. Rasikas are in common agreement that Tyagaraja krithis had sangatis and Dikshitar kritis didn't have the concept of sangatis. Even in Tyagaraja krithis what sangatis we hear are not just what sangatis were present when Tyagaraja composed them but many got added later by performing vidwans. So what we hear are krithis which have been polished over the ages. 

As a first example, hear this majestic Kambhoji krithi, O Ranga Sayee. This is the Semmangudi patantharam. I personally love MS's rendition more, so I am putting it up here instead of Semmangudi's. You can see how Kambhoji is developed one sangati at a time. MS delivers it with a precision which only a few are capable of. "M.S. Subbulakshmi is the best exemplar of the kriti structure that his research and practise honed to perfection" says Gowri Ramnarayan http://srutimag.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-semmangudi-legacy.html



 Many have spoken about this aspect of Semmangudi's music. R K Sreeramkumar on a lec dem on Semmangudi calls this 'chittai seiyardhu' and refers to Seetha Rajan and Padma Sugavanam's rendition of Dikshitar Navavarna krithis to highlight how Semmangudi set the structure. T M Krishna in a article, written when Semmangudi passed away, spoke about structure and repeatability. He said he was in Semmangudi's house when MS walked in and all 3 sang a Bhairavi krithi and he was surprised by the unison though they have never practiced together. 


R K Sreeramkumar also spoke of this. He was in US when a lady in US, who had learnt from Semmangudi wanted to sing a krithi along with him. RKS says that he was stunned when they sang in unison, without missing even a sangati. That lady had learnt from SSI 40 yrs before RKS.'avarukku anga maanaseegama namaskaram pannen' said Sreeramkumar. There was also a video published which had lot of students of PSN singing the Dvijavanthi krithi 'chetasri' and they were singing in perfect unison, though the occasion was an informal one.

Here are Semmangudi's disciples singing 'Chetasri' in Dvijawanthi.



The structuring also tells us about the aesthetic value the artist holds. Which sangatis come in and which don't give you an idea of the musical values of the artist. It also tells us how they would have cogitated before arriving at certain musical decisions. Once these aesthetics are imbibed by the disciples, a 'bani' emerges. Semmangudi 'bani' is quite famous now and one of the reasons is the way he structured the krithi. In Gowri Ramanarayan's words, "..krithi structure that his research and practise honed to perfection"

 Not all artists are like Kishori Tai, who can clearly expound her values. We need to find out the aesthetics of artists ourselves from their art. In Semmangudi case though there are some interviews where he talks about his perception of music. He answers the questions as why he sings neraval/swaras for 'amba kamakshi' and also tells how to get the swaroopa of Natai in a few strokes. A gem of a video.




I believe Semmangudi would have put in great effort to structure and polish certain krithis. Semmangudi learnt from Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer & Gottu Vadhyam Sakaram Rao. Later he also learnt from Brinda. There are some krithis, which I have a feeling he must have learnt from notation.

I am going to play some krithis, which he probably didn't learn from a guru. (I may be completely mistaken though). Anyway these krithis are brilliantly structured. I start with 'vadanyeswaram' in Devagandhari. I haven't heard anyone of the older generation singing this krithi. And as far as I know this may be the only recording of Semmangudi singing this krithi. Excellent rendition and the mridangam, especially in the start of the charanam, is top class.


 

Next, 'rama neevadhukondhuvo' in Kalyani.Superbly structured. Given this is a Tyagaraja krithi he may have got it from Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer or Vishwanatha Iyer but I am sure he put in his thoughts to give the final shape.

 The Dikshitar krithi, 'agasteeswaram' in Lalitha. I don't think any of his gurus knew this song. He probably learnt it from notation and gave it his touch. Such a wonderful krithi and rendition. Invokes a meditative mood. Observe how he ensures that the meditative mood is not lost. That is one of his key aesthetics. He is not interested in playing to the gallery when it comes to the krithi. In ragas like Lalitha, the mood as to be kept intact. As usual superb accompaniments.

Another wonderful Lalitha. Once again observe how keen he is to maintain the mood of the raga. 'hiranmayim lakshmim' 

I would also like to bring to attention one fact. His structuring of a krithi was very much in keeping with the spirit of the composer's structure. That means his Dikshitar kritis are structured differently than say Tyagaraja krithis. In Dikshitar krithis, he doesn't destroy the edifice of Dikshitar. He adds value to that structure and leaves his imprint behind without changing the overall structure (The Dhanammal school and DKP also did this impressively).

 

A wonderful Yadhukula Kambhoji of Subbarama Dikshitar, 'parthasarathy'. I haven't heard anyone of the generation earlier than him sing this. Infact I have heard very few singing this. The structure you get is very much Semmangudi's.

Syama Sastry krithis were given their due respect. The brilliant swarajathi, 'rave himagiri kumari' in Todi. Again I think he learnt this and structured this on his own from notation. MS also sings it wonderfully.

'mahalakshmi karunarasa lahari' in Madhava Manohari. What a brilliant song and structure. Hats off to Dikshitar. MS I think must have learnt from Semmangudi. This version of 'mahalakshmi' is slightly different from the DKP version. I think DKP version is in oru kalai.

I spoke about the Kamalamba Navavarna krithis, which were polished by Semmangudi. They were sung by Seetha Rajan and her students. Here is the Sahana krithi. To me, Seetha Rajan rendition has been the best as far as Navarana krithis are concerned. I listen to this and Shankarabaram krithi atleast once a week and can do nothing but prostrate in front of Dikshitar every time I hear them. What amazing moving and majestic constructs. Hats off to Semmangudi for teaching this to Seetha Rajan and for her and students for delivering these flawlessly. All I can say is that we are lucky that such music exists.

Another krithi that glows due to the polish Semmangudi gave it is 'sree ramam' in Narayana Gowla. Semmangudi was the one who popularised it. Whoever sings it today, is probably singing the Semmangudi version. Sanjay Subramaniam had written long back that Semmangudi asked him if he knew this krithi and when Sanjay replied in the negative, he asked him to come home and learn it from him. 

He did sing a lot of Dikshitar krithis, which he must have learnt from notation. (He probably did learn some of them like 'chetasri', dakshinamurthe', 'sankaracharyam' from Brinda). 'Balakrishnam Bhavayami', 'Amba Neelayadakshi' are some krithis that shine in his rendition.

As I said earlier, he probably got Tyagaraja krithis from his gurus, but he did polish them using his own intelligence, so that they achieved an unique glow. Here he is with 'nama kusumamula' in Sriragam.

The very rare Tyagaraja song in Nattakurunji, 'manasu vishaya'

Finally, 'tulasi jagajjanani' 

Semmangudi's contribution to Carnatic music has been immense. One thing that future generations will remember him for will be this aspect of his, the structuring of krithis. He not only made lot of rare krithis popular, he gave them a charming shape without compromising on the values of Carnatic music.