Thursday, May 24, 2012
Vijayanaagari
I recently performed a concert at Coimbatore in my Guru's presence. It was a blessing that I got such an opportunity but haven't been very pleased with myself about how it turned out. It certainly wasn't one of my best days and I'd been very sick all day. But there's always a next time, isn't it? Here's an excerpt from one of the better pieces. Let me know what you think!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Naina Neer Bahaye
Naina neer bahaye from Water is a song very, very dear to me - and easily one of Sadhana's very best. I love how Rahman brings in such a calming and ethereal feel to it. Here's my take. I haven't done a particularly great job of creating the karaoke track but this being a vocals heavy song, hopefully that can be excused. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Song: Naina neer bahaye
Film: Water
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Sukhwinder Singh
Original singer: Sadhana Sargam
Song: Naina neer bahaye
Film: Water
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Sukhwinder Singh
Original singer: Sadhana Sargam
Monday, January 30, 2012
Reverse engineering a gruhabhedam: the genius of Raja
If there's one piece of music that leaves me transfixed every time I listen to it, it's Composer's Breath from Ilaiyaraja's album Nothing But Wind featuring the flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia.
-Art by my amazingly talented sister Sumi.
-----
Where do I begin...I bought Raja's two non-film albums (read "cassettes") - How To Name It and Nothing But Wind back during my undergrad days and for almost a year I would pretty much listen to nothing else. Raja taught me several lessons and each one of those would vie with the others to make me feel it was the sole purpose of my life :) But one lesson stands out till today as the most revealing, the most intriguing, and the most awe inspiring. Unfortunately, it came to me much later - I hadn't quite seen the genius through for until numerous times of involved listening. But come, it did, and to this day it gives me goosebumps.
Amidst trying to get a grip on the treacherous equations and derivations of Electrodynamics and Statistical Mechanics - not to mention, in the dingy IIT hostel room - solving Raja's puzzles in Nothing But Wind was a much more satisfying experience, needless to say. The epiphany under discussion hit me on one such occasion of listening to Composer's Breath. Let me try and explain to my understanding, one of the underlying theoretical ideas behind this piece that the man has so ingeniously woven in - the reason for this post.
Disclaimer: my apologies in case this is all too familiar to you and sounds platitudinous.
First, here's the track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4g6Zl4nB_g
It starts off with a lovely Hindolam/ Malkauns. Hariprasad Chaurasia's bhava-rich and masterly playing
make it a most pleasurable experience. The main melody (starting at 3:54) is beautiful. It goes, Sa,, ni da ma ga ni da ma gm da# ni# sa,,,,. I'm certainly not an expert on analyzing chords and harmonies but parts like 4:26 that recur throughout just sound heavenly. The drama starts at 6:12 (and there is a lot of build up to it in the chords that just precede) when you start hearing Hamsanandi/ Sohini. What's happening here? Just an ordinary raga change? Absolutely not. A random change in shruti as well as raga? No again. Let's do this piecemeal. First, notice that the shruti is reduced by half a step - or half a note. The new sa is at ni3 of the original shruti. Next, observe that the absolute positions of all the other swaras remain the same. So basically, what starts at 6:12 is Hindolam relative to a new sa; but what's most crucial here is that unlike in a standard gruhabhedam, the new sa is *not* one of the swaras of Hindolam itself: it is a newly introduced swara. So what was a pentatonic raga becomes a hexatonic one due to the additional swara and that turns out to be Hamsanandi. And when you do this, lo and behold, a thrilling coincidence (pun intended) occurs: every swara of Hindolam remains the same, albeit of another variety. ni2 becomes ni3, da1 becomes da2, ma1 becomes ma2, ga2 becomes ga3 (and of course, sa becomes ri1). It is obvious and stunning at the same time. The main melody in Hindolam that I mentioned above now changes to Hamsanandi as follows: Sa,, ni3 da2 ma2 ga3 n3 da2 m2 ga3 r1 sa d2# ni3# sa,,,.
Okay, so far so good. But this made me rack my brains: I had never come across such an unusual way of doing gruhabhedam - such a gruhabhedam would probably not be permitted on a Carnatic stage. I was wondering if there was any way of reconciling it with the standard process. And then, I started thinking about how we might bring about the opposite gruhabhedam: Hamsanandi to Hindolam. Hamsanandi's ri would have to be taken as sa... and... if you do a sa varjya (omit sa), you get Hindolam. And immediately it dawned on me that THIS one was indeed a standard Carnatic gruhabhedam! It is not unusual in Carnatic to do a gruhabhedam transpose from hexa (or heptatonic) ragas to pentatonic ones by omission of sa (and pa)! (And that's because gruhabhedam or no gruhabhedam, one often renders phrases in a raga without sa - and sometimes pa- just to add beauty) In fact, here is a reference that talks about the Carnatic master of all times, T.N. Seshagopalan doing exactly this: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/tns-musiri-chennai09042007/
(There is also a youtube video of a breathtaking Hamsanandi alapanai by TNS where he shifts base to Madhyamavati using the same concept)
So WOW - the brilliance of Raja in Composer's Breath lies in that he has actually reverse engineered a (standard) gruhabhedam! Who would've thought of it! If only I could enter his head and see the workings.
The rest of the track goes in and out of many, many ragas - malayamarutham, bhageshri, sindhubhairavi etc which all sit smiling and pretty in Chaurasia's safe custody (and bring poignant flashes of 80s Tamil cinema along with them - probably because they remind me of many of Raja's 80s songs). But the highlight for me is that even after the Hamsanandi episode is over, Raja teases you with some brilliant sparks alternating between the two sa's (thus alternating between the two ragas) within a matter of seconds, like between 6:44 and 7:33 - pure magic! Also at the very end of the track starting at 15:32.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm overly pedantic. Sometimes people say that too much analysis especially in art is not healthy and robs it of its beauty and charm. But the more I think about it; no...I beg to entirely disagree. This situation always reminds me of something a celebrated Astrophysics prof G. Srinivasan told us in a class - a physicist apparently once said that understanding that stars are nothing more than huge blobs of gas and studying the equations governing their behavior doesn't make them seem any less pretty and poetic! :) Unfortunately I don't remember which physicist this was.
As I complete another year of existence on this planet today, I cannot thank Raja the God enough for giving infinitely more meaning to my appreciation of human creativity, godliness in art, and life.
-Art by my amazingly talented sister Sumi.
-----
Where do I begin...I bought Raja's two non-film albums (read "cassettes") - How To Name It and Nothing But Wind back during my undergrad days and for almost a year I would pretty much listen to nothing else. Raja taught me several lessons and each one of those would vie with the others to make me feel it was the sole purpose of my life :) But one lesson stands out till today as the most revealing, the most intriguing, and the most awe inspiring. Unfortunately, it came to me much later - I hadn't quite seen the genius through for until numerous times of involved listening. But come, it did, and to this day it gives me goosebumps.
Amidst trying to get a grip on the treacherous equations and derivations of Electrodynamics and Statistical Mechanics - not to mention, in the dingy IIT hostel room - solving Raja's puzzles in Nothing But Wind was a much more satisfying experience, needless to say. The epiphany under discussion hit me on one such occasion of listening to Composer's Breath. Let me try and explain to my understanding, one of the underlying theoretical ideas behind this piece that the man has so ingeniously woven in - the reason for this post.
Disclaimer: my apologies in case this is all too familiar to you and sounds platitudinous.
First, here's the track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4g6Zl4nB_g
It starts off with a lovely Hindolam/ Malkauns. Hariprasad Chaurasia's bhava-rich and masterly playing
make it a most pleasurable experience. The main melody (starting at 3:54) is beautiful. It goes, Sa,, ni da ma ga ni da ma gm da# ni# sa,,,,. I'm certainly not an expert on analyzing chords and harmonies but parts like 4:26 that recur throughout just sound heavenly. The drama starts at 6:12 (and there is a lot of build up to it in the chords that just precede) when you start hearing Hamsanandi/ Sohini. What's happening here? Just an ordinary raga change? Absolutely not. A random change in shruti as well as raga? No again. Let's do this piecemeal. First, notice that the shruti is reduced by half a step - or half a note. The new sa is at ni3 of the original shruti. Next, observe that the absolute positions of all the other swaras remain the same. So basically, what starts at 6:12 is Hindolam relative to a new sa; but what's most crucial here is that unlike in a standard gruhabhedam, the new sa is *not* one of the swaras of Hindolam itself: it is a newly introduced swara. So what was a pentatonic raga becomes a hexatonic one due to the additional swara and that turns out to be Hamsanandi. And when you do this, lo and behold, a thrilling coincidence (pun intended) occurs: every swara of Hindolam remains the same, albeit of another variety. ni2 becomes ni3, da1 becomes da2, ma1 becomes ma2, ga2 becomes ga3 (and of course, sa becomes ri1). It is obvious and stunning at the same time. The main melody in Hindolam that I mentioned above now changes to Hamsanandi as follows: Sa,, ni3 da2 ma2 ga3 n3 da2 m2 ga3 r1 sa d2# ni3# sa,,,.
Okay, so far so good. But this made me rack my brains: I had never come across such an unusual way of doing gruhabhedam - such a gruhabhedam would probably not be permitted on a Carnatic stage. I was wondering if there was any way of reconciling it with the standard process. And then, I started thinking about how we might bring about the opposite gruhabhedam: Hamsanandi to Hindolam. Hamsanandi's ri would have to be taken as sa... and... if you do a sa varjya (omit sa), you get Hindolam. And immediately it dawned on me that THIS one was indeed a standard Carnatic gruhabhedam! It is not unusual in Carnatic to do a gruhabhedam transpose from hexa (or heptatonic) ragas to pentatonic ones by omission of sa (and pa)! (And that's because gruhabhedam or no gruhabhedam, one often renders phrases in a raga without sa - and sometimes pa- just to add beauty) In fact, here is a reference that talks about the Carnatic master of all times, T.N. Seshagopalan doing exactly this: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/tns-musiri-chennai09042007/
(There is also a youtube video of a breathtaking Hamsanandi alapanai by TNS where he shifts base to Madhyamavati using the same concept)
So WOW - the brilliance of Raja in Composer's Breath lies in that he has actually reverse engineered a (standard) gruhabhedam! Who would've thought of it! If only I could enter his head and see the workings.
The rest of the track goes in and out of many, many ragas - malayamarutham, bhageshri, sindhubhairavi etc which all sit smiling and pretty in Chaurasia's safe custody (and bring poignant flashes of 80s Tamil cinema along with them - probably because they remind me of many of Raja's 80s songs). But the highlight for me is that even after the Hamsanandi episode is over, Raja teases you with some brilliant sparks alternating between the two sa's (thus alternating between the two ragas) within a matter of seconds, like between 6:44 and 7:33 - pure magic! Also at the very end of the track starting at 15:32.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm overly pedantic. Sometimes people say that too much analysis especially in art is not healthy and robs it of its beauty and charm. But the more I think about it; no...I beg to entirely disagree. This situation always reminds me of something a celebrated Astrophysics prof G. Srinivasan told us in a class - a physicist apparently once said that understanding that stars are nothing more than huge blobs of gas and studying the equations governing their behavior doesn't make them seem any less pretty and poetic! :) Unfortunately I don't remember which physicist this was.
As I complete another year of existence on this planet today, I cannot thank Raja the God enough for giving infinitely more meaning to my appreciation of human creativity, godliness in art, and life.
Monday, December 26, 2011
2011: Music and me
Just thought I'd share some quick notes on how this year has been for me, musically. Not that I do this customarily every year and not that I have any tremendous accomplishments to report this time; but 2011 has been fulfilling in many ways and I just felt like jotting down some thoughts here. I had my first article on music published (in Sruti). Gruhabhedam having been a pet subject for many years whereas cognitive science being a whole new ball game, it was exciting and intimidating at the same time. It seems like the article was well received overall and I hope I did some justice to the subject.
In October last year I mustered some guts and started to write some elaborate concert reviews on rasikas.org (unfortunately haven't been able to keep up with it much post May 2011 as I haven't attended many concerts since - hopefully 2012 is better). It's been a great learning experience to say the least (a small digression: the mere fact that SO much debate and discussion happens around it with such fervour makes me very proud to be part of this Carnatic tradition - not many traditional art forms can boast of such strong, academic involvement from connoisseurs). One of my reviews is leading to a larger project in the pipeline about which hopefully I'll soon be able to write here. Moving on... I got involved in an interesting movie project in the summer. Wish I could write more about it but again, will have to wait until it sees the light of the day. Hmm.
Ha, and a random post on my synesthesia resulted in some pleasantly surprising responses. First, I didn't expect the post to resonate with that many people and second, it led to getting acquainted with a talented filmmaker interested in the subject! It's a strangely satisfying feeling to talk in detail about something (especially as surreal as synesthesia) you've experienced all your life, for the first time - with someone you've never met/ talked to before. Thank god for blogging.
It's always a nice feeling to perform on stage a blockbuster number that you've grown up listening to - I sang Chandralekha at a Tamil New Years event in San Diego. I don't care how it came out but I thoroughly enjoyed myself :P Talking of performances, a more serious one happened a few months later, in October - with the blessings of my guru, I did my first full length Carnatic concert in the US at Shri Mandir, San Diego. I'm nitpicking my performance to this day- nevertheless, it was an eyeopener and a very valuable learning experience in many ways; many thanks to the accompanists.
One of the most exciting things this year has been a song I've composed - it's exciting because it's my first non-Carnatic: a ghazal. I'm usually extremely hard on myself but I must say I'm quite pleased with this one. With all the encouraging feedback it got from friends and family, I'm hopeful that it will soon be completed and up here. The fact that I'm handing it over to someone else to sing is even more exciting. More, soon!
Last but surely not the least, thanks to an eight year old bundle of incessant energy and talent, I discovered the teacher in me and I can only say that it has been an immensely gratifying experience!
Octaves hasn't seen a lot of audio posts from me this year (and I'm beginning to think it's going to continue to be like this) but I've enjoyed writing here and hope you've enjoyed reading as well.
Okay, time to get back to whining about not being at the Madras music season now. Signing off, and wishing you a fulfilling and fruitful 2012.
In October last year I mustered some guts and started to write some elaborate concert reviews on rasikas.org (unfortunately haven't been able to keep up with it much post May 2011 as I haven't attended many concerts since - hopefully 2012 is better). It's been a great learning experience to say the least (a small digression: the mere fact that SO much debate and discussion happens around it with such fervour makes me very proud to be part of this Carnatic tradition - not many traditional art forms can boast of such strong, academic involvement from connoisseurs). One of my reviews is leading to a larger project in the pipeline about which hopefully I'll soon be able to write here. Moving on... I got involved in an interesting movie project in the summer. Wish I could write more about it but again, will have to wait until it sees the light of the day. Hmm.
Ha, and a random post on my synesthesia resulted in some pleasantly surprising responses. First, I didn't expect the post to resonate with that many people and second, it led to getting acquainted with a talented filmmaker interested in the subject! It's a strangely satisfying feeling to talk in detail about something (especially as surreal as synesthesia) you've experienced all your life, for the first time - with someone you've never met/ talked to before. Thank god for blogging.
It's always a nice feeling to perform on stage a blockbuster number that you've grown up listening to - I sang Chandralekha at a Tamil New Years event in San Diego. I don't care how it came out but I thoroughly enjoyed myself :P Talking of performances, a more serious one happened a few months later, in October - with the blessings of my guru, I did my first full length Carnatic concert in the US at Shri Mandir, San Diego. I'm nitpicking my performance to this day- nevertheless, it was an eyeopener and a very valuable learning experience in many ways; many thanks to the accompanists.
One of the most exciting things this year has been a song I've composed - it's exciting because it's my first non-Carnatic: a ghazal. I'm usually extremely hard on myself but I must say I'm quite pleased with this one. With all the encouraging feedback it got from friends and family, I'm hopeful that it will soon be completed and up here. The fact that I'm handing it over to someone else to sing is even more exciting. More, soon!
Last but surely not the least, thanks to an eight year old bundle of incessant energy and talent, I discovered the teacher in me and I can only say that it has been an immensely gratifying experience!
Octaves hasn't seen a lot of audio posts from me this year (and I'm beginning to think it's going to continue to be like this) but I've enjoyed writing here and hope you've enjoyed reading as well.
Okay, time to get back to whining about not being at the Madras music season now. Signing off, and wishing you a fulfilling and fruitful 2012.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Concert at Shri Mandir, San Diego
Alapanais need to be more crisp and "tighter"; neraval less restrained, swaras more free flowing... I could go on. Heck, anyway- here are some videos from a concert I did at Shri Mandir, San Diego last month with Radhakrishnan on the flute and Sanath Kumar on the mridangam. Feedback would be much appreciated.
Santhana Gopala: Khamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD_WfN66MXY
Sriramachandro: Sriranjani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO9kjk7aPg
Dayarani: Mohanam and Sarideno: Vidapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZLBEE0PrsI
Thillana: Rageshri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZy7pXQhe0
Santhana Gopala: Khamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD_WfN66MXY
Sriramachandro: Sriranjani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO9kjk7aPg
Dayarani: Mohanam and Sarideno: Vidapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZLBEE0PrsI
Thillana: Rageshri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZy7pXQhe0
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Kannodu Kaanbadhellam: Revisiting after a decade
Kannodu Kaanbadhellaam was the first film song I covered. Ever. On a casette, with the help of the "karaoke" button on the music system that would suppress the original voice (the casette was then supposed to go to ARR - but ah, well that's another story). That was ten years ago, but the memories are still fresh. "Jeans" had released a couple of years ago and although a ludicrous movie for the most part, it was a laugh riot in our family and we all loved it. In fact if I remember right, we watched it multiple times in the theatre. I was at the peak of my ARR craze then and every time I would see his name appear in the credits on the screen, with the ni-sa-ri-sa track playing in the background, I would melt. We loved the songs so much and I almost damaged the casette by playing it too many times. And my uncle would joke that his car just wouldn't move if he didn't play Jeans songs =) Ah, those were the days...
This song, kannodu, surprisingly wasn't a favorite at first. It was Nithyasree's first film song and I found it.. er.. funny - for lack of a better word. The visuals were hilarious and that added to the comic factor. But it slowly grew on me and as the influence of the movie waned, I started seeing the classical richness of the song. And then in 2001, something came over me suddenly and I wanted to explore that "karaoke" button on our music system (although we'd had the system for a while before that) and kannodu was the first that came to mind. Everything was simpler back then - from the process of recording to my process of thinking. It was a more naive, carefree mind, not super intent on self-nitpicking. And I surprise myself every time I think of how I recorded back then: the whole song done at a stretch (coz you see, I couldn't cut-copy-paste on a casette).
Fast forward to 2011. The spontaneity, the unbridled enthusiasm, the uninhibited singing - all muted. I like to call it maturity - to keep my sanity. But there's also one other huge difference now: "cooler" gadgets and recording softwares that seem to mock you and exaggerate the smallest flaw. And these things only make it that much harder to achieve complacency.
Anyway... I've had this karoake track for quite sometime now and I somehow never wanted to try recording it- I just wanted to be content with my decade-old recording and not venture into it again. But venture I did, and here's the result. I wanted to sing some actual "kalpana" swarams at the end but the karaoke track had an annoying loud flute sound playing the original swarams, so I couldn't sing anything else there, hmph.
So here goes...
Song: Kannodu kaanbadhellaam
Film: Jeans
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Nithyasree Mahadevan
And here's the old one (which I'd posted here some years ago) again, for the record (I think the tempo got increased somehow as a result of which my voice is kinda distorted, but anyway)
This song, kannodu, surprisingly wasn't a favorite at first. It was Nithyasree's first film song and I found it.. er.. funny - for lack of a better word. The visuals were hilarious and that added to the comic factor. But it slowly grew on me and as the influence of the movie waned, I started seeing the classical richness of the song. And then in 2001, something came over me suddenly and I wanted to explore that "karaoke" button on our music system (although we'd had the system for a while before that) and kannodu was the first that came to mind. Everything was simpler back then - from the process of recording to my process of thinking. It was a more naive, carefree mind, not super intent on self-nitpicking. And I surprise myself every time I think of how I recorded back then: the whole song done at a stretch (coz you see, I couldn't cut-copy-paste on a casette).
Fast forward to 2011. The spontaneity, the unbridled enthusiasm, the uninhibited singing - all muted. I like to call it maturity - to keep my sanity. But there's also one other huge difference now: "cooler" gadgets and recording softwares that seem to mock you and exaggerate the smallest flaw. And these things only make it that much harder to achieve complacency.
Anyway... I've had this karoake track for quite sometime now and I somehow never wanted to try recording it- I just wanted to be content with my decade-old recording and not venture into it again. But venture I did, and here's the result. I wanted to sing some actual "kalpana" swarams at the end but the karaoke track had an annoying loud flute sound playing the original swarams, so I couldn't sing anything else there, hmph.
So here goes...
Song: Kannodu kaanbadhellaam
Film: Jeans
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Nithyasree Mahadevan
And here's the old one (which I'd posted here some years ago) again, for the record (I think the tempo got increased somehow as a result of which my voice is kinda distorted, but anyway)
Monday, September 19, 2011
My article on raga recognition in Sruti Magazine
I'm happy to share that my article on the neurophilosophy of raga recognition appeared in the September 2011 issue of Sruti. What started as a term paper for a class I took long ago (more than a year now) with Prof Paul Churchland has resulted in this. Thanks to Swaroop who first spotted it on my blog when I'd posted it for a very brief period last year; and of course, to the editor Ramnarayan.
As Octaves completes five years this month (that's right, five! hard to believe for me); it's a nice feeling to be writing musicology/ music theory related posts back to back. After all, I've always primarily been a theorist at heart.
Here's the article.
(Disclaimer: the model I discuss as I conceived of it in this context is just that: a model; a kind of an artificial neural network for heuristic purposes only)
PS: Please do subscribe to Sruti if you're interested in the Indian classical arts. It's an immensely valuable resource!
Raga recognition
As Octaves completes five years this month (that's right, five! hard to believe for me); it's a nice feeling to be writing musicology/ music theory related posts back to back. After all, I've always primarily been a theorist at heart.
Here's the article.
(Disclaimer: the model I discuss as I conceived of it in this context is just that: a model; a kind of an artificial neural network for heuristic purposes only)
PS: Please do subscribe to Sruti if you're interested in the Indian classical arts. It's an immensely valuable resource!
Raga recognition
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Colored Ragas: Synesthesia and Carnatic Music
Here's something very curious - and very personal in some ways - I wanted to put out there so that hopefully, I get to hear what people have to say about this and even better would be to know if there are other people who have similar experiences.
I associate colors with ragas. Yes. And swaras too. Kharaharapriya is greenish; Kalyani is yellowish; Bahudhari is purplish; Nalinakanthi is orangish... Sa is yellowish, ri is greenish, ga is majenta, ma is reddish... I could go on. You might think either a) I'm making it all up, or b) I'm crazy. Well for now in my defense, I can only say neither is the case, unless you can jump into my brain (which, trust me, you likely wouldn't want to do). I've experienced this raga/ swara - color correlation since childhood. In fact, I associate colors with abstract things much more fundamental than colors and ragas in some sense: I see letters of the alphabet as well as numbers, as colored. I have always been very curious about this and among the handful of people I shared this with when I was growing up, no one seemed to experience anything similar. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned about synesthesia from this extremely insightful and engaging talk by V.S Ramachandran (and shamefully, I go to the very university he teaches at and I haven't had a chance to meet him yet). In brief, synesthesia is a neurological condition where multiple (usually two) senses/ perceptions get mixed up.
The correspondence (between the color and say, a raga) in my case seems to be completely random: there doesn't seem to be a pattern in the correlation between say, the frequency of a swara or the mood of a raga and the colors I associate with them respectively. Same goes with numbers and letters: I see no pattern (for instance, higher the number, darker the color). My initial suspicion was that this had its roots in the fact that I had colored plastic letters and numbers to play with when I was a kid; but now I doubt it, for I don't even seem to remember the colors of most of the pieces. But may be the colors, in their abstract, stuck on subconsciously and I lost the ability to actively recall what color each piece was. But even if all this began with my playing with these colored pieces of letters and numbers, how did it catch on to music as well? May be it's all linguistic after all? May be the color of a raga for me is the color I associate with the first letter of the name of the raga? For I see 'N' as orange, and Nalinakanthi is indeed orange too. But this cannot be the case: the foregoing example has to be a coincidence, for other ragas starting with N are not necessarily orange for me. In fact, I don't seem to always perceive ordinary words as colored (although letters are colored) and even when I do, the color seems to have little to do with the color I associate with not just the first, but any of the constituent letters (and similarly, the color of a raga seems to have little to do with the colors of the constituent swaras).
Two clarifications are in order. First, I think letters or numbers or ragas or whatever - produce a sensation of color only when they're "inside" and not "outside". I mean, when I look at a number or hear someone say a letter; or for that matter even hear someone sing a raga or a swara or sing it myself; I don't think the color sensation shows up. Or if it does, it certainly is not very strong. It is rather the thinking of these entities (for lack of a better word); that conjures up the colors for me. And second, it's extremely hard to put a name to each color I see! It's usually a haze and while I'm sure that I'm having a color sensation, I'm not sure what color it is. I think it's usually not even a well defined color (which is why the "ish-s" suffixed to names of all the colors I mentioned above)
I don't know if what I've described above is characteristic of synesthetes in general. May be I'm not synesthetic at all. One goal for this year is to go to a Cognitive Science lab and get a test done. How interesting that would be!
Sorry for the ramble. I've been wanting to write about this for so long now and finally, just dashed it off while in a restless mode :( Hope it all made at least some sense, and I'm very eager to hear your reactions.
I associate colors with ragas. Yes. And swaras too. Kharaharapriya is greenish; Kalyani is yellowish; Bahudhari is purplish; Nalinakanthi is orangish... Sa is yellowish, ri is greenish, ga is majenta, ma is reddish... I could go on. You might think either a) I'm making it all up, or b) I'm crazy. Well for now in my defense, I can only say neither is the case, unless you can jump into my brain (which, trust me, you likely wouldn't want to do). I've experienced this raga/ swara - color correlation since childhood. In fact, I associate colors with abstract things much more fundamental than colors and ragas in some sense: I see letters of the alphabet as well as numbers, as colored. I have always been very curious about this and among the handful of people I shared this with when I was growing up, no one seemed to experience anything similar. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned about synesthesia from this extremely insightful and engaging talk by V.S Ramachandran (and shamefully, I go to the very university he teaches at and I haven't had a chance to meet him yet). In brief, synesthesia is a neurological condition where multiple (usually two) senses/ perceptions get mixed up.
The correspondence (between the color and say, a raga) in my case seems to be completely random: there doesn't seem to be a pattern in the correlation between say, the frequency of a swara or the mood of a raga and the colors I associate with them respectively. Same goes with numbers and letters: I see no pattern (for instance, higher the number, darker the color). My initial suspicion was that this had its roots in the fact that I had colored plastic letters and numbers to play with when I was a kid; but now I doubt it, for I don't even seem to remember the colors of most of the pieces. But may be the colors, in their abstract, stuck on subconsciously and I lost the ability to actively recall what color each piece was. But even if all this began with my playing with these colored pieces of letters and numbers, how did it catch on to music as well? May be it's all linguistic after all? May be the color of a raga for me is the color I associate with the first letter of the name of the raga? For I see 'N' as orange, and Nalinakanthi is indeed orange too. But this cannot be the case: the foregoing example has to be a coincidence, for other ragas starting with N are not necessarily orange for me. In fact, I don't seem to always perceive ordinary words as colored (although letters are colored) and even when I do, the color seems to have little to do with the color I associate with not just the first, but any of the constituent letters (and similarly, the color of a raga seems to have little to do with the colors of the constituent swaras).
Two clarifications are in order. First, I think letters or numbers or ragas or whatever - produce a sensation of color only when they're "inside" and not "outside". I mean, when I look at a number or hear someone say a letter; or for that matter even hear someone sing a raga or a swara or sing it myself; I don't think the color sensation shows up. Or if it does, it certainly is not very strong. It is rather the thinking of these entities (for lack of a better word); that conjures up the colors for me. And second, it's extremely hard to put a name to each color I see! It's usually a haze and while I'm sure that I'm having a color sensation, I'm not sure what color it is. I think it's usually not even a well defined color (which is why the "ish-s" suffixed to names of all the colors I mentioned above)
I don't know if what I've described above is characteristic of synesthetes in general. May be I'm not synesthetic at all. One goal for this year is to go to a Cognitive Science lab and get a test done. How interesting that would be!
Sorry for the ramble. I've been wanting to write about this for so long now and finally, just dashed it off while in a restless mode :( Hope it all made at least some sense, and I'm very eager to hear your reactions.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Sanga thamizh kaviye
To me, sanga thamizh kaviye is a song in which KJY and Chitra epitomize the ultimate immaculateness of rendering classical based songs. Every nuance in every briga and every sangathi seems to have been ever so carefully sculpted and delicately put in place. Of course, maestro Ilaiyaraja's magic is seen through and through - in the choice of ragas (Abheri, Sriranjani, Sumanesaranjani), the structure of the interludes, the talam which seems to have a seamless gathibhedam, alternating between tishram and chaturshram; and so on. But I feel the rendition itself is so integral to the song that I wonder if it would have sounded as good if anyone else had sung it (and excuse my bias- can't help saying, "especially Chitra" :) ) Although not a big fan of the lyrics, I simply love this song for the music and the voices.
Here's my "unplugged" version of the song. I haven't ventured into trying any modifications or improvisations- I simply didn't want to. So here's a modest attempt of the textbook version.
Thanks for listening!
Song: sangaththamizh kaviye
Film: manadhil urudhi vendum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vaali
Singers: K.J.Yesudas; K.S. Chitra
Here's my "unplugged" version of the song. I haven't ventured into trying any modifications or improvisations- I simply didn't want to. So here's a modest attempt of the textbook version.
Thanks for listening!
Song: sangaththamizh kaviye
Film: manadhil urudhi vendum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vaali
Singers: K.J.Yesudas; K.S. Chitra
Friday, June 24, 2011
Crazy Kiya Re
A break from my long drawn Carnatic/ Classical spell. Here's a racy bollywood number.
Not my usual kinda song choice, but thoroughly enjoyed singing it! Feedback would be much appreciated.
Song: Crazy Kiya Re
Movie: Dhoom 2
Music: Pritam
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan
Not my usual kinda song choice, but thoroughly enjoyed singing it! Feedback would be much appreciated.
Song: Crazy Kiya Re
Movie: Dhoom 2
Music: Pritam
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Wish list for my dream concert experience
I don't have a specific artist in mind; but I'd just LOVE to experience this dream (vocal/ instrumental) concert sometime. And I'm restricting myself here to the standard concert format- I could come up with other wish lists for other concert formats, but one's enough for now.
1. Maathe - Dharu Varnam - Khamas, Adi
2. Shankaram Abhirami - Kamalamanohari - Rupakam (swaram)
3. Ranjani Niranjani - Ranjani - Adi (ragam, swaram)
4. Chittam irangaadhenaiyya - Sahana - Khanda Chapu
5. Pirava varam thaarum - Latangi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
6. Niravatisukha - Ravichandrika - Adi
7. Inta sowkhya - Kapi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
8. RTP Nalinakanthi with swaras in Bahudhari, Hamsanadam, Valaji, Nattakurinji, Varamu, Behag.... you get the idea :P
9. Entha muddho - Bindumalini - Adi
10. Aliveni - Kurunji - Mishra Chapu
11. Thillana - Rageshri - Adi
12. Mangalam
1. Maathe - Dharu Varnam - Khamas, Adi
2. Shankaram Abhirami - Kamalamanohari - Rupakam (swaram)
3. Ranjani Niranjani - Ranjani - Adi (ragam, swaram)
4. Chittam irangaadhenaiyya - Sahana - Khanda Chapu
5. Pirava varam thaarum - Latangi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
6. Niravatisukha - Ravichandrika - Adi
7. Inta sowkhya - Kapi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
8. RTP Nalinakanthi with swaras in Bahudhari, Hamsanadam, Valaji, Nattakurinji, Varamu, Behag.... you get the idea :P
9. Entha muddho - Bindumalini - Adi
10. Aliveni - Kurunji - Mishra Chapu
11. Thillana - Rageshri - Adi
12. Mangalam
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Payaliya Jhankar
For a while now, I've been having what a friend rightly called "singer's block"- I simply haven't been able to sing. Not been practicing, abandoned music classes constantly feeling I don't have time for it, and worse, reinforcing in myself that I simply cannot do it. Grad school has indeed been exhausting, but I can't conscientiously convince myself that I don't have time to sing- it's rather just been a different avatar of plain procrastination I guess. I finally forced myself to resume music classes and it feels very rejuvenating! Anyway, all the ranting apart, here's a new song finally.
I first heard Payaliya Jhankaar, a popular "chota khayal" in Raag Puriya Dhanashri (Pantuvarali in Carnatic), when I was probably 6 or 7- sung by one of my cousins who was learning Hindustani. My sister and me used to love this song... And then after many years, there was the silken voice of Hariharan rendering a few lines of the song as a prelude to A.R.Rahman's "Hai Rama yeh kya hua"- what a magical piece of music that was! And then came Ajay Pohankar's very classy "indipop" version which has a natural "instant appeal" factor to it. I'd been wanting to cover his version for a long time but somehow never got around to doing it. It's here now; finally. Thanks to Vijay Narayanan for the vocal-cut track. (I had to then play around with the track to reduce the pitch, so it probably isn't as good as it could've been).
Song: Payaliya Jhankaar
Artist: Ajay Pohankar
Album: Piya Bavari Again
Covered by: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam
PS: Hope you like the new look of this blog! :)
I first heard Payaliya Jhankaar, a popular "chota khayal" in Raag Puriya Dhanashri (Pantuvarali in Carnatic), when I was probably 6 or 7- sung by one of my cousins who was learning Hindustani. My sister and me used to love this song... And then after many years, there was the silken voice of Hariharan rendering a few lines of the song as a prelude to A.R.Rahman's "Hai Rama yeh kya hua"- what a magical piece of music that was! And then came Ajay Pohankar's very classy "indipop" version which has a natural "instant appeal" factor to it. I'd been wanting to cover his version for a long time but somehow never got around to doing it. It's here now; finally. Thanks to Vijay Narayanan for the vocal-cut track. (I had to then play around with the track to reduce the pitch, so it probably isn't as good as it could've been).
Song: Payaliya Jhankaar
Artist: Ajay Pohankar
Album: Piya Bavari Again
Covered by: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam
PS: Hope you like the new look of this blog! :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Concert reviews/ discussions
Here are some reviews/ reports I've written at Rasikas- just thought I should post the links for the record:
Malladi Bros, Oct 2010
Shashank, April 2011
Ganesh-Kumaresh, April 2011
T.M. Krishna, May 2011
Sankari Krishnan, May 2011
R.K. Srikanthan and S. Ramakanth, March 2012
Carnatica Brothers, March 2012
O.S. Thyagarajan, March 2012
Suguna Varadachari, April 2012
Dr. Pantula Rama, September 2012
Sanjay Subrahmanyan, September 2012
Charumathi and Subhashri Ramachandran - Tribute to Pt. Ravi Shankar, March 2013
Malladi Brothers, March 2013
Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Nirmala Rajasekar, Geetha Bennet - Veena Trio, March 2013
GJR Krishnan, October 2013
Akkarai Sisters, October 2013
Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, September 2015
Aruna Sairam, Spetember 2015
Bombay Jayashri, October 2015
Ramakrishnan Murthy, November 2015
(The third on the list has generated some interesting discussions on instrumental music in Carnatic)
Malladi Bros, Oct 2010
Shashank, April 2011
Ganesh-Kumaresh, April 2011
T.M. Krishna, May 2011
Sankari Krishnan, May 2011
R.K. Srikanthan and S. Ramakanth, March 2012
Carnatica Brothers, March 2012
O.S. Thyagarajan, March 2012
Suguna Varadachari, April 2012
Dr. Pantula Rama, September 2012
Sanjay Subrahmanyan, September 2012
Charumathi and Subhashri Ramachandran - Tribute to Pt. Ravi Shankar, March 2013
Malladi Brothers, March 2013
Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Nirmala Rajasekar, Geetha Bennet - Veena Trio, March 2013
GJR Krishnan, October 2013
Akkarai Sisters, October 2013
Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, September 2015
Aruna Sairam, Spetember 2015
Bombay Jayashri, October 2015
Ramakrishnan Murthy, November 2015
(The third on the list has generated some interesting discussions on instrumental music in Carnatic)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Feature on Sound Box
Thanks to Joseph Thomas (whom I'd like to refer to as the "father of Indian audioblogging" :) ), I along with a few other audiobloggers was featured in the March edition of the music trade magazine, Sound Box, in an article written by Jo on the Indian audioblogging culture. Here is a reproduction of it. Click on the images to enlarge.
Monday, January 17, 2011
My recording for Swaralahari
Here's the first of two parts of a recording I did for Swaralahari in October last year. With no experience before a camera, I was super duper nervous, to say the least- and it shows very well. I had decided against blogging about this, but then thought it should be here along with all my other musical endeavors- for the record. Hopefully there's a better next time!
http://www.swaralahari.org/site/playvideo.php?concertid=158
http://www.swaralahari.org/site/playvideo.php?concertid=158
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Celebrating GNB: (5) Santhathamu Ninne in Valaji
Ram writes...
------
I've been thinking for quite a while about what is unique about the song. Honestly, except for pointing out the 'Dvitiyakshara Prasam' I mentioned in earlier songs too, I couldn't come up with much. This is a typical Valaji. Of course, that doesn't mean this isn't a good composition. In fact, this is a great composition that completely relaxes a listener even before the pallavi is over. For all the GNB critics who think his music is nothing but speed, this composition is a fine example of his idea of melody. (And this point is reinforced by his other composition Mamakuleswaram in Thodi, a very slow piece)
There are two striking features in GNB's kriti rendition. One is Briga and the Other is Bigu. The two features are often juxtaposed one after another, creating a stunning effect. In the Pallavi of this Kriti, the 'Briga' at 'NinnE' and the cascasding 'Bigus' 'nIvEyani' is an example of this effect. I'm not sure if Sindhu's swarakshara usage at 'Ga dhA' in Anu Pallavi was conceived by GNB. It sounds fantastic and that is what matters. And I think 'Vanditha muni jana' is a wonderful place for neraval. If it is Valaji, I would any day swap the kalpana swarams for 'first speed' neraval.
--------
Song: santhathamu ninne
Ragam: Valaji
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
------
I've been thinking for quite a while about what is unique about the song. Honestly, except for pointing out the 'Dvitiyakshara Prasam' I mentioned in earlier songs too, I couldn't come up with much. This is a typical Valaji. Of course, that doesn't mean this isn't a good composition. In fact, this is a great composition that completely relaxes a listener even before the pallavi is over. For all the GNB critics who think his music is nothing but speed, this composition is a fine example of his idea of melody. (And this point is reinforced by his other composition Mamakuleswaram in Thodi, a very slow piece)
There are two striking features in GNB's kriti rendition. One is Briga and the Other is Bigu. The two features are often juxtaposed one after another, creating a stunning effect. In the Pallavi of this Kriti, the 'Briga' at 'NinnE' and the cascasding 'Bigus' 'nIvEyani' is an example of this effect. I'm not sure if Sindhu's swarakshara usage at 'Ga dhA' in Anu Pallavi was conceived by GNB. It sounds fantastic and that is what matters. And I think 'Vanditha muni jana' is a wonderful place for neraval. If it is Valaji, I would any day swap the kalpana swarams for 'first speed' neraval.
--------
Song: santhathamu ninne
Ragam: Valaji
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Celebrating GNB: (4) Kamalacharane in Amritabehag
Here's the next in the ongoing GNB series.
-----
Ram writes...
The Amritabehag kriti, "Kamala Charane", is another example of GNB's genius. This raga, like Sivashakti is a creation of GNB. The twisted arohanam goes like, "Sa Ma Ga Pa Ni Da Sa" and the avarohanam is "Sa Ni Da Ma Ga Sa" and the raga is classified as a Janyam of 65th Melakartha, Mechakalyani.
According to hearsay, GNB conceived this raga inspired by some vakra/varja phrases in Kalyani played by the legendary Rajaratnam Pillai. I feel that could have been true only if Ragas were just scales with Swaras. Many ragas, especially ones like Kalyani are much more than a scale. While the scale certainly forms the skeleton of the raga, the life of a raga is much more than a scale. While we can say Amruta Behag is derived from the Kalyani scale for all practical purposes, it has nothing to do with the Kalyani Raga (lakshana). In fact, it seems to have some resemblance to amrutavarshini (which in turn has little to do with Kalyani).
The composition "Kamala CharanE" set in Madhyama Kala is often sung as a brisk filler before than main piece in a concert. There is a genre (or shall we say sub-genre) of songs that are suited for rendering at a high speed and are good vehicles for projecting the capabilities of voice. (It is interesting to note many such Adi-tala songs have an eduppu after 1.5 beats). It is needless to say "Kamala CharanE" is among them. The song is a joyous outburst with several sangatis. Some sangatis revolving around the dhaivatam are very moving too.
The beautifully coined chitta swarams helps the listener get a proper understanding of the characteristics of the raga.
GNB's family say this is one rare song in which GNB has left a Mudra. The name "Vimarsanananda" in the Charanam is apparently GNB's "Diksha name".
Sindhu has done justice to this wonderful composition by rendering at a liesurely pace. This speed, unlike the often heard break-neck speed, helps the listener appreciate the beauty of the raga better.
----
Read in Tamil here.
Song: kamalacharane
Ragam: Amritabehag
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
-----
Ram writes...
The Amritabehag kriti, "Kamala Charane", is another example of GNB's genius. This raga, like Sivashakti is a creation of GNB. The twisted arohanam goes like, "Sa Ma Ga Pa Ni Da Sa" and the avarohanam is "Sa Ni Da Ma Ga Sa" and the raga is classified as a Janyam of 65th Melakartha, Mechakalyani.
According to hearsay, GNB conceived this raga inspired by some vakra/varja phrases in Kalyani played by the legendary Rajaratnam Pillai. I feel that could have been true only if Ragas were just scales with Swaras. Many ragas, especially ones like Kalyani are much more than a scale. While the scale certainly forms the skeleton of the raga, the life of a raga is much more than a scale. While we can say Amruta Behag is derived from the Kalyani scale for all practical purposes, it has nothing to do with the Kalyani Raga (lakshana). In fact, it seems to have some resemblance to amrutavarshini (which in turn has little to do with Kalyani).
The composition "Kamala CharanE" set in Madhyama Kala is often sung as a brisk filler before than main piece in a concert. There is a genre (or shall we say sub-genre) of songs that are suited for rendering at a high speed and are good vehicles for projecting the capabilities of voice. (It is interesting to note many such Adi-tala songs have an eduppu after 1.5 beats). It is needless to say "Kamala CharanE" is among them. The song is a joyous outburst with several sangatis. Some sangatis revolving around the dhaivatam are very moving too.
The beautifully coined chitta swarams helps the listener get a proper understanding of the characteristics of the raga.
GNB's family say this is one rare song in which GNB has left a Mudra. The name "Vimarsanananda" in the Charanam is apparently GNB's "Diksha name".
Sindhu has done justice to this wonderful composition by rendering at a liesurely pace. This speed, unlike the often heard break-neck speed, helps the listener appreciate the beauty of the raga better.
----
Read in Tamil here.
Song: kamalacharane
Ragam: Amritabehag
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Celebrating GNB: (3) Ni padame gathi in Nalinakanthi
Updated recording along with collaborators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmZJ98nX75s
September is a very eventful month in our family- dad's, sister's and nephew's birthdays, and sister's anniversary- so this goes out to all of them! :) Hope I've done some justice to this piece...
----------------------------
Ram writes...
The kriti 'Ni PadamE' is probably the most famous composition of GNB. An article by BVK Sastri, written in the 1950s mentions that this song along with 'Sada Palaya' was very popular even then.
Despite being a popular raga, there aren't many compositions in Nalinakanthi. During GNB's time 'Manivanala' was probably the only composition known in this raga. Later compositions of GNB and Lalgudi Jayaraman are welcome additions to this wonderful raga.
While Tyagaraja's composition oozes with exuberance and brings out the briskness with its 'duritha kala' sangathis, GNB's "Ni PadamE' is set in 'reNdu kettAn' kaalapramaNam and that in my opinion adds more 'rakthi' to the raga without compromising on the briskness. The 'eduppu' or the starting phrase too is significantly different from 'Manavinala'.
GNB has embellished several famous kritis with new sangatis that contain beautiful swaraksharams. One stunning example is 'sa ma ni ga ma ga sudha' in the kriti 'Samaja Varagamana'. While all the 'aksharams' are right in front of our eyes, I still wonder why it takes such geniuses like GNB and Balamurali to unearth such swarakshara gems, while an ordinary mortal just reads the line and at the most appreciates the saahithya bhava.
GNB's compositions too are adorned with beautiful swaraksharams. Like in the Mohanam (Sada Palaya) and Khamas (Pada Bhajana) compositions, in the Nalinakanthi composition too, the kriti begins with a wonderful swarakshara phrase in 'Ni Pa'. Another attribute that elevates the composition is the 'dvitiyakshara prasam'(explained earlier in this series). While in the Sivasakthi composition, the lines in the anu-pallavi and charanam are adorned with 'Dvitiyakshara prAsam', in this composition along with those two parts even the pallavi contains DvitiyAkshara prAsam.
While usage of such rhyming words is common, occurance for such 'prAsam' in all the lines of a composition is rare. The greatness of this composition is that, at no place we feel that the 'rhyming word' is a forced fit. Like Dikshitar, GNB too has interweaved the raga name beautifully into the composition.
Despite several innovations and embellishments, the composition structure remains fairly simple and sounds uncontrived. Which, by the way, is not a simple task to come up with. (I'm sure Sindhu will vouch for that).
While Sindhu has rendered the composition nicely, probably for the first time in this series, I felt the 'absence' of Mridangam accompaniement. Also, the choice of the line 'nA pApamu' for swaraprastaram doesn't gel with the mood of the ragam. In my opinion, the pleading 'bhava' of the lyrics contradicts the raga bhava of Nalinakanti.
--------------
Song: ni paadame gathi
Ragam: Nalinakanthi
Thalam: Rupakam
Composer: GNB
Monday, September 13, 2010
RIP Swarnalatha
It still isn't sinking in. Swarnalatha is not with us any more. One of the most expressive, mellifluous voices, I'm sure she's been an inspiration to lots and lots of aspiring singers like myself. What I adore about her is the impeccable note precision while at the same time being so expressive! A sonorous tinge to her voice makes it all the more attractive. At the risk of sounding cliched, I say with all my heart that she continues to live with us through her songs. It's indeed a strange feeling when artists leave us with their works behind them- it brings to us lessons about permanence and impermanence at the same time...
ennuLLE ennuLLE pala minnal Ezhum nEram... RIP Swarnalatha. You shall be sorely and deeply missed.
ennuLLE ennuLLE pala minnal Ezhum nEram... RIP Swarnalatha. You shall be sorely and deeply missed.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Celebrating GNB: (2) Varnam in Andholika
Here is our second in the GNB series started here last month.
--------------------------
Ram writes...
Andolika, a Karaharapriya janyam, has an asymmetric structure to its scale, despite having the same number of swarams in the arohanam and avarohanam. Tyagaraja's 'Raga Sudha Rasa' is the most famous composition in this raga. While Tyagaraja beautifully brings out the essence of the raga in the very first phrase of the kriti, GNB's varnam builds on it and showcases several new facets.
Before getting into a discussion on the varnam, a few lines about GNB and Andholika:
It is interesting to note that several of GNB's favourites belong to the Karaharapriya family. GNB has handled ragas like Abhogi, Jayamanohari, Reethigowlai, Andholika elaborately. However, he has hardly sung Karaharapriya.
The modern day Andolika is based on the framework conceived by GNB. (Although Sri. S.Rajam once told me that Andolika was among the favourites of the legendary Naina Pillai and Muthiah Bhagavathar). On GNB's 81st birthday, Sri. T.M.Tyagarajan spoke at a function at Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai; about GNB's first concert in Thanjavur. GNB was yet to establish himself at Thanjavur, the (then) Mecca of Carnatic Music. His appearance in movies had hampered his reputation as a Carnatic musician. While the Thanjavur audience were sceptical about the 'Talkie Vidwan', GNB launched into an alapanai in Andolika. Even as the experts were trying to identify the raga, GNB had delved into the depths of the raga through his brilliant brikas. (TMT's recount left such a deep impact on my mind that I used the same as the opening chapter of my book on GNB)
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was so impressed with GNB's delineation of Andolika that he started singing them in his concerts too. (While GNB started singing Gavathi due to the Ustad's influence. He even composed a varnam in Gavathi.)
Onto this varnam: There is a popular notion that Varnams are practice pieces - widely used for warming up. While it is true in the case of some elementary varnams, in many cases they turn out to be a brilliant medium to project both the composer's as well as the performer's innovative musical ideas. I would even go to the extent of saying that the Bhairavi varnam and the Nattakurunji varnam are each the most beautiful piece in the respective ragas. Such varnams give us deep insight into the various facets of the raga. One can also add this particular varnam in Andholika (along with the GNB varnams in Kadanakuthuhalam and Gavathi)- which is probably the most popular among the GNB varnams- to this list. While his other varnams are predominantly sung by the GNB school singers, this varnam is widely performed by musicians of other schools too. In my opinion, Sri. DK Jayaraman's rendition of this varnam is the best.
This brisk Adi Tala varnam is on GNB's Ishta Devatha 'Nadarupasundari'. Musicologist SAK Durga notes that, "The term 'Nadarupasundari' is very unique. Usually 'Naada Rupam' is associated with Lord Shiva. Tyagaraja says, "Nada Thanum anisham shankaram". GNB was probably the first person to concieve Shakthi as "Nadarupini".
Several interesting patterns can be noticed in the chitta-swarams of the varnam. Various porthams such as,
Ri Ma Pa Nadarupa
Ma Pa Ni Sa Nadarupa
Ri Ma Ri Sa Nadarupa
reflect GNB's style of singing Kalpanaswarams.
The phrase without Sa and Pa in the third chittaswaram (ririma niniri mamani ririma niririma) is rendered almost completely without gamakams. Such prayogams are truly ahead of his times. One can find such usages today in ragas like Madhyamavathi too.
Although GNB does not indulge in complex arithmetics, he uses several interesting patterns. One example would be the Gopucha Yati in the fourth Chitta Swaram (sanidhamari nidhamari dhamari mari..)
While Sindhuja does justice to this composition through her rendition, the listener is invariably left longing for more. GNB, when rendering varnams, usually compliments the chittaswarams with a few brisk rounds of kalpana swarams. Probably a few rounds of spontaneous swarams from Sindhuja would have served as the icing on the cake :-)
Lalitha Ram
-----------------------------
Song: nee dayaradha (thana varnam)
Ragam: Andholika (S R2 M1 P N2 S, S N2 D2 M1 R2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
Sahithyam:-
Pallavi: nee dayaradha neerajaakshi naa taramerigi nanneluko
Anupallavi: kadhamba dhaNda sumachara paashaankusha, sitaamsu kalaadhariNi
Charanam: naadaroopasundari naaraayaNi
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Ram writes...
Andolika, a Karaharapriya janyam, has an asymmetric structure to its scale, despite having the same number of swarams in the arohanam and avarohanam. Tyagaraja's 'Raga Sudha Rasa' is the most famous composition in this raga. While Tyagaraja beautifully brings out the essence of the raga in the very first phrase of the kriti, GNB's varnam builds on it and showcases several new facets.
Before getting into a discussion on the varnam, a few lines about GNB and Andholika:
It is interesting to note that several of GNB's favourites belong to the Karaharapriya family. GNB has handled ragas like Abhogi, Jayamanohari, Reethigowlai, Andholika elaborately. However, he has hardly sung Karaharapriya.
The modern day Andolika is based on the framework conceived by GNB. (Although Sri. S.Rajam once told me that Andolika was among the favourites of the legendary Naina Pillai and Muthiah Bhagavathar). On GNB's 81st birthday, Sri. T.M.Tyagarajan spoke at a function at Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai; about GNB's first concert in Thanjavur. GNB was yet to establish himself at Thanjavur, the (then) Mecca of Carnatic Music. His appearance in movies had hampered his reputation as a Carnatic musician. While the Thanjavur audience were sceptical about the 'Talkie Vidwan', GNB launched into an alapanai in Andolika. Even as the experts were trying to identify the raga, GNB had delved into the depths of the raga through his brilliant brikas. (TMT's recount left such a deep impact on my mind that I used the same as the opening chapter of my book on GNB)
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was so impressed with GNB's delineation of Andolika that he started singing them in his concerts too. (While GNB started singing Gavathi due to the Ustad's influence. He even composed a varnam in Gavathi.)
Onto this varnam: There is a popular notion that Varnams are practice pieces - widely used for warming up. While it is true in the case of some elementary varnams, in many cases they turn out to be a brilliant medium to project both the composer's as well as the performer's innovative musical ideas. I would even go to the extent of saying that the Bhairavi varnam and the Nattakurunji varnam are each the most beautiful piece in the respective ragas. Such varnams give us deep insight into the various facets of the raga. One can also add this particular varnam in Andholika (along with the GNB varnams in Kadanakuthuhalam and Gavathi)- which is probably the most popular among the GNB varnams- to this list. While his other varnams are predominantly sung by the GNB school singers, this varnam is widely performed by musicians of other schools too. In my opinion, Sri. DK Jayaraman's rendition of this varnam is the best.
This brisk Adi Tala varnam is on GNB's Ishta Devatha 'Nadarupasundari'. Musicologist SAK Durga notes that, "The term 'Nadarupasundari' is very unique. Usually 'Naada Rupam' is associated with Lord Shiva. Tyagaraja says, "Nada Thanum anisham shankaram". GNB was probably the first person to concieve Shakthi as "Nadarupini".
Several interesting patterns can be noticed in the chitta-swarams of the varnam. Various porthams such as,
Ri Ma Pa Nadarupa
Ma Pa Ni Sa Nadarupa
Ri Ma Ri Sa Nadarupa
reflect GNB's style of singing Kalpanaswarams.
The phrase without Sa and Pa in the third chittaswaram (ririma niniri mamani ririma niririma) is rendered almost completely without gamakams. Such prayogams are truly ahead of his times. One can find such usages today in ragas like Madhyamavathi too.
Although GNB does not indulge in complex arithmetics, he uses several interesting patterns. One example would be the Gopucha Yati in the fourth Chitta Swaram (sanidhamari nidhamari dhamari mari..)
While Sindhuja does justice to this composition through her rendition, the listener is invariably left longing for more. GNB, when rendering varnams, usually compliments the chittaswarams with a few brisk rounds of kalpana swarams. Probably a few rounds of spontaneous swarams from Sindhuja would have served as the icing on the cake :-)
Lalitha Ram
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Song: nee dayaradha (thana varnam)
Ragam: Andholika (S R2 M1 P N2 S, S N2 D2 M1 R2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB
Sahithyam:-
Pallavi: nee dayaradha neerajaakshi naa taramerigi nanneluko
Anupallavi: kadhamba dhaNda sumachara paashaankusha, sitaamsu kalaadhariNi
Charanam: naadaroopasundari naaraayaNi
As always, feedback most welcome. We hope you continue to support our efforts in this series.
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