I happen to listen to M.L.Vasanthakumar (MLV's) rendition of dasa songs and rendition of Muthuswami dikshitar's composition 'Matangi' in the ragam Rama Manohari. What struck a chord with me was the casualness of rendition where patterns or sangathees were more of a natural flow of the song more than an expression of voice and vocal abilities. The raga alapanai's were crisp and defined the form of the raga well and there were no exuberance or examplification of swaras or patterns to show the artiste's vidwath. Even though I have personally been impressed by some artiste bringing out the best of the raga and song with the added advantage of their voice and control of rendition, I was struck by the simplicity and feel of such rendition that I felt while listening to Smt. MLV. I plan to explore more of her recordings and will keep you posted on the same.
I want to share the proud moment of singing along and listening to my students Megha Pethari, Shruti Satish, Sneha Padmanahan, Mihira & Annika Krishnaswamy and Annika Seshadri last week. Kudos to the young singers who came together and synced up and performed in unison last week. The venue was the Rama Sannidhi at Lemont Temple. The event started with the abhishekam and the vishnu sahasranamam chanting which was a great start for our singing. Even though I sang along this time to ensure they were in unison, I have much confidence in them that I plan to have them present the next session on their own. They presented Shobillu Saptaswara, Sriman Narayana in Bowli, Thyagaraja's first composition Namo Namo Raghavaya in Desika Todi, Purandara Dasa's Venkataramananae Baro in Saveri, Devadi Deva in Sunadavinodini, Brocheva Revarae in Sriranjani and Okapari Kokapari (Karaharapriya). The musi from the young hearts was soulful and pleasing and appreciation from God came via the devotees who enjoyed and applauded the music. Thanks to venkatesh for supporting the young singers with violin accompaniment.
We are fast approaching the close of another year and even though my year ends are usually slow and relaxing, this year its been quite demanding so far. The difference is due to my upcoming trip to India and my performance at the Chennai music festival that's increasing my commitment to practice and ready up and also finish up my responsibilities at work, home and with students for upcoming performances.
On Sunday, I performed a classical concert at a '60th Birthday ' and it turned out to be quite a good practice for myself following which some of my students performed some classical light music to accomodate the lighter audience. It was a good experience to entertain diverse interests. In addition, I am training some of my students for an upcoming performance at Chinmaya Mission fund raising event and also deep into thoughts for a 'JAM' session for that performance. I am on my nth round of raga practice for my concert on the 21st and still have to work on the finer nuances and make it sound effortless and easy even though I am all tensed even thinking about it. Hope I learn that trick soon enough. New ideas and changes to incorporate everyday and wish I could do a change control on the learning process. Students are catching up well so far and hope they keep the practice going during the break. I figured over the years that the longer the kids know, practice and listen to the songs, the better they perform the krithi. Hence to get ready for the January performance for Thyagaraja day, I have started teaching them the following krithis to be ahead of the game. With my fast approaching trip to India in mid December, I thought they can use my time away to master these krithi's. Cittaranjani composition is a new introduction to my students this year and it was interesting experience to explain how the ragam does not carry a 'Upper' Shadjamam and starts with the Nishadam on the high octave. The 'Nada Tanumanisham' is also one of the few Siva composition of Thyagaraja and has a swaraksharam in the sharanam where 'SRGMPDN' is used as a wording in the song in sync with the swarasthanas.
Sri Rama Sri Rama - Sahana Raghunayaka Nee Pada Yuga - Hamsadwani Brocheva Revarae - Sriranjani Anuragamule - Saraswathy Nada Tanumanisham - CittaRanjani Brova Baramma - Bahudari This is the first year some of my varnam students will participate in the pancharatna rendition. They have finished learning the 'Jagadananda Karaka' in Nattai and I can'nt wait to get them started on 'Endaro Mahanu' next. Had a good break last weekend.
Took up Shri Raga varnam today. It is one of my favorite varnams. It was taught to me by RK Shriramkumar. In the Asampoorna Mela Paddhati, Shri Ragam is a RagAnga rAgam. The equivalent sampoorna mela is Karaharapriya. The rAgam is so elegant and beautiful. Mutthuswami Dikshitar has composed a number of songs in Shri - Shri Kamalambike, Shri Abhayamba, Shri Varalakshmi to name a few. Of course, Tyagaraja's Endaro Mahanubhavulu is a gem in its own right. The varnam itself is elaborate with 5 Chitta Swarams, instead of the usual 4. The 4th Chitta Swaram, "N,PMRGRS" extracts every exquisite ounce of nectar from the raga and presents it to the listener/singer. Karur Devudu Iyer has created a masterpiece. The Anupallavi line, Bhoomi Velayu is alone enough to provide directions to anyone who wants to know what Shri Ragam is like. The second song I attempted to teach was Kamakshi Shri Varalakshmi in Bilahari. I say attempted because I think I failed to anticipate how complex Bilahari and its gamakams could be for beginners and intermediate vocalists. Should have waited on this one instead of jumping in. I got a bit carried away with the flow of knowledge the week before and thought we could scale this song but didn't get beyond the 3rd Sangathi in the Pallavi. Have to choose wisely next time around :-) I really enjoyed this past weekend. I got a chance to teach the Saveri and Charukesi varnams to my violin students and Nadanamakriya to my vocal students. Talk about a pathos filled couple of days.
While I've always found that Saveri and Charukesi are easy for me to play by nature, it wasn't as easy for me teach them. I did not realize that subconsciously, I was playing so many gamakams in the two ragas. Saveri especially was tough to break down for the kids. I really had to think through all of the gamakams very slowly to be able to teach them. Each note in Saveri is filled with gamakams and it is interconnected with its predecessor and successor. The Lalgudi Charukesi varnam, Innum Yen Manam is a beautiful piece. However notating it into distinct notes is quite the challenge, as is the case with many of Shri. Lalgudi's varnams. I posted a recording of Maharajapuram Santhanam singing this piece under the Recordings section of this site. Did I mention that when I was 10yrs old, I got a chance to sing in front of Shri. Santhanam and he was so impressed that he pulled me onto his lap and said, "Tell me you are learning vocal music!". When I replied that I was learning violin, his response was, "kural irukkaravanukku yethukku virral?". (why does one with a voice like this need fingers)? On Sunday, I got so engaged with my vocal students, that we got through 3 songs - nAn oru vilayAttu bommayA in Navarasa kAnadA, Shiva Shiva Shiva Bho in NadanAmakriyA and Nambi Kettavar YevarayyA in Hindolam. The first and third are Papanasam Sivan kritis and were a staple of DKJ concerts in the late 80s. The nAdanAmakriyA piece is a trademark of MS Amma. She sang it at the UN Concert in the US with a viruttham (petra thAi thanai magha maranthAlum). The notes of that Viruttham are haunting me even today. Papnasam Sivan wrote such beautiful songs in Tamil. The Hindolam piece is one such composition. It's instructive in nature and tells a simple yet powerful message (don't wait until the end of your life to take to Godliness, do it today when you still have strength and energy left in your body). nAn oru vilayAttu bommayA is one of two songs that I know in Navarasa kAnadA (MD's DurgA devi is the other). Such an simple yet elegant raga filled with the karuna-rasam. Kudos to my vocal students for being so passionate about learning and picking the nuances up really well! Looking forward to the next session. Until then, Ciao! |
Venkatesh PadmanabhanCarnatic Vocal and Violin teacher during weekends and IT Architect during the week. Dad for life! Archives
August 2013
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