Music And Movies

In this second article of this series, we once again look at a Khambhoji kriti of Tyagaraja. Tyagaraja visited Srirangam on his way to Madras and stayed at Srirangam for some time. During that time he composed five krithis on the Lord of Srirangam, collectively called the Sriranga Pancaratnam. The krithis are: O Ranga Sayee (Khambhoji), 'Vinarada Na Manavi' (Devagandhari), 'Chootamu Rare' (Aarabhi), 'Raju Vedale' (Todi) and 'Karunachoodavayya' (Saranga). The grandest of these is 'O Rangasayee' whose majesty towers as high as the gopuram of Rangan.  MS chooses a languid pace that enhances the majesty of the krithi. Observe the perfection of the sangatis in the pallavi. The sangatis are built so grandly, brick by brick, initially simple, slowly adding complexity before demanding great breath control to execute them. Observe the jaaru sangatis at 'raa raadha,' starting deep down and climbing smoothly like an eagle gliding up. The breath cont...

  In this series of articles, the regularity of which I cannot guarantee, I wish to try to present some great krithis sung by MS, as well as the neravals done by her and give my opinions of these aspects of her music. I say 'opinions' and not 'analyze' because analysing implies that I am an expert and understand the technicalities of music, which is not the case. So, whenever there is a need for a technical analysis, I borrow the thoughts of my friends who are well-versed in music. My approach will be that of a rasika, may I dare say a 'serious' rasika, for I shall not highlight the oft-heard and loved by all pieces of MS and concentrate on pieces where I think she had done a great job and that needs to be heard and appreciated by more people. I kickstart this series with a mammoth krithi of Veena Kuppier, 'koniyadina napai,' in Khambhoji. This is a grand krithi, where sangathi follows sangathi in building a grand edifice. Long back, I attended a concert...