SampradAya at Gayana samaja bangalore May 10th

[keerthi]

This event was organised to celebrate the kannada translation of the SSP by AnandarAma Udupa, senior musician and notation archivist"¦

Appropriately, V.SrirAm of Chennai spoke about how the Sangeetha SampradAya pradarshini came to be written.
It was a well told tale with all the elements of politics, war, trade, four weddings and a couple of funerals..
Starting with Govinda DIkshita, his writing the CDP, to Venkatamakhi, his story went all the way to Ramaswami Dikshitar and family, their moving to tiruvotriyur-MaNaLi.. And how RD passed a test to get hold of one of two existing Manuscripts of the ChaturdanDiprakAshika..

After a short account of Mutthuswamy Dikshitar’s life and tracing the lineage to SubbarAma Dikshitar, he spoke about how Chinnaswami Mudaliar had taken on the thankless, unremunerative task of collecting and printing 400 songs of Thyagaraja in staff notation; learning them from Walajapet Krishna bhagavatar..

News of his(Mudaliar’s) work, ( published in The Hindu!) reached the ears of SubbarAma Dikshitar, who beckoned the roman catholic to Ettayapuram; they exchanged compliments and decided to publish the SSP. The ettayapuram king agreed to fund this monumentous work, and SD would travel to Chennai to teach Mudaliar his ancestral legacy of music along with the Gamaka system attached to his music..

Mudaliar lost his wife to consumption, and in a couple of years started going blind due to diabetes and later died of a carbuncle; but only after convincing the new king of Ettayapuram that he should see SD through this most valuable project..

Somewhere in the course of the talk he mentioned that Bhatkhande, searching for suitable musicological text came southwards, and was directed by greats like pUchi ayyangar to SD, who was impressed by Bhatkande’s urge to serve music and his erudition; gave him the sole copy of the CDP which was a prized heirloom..!
BhAtkhande wrote a preface to the PrathamAbhyAsa-pustakamu of SD.{Which also was released in kannada script today}

The most logical and scientific schema of the pradarshini which Subbarama Dikshitar envisaged is indeed praiseworthy, arranging the songs according to rAgAnga, janya, with the Lakshana shloka, sanchAris and tanams where available; along with the krtis of Mutthuswami Dikshitar, and many other composers who preceded or were contemporaneous with the trinity..

The vaggeyacaritamu appended to the pradarshini is another treasure, as it throws light on so many great composers who would have remained unknown to the current carnatic world if it weren’t for the work of the savant SubbarAma Dikshitar.

Sriram impressed upon the audience, the difficulty of printing in the 1900s, when there was no DTP, no power run presses and no spell check. The vidya vilasini press had to mould special lead type-templates to include the gamaka symbols SD chose to use..
They made do with the ‘therefore’ and ‘since’ symbols from math, besides the / and for ekku and digu jArus..


M.S.Sheela and students sang the songs SrInAthAdi in MALavagaula,MahalakSmIm in MAdhavamanOhari and BhajarE chitta bAlambikAm in KalyANI"¦They concluded with srIguruguha in devakriya..

R.K padmanAbha and students sang swAminata paripAlaya, kanakAmbari and sadAchaleswaram.. The students took turns singing kalpanaswaram? based on the charaNas of nATa pancaratna and sang an orchestrated muktAyam in chorus..It was a little funny.. They also sang nIlakanTam in kedAragaula and srivenugopAla in kuranji..

For the first two group singing events, the mikes were too loud and the multitude of voices made it a bit jarring.. Also as many people sang, shruthi discrepancies were highlighted at landingnotes..

‘Youth group - Ravikiran.G,Vinay sharva, Pavandeep,Amrit nagasundar, Amritha Venkatesh, Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath, Vrinda Acharya’ sang the Ardradesi SrIgaNeshAtparam, varalakshmIm in saurAshta And Narasimha Agaccha in mohanam. Their co-ordination was impressive and the volume was suitably modulated.. they took turns singing AlApa for Saurashtra(Girls) and Mohana(Boys)..
They would have done well to pay more attention to SAhityam and pronunciation..
There were a couple of avoidable booboos.

The highlight of the evening (for me) was a talk by Dr. Prof. R.S.Jayalakshmi on gamakas employed in the pradarshini.. Her charming talk in faltering English, with occasional lapses into Sentamizh very quickly traced the history of the gamakas, beginning with its earliest mention in the Brhaddesi, to Bharatamuni waxing lyrical; saying that music without gamaka is like the sky without stars, a river devoid of water and a woman sans ornaments.. See more detailed account below..

T.S.Satyavathi’s group sang SrimahAganapatiravatu, with special emphasis on the prathama vibhakti case endings.. They also sang guruguhAya in sama with the SSP chittaswaram, and the rudrapriya sond rudrakopajAta..
Again sruti faltering was evident on landing notes. However the overall effect was rather good..

I left after this.. there was to be another short concert followed by T.M.Krishna’s all-DikSitar concert..

[keerthi]

RSJ said that Sarngadeva and Venkatamakhi enumerate 15 types - the pancadasa gamakas, with illustrations; which SD used, with newer additions in the SSP..

She effortlessly demonstrated the different kinds of gamakas used in the SSP including the novel misritam which employs more than one symbol.
RSJ noted that this gamaka, while mentioned by SD in his original telugu edition has been omitted out of the Tamil(Music Academy?) and the later telugu (Andhra sahitya academy) versions.. I hope it has been included in the Kannada version..

She also emphasized on Gamakas which were only relevant in Veena performance of songs and didn’t matter in Vocal renditions like the pratyahatam and sphuritam, which are distinct for a vainika, but aren’t particularly relevant as disparate types for vocalists..


Her exposition of the odukkal leading to Chyuta-panchama, and how this gamaka can cause all 12 shrutis to occur in Bhairavi was impressive and enlightening.. and set off many light bulbs in my head, with several eurekas in the background..

In her concluding remarks, she made a speculation on identifying the most appropriate kAlapramana of a song by examining the gamakas like nokku in it. It was simply an epiphany! And her deduction is simply Sherlock-holmesian! Abbabba..
Such casual remarks can seed half a score of PhDs and give so much material for thought, analysis and interpretation..
She mentioned that, by employing these methods, she found that the kAlapramANa suggested by SD seems to be rather fast; but added the caveat that this may have been only for veena rendition and not for singing..

About the kalapramANa, she also mentioned that the good Mudaliar had notated VeenapustakadharinIm in staff notation, listing it to be in ChakravAka , and gave the metronome speed as 144? Quavers per minute? Which would make the tempo rather snappy.. repeat above caveat..
She also mentioned SD’s use of the word ‘Purvacaryargal’ to indicate his tradition of music, ‘sampradAyam arindavargal’ to indicate alternate schools of thought which he respected(say,the Thyagaraja school) and ‘navInargal’ to denote all the musical practices he found unacceptable, but felt bound to mention..
RSJ mentioned that SD also used the sharp natural and flat symbols employed in staff notation to indicate sub-species of a swara (say suddha, chatusruti, Satsruti). His note on podi swaras and the symbols used for the start and end of an Avarta, and their relevance was elucidated beautifully using an example of the Bhairavi Atatala varna..

It was a lot of brilliantly inferred data packed into a short timespan, and there was no time for questions..

[coolkarni]

.

[rshankar]

Yes - Keerthi great review...

[srinivasrgvn]

Thanks keerthi for that excellent review. I am sad that nobody's reviewing TMK's concert. =(

[vs_manjunath]

TMK's concert could start only @730PM. He gave a brief intro. abt SSP and told the audience it will be a demonstrative/interactive presentation of some of MD's compositions. He started with "nAdalingam" in Shankarabharanam. Sang "asAvEri" raga following SSP's descriptions followed by a Composition of MD( Not "Chandram bhaja"). He elaboratively sang "shahana" as described in SSP w/O kAnada sancharas and sang "Ishana" of MD. Bhairavi was sung as described in SSP. It was a new bhairavi for everyone. "bAla gOpAla" was also sung as described in SSP. Nereval and Swaraprastharams @ nIla nIraja followed by thani avarthanam. TMK mentioned that he would be covering a total of 8 MD Compositions.
What a "BRILLIANT" concert ! . Excellent team work.
I had to leave being content to listen to 4 out of 8 songs.(It was 9 PM when I left). I'm sure some other rasika will take the thread forward.
(PS: Major differences explained in all the above ragas will be covered in another POST)

[saiganesh]

TMK concert was delayed due consistent time lag.. it was a lecture concert .he peresented raagas and kritis as per the notations given in SSP.. shankarabharanam was presented in contemporary form, then came asaveri.. he sang sahana with G2..it had a different flavour alltogether. balagopala was main..he followed lakhya and lakshana as per described in SSP. there was no D2!!... couldn digest it.. it was followed by 2 more compositions one in raaga geervaNi, and the other maye tvaam yahi in tarangiNi.. tarangiNi in ssp has charukeshi flavor.

HK Venkataram provided good support on violen. it was a good learning experience.

[vs_manjunath]

"maye tvaam yahi in tarangiNi.. tarangiNi in ssp has charukeshi flavor." In fact, VV Subramanyam has a video broadcasted by Podhigai which has this version. This is different from what we have heard from MMI & MS

[vaidya]

The whole event was very impressive. It was a big feast for the rasikas.....
Good going Ananya!!!!!

[saiganesh]

"VV Subramanyam has a video broadcasted by Podhigai which has this version."

@vs_manjunath

could you plz post the link?

regards

[coolkarni]

...

[sappri]

I have not seen such a meticulous "day-long" program conceived and delivered with such passion, commitment and completeness - on the Pradarshini and MD.
I have not seen such a crowd for a CM event the "whole day"... culminating in that wonderfully-educative, lec-concert of TMK.
It is important to mention the extremely sweet rendering of the Nottu Swarams by young children which began the day. Also at the entrance were the "rasikas contest" and a multi-media presentation/dikshithar quiz.
Also the opportunity to the winners of the competition - Tanmayee and Srinidhi.

As mentioned by Dr.Raghavendra, Vid M S Sheela, Vid Satyavathi and others - Vid G Ravikiran and team need special mention for the outstanding work in the success of Sampradaya

[Naada Priya]

Before Maaye twam, a krithi that sounded like bhoopali(gopalake/sadachaleshwaram) was sung. I missed his commentary as I had to wak out of hall to make a call..
Any details about that ?
Balagopala is still ringing in my head.. It was great to feel that a note of natabhairavi was included when it was sang in the boundary of SSP.
The thani was really good.
Was this announced in any paper. Unfortunately I missed the whole day..

[keerthi]

I believe the krti before maye was namo namastE gIrvaNI in the raga gIrvANi.. this is a vivAdi MELa..

While theprogramme was rather good, it would be good if we could think about the other songs in the SSP..
It is praiseworthy that TMK has undertaken the project of archiving the audio versions of the Dikshitar krtis in the pradarshini, but the SSP is a treasure trove of several great composers, many from before the time of the Trinity..

Several pada-s of kshetrayya, matrubhutayya and others.. prabandhas, SulAdis and rare varnas; compositions of exquisite quality, and several sancAris, tanas, geeta-s and gavay-s (given as khabAy-s) abound in the SSP.. Many of these songs exist in karna-parampara lineages..

There are fewer and fewer people remaining who have learnt these songs in an aural/oral tradition and it is imperative that we quickly put them on record and collate it all, as a fitting tribute to this glorious work of Subbarama dikshitar's..

[Naada Priya]

NP wrote: Was this announced in any paper. Unfortunately I missed the whole day..


Thanks for the reply Keerthi..

Was this program actually announced in any news paper or anything?
Is there any mailing list that posts about these kind of activities that happen in Bangalore?
If so I would want to subscribe for the same...

PS:
I do not want to miss the train and end up cursing myself for missing the same..

[srinivasrgvn]

Several pada-s of kshetrayya, matrubhutayya and others.. prabandhas, SulAdis and rare varnas; compositions of exquisite quality, and several sancAris, tanas, geeta-s and gavay-s (given as khabAy-s) abound in the SSP.. Many of these songs exist in karna-parampara lineages..

Keerthi,
Please. Stop it. I cannot resist eating all this delicious food! :p

[narayan]

Have some amateur questions about the SSP and I am willing to be re-directed. 1) Are the Dikshitar songs listed there supposed to be comprehensive, i.e. something not there in the SSP is automatically suspect? I have heard some discussions of dubious Dikshitar wannabe songs, but there seem to be some weighty ones sung by respectable folk which are not there in the SSP! 2) As I recall from the English transliteration available on ibiblio.org, there is just Dayaleni in Nayaki of Tyagaraja listed there, plus 4 of the pancharatnams in the anubandham. So clearly not an attempt at being comprehensive, at least in Tyagaraja compositions. I have often wondered what made SD choose Dayaleni of all the hundreds of Tyagaraja songs that must be available at that time. Good choice, I must say!

[keerthi]

Was this program actually announced in any news paper or anything?
Is there any mailing list that posts about these kind of activities that happen in Bangalore?
If so I would want to subscribe for the same...

As far as I know, it wasn't in the papers..
This was mainly organised by the ananya GML cultural academy.. They have a music magazine,(with articles mostly in kannada) called Abhivyakti; which has concert listings for the month ahead (in english)
It is rather useful information, as you can know stuff well in advance.. You may want to subscribe..


narayan,

1) No krti is guaranteed a MD pedigree because it is in the pradarshini, or denied it because it is absent from the SSP.. there hasn't, unfortunately, been a scholarly critical edition/ literary analysis of mutthuswami Dikshitar's compositions, by anyone who regards him as less than superhuman..

The songs in the anubandham attributed to MD are a little suspect; while most songs in the rest of the SSP can safely be attributed to MD, based on their lyrical (and musical?) content.. not merely because they are in the SSP.

2) By reading the pradarshini often, like a favourite novel( or like my grandma's perpetual sundarakandam parayaNam!); we can infer that by sangeetha sampradAya; subbarama dIkShitar meant what he thought was the Venkatamakhi sampradAya, and so chose to give us a treatise which encompassed this musicological scheme as he saw it.. He had great respect for thyagaraja, and intended a more expansive treatment in his later projects, which never saw the light of day..
As you observe, DayalEni bratuku is notated in the SSP, and this was probably because he felt the raga lakshanam as demonstrated in this krti, was true to the Venkatamakhi lakshana of this rAga..

Of the ghana rAga pancaratna, Kanakana ruchira is absent; and there are several differences in the notations of the others..
- the pallavi of jagadanandakaraka has 13 sangatis, with a Da in the very first
- the pallavi of duDukUgala has no sangatis!
- the first caranam of this gaula song - SrIvanita, is absent..

If i remember right, there are more thyAgaraja krtis in the prathamAbhyasa pustakamu of SubbarAma dIkShitar..

p.s - start a separate thread if you want to discuss identification of 'genuine' and other krtis..

[rajaglan]

NP wrote: Was this announced in any paper. Unfortunately I missed the whole day..


Thanks for the reply Keerthi..

Was this program actually announced in any news paper or anything?
Is there any mailing list that posts about these kind of activities that happen in Bangalore?
If so I would want to subscribe for the same...

PS:
I do not want to miss the train and end up cursing myself for missing the same..

It was announced in either hindu or TOI. I buy both so I cannot say which one. But the
things is that it was advertised slightly earlier as a forthcoming program. Problem in
Blore edition of newspaper is that they never miss any program but it is announced
either on the day or some days earlier. Chennai papers have both kind of announcements.
But chennai is a major follower of CM.

[sappri]

I reckon this was amongst the widely publicised events - it has been there in kutcheribuzz.com for quite some time, was in Ananya's mag and in couple of leading newspapers.
Plus the informal buzz.