Research on compositions in Carnatic Music

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 15 Jan 2009, 22:13

I would like to know whether any work has been done on the compositions of the Trinity and other composers-
All these composers have composed during a span of 30,40 or 50 years.Has any research been done on these compositions-like comparing the earlier compositions of say, Saint Thyagaraja with his later comosition wrt the language, music and the contents? This could apply to any composer who has composed during a span of 30-40 years.
Learned forumites may contribute any information available.Thanks.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 16 Jan 2009, 05:25

The book Tyagaraja: Life and Lyrics by William Jackson is a useful reference about Thyagaraja, his compositions and the social circumstances of the time he lived.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 16 Jan 2009, 09:16

Mohan - glad to see that you are back home safely!!

I do not think that Bill has written about what Punarvasu is looking for in that book - a comparison between the Saint's early works and the later ones for usage of language, general import, rAgas used etc - a sort of musical evolution if you will.

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 16 Jan 2009, 10:32

vgvindan of this forum has done some terrific work on Thyagaraja's compositions, and I'm sure he can provide a lot of insight into this.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 16 Jan 2009, 13:25

rshankar, yes; but not only musical evolution but the evolution of the philosophy(or the thought process) as well as the language. And not only Saint Thyagaraja but all the the composers also-even upto the contemprorary composers.
There may be some books available ; would like some discussions on these.
Some food fo thought.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Jan 2009, 16:59

A systematic analysis of the trinity's compositions with reference to timelines/personal milestones would be very useful indeed as would an analysis of treatments of ragas across these composers.

SRJ touched upon the latter in his lec dem but left it at singing 1 krithi each of Thyagaraja and Deekshitar...

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Jan 2009, 17:00

The maturity of Thyagaraja's later compositions especially Giripai and Paramathmudu for instance are well recognized

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 16 Jan 2009, 20:35

First we should realize that these are real humans in flesh and blood subject to all human emotions. They should be examined peering through (even removing) the fog of mystique surrounding them. A vaggeyakara composes a song spontaneously in response to the moods and circumstances at a particular time. MD is somewhat difficult since he does not display emotions in his kritis. As a peripatetic philosopher he has focussed almost like a historian, on capturing the milieu of the temple and deity than on reflecting on his personal circumstances. We do derive very valuable information on the sthala puranas and the the mode of worship prevalent at that site from some of his compositions. His intrinsic knowledge of Sri Vidya, Yoga and astrology are brilliantly evident from his compositions. While Dr Srivatsava has done an excellent study of MD there is still a lot of room for a detailed analysis.

Thyagara is an ideal subject for psychological profiling and analysis. He goes through extreme mood swings from high elation to deep depression which is reflected patently in his compositions letting us share and experience the same moods but in an elevated plane. He maps his personal experiences onto some events in the life of Lord Rama and thus provides a window on his own personal life. It would require a well trained psychoanalyst who is well versed in Telugu (his particular dialect) and with an understanding of the sociological conditions prevailing in T's times to decipher the clues that are hidden in his compositions. Even T's choice of the ragas are not simply random but are the responses to specific stimuli arising from critical life events (such as compositions nannu palimpa, nidhi cAla, endarO etc., which are well known). To analyze the kritis one needs to filter the 'bhakti film' overlaying all of his compositions and dig deeper objectively. Same approach is warranted to investigate Shyama Shastri and even Swaathi to uncover the hidden meanings in their compositions. It will be a fascinating study to explore the minds of the great vaggeyakaras using modern psychoanalytic techniques and we may spawn a new branch of science called 'paleoCarnatic Musicalpsychology'!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 17 Jan 2009, 06:18

I came across this article in The Hindu; thought it is relevant here.

Date:16/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/200 ... 280600.htm

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 17 Jan 2009, 06:53

Those are excellent collections of songs that will help study the hidden personality of the bard. He is using Lord Rama as the 'punching bag' for the frustrations that he has been facing in the contemporary society. It is a normal human reaction. Instead of retaliating directly to individuals who may have been calling him a 'sham' he is unloading his heart to Rama who now takes on the role of the psychotherapist. He knows too well the character and the weaknesses of those who criticize him, but then he could not explicitly finger them since he is powerless to confront them. We know at least one clear case of his faction with his brother who was materialistic. There must have been many other relatives and neighbours who were jealous of his 'spiritual success'. These songs are replete with real feelings (which touch our hearts) since they have come from a 'soul in anguish'. If Thyagaraja had a wealthy comfortable life it is most unlikely that he would have composed such master pieces. A systematic study is needed!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 17 Jan 2009, 13:26

Probably,if we go deeper into tyAgarAjA kritis, we can find those depicting the navavidha bhakti- may be ,in one, he treats Rama as his Lord, in one as his friend ,so on and so forth. Will make a good topic for a thematic presentation. I suppose Shri Papanasam Shivan''s kritis also may yield intersting material for such a theme.
Wonder if any musician has taaken it up and presented such a concert.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 17 Jan 2009, 14:01

CML sir, your professional insights into the compositions are quite interesting! Of course a wealthy comfortable life alone need not mean that one would be free of anguish - sometimes spiritual needs exist inspite of material/doemstic contentment.

Sometimes I wonder if the deepest spiritual longings emerge only when lesser needs are satisfied to a large extent - the Buddha and Mirabai are examples...of course there are examples of saints from across the economic spectrum.

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 17 Jan 2009, 14:29

C. Ramanujachari's Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja published by Ramakrishna Math is a classic. First published in 1958 in Tamil, it has been translated into English (with lyrics transliterated into both dEvanAgarI and English versions) and reprinted several times, most recently 2001, I believe.

Foreword: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan i-v
Preface: V. Raghavan vii-xi
INTRODUCTORY THESIS-SAINT TYAGARAJA:
V. Raghavan
Chapter I : Life I-35
Chapter II : Nada Yoga 36-55
Chapter III : Sadhana 56-74
Chapter IV : Reformist Zeal 75-98
Chapter V : Nama Mahatmya 99-124
Chapter VI : Ishta Devata I25-I48
Chapter VII : Forms of Bhakti I49-I67
Chapter VIII : Phases of Bhakti I68-I85
Chapter IX : Devotional Ecstasy I86-206
SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION OF THE SONGS
TEXT AND TRANSLATION OF THE SONGS I-604
INDEX OF SONGS 607-623
ERRATA