Nottu Swara

SriLankanTamil · Post by **SriLankanTamil** » 23 Sep 2007, 06:17

Can someone pls give me some information about Nottu Swaras that were composed by Muthuswamy Dikshittar. This is the information i have been able to obtained so far:

Dikshitar had occasion to listen to Western Music when he came in contact with officials of the East India Company and their English Musical band. His younger brother, Baluswami Dikshitar, who was initiated to learn European violin by the patron Manali Chinnaswami Mudaliar, introduced the violin into Carnatic music. With this influence, Dikshitar composed many kriti-s under the classification of Nottu Svara Sahitya-s, all in the raga sankarabharanam in different tala structures. All of these are extremely melodious, and some of them resemble Western tunes. For example, the kriti "santatam pahi mam sangita shyamale" is a Marching Song, which can be sung in a chorus, to the tune of "God save the King"! . Nottu Swaras are capable of being played on any instrument.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Sep 2007, 13:02

You have pretty well described the background behind those pieces of MD.

If you go to this document: http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~murthy/0 ... is-all.doc

and search for 'nottu', you can get the lyrics of these compositions

Here is a student rendering one of those compositions 'vandE mInAkSi tvAm sarasija vaktrE parNE....': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiPk7myFtV8

A few of these compositions are taught to beginners since these are relatively easy to learn. I do not think they find much place in the concert platform. May be very occasionally as a thukkada, if at all.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 23 Sep 2007, 14:37

With due respect, I am not sure MD's adaptation of western tune has much musical merit - to begin with these are just sahithya transcritpions of western tunes, most of which are not particularly sophisticated to begin with. Compared to his monumental krithis, these seem more of an aberration.

I do not wish to be seen as passing a judgment on a great soul like Deekshitar. He may have had his own reasons for composing these - perhaps he just wanted to understand western music better or took a fancy to some tunes that sounded novel and quickly stitched together a sahithya, perhaps as an aide-memoire

OTOH his krithis based on hindustani ragas really boggle the imagination...his adaptation of a hindusthani raga like Dwijavanthi was so masterly that Cheta Sri is considered a chaste carnatic piece! After listening to Rangapura Vihara, an HM rendition of Brindavani sounds so bland...like dal after sambhar!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 23 Sep 2007, 14:38

BTW, Sri Lankan Tamil thanks for providing the historical backdrop to these compositions!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Sep 2007, 22:39

like dal after sambhar!

What an apt analogy. Indeed, thanks are eternally due to the great soul MD for all those adaptations and making the whole musical scene that much more attractive. I agree, given all the masterpieces and huge works, these nottu swaras stand out very pale. May be he could not do much with it due to the relative simplicity of the pieces he heard and also the polyphony does not translate well to his musical thinking.

to begin with these are just sahithya transcritpions of western tunes

Is there a full mapping of thse nottu swara compositions to existing Western classical music pieces?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 23 Sep 2007, 22:52

Not sure about your last point VK but I read so somewhere.....

SriLankanTamil · Post by **SriLankanTamil** » 24 Sep 2007, 12:29

no prob, i am just looking for as much information as i can find as my brother needs to know about the compositions for a music exam he is sitting mirudhangham and violin for but i could find no information in any books, and that was all the knowledge i had mixed with some internet information.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 24 Sep 2007, 15:20

TK Govinda Rao's excellent book should have all the details of Deekshitar's composition including the compositions based on western tunes. This includes notations, sahithya (with English transliteration) and English meaning. If you are in Chennai, you could get this book at Giri Trading opposite the Kapali Temple gopuram. They also have a website - www.giritrading.com

Another little nugget of information about MD and Englishmen: Apparently he received a lot of encouragement from one Mr. Brown of the East India company and has recorded his appreciation by etching the words "Brown Doravariki" in some manuscript.

sangitaRasika · Post by **sangitaRasika** » 26 Sep 2007, 21:35

Actually, these Nottu geetams have a charm to them. They may not be magnificient, but in some sense, the simplicity in tune, brings out the beauty of the words. Some of these are tongue twisters - "rama janardhana". These are mainly intended for beginners to understand how versatile our music can be - the words, the meter, the rhythm... I have heard that MD was very young when he composed these and he would do these while he was walking home with his brother on their way back from his brother's violin lessons.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 27 Sep 2007, 12:43

vijay wrote:Another little nugget of information about MD and Englishmen: Apparently he received a lot of encouragement from one Mr. Brown of the East India company and has recorded his appreciation by etching the words "Brown Doravariki" in some manuscript.

This is really interesting. You mean the phrase "Brown Doravariki" actually appears in a composition? If so, which one?
-bhaktha

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 27 Sep 2007, 18:45

I heard Michelle rendering vandE mInAkshi tvAm. I broke out in to peals of laughter

I suppose it must have been the pronunciation... The comments below the video in fact suggest that someone has taken offence to the endeavour. Nevertheless, I guess she deserves a pat on the back for trying to internalize the lyric and melodic structure however simple it might be.
As regards Dikshitar's foray in to Hindustani music, I'd like to mention nandagOpAla in yamunAkalyANi. An EXTREMELY beautiful kriti. And what about sOmasundarEshvaram in shuddha vasantam? Is it to be regarded as another attempt at Western style music or does it have any Hindustani counterpart or 'relative'...?

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 27 Sep 2007, 22:17

Jigyaasa wrote:And what about sOmasundarEshvaram in shuddha vasantam? Is it to be regarded as another attempt at Western style music or does it have any Hindustani counterpart or 'relative'...?

Shuddha vasanta retains some features of archaic form of vasanta - AFAIK, it does not have any hindustani counterpart or relative. Even though it's flat notes and jumps suggest something like western influence, that may not be the reality.

Dikshita brought back several rAgas that were going extinct. Shuddha vasanta (and another close relative pUrvagouLa) is such an example.

-Ramakriya

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 27 Sep 2007, 23:28

BHaktha - I the reference is not in a Krithi - MD would surely not stoop to such things! I fail to recall any more details however...Jigyaasa who is Michelle and where is this video?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Sep 2007, 23:46

Vijay,
The youtube link that VK posted...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Sep 2007, 01:24

I saw the video, and though at first Michelle's rendering was a bit novel, I got used to it, and was pleased that she was serious about her music and did a good job of it.
I can empathize with this because when my children spoke tamizh, a language which their parents alone spoke (others around them didn't, in the sixties and early seventies), except when they went with us to India once in a blue moon, it sounded 'different'! In India too, the family spoke to them in english in order to communicate with them easily! They still haven't captured the right intonation and flavor, to sound very authentic. However, they find that the tamizh they hear from their indian contemporaries now is adultrated!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 28 Sep 2007, 10:56

Thanks Ravi, heard it now....another HM raga used beautifully by MD is Rama Rama Kalushadhara in Raamkali

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 28 Sep 2007, 12:02

The treatment of KalyANI in bhaja rErE chitta is also HindustAni-ish, is it not? It's very different from say kamalAmbAm or
abhayAmbA...

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 28 Sep 2007, 16:24

Yes I did notice that...especially in the "amba" of "balamba" in the pallai.

Sangeet Rasik · Post by **Sangeet Rasik** » 09 Oct 2007, 08:54

vijay wrote:Yes I did notice that...especially in the "amba" of "balamba" in the pallai.

MD was a cultural integrator par excellence - his insight into shastriya sangeet excelled what 'hidebound' Northern nor Southern composers could achieve. We need more like him.

The "western note" compositions are nice tunes that are attractive to the lay listener as well as the beginner. In my opinion a few of them can be taught as an intermediate between gita and varna, both for vocal and instrumental students.

Regards treatment of the "bAlAmbikAm" in bhajarE rE citta, your observation is keen. He uses a very 'Hindustani' phrase (RG n n n R G...). In addition, I find it pleasing to sometimes sing a sangati with another 'forgotten' Kalyani phrase (RG d d d d G .....) at this juncture of the kriti. This phrase is also found in the 16th-century gita 'kamalajadala' by Purandaradasa.

'kamalAmbAm bhajarE' also combines various northern elements - e.g., at "kambujayagrIvAm" in the anupallavi.

SR