T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Carnatic Musicians
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rajeshnat
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Post by rajeshnat »

Certainly not the best of post to start on this great vidwan.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/12/07/stor ... 320600.htm
But hey we can always go backwards...

thanjavooran
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Post by thanjavooran »

' It was the year when Sangita Kalanidhi was for the first time to be conferred on a nagaswaram artiste. The senior-most artiste in the fraternity, Tiruveezhimizhalai Subramania Pillai was selected to receive the honour. Rajarathnam Pillai had been overjoyed for he had always fought for the recognition of and respect for nagaswaram artistes. He was however not fated to be present on the occasion. '

This reminds me of the remarks of SSI several years back in the MA that the curse of not honouring TNR and Mali still lingers the academy.

meena
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Post by meena »

Changed moi mind, deleted the articles i had collected and posted here :/
Last edited by meena on 24 Dec 2007, 08:36, edited 1 time in total.

N.R.Patanjali
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Joined: 20 May 2007, 18:56

Post by N.R.Patanjali »

Dear Meenaji,
I read this interesting piece. A print of this film ' Kalamegam' might be
available at the Film Institute, Pune. They have an archive.
with regards,

A.Pitchiah
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Joined: 24 Dec 2007, 16:36

Post by A.Pitchiah »

Hi,

I happen to be the son -in - law of Karukurichi P Arunachalam Mr.Kulkarni is refering to in his postings. I supplied to him the Radio - Ceylon program audio cassete and the photographs of the maestro with persons like Kamaraj, Shivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan. My mother - in - law is also residing with me. I shall be happy to share any of the anecdotes I might have of the maestro and also the musical experiences I have had, since I also happen to have met persons like Sheik C Moulana, Namagiripettai and AKC who have known closely KPA.

Regards to all the members of the group.

A.Pitchiah

rajumds
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Post by rajumds »

Welcome sir. We are eagerly waiting

new1
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Post by new1 »

Wow nice to know a close relative of a legendary musician is in this forum. Please do share your memories...thanks

kaapi
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Post by kaapi »

Image

kaashyab
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Post by kaashyab »

hello

I need biography or like that about TNR and please help me to find more audio of TNR I already heard audios in sangeethapriya.com and musicindiaonline.com
thanks

arasi
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Post by arasi »

kaapi,
Thank you for the picture.

ragam-talam
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Post by ragam-talam »

Great audio of the maestro singing - yes, singing!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=m3qeFviVVtI

arasi
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Post by arasi »

What great nAgasvarap piDigaL as the song progresses! You would not guess what is coming by merely listening to the pallavi of the song. Unique stuff.
I heard the first line as 'konjum kiLiyAL nI allavO'.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

kaashyab wrote:hello

I need biography or like that about TNR and please help me to find more audio of TNR I already heard audios in sangeethapriya.com and musicindiaonline.com
thanks
AIR has released an Audio Record from it's archive. This contains the details U R looking for.

musicmani4
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Joined: 01 Aug 2009, 18:09

Post by musicmani4 »

http://www.tamilnation.org/culture/musi ... thinam.htm
Nadaswara Chakravarthi
Thiruvaduthurai Rajarathinam Pillai (1898 - 1956)

Read this ...hairrising
*****************************
Another occasion happened to be the final day of the music festival in Thiruvaiyaru. That night the portrait of Saint Thiyagaraja would be carried in a decorated palaugu (palanquin) through the four main roads of Thiruvaiyaru to the accompaniment of nadaswaram music of nearly half a dozen group consisting of two to play on the nadaswaram and two to accompany them on the tavil (drum). That night after an hour’s time from the start Shri Rajarathinam played the raga Charukesi and the krithi Aada-modi. At the swara elaboration stage he wove on the nadaswaram an intricate pattern of swaras. This was just what the crowd was waiting for.

Shri Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai ( of immortal fame) took up the rhythm portion for his display on the tavil. The patterns he wove on the tavil that night were so ingenious and intricate in texture. Shri Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (the all time great mridhangam exponent) so enjoyed the great tala that he started keeping them with both his feet and both hands and seem to be dancing with joy. No wonder at the end of that display Mani Iyer went and pressed both the hands of Meenakshisundaram Pillai and paid his respects and admiration to him. Then turning to Shri Rajarathanam Pillai, Mani Iyer said who but you can invoke this grand display of tala by your challenging display on the nadaswaram
*********************************************************************

I also remember i have once read in vikatan about him...that he can perform "thodi" alapana the whole night !!

Rasika911
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Post by Rasika911 »

I really would like to listen to his famous thodi.

VK RAMAN
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Post by VK RAMAN »

Rasika911 wrote:I really would like to listen to his famous thodi.
Me too

coolkarni
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Post by coolkarni »

..
Last edited by coolkarni on 26 Aug 2009, 20:48, edited 1 time in total.

rrengamani
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Post by rrengamani »

coolkarni wrote:Will upload on sunday morning- too tired tonight.
Sir,

I am eagarly waiting for this.

RR

coolkarni
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Post by coolkarni »

...
Last edited by coolkarni on 26 Aug 2009, 20:46, edited 1 time in total.

rrengamani
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Post by rrengamani »

Sir,
Thank you verymuch.
RR

VK RAMAN
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Post by VK RAMAN »

Thank you coolkarniji.

rajeshnat
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Post by rajeshnat »

With the risk of repetition , the best tribute that I have heard for TNR is by mandolin shrinivas. He said that before his teenage years when he started mandolin, he was so mesemerized with TNR's todi that tOdi of TNR was the greatest inspiration for him to learn and excel mandolin.

BTW I would like to hear direct reports of any of the temple festivals that TNR and other vidwans have participated before 1960's. There was one interesting tribute told by my periappa, in some temple near kumbakonam- mayavaram belt, when the presiding diety is taken in a palanquin across big temple corridors,nAdaswara vidwans used to take rAgamAliga based mallAri's of just rAgam kalantha swaram. In that temple there was fairly large crowd , so the nAdaswara vidwans will take one rAga and exhaust all possibilities in one side of the temple say East, then south in another rAgA. Let us also remember that prakArams even though having fixed distance ,it is impossible to estimate the time for the palanquin to go around in each of the direction as there are variables like crowd number of times the palanquin has to be stopped, in this particular incident it went on for 1 hour 40 minutes across all four gopurams , that to me is the pinnacle of maNodharma saNgeetham, perhaps vainikas, flutist , vocalists and violinists cannot achieve and only nAdaswara vidwans can bring this kind of musical ecstasy.

thanjavooran
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Post by thanjavooran »

ThanQ Coolkarni avl,
Thanjavooran

coolkarni
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Post by coolkarni »

.
Last edited by coolkarni on 26 Aug 2009, 18:09, edited 1 time in total.

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Like coolkarni I am an unabashed admirer of TNR and I credit whatever musical listening intelligence I have acquired over the years,I owe it to the maestro. I was lucky to listen to four full live concerts--one on the radio in 1954 (two years before he died)--subsequently I have listened to several reel-to-reel recordings--I have a cassette(from one of those reel-to-reel recordings and I am now attempting to make a CD out of it--this cassette tape is itself atleast 25 years old-if I succeed I would be glad to upload the same(I am a technical luddite and I may need help on that!!).
I was in Madras on the day he died in Dec 1956 in Mylapore and the funeral procession was the largest I have ever witnessed--that included several film personalities,although TNR's dalliance on the silver screen was fleeting!! I have personally heard the likes of Semangudi,MSS ,GNB,Lalgudi et al going into raptures over his Manodhrama and how they would grab every opportunity to listen to him in the festivals etc. GNB himself has incorporated in his style the TNR brikhas and the Kuzhaivugal. TNR was the disciple of the famous Violinist Thirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer(Semmangudi's maternal uncle and the father-in-law of Semangudi's brother Vilolinist Semmangudi Narayanaswamy Iyer).According to TNR(in a radio interview in AIR Madras,) he learnt the art of using gamakam and the asaippu of the swarams(rather than the blunt method--it is difficult to put down in words-it can only be demonstrated vocally!!). He said that when Krishna Iyer asked him to play a phrase of the Raga Begada, he played the phrases without the gamakams in a flat tone--Krishna Iyer got angry and hit him slightly with his bow--TNR was was 8 or 10 years old(Krishna Iyer died in 1914-when he was 50 years old--TNR was 16 at that time) and naturally got incensed by the violent treatment and said he felt like retaliating but checked himself and how in later years the TNR Bani was laid on those strong foundation of Krishna Iyer. Later on whenever knowledgeable cognoscenti used to comment on how proud Krishna Iyer would have been to listen to his disciple, TNR in genuine humility(anybody who has read stories of TNR would hardly find him a humble wall-flower,so that instances of his humility although rare were truly genuine !!) is reported to have said in crude Tamil that what he has retained was Krishna Iyer's "nasal phlegm"(the tamil words were I believe Ayyarval Shindhi Pottadu!!).

Whether it was a Kambodhi or Kalyani or Charukesi,the gamakam(unlike the Nagaswara Vidwans of his time who play 'staccato' phrases without much pause between swarams) was his forte and his style was imitated by all the VOCALISTS-GNB,MSS--the opening of the raga itself would be a majestic phrase--unconventional but would get to the core of the raga in split second--the gramophone records--Thodi etc do not do full justice to the style and verve with which he played-he was known (whenever he was in a mood to play!!) to play for 4 hours or more. TNR knew/learnt very few krithis and always went with the tried and tested ones of the trinity--he basically believed Sahityam for instruments is irrelevant(the story goes when someone asked him about the Kalyani krithi Sivaguruparane--a brisk,robust piece in which he embellishes the raga during the Anupallavi with the support artiste holding the Kaarvai steadily and TNR producing his magic phrases traversing the three octaves!!) the sahityam for the song, he is reported to have said "SARAVANA BHAVANE ENRU VACCHHUKKA,SARIYA VANDAL EDUTHUKKA(translation: Assume it is Saravana bhava and if it fits the tala take it!!) .

he is credited with the long Nadaswaram and adopting a lower pitch than his contemporaries--Nadaswara Vidwans generally prefer Prathi madhyama Ragas--the reason given by one of the Vidwans in those times was that the covering of the hole will not be perfect leading to Apaswaram--TNR reportedly overcame this by filling the hole partially with just the right amount of wax(which he had perfected thro experimentation and innovation). Also another feautre of his playing was his mastery of the lower octave--the clarity of the lowest note(most Naedaswara Vidwans freely travers the middle and higher octaves but rarely go down to the Panchamam--TNR would touch the Ma in the lower octave in Kambodhi which will be 'pitch and tone- perfect.

TNR had a very large ego--naturally for a man of such awesome talent revered.respected and feared by his peers. I have seen him signing letters accepting engagement where the text will be a bout a third of the space but his signature will be "Nadaswara Chakravarthi Thiruvavduthurai N Rajarathnam Pilai-the Nadawswara Chakravarthi was in bold unmistakable letters--one can feel the maestro saying it aloud in his signature!!!

His Vetrilai Petti(betel Leaves Box)--silver was an outsized one,his entourage was always big,his dress was immaculate--the jewelry was sparkling(if I were a woman probably I would describe these appurtenances better!!).He always rode in "Pleasure" Cars--big sized sedans--when he was honored by the Govt of India in 1950(One of the earliest recipients of the award he turned away a GOI vehiclel whichwas to take him to the ceremony insisting that he be sent a limo and not an Ambassador--according to the late Critic Subbudu!!)-and when the lady who made the announcements in Rashtrapathi Bhavan truncated his name thinking that Raja was his first name and Rathnam was his last name kept on mentioning Mr.Rathnam in her address much to TNR's chagrin so much that when she finished her speech and requested Mr. Rathnam to rise up and receive the award from Rajendra Prasad,TNR did not budge from his seat as if she was calling some other person--after a pause when somebody whispered in the lady's ears that he should be addressed as Rajarathnam she corrected herself and then only TNR got up to receieve the award. Although he insisted on his titles being displayed properly he did not set much value by those accolades--he would rather have his peers comment on his music and praise than any formal award .To top it all,I believe when his Thodi mastery was mentioned(the word Thodi perhaps was butchered by the announcer),TNR played Kalyani and sat down much to the amusement of the cognoscenti assembled .

Another story pertaining to his obsessive attention to the parts of the instrument--especially the Shivali--the dried palm leaf reed--is very illuminating-- to be continued.

P.S. Readers I get carried away when TNR's name is mentioned. Much as I respect his prime disciple Karukurichi Arunachalam(who alone came close to the Master),TNR in my opinion to this day remains unsurpassed in the field of Nadaswaram--despite the passage of more than 50 years!! More later depending upon how much interest readers show!!

Svaapana
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Post by Svaapana »

I was too young when TNR was a super star. The few (live) concerts that I had heard was notable for (1) his penchant for elaboration in the mandhara sthayi (2) tavil accompanyist taking proportionally longer time (3) idiosyncrasies mentioned by others in this thread. All these were of course trivial because TNR would produce several magical moments in the raga alapana and present extremely pleasant and dramatic surprises. However, we used to be ecstatic listening to TNR's prime disciple KPA. He took us a to a different world when he played thodi for 25 minutes (non stop) without the tavil support! That was simple amazing.
Last edited by Svaapana on 04 Aug 2009, 06:10, edited 1 time in total.

coolkarni
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Post by coolkarni »

..
Last edited by coolkarni on 26 Aug 2009, 18:05, edited 1 time in total.

thanjavooran
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Post by thanjavooran »

coolkarni avl,
Many thanks for concluding part.
Thanjavooran

sr_iyer
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Post by sr_iyer »

Thanks for all the insightful posts.
Ramasubramanian wrote:Also another feautre of his playing was his mastery of the lower octave--the clarity of the lowest note(most Naedaswara Vidwans freely travers the middle and higher octaves but rarely go down to the Panchamam--TNR would touch the Ma in the lower octave in Kambodhi which will be 'pitch and tone- perfect.


Would like to add -- he has actually touched the lower shadjam in an RTP shanmukhapriya. I have a partial recording (not so good quality) from a cassette I made, and hence have included only an excerpt of a few seconds where he touches the lower sa.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=e4f6 ... f6e8ebb871
Last edited by sr_iyer on 06 Aug 2009, 09:59, edited 1 time in total.

rbharath
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Post by rbharath »

wow!

There is this tamil movie called 'mella tirandadu kadavu', in which the heroine is always showing her eyes alone to the hero. never once in the full movie, the hero gets to see the heroine's full face.

there is also this bhairavi padam, 'mugattai kATTi dEham muzhumaiyum kATTAmal'.


this file of TNR Playing shanmukhapriya, reminds me of such things...

rajeshnat
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by rajeshnat »

Lovely writeup from the archives of Hindu.
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article948529.ece

mankuthimma
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

http://www.mediafire.com/?yhxau6msclei3cf

Yesterday was his Death Anniversary . Passed away on Dec 12th 1956.
The link above , is of a 45 minute AIR presentation . It has a good sprinkling of his playing , his singing and much more .
A beautiful tribute .
I can put up a beautiful , hour long , RTP in Jayanthasree , if someone is interested.

thanjavooran
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by thanjavooran »

Shri mankuthimma,
Thanks a lot for the link. Interested to listen Jayanthasree too.
with wishes,
Thanjavooran 14 12 2010

mankuthimma
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

thanjavooran wrote: Interested to listen Jayanthasree too.with wishes,Thanjavooran 14 12 2010
here , it is.
http://www.mediafire.com/?jhh35na99h0h5yj

thanjavooran
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by thanjavooran »

Shri Mankuthimma,
Many thanks for prompt response.
Thanjavooran 14 12 2010

Venkatg
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Venkatg »

Thanks Cji for the RTP. Listened to it and have a couple of questions which probably the more knowledgeable experts from our forum can explain.

There is no doubt that he starts off with Jayantashree, shows some phrases of the popular thyagaraja krithi in the opening 3-5 minutes or so, but the raga alapana sounds more like hindolam at a lot of places. Hindolam , varamu, surya and jayantashree all seem to be quite close.

Even in the ragamalika he starts of the second raga with varali and then touches subhapantuvarali in higher octave. Is this swara bedham or closeness of these ragas?

There is no thanam played after the raga alapana its the pallavi.

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Mankuthiamma: Thanks for the Jayanthasree piece--I have never heard this before--In my early life I have listened to TNR's FOUR live concerts. Based on this experience and my "quizzing" Semmangudi Mama and Lalgudi Sir about TNR's techniques(sometimes much to the irritation of the musicians who probably wished I had asked them more about their techniques!!!) let me try to address how he has handled Jayanthasree.
Generally except for some brief raga alapana like Suddhaseemanthini(before the Janaki Ramana piece) TNR did not believe in elaboration of rare ragas--his criteria--as inculcated to him by his Guru Thirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer and practiced by his contemporary musicians like Ariyakudi,Musiri,Semmangudi et al-before you elaborate a raga make sure you either learn or hear several kritis in that raga. Although he himself did not actively learn many kritis even in the Gana ragas like ThodiKambodhi,Bhairavi,Sankarabharanam. but if you listen to his elaboration of these ragas he would have incorporated some of the key phrases of the raga as elucidated in several other krithis of Thyagaraja or Muthuswamy Dikshitar--for example his Thodi alaborations--if you watch closely-- would have the Arakimbave or jesinalla tella marachithivo ,rajuvedala or Kaddanavariki phrases embedded .

Given this how does one explain his handling of Jayanthasree in this piece with only one known song in it?

To me that explains TNR's genius--he can isolate the common phrases of Hindolam and Jayanthasri---dwell on them elaborately with an occasional foray into the Panchamam in the avarohanam.

If you listen carefully(and if you are as tolerant as I am of his occasional liberties that he takes at times) you would notice that against the conventional technique of repeated touching the Panchamam in the descent(Sa Ga Ma Dha Ni Sa----- Sa Ni Dha Ma Pa Ma Ga Sa ) he will dwell on the descent ending with the Ma(not touching the Panchamam) and delve into the lower octave upto the Ma(again not touching the Panchamam). What you should look for is the Kuzhaivus--how he "weaves" the swaras in the form of an intricate Kolam--when the lines are being drawn in Kolam --especially an intricate one-- if you observe you would be wondering what the kolam artist is attempting and when the piece is finished you would marvel at the architecture and appreciate the method followed by the Kolam artist.

Note that he uses the Sa Ga Ma phrase--in the ascent-(and not go to the Ni)-- sketches a Suddha Danyasi-like foray before he goes to the Panchamam.(Pa Ma ga Sa)

In fact the whole alapana should be a clinic for Vidyarthis--especially if you are a aficionado of Lakshyam in Music than Lakshanam- alone-TNR made no pretense of his disdain for Lakshanam--this permeated his whole attitude towards music--not a slavish adherence to Grammar(Lakshanam).

Example : In his Yochana Disc(Darbar) at the tail end when he does the usual flourish--typical of TNR-- he
shows a flourish of Nayaki(the difference being in Darbar you would sing on the Ascent--Sa Ri Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa whereas in Nayaki you would drag the Ni in the ascent,touch the Dha Pa as in the descent and then touch Mel Sadja). One of his admirers -- who was also a purist in his fidelity to Raga Lakshanam--asked TNR about the "stray" into Nayaki-- to which TNR is purported to have replied in Tamil "Nayaki Illama Oru Darbar Unda(Can there be a Darbar without a Nayaki--nice pun!!).

Apart from the Thyagaraja krithi in jayanthasree, MLV used to sing a Dasar Nama -- Sreedhara (lyrics fail me here,HELP!!) and GNB has sung the raga in his Sonnadai Seyda Sahasama Kiliye(the piece Thannilai Thadumari Tavikkurenadi)--the Thadumari portion reflects the Panchamam and then again in the Vennilavu Veesum vetta veli Thannil Annavan Enakkoru Asai Thandan Adi(Thandan).
The beauty of this piece(thanks to Mankuthimma) is that TNR has elaborated it nicely without feeling circumscribed by its limitation.

Sorry,I am such an aficionado of TNR that I could dwell on his music for hours--what little knowledge of Appreciation of our Music I have is derived from listening to him--however few and far between the occasions may have been!! In my opinion none of my contemporaries --who have had a chance to listen to him would be equivocal in their assessment of his genius!! The fact that there is no Nadaswaram Vidwan today who comes even close to TNR--almost 50 plus years after his death shows he was ONE OF A KIND!!!

Mankuthiamma,could you dig up from your archives his Charukesi or Kambodhi. They would be illustrative and educatve to our forum young vidyarthis!!.i

Music
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Music »

When it comes to allied ragas, sometimes I think we look at the raga rendering too critically (I don't mean Venkatg at all....just talking about allied ragas in general). When we look at related ragas like Saveri and Malahari etc., the fact is that there is commonality. E.g., when you sing/play Malahari, just because Saveri is more prominently heard, you cannot focus only on the distinguishing aspects of Malahari and ignore the phrases that overlap with Saveri. Part of the identity of Malahari is that is sounds like Saveri some parts. Does not make it any less of a Malahari. How much an artist should dwell on the commonality seems to become very subjective.

ksrimech
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by ksrimech »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:MLV used to sing a Dasar Nama -- Sreedhara (lyrics fail me here,HELP!!)
Its is a composition of maisUrU vAsudEvAchAriAr. It probably is the one of the twelve songs he composed on the kESavAdi dvAdasa nAmas as I'm able to identify the other 11. I don't know whether he really composed it in that sense.

pallavi:
shrIdhara pAhi dayAkara vEda sugOcara giridhara
anupallavi:
yAdava varada parAtpara pAda natAmara sukhakara
charaNam:
bhUsurAdi pAlana para vAsudEva muraLIdhara
bhAsura maNi bhUSaNa nAgAsura hara dAmOdara

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Thank you ksrimech!!! When one has the rasikas Forum WHY does one need Wikipedia or Google search!!!!

mankuthimma
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

MKR
Thanks . I with have embedded your comments into the track with your name .
Millions of years down the line , when somebody unearths this track in an alien environment , and listen ,it will pop out with your comments scrolling on their screens . A fine choice of words describing immortal Music . And marvel at the beauty of it all. As I do now .

Yes I will come back with your requests and much more of TNR , as the demands pour in . I have the full backing of their family to use this music as I wish . ( obviously, if it has not been published )
Hopefully I will be getting Karaikurchi's Son-in-law tomorrow to the meet.He is a good friend of mine and has pampered me with TNR - Karaikurchis Music.
Guess what ? I have been telling all my commercial-label-friends that, Here is a family that is willing to sign on any dotted line to publish this music for pittances , but still I have failed to elicit responses . Failed for years . And here you come with such fine tributes .
So much is wrong with our world today . :|
We can run this TNR thread just with thodi until you move into your 80s , and the rest of it all until you hit a century .

RTP's... Someone asked a question about thanam.
I have never really come across a typical Thom Nom kind of Thanam . Or atleast something resembling that , and which is neatly placed between an alapana and a Pallavi. Your assessment about the Laskshyam and Lakshanam may have a bearing with the method they use , switching to a ragamalika after longish alapanas . Which go back and forth in phases ,interspersed with Thavil playing .
I will come back with those tracks.
Last edited by mankuthimma on 18 Dec 2010, 18:32, edited 5 times in total.

mankuthimma
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:Thank you ksrimech!!! When one has the rasikas Forum WHY does one need Wikipedia or Google search!!!!
And horror of horrors , I forgot to attach a face to this name , recently . So unpardonable of me .

mankuthimma
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Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

ksrimech wrote: Its is a composition of maisUrU vAsudEvAchAriAr.
Three tracks to go along with the lyrics
http://www.mediafire.com/?33c7l4382sr89

mankuthimma
Posts: 912
Joined: 11 Jul 2010, 13:38

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by mankuthimma »

http://www.mediafire.com/?83n7fls69asjdzg

Concert with a major khamboji .
MKR
I did not have the courage to apply the scissors and prise out the Khamboji alone .Where should one apply the markers in the software ???
The concerts are such prime examples of a long and majestic thought process , that winds its way like a river . It is very difficult to understand when the actual Khamboji starts or ends .
And so I have put up the full track that I have . I have 42 such amazing concert excerpt tracks and we could cover all of them , if you have the time and patience to feed our indulgences . Even if required over months and years .
Until then I will keep looking for Charukeshi , which is going to be more difficult than the Khamboji .
Last edited by mankuthimma on 18 Dec 2010, 18:31, edited 2 times in total.

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Dear Mankuthiamma: THANKS A MILLION--POSTERITY WILL THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DISSEMINATION,DISCERNMENT OF OUR GREAT CARNATIC MUSIC.
I HAVE NOT LISTENED TO THE KAMBODHI PIECE YET--SOMETIMES THE MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOADS DO NOT WORK PROPERLY IN MY COMPUTER--DON'T WORRY--IT IS DUE TO MY DIGITAL IGNORANCE.

TNR's handling of Kambodhi is my favorite discussion topic--I WILL REVERT AFTER I HAVE SOLVED MY DIGITAL PROBLEM!!!

THANKS AGAIN FOR TAKING THE EFFORTS TO REVIVE TNR'S MUSIC AND YOUR EAGERNESS TO MAKE IT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.

fduddy
Posts: 243
Joined: 07 Jun 2010, 18:16

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by fduddy »

MKR

mediafire d/l are getting to be difficult these days. I have struggled with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. But recently found this works wonderfully well if d/l from google chrome. NO ERRORS. Suggest you d/l the google chrome engine to d/l in future !

bilahari
Posts: 2631
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:02

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by bilahari »

Sri MKR, here is a cArukEsi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsxVTT0BBlE

The accent on the nishAdam is curious!

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Bilahari: Thanks for the Charukesi piece--I had it in my archives and had lost it--when I first heard it almost 30 years ago I was impressed by his flawless rendering--despite some heavy Brigas traversing 2 octaves--like an intricate roller-coastal ride ---hearing that -- used to remind me of a circus spectator watching with trepidation and fear a trapeze artist performing w/o a safety net marvelling it at the alacrity but at the same time fearful that he may "trip" and fall!!

Yes the Nishadam is handled slightly differently--instead of a text-book Shanmughapriya Nishadam--that in my opinion was his genius--the ability to drop a key swara and still retain the charm of the raga. In this piece despite it being a Melakartha Raga with all the 7 notes in Krama Sampurnam, TNR refuses to be tied down to the conventional presentation and even in the lower octaves he uses the Ga Ma Ga Ga Ri Sa as commonly used in kambodhi(Note the Sarasija Varnam in Kambodhi in the Chittaswaram Ma Ga Ga Ri Ri Sa). It is conventional wisdom that one has to learn many kritis in a Raga before embarking upon elaborate Alapana--but TNR was an exception--the only kriti he has known is Adamodi Gala De--yet in this clip he has let his imagination "fly" and persons who may have known several kritis in Charukesi could not have explored the "nooks-and-cranies" as well as the "Contours" of Charukesi as TNR has done in this clip.

I have always summoned the courage to ask the contemporaries-- Semmangudi Mama, MS MamiGNB Sir Lalgudi Sir,TKM sir .MLV Amma as to what they thought of TNR's music--all of them were unequivocal in their praise and admiration of TNR and how each one of them sometimes unobtrusively and sometimes straightforwardly will attend his concerts and come back marvelling "where does that imagination come from? All of them if one notes carefully have imbibed his raga delineation technique in their own performances.

On a lighter side the collage of pics attached to the Video Clip reveals some facets of what TNR was like-- the pic where he is seated aside a mirror and seems to enjoy his reflection in the mirror-- a kind of self-adulation and never failed to point out how far superior he was compared to his contemporaries.

An anecdote--I may have posted it early in this thread--nevertheless I will repeat the same here.
In one of the pics in the collage shows TNR playing with Kulikkarai Pichaiappa and Thiruvudamarudur Veerusamy Pillai--TNR considered it an insult to have anybody else--especially Veerusamy play next to him or with him.
Once when Ariyakudi celebrated his daughter's wedding in the late Thirties in Kumbakonam,there were a whole lot of Senior Vidwans attending the wedding including Superstar(of that time MKT)--both TNR and Veerusami Pillai had come for the wedding--some of the rasikas milled around Ariakudi cajoling him to request TNR and Veerusami Pillai (who both had come for the wedding) play duet. Ariyakudi knowing TNR's ego-although ARI was atleast 10 years older-- did not encourage the idea. However the rasiks pestered him and with great reluctance and ven trepidaton approaches TNR and says plaintively(ARI was known for his plaintive approach to all his rasikas not wanting to hurt their feelings!!)--Neengalum Veerusamy Pillai avargalum shendu vasikkanam enru ellorum virumbarargal(rasikas want you and veerusamy Pillai play together ). TNR is taken aback by the suggestion and even gets a little irate but calms down and in the same plaintive voice like ARI says "Enakkum Romba Nala Oru Asai Irukku(for me too there is a longstanding desire).. ARI asks what is that desire-- TNR says "Neengalum MKT yum shendu padanam (he equated Veerusamy Pillai with MKT!!!)

ARI embarassed does not know what to say and feels put upon by the rasikas blaming himself for listening to them knowing how TNR would react to the suggestion. TNR then comes down and says almost in disgust and contempt "Sari Sari Avanai vadyathai eduthuttu vara chollunga(OK OK Ask him to bring his instrument.)
That's WHY that pic in the collage with Veerusamy Pillai standing next to TNR but not playing is an archival pic!!!!

rahm221
Posts: 73
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 09:08

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by rahm221 »

Unfortunately Mankuthimma's recent uploads to mediafire have vanished. Could someone reupload the Kambodhi concert and the one in three parts please.

venkatakailasam
Posts: 4170
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: T N Rajarathnam Pillai

Post by venkatakailasam »

A one hour concert by TNR..

001-Concert-055-TN Rajamanickam Pillai.mp3 - 58.9 Mb


Another one TN Rajaratnam pillai-Concert I hour 53mts.,

002-TN Rajaratnam pillai-Concert-053.mp3 - 104.8 Mb

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