Haunting Arabhi

Rāga related discussions
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narayan
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Post by narayan »

At least 5 songs of Tyagaraja, Naada sudharasa, jutamurare, O Rajivaksa, Sadhinchane, Chaalakalla, ST's Pahi parvata, the song that MLV used to sing Palimpa ..., Dikshitar's Sri saraswati, (even Marakoti, stretching a point) and the other one that RKSrikantan has sung somewhere, Gourishaya, TVS's Vighneswara -- ALL these songs begin more or less the same way, i.e. P,,,M,GR,,S (gliding over the famous fleeting gandharam).
I'm aware of standard and definitive phrases and pidis and so forth, but this is too much to take! My explanation is that it is haunting, and there is almost no getting away from this in Arabhi. Check the cittaswaram in the great varnam: MGRR -- PPMMGRR -- DDPP, PMGRR, three repetitions around the same basic idea and in fact the first half of the long cittaswaram weaves itself around this before coming back to P,,. Similarly, almost all swarams of the pancharatnam (except the highly suspect SSDPMGRR!) hover around the P. The Arabhi pancharatnam swaras in that sense have much less variety and sweep than the swaras of the other pancharatnams. You just can't get away from that P and the MGRR that follows. Haunting is what it is. Try it!

uday_shankar
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Post by uday_shankar »

Narayan, thanks for pointing this profound fact out. Now you've got my lazy brain thinking :).

srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

The thing is Arabhi is a ghana raga and so very long jumps (like ps) are sort of out of place in it.

And pg will be too mohnamish. So we can only try p - rmp - but then to really go down we _again_ hit at p - rmp - pmgrs rmpdp ... and so on. What about p - r - mgr - srs s - snd ...?

keerthi
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Post by keerthi »

Like the idea of pUrvanga-pradhana raga-s and UttarAnga-pradhAna raga-s, I have this idea about Aroha-dominant ragas and avarOha dominant raga-s..

SAveri, kalyani, and Arabhi, I feel are better represented by avaroha phrase-motifs..

Malahari, Malavagaula represent the minority of Aroha-pradhAna ragas..

There are those that are balanced.. can't think of a suitable example..

Opinions welcome..

sr_iyer
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Post by sr_iyer »

Excellent observation by sri narayan.

One 'exception' I can readily think of is nAmoralanu (tyAgarAja) starts from ShaDja and traverses in slow tempo downward to the mandra sthAyi (lower p or m depending on sangatis chosen); another more common example of a different opening movement would be the opening lines of the rAgamAlikA ArabhimAnam - but the trend pointed out is definitely well taken!
Last edited by sr_iyer on 27 May 2009, 16:31, edited 1 time in total.

srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

Averi, kalyani, and Arabhi, I feel are better represented by avaroha phrase-motifs..

kalyANi? There's one song in kalyANi which has only arohana phrases, and it sounds very much like kalyANi.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Reminds me of the old film song, a beautiful 'jagamE oru cittira sAlai, janani parASakti tiruvaruL lIlai'--which has a refreshingly different pallavi line, musically too! I do remember this song coming up in an old sangeetham.com discussion. Miss Malini is the film.
CML, Gobilalitha, do you recollect the way the song went?

srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

I was talking about "kalyANiyE" which is another film song, I think it comes in sindhubhiravi. Sung by Jesudas. Ilayaraja's music I think (well, if it's sindhubhairavi, it's Ilayaraja).
Last edited by srikant1987 on 27 May 2009, 20:24, edited 1 time in total.

ramakriya
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Post by ramakriya »

sr_iyer wrote:Excellent observation by sri narayan.

One 'exception' I can readily think of is nAmoralanu (tyAgarAja) starts from ShaDja and traverses in slow tempo downward to the mandra sthAyi (lower p or m depending on sangatis chosen); another more common example of a different opening movement would be the opening lines of the rAgamAlikA ArabhimAnam - but the trend pointed out is definitely well taken!
Yes, nAmporAlanu vini stands out apart from the crowd, I should say! One of my favorites in this raga.

srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

What about the varNam?

narayan
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Post by narayan »

Never heard Namoralanu. Looking forward to it, after the observations made. There ARE songs in Arabhi that (a) do not start off in this way and (b) are not obsessively roaming around the pa with avarohana dominant phrases, but what struck me is the sheer number which do. Arabhi being one of the so-called ghana ragas, when it is taken up for tanam (mostly by veena players, I guess) would usually have phrases quite prominently using the mid levels. Whether from Arabia or not, quite a mystical and haunting ragam. The days it is in your head, it is difficult to sing other things.

srinivasrgvn
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Post by srinivasrgvn »

srikant1987 wrote:I was talking about "kalyANiyE" which is another film song, I think it comes in sindhubhiravi. Sung by Jesudas. Ilayaraja's music I think (well, if it's sindhubhairavi, it's Ilayaraja).
You must be referring to 'kalaivAniyE'. Yes, it uses only the ArOhana of kalyAni. It does come in the film 'Sindhubhairavi' and Ilayaraja was the music director.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

arasi
I distinctly remember pushpavalli singing that song in Miss Malini, one of my favourites but never could get the audio anywhere :(

keerthi
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Post by keerthi »

srinivasrgvn wrote:
srikant1987 wrote:I was talking about "kalyANiyE" which is another film song, I think it comes in sindhubhiravi. Sung by Jesudas. Ilayaraja's music I think (well, if it's sindhubhairavi, it's Ilayaraja).
You must be referring to 'kalaivAniyE'. Yes, it uses only the ArOhana of kalyAni. It does come in the film 'Sindhubhairavi' and Ilayaraja was the music director.

This was taken up as a challenge, and very deliberately composed in that fashion..
and is an exception, rather than a norm..
And the song does have avaroha phrases, if you listen to it carefully..
Another avarOha-prominent raga is bhairavi..

NA moralanu is the best-est Arabhi in the world..!

again, i repeat my disclaimer.. My observation doesn't have any Sastra-ic backing.. It is just something I thought up..

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

The Purandhara Song " Aadidhano ranga adbhutha dindali" ia also sung in Arabhi.

Keerthi & Ramakriya- can U please analyse the swara patterns in this song ?

narayan
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Post by narayan »

vs_manjunath wrote:The Purandhara Song " Aadidhano ranga adbhutha dindali" ia also sung in Arabhi.
The way I learnt this song (now forgotten, unfortunately) was the same as my bee-in-bonnet, i.e. P,,PPM,,GRSR,

To continue, Amba Souramba, Marakata manimaya are also the same. So it goes on. Beginning to suspect a conspiracy of some sort!

keerthi
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Post by keerthi »

R.K.Srikantan's version has it as S,,(n)DP M,,(g)rsR MgR.. for A-a-Di-da nO-(o)-Ran GA...

What I find most pertinent is this observation..
narayan wrote:There ARE songs in Arabhi that (a) do not start off in this way and (b) are not obsessively roaming around the pa with avarohana dominant phrases

Sreeni Rajarao
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Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Manjunath sir,

I have with me the following swara prastAra for AaDidano ranga:

1. Veena Raja Rao's notation in the 1942 published pioneering work "haridAsara kRtigaLu"

2. R K Srikantan's version in the collection sri purandara dAsara navaratna mAlike (no info. on when this booklet was published).

They are not identical. Further, the R K S version I have does not match what Keerthi has written in post #17.

Sreeni Rajarao
Last edited by Sreeni Rajarao on 28 May 2009, 20:43, edited 1 time in total.

narayan
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Post by narayan »

keerthi wrote:What I find most pertinent is this observation..
narayan wrote:There ARE songs in Arabhi that (a) do not start off in this way and (b) are not obsessively roaming around the pa with avarohana dominant phrases
If in Pantuvarali, I observe that Ninne nera nammi, Raghurvara, Sundaratara, Vadera daivamu and Naradamuni of Tyagaraja and Enna ganu and Sarasaksha of others are ALL more or less the same, then Appa Rama Bhakti is not the pertinent point, it is the exception that proves the rule, I thought. By the way, is the opposite of pertinent impertinent?!

keerthi
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Post by keerthi »

There are several sets of songs, with more or less the same and sometimes even identical musical notation.. rather than a conspiracy, ;) this suggests that in the pre-raga stage of indian music, there existed famous tunes, and alternate sets of lyrics were fitted into these standard tunes.. the spontaneous embellishments of a tune may have lead to several distinct tunes with the same chAya/sAyal..

This probably led to the development of a melodic entity called the rAga..

For examples of what I said, the sabhApatayya padam E mAtalAdina, swati tirunaL's mohanamayi and kAlai tookki ninrAdum; all in misra chApu, all in edukalakAmbOji all have the same tune..

I think Prof.sAmbamurthy refers to these traditional tunes as 'modes' - he refers to a mattakokilam mode..

And pertinent will be the opposite of impertinent, in the planet where mediate is the opposite of immediate and age is the opposite of image..!

arvindt
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Post by arvindt »

I think Prof.sAmbamurthy refers to these traditional tunes as 'modes' - he refers to a mattakokilam mode..
If I'm not wrong, I think one other technical term for these traditional tunes is varNamettu...
Last edited by arvindt on 29 May 2009, 21:36, edited 1 time in total.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

keerthi: What you say as the reason for similarity of tunes of songs make ssense. But rather than them evolving to ragas, this kind of template tunes (v arnamettu or simply mettu ) should have existed along side ragas. Ragas do go a long way back and have been defined in specific terms independent of any songs or template tunes. This does not mean today's ragas existed in the present shape 1600 years back. It is quite possible that today's ragas attained their personality by refinement, variation and evolution of some templated tunes. And those tunes themselves were probably an easy-to-use templates for composing in ragas as they existed in the prior era.

CML and Arasi mentioned in another thread a while back that Bharathi and others had notated some of their songs as: Melody for this song to follow this kind of a tune and thala to follow the format of this song etc.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Or, that is how they first sang them and wanted you to capture the moment when they sang it, their mood and so on.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

keerthi wrote:There are several sets of songs, with more or less the same and sometimes even identical musical notation.!
One typical example is : manasu swAdhina (T) & akshaya linga vibho(MD) in Shankarabharanam have same type of starting pallavis.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

narayan- I have one request. Having discussed almost all the songs in Arabhi. we will request rasikas to provide links to all these songs. I'm sure it will be from diffrent Artists. It will be a pleasure to listen all the songs in arabhi in one thread along with the discussions.
Last edited by vs_manjunath on 30 May 2009, 11:25, edited 1 time in total.

narayan
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Post by narayan »

Repetitiveness is frowned upon in theory, and both songs and musical ideas within songs are supposed to explore new themes without the mind palling. But to balance this, there seems to be a virtue
in repeating some well accepted themes. It is a bit tautological. Are these themes repeated
because they are well accepted or the other way around? I remember Tanjavur Sankara Iyer going
into raptures at the micro-but-significant repetition of Ri,Ri,Ri, in Chetashri Balakrishnam
in Dvijavanthi, but frowning at S,RSNP in Rama Katha Sudha, saying that Tyagaraja would NOT
have repeated an idea that he would subsequently use in Rajyamu in the second line. These
are within songs.

Returning to the discussion on hand, in Arabhi, the tally is now up to something like thirteen songs of the type that I mentioned. Pantuvarali has at least 6 by one composer: Tyagaraja that begin on the top sa and come down to the middle pa.

Referring to the Begada discussion, in this presumably 'old' raga, I count up to eleven songs with more or less the same pattern to start the proceedings: Nadopasana, Neeverakula, Tanavari, Gattiganu, Samikisari, Bhaktuni charitramu, Diskshitar's Vallabha nayaka, then others like Chidambaram, Innumparamukham, Manusuna nera, Anudinamunu.

I have other examples - Darbar songs with the RP,,(MPDP)PMR theme recurring in Ramabhirama,
Munduvenuka, Narada guru, Aparadhamu, the rarely heard Ela Teliya (from what I remember the one recording), etc. Athana has a whole group of songs with one theme: Narada gana, Ela ni dayaradum, Chede buddhimanura, etc. and I am sure others can add more. Many Kambhoji songs have sequences starting with the Madhyamam: (Baludau markandeya, Bhusuradi, Bhuloka vaikunthamu, Maalodayan, etc.)

Therefore it is of equal interest when there is new wine in old bottles! Spencer's Va muruga or Srivatsa's Gana lola in Darbar do break new ground in 'old' ragams. This is a different type of creativity than new ragams and new melodies.

srikant1987
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Post by srikant1987 »

Doesn't aparadhamula begin as r m p , d-pm pd pm r s?

I think you are stretching things so that they fit in a pattern.

I don't see repetition as a bad thing at all, personally.
Last edited by srikant1987 on 30 May 2009, 23:22, edited 1 time in total.

narayan
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Post by narayan »

srikant1987 wrote:I think you are stretching things so that they fit in a pattern.
I think that is very likely!

keerthi
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Post by keerthi »

I think that the rAga being same in a set of krti-s, the fact that similar motifs recur shouldn't be taken as any commentary on the competence/creative abilities of the composers/tune smiths..

(I don't mean to allege that it is being done in this thread..)

All this suggests, is that there are certain 'classic' patterns, certain classic opening phrases and certain well-tested landing phrases by which,(to use subbarama dikshitar's words) the raga will 'sparkle'..

The kind of music that arose spontaneously, probably employed these time-tested, familiar phrases..
The krti-s composed, when the musicians were more composed; :P probably gave them the space to incorporate novel motifs, and newer phrases..

Regarding narayan's opening comment on repetition, there are different kinds, aren't there.. there can be terribly meaningful repetitions, and drearily boring repetitions.. repetition either of a melodic phrase or of a line in a song can be used to great effect..

ppraghu
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Post by ppraghu »

If it is not too deviating from the original theme of this thread ---- I recently came across a Hindustani recording which was described to be in raga Arabhi:

http://www.esnips.com/doc/e00f852a-c1fa ... airavi-etc

The problem is, the song rendition tasted a complete Shyama raga to me, not Arabhi (technically, these ragas differ only between the presence and absence of Nishada). I may be wrong. The recording quality is not so good - therefore, it is difficult to say if the raga is "technically" Arabhi (ie, existence of Ni).

Nevertheless, a very wonderful singing it is!

Regards
Raghu

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

It sounded sAmA ( shyAmA ) to me too. What a great voice. Quite smooth.

babaji
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Post by babaji »

There is one kirtana composition by Genius vidwan Dr.m.balamuralikrishna in Arabhi which starts at the chracteristic Rishabam of arabhi i have'nt heard any other song in a different eduppu as this both raga wise and also sahitya wise that is the kirtanas lines start at the fourth beat after a long kaarvai from samam.

Its Sri sakalaganadhipa in adi tala composed in praise of three deities ganesha,anjaneya and krishna(quite obvious).

arvindt
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Post by arvindt »

keerthi wrote:I think that the rAga being same in a set of krti-s, the fact that similar motifs recur shouldn't be taken as any commentary on the competence/creative abilities of the composers/tune smiths..

(I don't mean to allege that it is being done in this thread..)

All this suggests, is that there are certain 'classic' patterns, certain classic opening phrases and certain well-tested landing phrases by which,(to use subbarama dikshitar's words) the raga will 'sparkle'..

The kind of music that arose spontaneously, probably employed these time-tested, familiar phrases..
The krti-s composed, when the musicians were more composed; :P probably gave them the space to incorporate novel motifs, and newer phrases..

Regarding narayan's opening comment on repetition, there are different kinds, aren't there.. there can be terribly meaningful repetitions, and drearily boring repetitions.. repetition either of a melodic phrase or of a line in a song can be used to great effect..
Very true and well said... Interestingly, Shri GNB says something very similar in his speech
on Ariyakudi: http://www.narada.org/ariyakudi/gnb.html

"He never allowed himself, even in his early days, to fall into the dangerous illusion that originality comes
only with the avoidance of the well-known, obvious and basic sancharas and form of a raga, a shoal on
which many young musical minds are apt to wreck themselves."

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Arabhi has a few unique phrases like MGR or SND where the G3 or N3 has no existence of it's own, but merely serves as a janta point for M1 and S. Also SSD, -- SD, are also valid phrases which Thyagaraja amply milked in sAdinchanE.

With Thyagaraja owning this raga - here're two of his compositions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-KA35C1dk - cAla kallalADu konna saukhyamEmirA by MS Amma.

I am unfortunately not able to find Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer's alApana of Arabhi or his rendition of this krithi.

And the pancharatnam is the magnum opus in this raga :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY2d5ubwVpA#t=47m14s

There are also quite a lot of Oothukadu Venkata Subbier Krithis in this raga

ajaysimha
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by ajaysimha »

SrinathK wrote: 14 Jan 2019, 15:11 There are also quite a lot of Oothukadu Venkata Subbier Krithis in this raga
here are the popular ones by OKV

Marakata manimaya chela - Arabhi/Adi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHTFRQ9MKuE
"especially the madhyama-kala passage is very apt. with arabhi phrases
MK:
tām takiṭataka takadhimi RSND
tajhaṇu S R M G R Ḍ S R M P ,
tajhaṇu Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ ta jham jham ṭa ki ṭa
dittlām ta ki ṭa D P M G R ta dheengiṇatom"

Pranavakaram siddhivinayakam - Arabhi/Adi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsJsKyuiNpI

Sakala loka nayike - Arabhi/Adi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBSamgWtI0I

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Didn't know there was a varnam in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5k8g5MJ3nE

ajaysimha
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by ajaysimha »

there is one more beautiful varnam in tamizh by Tiger Varadachari

Anname aravabharananai azhaittu (tv) - Arabhi - Adi - Tiger Varadachari
Last edited by ajaysimha on 18 Jan 2019, 15:14, edited 1 time in total.

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Careful in sharing from live broadcasts. The last thing we need is for another forumite to get a court notice and for a rasikas's lifetime of CM music to get wiped out.

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

I found another recording, from this young man's own channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fF5V9JzzaI

Sreeni Rajarao
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

SrinathK wrote: 18 Jan 2019, 12:17 Didn't know there was a varnam in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5k8g5MJ3nE
Reading this thread, I get a feeling that there may not be many varNa-s in Arabhi.

I would be happy to share svara and sAhitya for a varNa in telugu, composed by Veena RajaRao in the 1940s,
I would be very happy if I can get to hear a recording by our learned members SrinathK, Ajaysimha, .....

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Here's a composition of Purandaradasa - lAlisidaLu magana yashode : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnLI5H7i0w

shankarank
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by shankarank »

As I had noted, her ascent upwards sounds like Suddha sAvErI.


Here by Dr. BMK : SrI.. ramaNa vibhO kalayAmi begins R....RRMGR.. without P
https://youtu.be/FAsg5_ckj54?t=539

His own ManagaladAyaka begins DSDP P..MP

https://youtu.be/Eyh2Q7NIz1g?t=126

Another of his: mahAdEva sutam begins sr..ssnd sr

https://youtu.be/vFnNNrdOS_s?t=418

Arabhi is the rAgA he said he would sing if he were to die tommorow!

ajaysimha
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by ajaysimha »

shankarank wrote: 21 Jan 2019, 11:34 Here by Dr. BMK : SrI.. ramaNa vibhO kalayAmi begins R....RRMGR.. without P
i had this in the tip of my tongue, nice you posted it.
Dr. BMK liked this song so much, by it's inspiration , he composed shrI sakala gaNAdhipa which has the same varna mettu of sri ramana vibho.
he popularized either of the songs in many of his concerts.

shankarank wrote: 21 Jan 2019, 11:34 As I had noted, her ascent upwards sounds like Suddha sAvErI.
even i had the same doubt, and my guru told me the below lakshnas like:
arabhi is a decend/ avarohana dominated raga
where in the raga has more janta prayogas aswell it's a fast tempo-ed and catchy raga

ajaysimha
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by ajaysimha »

Sreeni Rajarao wrote: 19 Jan 2019, 19:10 I would be happy to share svara and sAhitya for a varNa in telugu, composed by Veena RajaRao in the 1940s,
I would be very happy if I can get to hear a recording by our learned members SrinathK, Ajaysimha, .....
:D very challenging task @Sreeni Rajarao
will give a try if possible with guidance of my teacher

i also found one more varna composed completely in kannada by lalitha navile
(contemporary women composer of Karnataka, whose has composed many krithis/varnas/thillanas in kannada)
ninnane-arabhi-adi-lalitha navile
https://youtu.be/Z6FEmpnIct4?t=2508

ajaysimha
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by ajaysimha »

this ragam is very much suited for singing gadyas/shlokas/choorikas
in long shloka-malikas we can see this raga making its majestic presence among-st other ragas.

ajaysimha wrote: 14 Jan 2019, 15:30 Marakata manimaya chela - Arabhi/Adi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHTFRQ9MKuE
"especially the madhyama-kala passage is very apt. with arabhi phrases
MK:
tām takiṭataka takadhimi RSND
tajhaṇu S R M G R Ḍ S R M P ,
tajhaṇu Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ ta jham jham ṭa ki ṭa
dittlām ta ki ṭa D P M G R ta dheengiṇatom"
we can also see the similar jathi and swara patterns in purandaradasar's composition

AdidanO ranga-Arabhi-Adi-Purandara Daasar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6zZQ2V12vs

"amburuhOdbhava akhiLa suraru kUDi ambaradali nidu avarstutise rambe Urvashi ramaNiyarellaru
cendadim bharata nATyava naTise jhamtaTa takadhimi tadhigiNi tOm endu jhampe tALadi tumburunoppise
dhA ma pa dha sa rI endu dhvaniyinda nArada tumburar gAna mADalu nandiyu maddale cendadi hAkalu"

SrinathK
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Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer was known for his Arabhi and no wonder.

https://youtu.be/13L7J6Q0uzg

I really must wonder what he must have been able to do in his prime wheb he had his full range available.

SrinathK
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Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

Sreeni Rajarao wrote: 19 Jan 2019, 19:10
SrinathK wrote: 18 Jan 2019, 12:17 Didn't know there was a varnam in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5k8g5MJ3nE
Reading this thread, I get a feeling that there may not be many varNa-s in Arabhi.

I would be happy to share svara and sAhitya for a varNa in telugu, composed by Veena RajaRao in the 1940s,
I would be very happy if I can get to hear a recording by our learned members SrinathK, Ajaysimha, .....
Do share. My ideas on varnams have had to be postponed (just like a many others) due to lack of time, but I've not forgotten them, and will contribute in the long run.

Not much of a vocalist in any capacity. Never ever had the opportunity to sit down and do akara sadhakam in a quiet uninterrupted environment or make my voice sound musical - but could give it a shot.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

An unheard composition of Dikshitar in Arabhi - this is a musical form called "saranu daru", a component of a type of musical drama known as "nirupaNam". I just came to know of this video from Dr. T R Aravindhan's channel. These manuscripts only exist in part - so long story short, I'll just post the video link below.

This is sung completely plain like a geetham or a nOTTuswaram, but it has all the well known prayogas of Arabhi and no alien phrases. It would sound good with today's gamakas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dji0O9yoXq8

Quoting the video description.

"...This is an unpublished composition of Sri Muthuswamy Deekshithar seen in the mansucript said to be written by Tanjore Quartette and carefully preserved by their eighth generation descendant Sri KPS Sivakumar. We sincerely thank him for the same.

This is a humble attempt to reconstruct from those manuscripts.

This is not a krti; rather a musical form called as 'Saranu daru". Saranu saru is a component of "Nirupanam", a musical drama. This has 18 components and Saranu comes second in that. Nirupanam was common during 1800-1900 CE and King Serfoji II is said to have composed around 15 nirupanam-s.

This manuscript also has ' jaya jaya', another 'saranu' and a mangalam - the different components of a nirupanam. Based on the available evidences from these manuscript, it can be presumed Deekshithar has composed more than two nirupanam-s. It might not be out of place to say only Tanjore Quartette must have been aware of this nirupanam.

We allow the viewers to identify the raga mudra interwoven into the sahityam.

This has a pallavi and two two kandika-s of anupallavi. But the notation is available only for the pallavi and the second kandika. Hence, that alone is presented.

Sahityam
Pallavi
Śaraṇu Śaraṇu mahēṣa śaṅkari śaraṇu bhaktavaṣaṅkari
Śaraṇu viṣṇusahōdari Śaraṇu śrī ṣatodari (Śaraṇu)
Anupallavi
Śaraṇu viṣvavikalpahāriṇi śaraṇu mukta hāriṇi
Śaraṇu pāṣavidāriṇi śaraṇu bhuvanōdhāriṇi (Śaraṇu)

Śaraṇumārabhīru priyakari śaraṇu guruguha samudbhavakari (Śaraṇu)
...


More information at the guruguha.org site :http://guruguha.org/wp/?p=2638

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by bhakthim dehi »

It would sound good with today's gamakas.
Whenever I think of gamakam, I am flooded with the thoughts given below. Anyone can clarify .

Pradarshini is the only text which gives the notation of a kriti with extra precision. These gamakas are not his imaginations and represent a continuous tradition ,at least from Venkatamakhin. Hence it represents the gamakas extant during the period of Svamigal , Deekshitar etc.
When we look into the gamakas, what I could understand is any gamakam is a deflection of a particular note. Sometimes, two or more gamakas are given to a single note or two swaram in a phrase has gamakam. But, the gamakas we use today are totally different. we fill the space between two swaras with some phrases and call it as a gamakam (please correct me if I am wrong).
Have we changed the concept of gamakam too ?

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Haunting Arabhi

Post by SrinathK »

I was looking at some old definitions of gamakas - namely the 10 types and the 15 types.

The 15 type gamakas (panchadasha) are mainly veeNa techniques with some other effects like attacking a note, varying the volume, slides etc..

The ten types of gamakas include the arOhanam avarOhanam (yes) and various kinds of patterned arrangements of notes and connections.

Both of them talk of the kampita. Now one thing is clear - in the past the kampita was used like salt in the food, an occasional shake, now-a-days it's the thing that differentiates apples from bananas and sambhar from rasam or even between two types of mangoes or even the difference between an Indian grape and a French grape!

So yes, the definition of gamaka has expanded from ornamentation, techniques and combinations, into the things that create individual personalities made up of musical phrases. The common man's understanding of gamaka has changed from the former to the latter. And I think this is why I don't quite get the old versions of ragas either - they are using them differently. If gamaka back then was to modulate a note, gamaka today is (as you said it), exploring the space between the notes. Gamaka now refers to the phrase labelled by the note more than anything else.

Still I raise another question as to whether even a book as detailed as the pradarshini could have adequately captured the weight of playing of those days (because it does feel raw when it's fresh off the notation) - no book is enough to capture all the microscopic nuances and their individual variations. Very few people have tried to replicate gamakas on print in recent times because at one point it becomes easier to use your ears than to write them down. Though I do not doubt for one second that the level of gamaka massively increased in the last 150 years.

While all the gamakas mentioned are all valid even now, they need to get a major update, because the spectrum of gamakas, singing and playing techniques is now vastly more detailed and diversified. Also at this point there is no way to label all the variations adequately except to directly sing the phrase itself. (E.g. N2, which has like 50-60 variations!)

These concepts of gamaka as a moving phrase is not new. In recorded history, here's an example : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mesopotamia

But, if I had to look at the fundamentals of gamaka as deep as I can go, the animal kingdom beat us to it long back - they just couldn't define it. Listen to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zLzYiw1wdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmEQQtBt8dw

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