T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Carnatic Musicians
srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

Who is the ghatam vidwan in this recording?

rkiran
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Post by rkiran »

chetants wrote:MVI's playing would put some of today's Mrudanga vidwans to shame.
Couldn't have said it better!

thanjavooran
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Post by thanjavooran »

matterwaves,
Many thanx.
thanjavooran

grsastrigal
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Post by grsastrigal »

matterwaves
Superb one, I will preserve this as one of the greatest collections of CM, I have.. Thanks..

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

matterwaves wrote:ok here is the second clip!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mv4g8q

Just a torrent of creativity and imagination. What brilliance! just incredible!
What else can one add!! No word is superlative enough. Just amazing stuff.

When I thought I can not have anything more, there comes a surprise: Mukhari !

ragam-talam
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Post by ragam-talam »

matterwaves wrote:Here it goes...i have three more files to upload for the entire concert. Shankarabharana is incomplete.. sorry for the rasabhanga
Thanks for the uploads.
One comment: right at the start of S'bharanam, there's a Yadukulakambodhi phrase that Mali begins with. Did anyone else notice that?

ravimandalam
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Post by ravimandalam »

matterwaves,
Bless you! I read about this very rare concert in a Tamil magazine at the Delhi Tamil Sangham library more than 30 years ago. Many years later, I happened to see a photograph of the concert in the Shruti magazine - it can also be seen at this website on another thread. I never thought I would ever get to hear this 'out of the world' concert during my lifetime. The ghatam vidwan is Vilvamangalam Vilvadri Iyer. The concert, if I recall the story correctly, was arranged impromptu when the vidwans had gathered at the Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidwat Samajam in Mylapore for some other function. I do not know who was the rasika who took the trouble to record the concert, we all have to be grateful to him.

mahesh3
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Post by mahesh3 »

matterofwaves, one cannot thank you enough. the beautiful thing in this concert is how chembai and MVI enjoy mali's genious.....such generosity, and lofty encouragement....true rasikas indeed!

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

rkiran wrote:I've never heard Chembai play the violin or MVI play the mridangam; never even knew that they could! While the violin is pretty subdued, MVI seems to have done an excellent job keeping up with Mali's kannakus and general esoteric meanderings.

Sri CVB's ability to play the violin is not that much of a secret - he once accompanied Smt. MSS IIRC...It is possible that Cienu may be in a position to explain more. MVI is certainly a revelation!
Last edited by rshankar on 25 Jan 2010, 04:19, edited 1 time in total.

annamalai
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Post by annamalai »

I have heard this concert recording (tape version) a while back. The photo also came in Sruti magazine of Mali - CVB and MVI and Vilvadhri Iyer. It is a superb concert by Mali of course.

The quality of mridangam is superb.
With due respects to MVI, a great vocalist no dobut, I am not sure if he was a mridangist of such calibre and such quality accompaniment for Mali.

I have heard Neyveli Santhanagopalan and Vijya Siva accompany some musicians on mridangam briefly.

grappelli
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Post by grappelli »

I had found the photograph of this concert sometime back and ever since I was curious about this concert. Glad that I got to finally hear it, the chemistry between the artists is fabulous (MVI's accompaniment in particular stands out).

Here's the photograph that some people were mentioning (to enhance your listening pleasure and to encourage matterwaves to post the remaining parts :))

Image

matterwaves
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Post by matterwaves »

Part 3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hdg889

Part 4:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j9lren


Apologies for for making you folks wait. I was running a horrible connection. better late than never, esp in this case :-) !
The whole of this recording is about the brilliance of mali, exuberance of his youth. The other recordings i have heard of him seem to be of his later years..they are more poignant and introspective.

The Kapi RTP in this recording somehow isn't the same class as shankarabharana/bilahari or mukhari. May be a slight dip in form!

Enjoy

rkiran
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Joined: 05 Aug 2009, 23:44

Post by rkiran »

grapelli, Thanks very much for the picture - yes, it does make the listening experience better!

matterofwaves, Haven't yet listened to the last two parts. Will do so today. Nevertheless, thanks again for sharing this truly one-of-a-kind treasure with all of us.

thenpaanan
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Post by thenpaanan »

grappelli wrote:I had found the photograph of this concert sometime back and ever since I was curious about this concert. Glad that I got to finally hear it, the chemistry between the artists is fabulous (MVI's accompaniment in particular stands out).

Here's the photograph that some people were mentioning (to enhance your listening pleasure and to encourage matterwaves to post the remaining parts :))

...
It is intriguing (to me) that Chembai is holding the violin in his hand rather than resting it on his foot. This could have been just a momentary pose for the photograph but I have not known any other CM violinist (with the exception of the LS brothers) to hold the violin thus while playing. Have there been other CM violinists that also did this?

I had listened to the verbal encouragements on the audio but now I see Mali looks really young in this picture. He must have been some ferocious talent (even more than the level of stupendous playing already on display) for the three "jambhavans" on stage to agree to play for a stripling and then with such enthusiasm and obvious pleasure.

Also goes to show that the CM world was not all hierarchy and orthodoxy, even though sometimes it may look that way.

Thanks, both for the audio uploads and this pictures. Tremendously inspiring.

-Then Paanan

ragam-talam
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Post by ragam-talam »

The mridangam seems to be sitting on the lap of MVI. Is this the typical positioning of this instrument?

Thanks for sharing the great music.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

On top of your observations on Violin and Mridangam, let me throw in an observation about the flute itself. I felt that the sruthi was around 6.5 and we can see that in the picture. The flute looks to be relatively small which is a characteristic of a high pitched flute. Anything smaller, it will be a Piccolo.

rkiran
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Post by rkiran »

I just cannot stop listening to the Shankarabharanam kalpana swaras in part 2. Mali has managed to add a whole new dimension to "kalpana" in kalpanaswaras. What a performance! Wow!

Matterwaves, can't thank you enough for sharing this concert.

Nick H
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Post by Nick H »

I have to echo the words, "can't thank you enough".

I'm a newcomer to Mali --- and really taken aback. Nice quality for such an old recording too.

Nick H
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Post by Nick H »

chetants wrote:MVI's playing would put some of today's Mrudanga vidwans to shame.
It's hard to take one's ears of Mali, and, obviously, the recordist has concentrated upon him too --- but there were moments when I found my self listening to mridangam finger work so fast and smooth that it rivalled the continuity of the flute. And this was not chapu, with its sustained nadam to fill the gaps, but meetu, succesive nam strokes played like a drum roll.

I've just finished my third listening to this concert --- and I am feeling almaost like I've been listening to a new kind of music!

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

>I am feeling almaost like I've been listening to a new kind of music!

Nick, I get the same feeling too. Mali's music always had that vibe and in this case it is an order of magnitude more so. Deep, unbridled enthusiasm and creativity along with some musical mirth.

ravimandalam
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Post by ravimandalam »

The Mali-CVB-MVI concert is noteworthy for one more reason. It is perhaps the earliest concert recording of Sri Mali currently available. In style it is reminiscent of Mali’s initial playing phase of the 1940s and 50s that marked him as a prodigy - brilliant manodharma, super fast brigas and sancharas, continuity in play and a phenomenal display of technical wizardry over the instrument. I am strongly reminded of his 78 RPM discs of those days - Evarani (Nadachintamani) and Ninuvina (Navarasakannada).

It is in stark contrast to his style in later years of which there are more than a dozen live concert recordings available both in the Web domain and commercially. His later style was marked by slow and sedate playing of ragas often lingering on a single note for several seconds and punctuated by long pauses filled in only by the drone of the tambura. The playing of krithis were often in chowka kalam compared to the brisk tempo of his earlier renderings. Some ragas disappeared from his playing list in later years. I have heard elders speak glowingly of his Thodi and Kharaharapriya alapana and his playing of the Thyagaraja krithi "Kaddanu Variki"

Nick H
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Post by Nick H »

As I don't actually listen to very much music at home, and don't do much downloading, I have no idea what prompted me to download this --- but I'm so glad I did.

Most of the links in this thread have expired, but I found one alapana (was it Mohara?) posted by Coolkarni, that was also a great delight. Perhaps more of the later style as described by ravimandalam?

My wife recently impulse-bought a CD, called, simply "Flute". She would not have recognised the artist's name. It made interesting listening, and when I looked at the cover, I said, "Oh! This is Flute Mali! He was so famous, but I don't know his music at all...". And here I am...

rkiran
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Post by rkiran »

The oldest (tagged) concert bits I've found of Mali are from 1956 in this thread: http://www.geetham.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32319

Here is an AIR Trichy recording from 1960: http://sangeethamshare.org/mpmohan/Sri. ... richy-1960

ragam-talam
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by ragam-talam »

Interesting tidbits on Mali in this article: Flute Mali - A trail-blazer by T.M. Sivaraman
"Mali never had formal training in music. His mother taught him the rudiments of Carnatic music."
"Though not formally educated, he was brilliant in English. He could talk authoritatively on any subject in addition to music."
"Another little known fact about Mali was that he was a great carrom player and frequently used to play carrom at our home."

thanjavooran
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by thanjavooran »

Yes his knowedge in EngIish was enormous and I have read his views in Letters to the Editor column in Hindu during early sixties.

Thanjavooran

kapali
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by kapali »

Here is a note about Mali from my brother's reminisences of his days at Kumbakonam in 1930's

kapali
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by kapali »

In my hurry I forgot to put up the actual anecdote! Here it is ---kapali



" Early in one morning in 1938, my uncle, the famous Bangalore Krishna Baghavathar,

(an exponent of harikatha which he could render with equal fluency in Tamil and Kannada )

arrived at our house in Kumbakonam bringing along with him a man and his young son

( aged around 13 to 14 years ). They looked a little rustic and were complete strangers to all

the youngsters in the family. My elder brother was about the same age as the boy and

we were still younger. A couple of days later they had arranged for a flute recital of the

boy in the veranda of a house. A jamakhana spread on the road and a 'pandhal' overhead

made up the auditorium. This was the customary way of arranging music performances in those

days and we could squat wherever there was room on the road. Public address systems

were then unknown and we got to hear music in its purest form.

It so happened that the flute maestro, Palladam Sanajeeva Rao was also scheduled to

perform on the same road but a distance away. The audience at this 'Cutcheri ' were elderly

persons most of whom were tradition oriented and well versed in the knowledge of Carnatic

music whereas the audience at the other consisted of mostly youngsters who had flocked in

just to see how a boy hardly in his teens could play a difficult instrument. There were some

die-hard critics too who were just curious to know what sort of music this urchin was going to

unfold in carnatic music.

What followed from the flute of this little boy was totally different from the existing norms of a

flute recital hitherto known. His manner of handling the flute had a charm of its own. One never

thought that this instrument can bring out all the essence of carnatic music in such a pleasing style.

We, the youngsters of the family could only see a vast difference in the playing of the flute in a

a new plane. The crowd applauded in gusto after every song he played.


Palladam's cutcheri having ended earlier, his audience along with Palladam himself

came over to the other venue to hear the final portion of the boy's performance. It left no body in doubt that the

boy's recital had the approbation of Palladam. When the recital ended, Palladam came over to the dais

expressing his happiness at the boy's performance and finally said to the boy " You are an avthar of Lord Krishna

himself".

Perhaps this was not the boy's first performance in public. But certainly every body knew that here was a

genius in the making. The rest is history. I have taken it for granted that you would have all by now guessed that

the boy was none other than 'flute mali' "

(From the notings of)

T.K.Nagarajan

rshankar
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by rshankar »

WOW!! Thank you for sharing!

Nick H
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Nick H »

That is a wonderful story.

There is something very touching, and perhaps humbling to the rest of us too, when established genius not only recognises emerging, young genius, but publicly acknowledges it too

What a magical memory.

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Mali for all his unconventional behavior on stage was one of the most devoted family member and a dutiful son--being the eldest he ensured that he helped his parents meet all their parental obligations towards his siblings--In the early fifties,-when he was not even thirty years old--he took his parents to Benares for a pilgrimage as a dutiful son-- via Bombay(where he had a concert)--we had invited him and his parents to our house(incidentally this was one of the concerts that he made amends for for an earlier disappointing performance --more on this later!!) and he was a charmer when he wants to be--very knowledgeable,introspective and always challenged deeply-ingrained notions about music.

His practicing style was unique and literally shocked me when I was about 11 years old. He used to live in Bazaar Road in Mylapore in the late forties(a neighbor of T.N.Krishnan in those days). I had gone with my uncle who was an Exec. Committee member of the Shanmukhanda Sabha Bombay to fix up a concert by him(Mali).The house itself was one of those old type of houses with low entrance(if you do not watch it you would bump your head into it!)-i there was a verandah(more a "thinnai" than a verandah!!). There was a window in the room facing the road--when one passes by the house one can hear flute wafting over thro the window. When we approached the house we heard sounds of practice with the (sruthi--the bellows-type) providing a gentle back drop. When we entered the room,we saw Mali Sir lying on his back with head slightly elevated by a pillow with the sruthi box close to the opposite wall and with mali Sir pressing the bellows with his foot strumming the sruthi(apparently he did not have anybody around to assist him with the Sruthi Box!!!). My first reaction to my uncle was How could you tell me that I will not succeed in School if I accidentally lay my foot on a book or instrument--Look what Mali Sir does and he has all the Kadaksham(grace) of Goddess Saraswathi !!
His English was excellent and nobody could drop a hyperbole better than him--after a debacle of a concert
the previous time he was in Bombay--it was held in a specially-erected pandal in the Don Bosco High School grounds in Matunga--I think with TNK and PMI--from the beginning he was totally inebriated and could not ven finish the varnam which turned out to be a motley of different varnams, Anupalavi and Charanams!!! The audience was restless with catcalls and shouts--finally PMI whispered into mali's ears to finish off the concert(just 1 hour after the concert started). before he could get up and get off the dais a couple of irate rasikas literally stormed the stage and were about to hit him--one of them removed his chappal and was about to hit him--my uncle literally shielded him from the irate fan--the chappal blow landed on my uncle's shoulder and they managed to whisk him away in a Car and took him out of the scene-- in this confusion,one of the committee members noticed that one of the irate fans grabbed the flute box and started running towards the rail road tracks behind the School(Bombay forumites would know the line line runs between King's Circle and Vadala and literaly hugs the contours of the High School).The fan wanted to put the flute box in the rail tracks--the Committee member caught up with the fan,pleaded with him not to "punish" the instrument. The fan relented and the flute was saved.

tailpiece: Mali returns to Chennai paying his own fare and then writes a beautiful repentant and contrite letter to my father apologising and pleading that he may be given another chance and that he would not only make amends for his lapses but promising the concert would be an earth-shaking affair to be talked about forever!! True to his promise he returned 6 to 8 months later and gave a 3 and half hour soul-stirring performance!!!


Mali Sir was not too thrilled when Ramani lowered his sruthi to almost 3 kattai(from the 5 to 5and half kattai that he(Mali) himself adopted as his norm. He had tremendous respect for Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu(Violin) and he had Mangathayaru(Dwaram's daughter) accompany him for a series of concerts after Dwaram died(she was a very good violinist no doubt but not getting much "publicity traction" in the corridors of Chennai then!!!).

In my formative years,Mali's music and imagination captivated me to no end and helped me immensely to improve my discernment notwithstanding all the antics one had to endure in the process!!

thenpaanan
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by thenpaanan »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:...
When we entered the room,we saw Mali Sir lying on his back with head slightly elevated by a pillow with the sruthi box close to the opposite wall and with mali Sir pressing the bellows with his foot strumming the sruthi(apparently he did not have anybody around to assist him with the Sruthi Box!!!). ...
Signs of genius! Like Mozart and Ramanujan (to take two examples), Mali was focused on his art so much that social norms became secondary. Normal individuals including musicians would worry about (i) looking bad or (ii) losing saraswati kaTAksham and thereby musical ability and spend their energy trying to solve the problem within normal parameters which may well be impossible. A genius on the other hand finds the shortest way to the solution ignoring these considerations because his mind seems to have unusual focus and clarity when it comes to the chosen avocation.

Not to equate the two but the HM singer Ulhas Kashalkar as a young musician was reputed to have practised his singing while playing table bAyA (left hand drum) with his left hand and pumped the sruti box with his right because he could not find/afford a tabla and tanpura player in those days and electronic versions were not available. Any lesser individual would have given up or compromised.

-Then Paanan

kapali
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by kapali »

Herewith I am posting further anecdotes about Mali from the notings that my brother T.K.Nagarajan sent me today about his reminiscenses from yester years at Bangalore especially during the annual Ramanavami music festival at Seshadripuram there :

"I have a few more interesting incidents of Mali’s flute recitals but then I had refrained from writing about them as I lacked expertise in the field of carnatic music without which I thought my narration would not be complete. However, my brother Kapali opined that if these incidents were to throw some light on the personality of Mali, it is worthwhile to make them known to the younger generation of the music rasigas, as they would had heard the virtuoso’s recordings but would not have seen him perform live. With this perspective in view, let me try to venture into my vivid memories of the years 1950 to 1960.

In the early fifties, in a concert at the Town Hall, Bangalore, Mali was accompanied by two budding artists on the violin and the mirdangam. The violinist who was just 16 years old should have had a lot of courage to play as as an accompanist to Mali. After the completion of the alapana of a “Ragam, thanam, pallavi piece’, Mali was a couple of minutes into the “ thanam “,when he stopped playing, lingered for a while and slowly put down the flute. There was palpable suspense in the audience who were wondering what went wrong in the midst of what was a captivating performance of the three artists thus far. He then turned to the mirdangist and demonstrated the tala with his hands to enable him to follow the trend. Then signaling to the violinist to stop playing, he went through the entire thanam with the accompaniment of mridangam alone. We, in the audience feared the worst; if by chance the violinist would have to suffer the ignominy of having to watch the rest of the proceedings seated on the dais. But then when Mali started the pallavi, he gestured to the violinist to join them. The crowd was not only over awed by the manner in which Mali deftly handled a delicate situation but also the spirit in which Mali’s intervention was taken by the accompanists. The entire audience showed their appreciation of the whole episode by a happy round of applause. It took quite a time for the hubble– bubble to die down. The pallavi that followed was a hit.
Cutcheries at Seshadripuram High School Grounds in Bangalore were not only a treat to music lovers but also to the artists as well. The ground was huge and bare without a blade of grass, as it was used as a playing ground by the school. During Ramavavami festival, the school was closed for holidays and in the late evenings and night during this season carnatic music concerts were held. The Society which arranged this music festival consisted of selfless workers who went door to door in Seshadripuram and surrounding residential areas for collecting funds and thus made the concerts free for public. Once in an interlude in MLV’s concert, her husband ‘Vikatan Krishnamurthy’ said “ I hear that this music festival is run efficiently by the members of a Society. This is an achievement by itself as I have known many cases where certain members calling themselves as pillars of the Society, turned out to be actually caterpillars eating into the funds of the society”. I realise that I am digressing but then I felt that such instances would give an idea of the care-free atmosphere in which such cutcheries were held in those days.
When one aimed to attend a concert of Mali, he or she should be prepared for all unforeseen things. Chances of the concert being cancelled could not be ruled out. ‘When’ Mali would arrive at the venue was anybody’s guess. When once Mali made an appearance, the crowd would settle down and wait patiently for the concert to begin. Then the accompanists would start tuning their instruments. Fortunately, the flute was free from this ordeal. The next would be the wait for Mali to take-up the flute. There would be a hush in the ambience with the crowd eagerly waiting for some sound to emanate from the flute. Mali, after what looked an eternity would then play a single note and put down the flute, keeping everybody guessing. After this initial hiccup, carnatic music in all its splendor would unfold.
In a concert at the Seshadripuram grounds Mali did not arrive at the scheduled time. The crowd after having waited for nearly an hour, was about to disburse when Mali made his appearance and the concert began around 7 PM. After four hours down the line, when we thought that the concert was coming to an end, he began the ‘ragam, thanam, pallavi’ in the raga ‘kalyani’. The thanam was like an English band, the like of which we had not heard before. It was past midnight when this elaborate piece ended. Immediately thereafter, he played the mangalam and thus ended a memorable concert lasting over 5 hours.
Once N.Kesi, the noted flautist who was the first cousin of Mali happened to visit us. She told us that Mali, his brother and she had together undergone a period of training from a guru when they were young. She then remarked “We had the same training but see where Mali is now! He is there on top of the ladder and I am down here”. A real tribute!!

T.K.Nagarajan

Sivaramakrishnan
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Mali adopted a '5 kattai pitch' and it sounded extraordinary.
Present day flute vidwans use a comfotable 2-3 kattai.
None has satisfactorily answered my question as to what is the problem with Mali's pitch!
I have listened to Smt. Navaneetham using 5 kattai but with a different impact.

N Ramani has always been in the 2.5-3 range since I started listening to him. Shashank who played at 5 initially switched over to lower pitches and now he plays at 1 kattai!

Everybody hails Mali's magic but seems to attempt his appraoch!

Can anyone explain :^)

Sivaramakrishnan
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

I had said in my earlier post:
"Everybody hails Mali's magic but seems to attempt his approach!"

Please read it as:
"Everybody hails Mali's magic but doesn't seem to attempt his approach!"
:!:

cacm
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by cacm »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote:Mali adopted a '5 kattai pitch' and it sounded extraordinary.
Present day flute vidwans use a comfotable 2-3 kattai.
None has satisfactorily answered my question as to what is the problem with Mali's pitch!
I have listened to Smt. Navaneetham using 5 kattai but with a different impact.

N Ramani has always been in the 2.5-3 range since I started listening to him. Shashank who played at 5 initially switched over to lower pitches and now he plays at 1 kattai!

Everybody hails Mali's magic but seems to attempt his appraoch!

Can anyone explain :^)
5 Kattai is FAR MORE DIFFICULT to play properly but if its done right like MALI was able to do variations in speed- very fast to very slow- as well as PRECISION in swarasthanam can be astounding. Actually Mali considered 5 kattai is the one for flute & felt strongly that lower ones like 2.5, 1 etc not proper....VKV

Ponbhairavi
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Ponbhairavi »

I agree with cacm.
the same holds good in the case of bhajanai also. In olden days bhagavathars used to sing in3 kattai sruthi and even 5 kattai.. So the divyanamabhajan ( of course mikeless) in the silence of the night used to be heard in the whole street of the bhajanaimatam and had an electrifying impact on the audience. To-day most bhajanai bhagavathars sing in 1 kattai or even less. with minimum exertion.. the mike amplifies the apaswarams and the overall effect is cacophony. This is what brought bad name to bhanai singing.
But even to-day there are bhagavathars of the old guard who sing in 2kattai( Like Nadukavery shri krishnamurthy bhagavathars ) who do not accept any money for doing Namasangeerthanam, and those who listen to him get the unforgettable experience of real devotion.

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

I agree with VKV. Mali Sir was very ambivalent when Ramani Sir lowered his sruthi and I know expressed private reservations about the move. Can anyone who has heard Mali in person or thro recordings deny how at the 5 kattai sruthi his long Karvais(bereft of any hisses or breath pauses) would simply mesmerize the audience!!
I am not a Physicist like VKV but I bet if you were to "chart" Mali Sir's Karvais with the Mel Shadjam,there would be hardly any oscilations but simply tonal purity of the highest order.

cacm
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Joined: 08 Apr 2010, 00:07

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by cacm »

MALI'S FLUTE PLAYING & IN SHORT HIS MUSIC IS UNPARALLED! TECHNICALLY, MUSICALLY & OTHERWISE UNBELIEVABLE & CERTAINLY A MUSICAL "AVATHARAM" IN A MUSICAL SENSE.....Those who knew & came into contact with him can NEVER FORGET how fortunate they were.......VKV

Niranjan Damle
Posts: 30
Joined: 18 Jan 2009, 18:37

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Niranjan Damle »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote:I had said in my earlier post:
"Everybody hails Mali's magic but seems to attempt his approach!"

Please read it as:
"Everybody hails Mali's magic but doesn't seem to attempt his approach!"
:!:
Hello rasikas,
My name is Niranjan and i had been following this topic on Flute Mali since few months. I have been learning flute (5-1/4 kattai) since 1989 under the tutelage of Sri. B. Shankara Rao of Bangalore. In my knowledge, our school of music may be the very few of those practicing the lineage of 5 kattai shruti for flute.

I would like to attempt answering the question as to why Mali's 5 kattai shruti is not used nowadays by flautists.

The main reason (as i've known) for popular flautists to shift to lower shruti is that playing in 5 kattai doesn't leave scope for them to perform with other instrumentalists and vocalists who mostly sing/ play in the 1 to 3 kattai range (like veena-venu ensembles or for bharathanatyam accompaniment). To those who would want options to play with variety of shrutis, this may be seen as a disadvantage. As one of you has pointed out, the tonal quality of the 5 kattai flute is unquestionably the best. And when it would come from a legend like Mali, then it was for the Gods to hear! For a 5 kattai flute, a very good intensity of blowing is required. Due to the size of the flute, distance between the finger holes, the sound produced while transiting from one swara to another is very sharp. While playing the 'birka' or the fast notes, there is no smudging of swaras. (of course, immense practice also is required to master this).

In my own experience, the richness of sound a 5 kattai shruti flute produces is way ahead than lower shrutis. One of our rasikas has precisely explained this using the physics background. Beyond this, it is for our own soul to judge the comparison between the two.

cacm
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Joined: 08 Apr 2010, 00:07

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by cacm »

You are right. Having learnt flute myself, apart from the points you have raised IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO blow properly as well as maintain the finger positionong as well as partial hole closings at 5 & above Kattai. It is Mali's blowing technique as well as his GENIUS that REVOLUTIONISED flute playing- the REST have been uncharitably described as " Aduppu Oootharthu" or "Blowing air& wind"....Ramani is in my opinion is one of the FEW who has grasped the Mali TECHNIQUE. It is some what analogous to Mandolin Srinivas WHOSE GENIUS is comparable (not necessarily in a musical sense)in a TECHNICAL SENSE to Mali ......VKV

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Just a little digression on how great geniuses make some enhancements to their instrument to overcome the limitations of the instrument.

This refers to TNR. I understand that during his time his contemporaries like Veerusamy Pillai or the Thiruvizhimalai bros et al avoided suddha madhyama Ragas because they could not reproduce the suddha madhyamam properly. TNR I believe overcame this thro experimentation and applied a little wax to partially close one of the holes-(not being knowledgeable about the technical aspects of Instruments I am afraid I may be too vague--any nadaswaram artistes amongst the forumites might enlighten me on the subject)-just enough--too much or too little application will "jar" the notes. The other artistes used to concede that that "fix" was something they had tried and failed at!!!

Another anecdote re: TNR as to how he approached his craft.

It seems TNR had gone to attend a marriage function where the Nagaswaram player was a little sub par. It became worse when he saw TNR entering the mandapam and the jitters produced more apaswarams. At the end of his playing the nagaswaram player approached TNR and tried to explain away his poor playing with a comment: Cheevali padam aha villainga(cheevali is the dried leaf piece(I do not know how to explain this Forumites Help!!) thro which the player blows. Pat came TNR's reply: Adhai Vida Onakku Vera Enna Velai(What else is important other than doing it!!)--Point: because the piece always gets wet and soggy one has to change the piece frequently Before that one has to practice blowing into different pieces(as part of preparing the instrument) and test them(note: That;s why you would see there will be several pieces hanging with the instrument and the player will be testing and blowing fequently during a performance.

basically TNR was trying to tell the player to do asura sadakam and not use excuses about the "unaccommodative" instrument!!!

cacm
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Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by cacm »

Dear MKR,
I will utilise the slight opening you have provided:
1) MSS used to go around the room with 4 Thamburas as almost a play routine to try to make her voice& Thambura sound identical & the RESULTS are well known as illustrated in the poignant pictures of MSS , the SIGNATURE scene of twentieth century greatness & mastery. T.S. used to go round& make sure the P.A. System was o.k. Similarly S.B. used to do an elaborate check also.
2) MMI GREW UP as a student of the IMMORTAL Harikesa Nallur M.B. who used to have TWO Thamburas Rama& Lakshmana & his ADHERENCE is historic& phenomenal. As a matter of fact in an AIR Concert WHEN THE THAMBURA acted up( TNK& UKS were the accompanists) more the 5 mins were spent tuning the Thambura. In a Bombay concert he similarly just abandoned it & just used PSP'S Mridangam (similalrly Rmnad Muruga bhoopathy) instead of the Thambura.
3) In instances I was UNFORTUNATELY involved(for me)...... KVN spent 3 HOURS with me teaching how to strum Thambura at Syracuse U where I had to be an inadequate Master of ceremonies as well as Thambura Player........I was forced to accompany Kalyanakrishna Bhagavathar at Columbia U under unfortunate circumstances & he spent CLOSE to two hours tuning my mridangam before the concert- I think MKR attended this important concert- before the concert; Fortunately ALL I had to make sure was to tap on the Mridangam & make sure my banging did not make it go out of tune. Fortunately in the seventies "OODUVATHI" &DIM lighting was order of the day & K.B. was so superb My playing as long as it was not Destructive was o.k. Even my wife was shocked & said I did alright! Which to me is high praise. I have NOT touched the Mridangam since that concert..... Palghat Raghu insisted that for the THOPPI- Considered not sensitive to swarasthanam etc by many- INSTANT Cream of Wheat is no good & only Regular Cream OF WHEAT WILL BE ACCEPTABLE TO HIM & I had to scramble in a hurry in Manhattan Traffic & found it after visiting 8 shops in THAT IMPOSSIBLE TRAFFIC& ILLEGAL PARKING!...
The reason I am writing all this stuff is to Focus& Emphasise the EFFORTS& COMMITMENT of artists of that era to do the BEST they could to reach perfection to the extent they could & the ENORMOUS REGARD& RESPECT they had for the art as well as the listeners.........
I am forced to write something I feel strongly about current day state of affairs:
Jesudoss is the only artist who eliminates the TERRIBLE CHENNAI P.A. SYSTEMS by bringing his own. Most of them complain about feed back being not loud enough & the two extra speakers provided for them in front actually muzzle the Thambura. The masters used to strain to hear the Thambura so they could align their voices perfectly & it mattered. Its not that todays performers are any less smart but some of them have never been able to acheive proper sruti alignment but found out it did not matter as the audience was willing to tolerate in effect non-music. Others pick on the audience esp. some old guy who had enlarged prostrate & cannot sit in his place for 3 hours etc...Its a sad scene in short & the CACOPHONY& CONFUSION will go on till the rasikas show either intolerance or express themselves in an objective fashion. Till then the Thambura discussion will both be academic & an abstraction.....VKV

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Nick H »

VKV the mridangist is revealed!

Sorry, VKV: there is lots of good stuff in your post, illustrating, as you say, the devotion of artists to their instruments and the care and tuning thereof --- but you eclipsed it, just partially, with the revelation of your own performing career :)

krvramani
Posts: 18
Joined: 12 Jul 2010, 16:48

Re:

Post by krvramani »

drshrikaanth wrote:It is http://www.vidvan.com
Dear Sir, Thanks for the "www.idvan.com". I could read about Mali, Madurai mani Iyer, but none of their songs I was ablr to download, as everytime I face an error message. What is the way-out?
KRVRamani

cacm
Posts: 2212
Joined: 08 Apr 2010, 00:07

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by cacm »

I will ask my nephew who is running the site to look into it. I am no longer involved in the every day details etc. VKV

Sivaramakrishnan
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Thank you very much, Niranjan for the details on the 5 kattai pitch.
Again my reverence to Mali has increased manifold!

.

mridangamkid
Posts: 150
Joined: 03 Sep 2007, 22:11

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by mridangamkid »

Hello all,

My computer recently crashed, and much of my music was lost. Fortunately I was ale to recover most if it, however unfortunately, one of my favorite concerts could not be recovered. This concert was of Sri T.R Mahalingam, Chembai (Violin) and MVI sir (this concert was posted in 4 parts by matterwaves). I am hoping (even begging) if someone could possibly upload it to sendspace or some such sight so I can re-download it. I looked online however was unable to find a place (sangeethamshare I don't believe had it? I get confused with their search engine) I would be very greatful.

Thank you

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Nick H »

Long time no see!

I don't often download music, but have always been glad I did download this one.

It is not much more than a couple of hundreg meg (Oh! for an uncompressed copy, but given the open-air nature of the venue and the probably amateur recording, the quality is amazing!). Could email it to if you want.

The email links seem to have gone. will mention that to skris in the format forum

mridangamkid
Posts: 150
Joined: 03 Sep 2007, 22:11

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by mridangamkid »

Ha, I know it has been a while. Hectic life unfortunately.

I for some reason did not receive an email. I would message it to you, however for some reason I can't click on your name to go to "your page". Anyway of doing this?

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

Post by Nick H »

No, currently we can't email via the site: I'm sure skris will restore it soon. This is a time of design changes on the site!

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