TMKrishna at SGBS Bangalore 2-8-2009

[rajaglan]

VOcal : TMKrishna,
Violin : RK Sriramkumar
Mritangam : Harikumar

The highlight was his experiment of Bhairavi Viriboni varnam as main. I had to leave after the
thani. So the main is more like Alapana , swaram (varnam) & Neraval ( at Sami Sree Rajagopala), thani.

IT was a high energy performance from the start. His pronounciation nowadays reminds me of MSS
(so clear and similar style). This is my personal opinion. The quality and intensity of his voice was of high
order and this concert exhibits his swara and neraval skill with no doubt. The khamas swarams, neraval
in Saurashtram and the Bairavi neraval are the highlights.

Personally I liked the submain sourashtram piece Suryamurte (R,N) and the first song Shanka
Chakra in purnachandrika. The second song was Maru Bari, a khamas javali.

Bhairavi , I expected Kouluvai. He opened the book after the Bhairavi alapana and I thought he is going to
sing amba kamakshi swarajathi which may need some reference.
I am sure many were taken by surprise. He performed Viriboni varnam as main eariler in
MA in this season. I somehow guess we can predict his main song easily from next year.
The pattern is that , he performed Mari Mari (kamboji) in MA in last season and he repeated
this last year here (not sure whether it is SGBS or shivarathri concert).

Once again this venue is missing RTP from TMK. My cousin who stayed back
told me that TMK justified why Varnam as main in his speech. I guess someone will write a detailed review.

[braindrain]

Here is the complete list.

01 Shankha chakra gadA pANim - pUrNachandrika - Muthuswami Dikshitar ( S )

02 maru bAri ( javaLi) - khamAs - Dharmapuri Subbarayar ( S )

03 sUryamUrtE namOstutE - saurAshtram - Muthuswami Dikshitar ( A,N )

neraval @ ‘AryavinutatEjasphUrtE ArogyAdiphaladakIrtE’

04 pAhimAma srI rAjarAjEswari - janaranjani - Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan

05 viribONi - bhairavi - Pachimiriam Adiappa ( A,N ,T )

neraval @ ‘ sAmi srI rAjagOpAla dEva’

tani Avartanam

06 viruttam - rAgamAlika

( tandai tAyum - mOhanam ; unaiyallal matroru tuNai - sindhubhairavi, anthamum Adiyum - behAg)

ithu thAnO thillai sthalam - behAg - Gopalakrishna bharati

07 eppO varuvArO - jAunpuri - Gopalakrishna Bharati ( S )

08 mangaLam - saurAshtram - Thyagaraja

[KSJaishankar]

I agree with Sri Rajaglan that it was a highly energetic performance by TMK. The Bhairavi alapana was superb, and not just because of the vocal range that TMK showed (> 3 octaves)!

Besides the crisp diction, he seems to have developed the ability to present a long alapana / neraval phrase without apparently taking breath, much reminiscent of the late pitamaha. Now that ability combined with a superior voice (and have I just landed myself into a controversy here is breathtaking (pun intended!)

The lack of an RTP was keenly felt. At a minimum, he could possibly have sung Tanam in Bhairavi, which is how he presented Viriboni at the MA. Anyways, most of the reviews that I read of this series of concerts (Gurucharan, Saketaraman, Mandolin, Nithyasree) and the other one that I attended (Malladi) also did not feature an RTP. Maybe we should request the organizers to request the artistes on our behalf.

I do not remember when TMK presented Mari Mari in Bangalore. Earlier in the year, at the Odukkatur Math for Sivarathri, he sang Begada (Nadopasana) and RTP in Devagandhari. That was another great concert.

Jaishankar

[Ragjay]

I just read the post of Jaishankar. I think after the elaborate Bhairavi alapana it would have had a greater impact had he sung the Bhairavi swarajathi.This penchant for singing warm up piece as a Main item and some odd pieces to fill in the breach is sheer flippancy. What a great waste of effort and talent. One can only lament... No doubt he is a classy singer ,but if he follows the pattern of SSI in tempo and spirit it would be a century always..... Ragjay

[Rasika911]

Wow...nice song list...would have loved to listen to the concert

[mohan]

05 viribONi - bhairavi - Pachimiriam Adiappa ( A,N ,T )

neraval @ ‘ sAmi srI rAjagOpAla dEva’

tani Avartanam

No kalpana swaram were sung?

[braindrain]

No, Mohan.

[eppramod]

Heard TNS gave an excellent concert yesterday accompanied by MC,Guruvayoor Dorai and Dayanand Mohite.

Braindrain,

Would be great if you can provide the song list in a separate thread.

[braindrain]

Done.. We were missing you and Hari. Both of you, get well soon.

[eppramod]

Thank you!

[Svaapana]

braindrain,
are you sure maru bAri ( javaLi) - khamAs was the second piece?

[arasi]

One of my guesses about TMK's singing varNams later in the concert is disproved now. While I know he shuffles the order of the items in his concerts for his own reasons, I have wondered if the content of the varNams (mostly of a romantic nature) made him present them later (as one does with the tukkaDAs). Apparently, it is not the case if he sang mArubAri as the second item.

[mohan]

My cousin who stayed back told me that TMK justified why Varnam as main in his speech. I guess someone will write a detailed review.

we are waiting to hear about the explanation!

[appu]

May be in the near future TMK will start with an elaborate Madhyamavati, or Sourashtram, sing the mangalam first, get it out of the way and continue the concert. If varnam can be sung in the middle, tukkadas in the beginning, why not begin with a mangalam.

[braindrain]

braindrain,
are you sure maru bAri ( javaLi) - khamAs was the second piece?

It was. Was it in surprice or in mock ? Dont be surprised if you see a songlist with thillana at the first slot..


Regarding his explanation ( let me summarise it ) :

This was done on request by Ramesh Swami ( the secretary of the Sabha) as he do not want people to go back home and start speculating on their own.

a) In carnatic music, there are 9 types of songs/writings. Each of them are different by their structural , lyrical and musical nature.

b) Some of the lesser privilaged types do have some beautiful pieces ( padams, javali, varnam), in their lyrical and musical value. Why do we need to treat them as the post tani items.

c) These do deserve larger attention, hence need to be promoted. Hence I sing padams ( he did at Indiranagara Sabha in July 1st Week) , javalis ( as in this concerts) and varnam at higher order.

d) Most of the people agree, that viriboni is one of the best composition in bhairavi. If so, why do we need to sing this at the beginning of the concert, when every one , including the artists and the audience are settling in, not giving enough attention. The audience would be coming in and arranging themselves not listening to the artists, until the 2nd kala singing of the varnam.

e) Viriboni is a brilliant piece of writing and is rich as any other major krithis , so is the Kalyani varnam. So, I thought, I will take this up and present at the main slot of the concert.

f) viriboni has 4 charanams, and usually only 2 are sung even by the yesteryears stalwarts.

g) It is better to sing viriboni as main, that singing some of the compositions sung as main these days ( he did not mention any names in particular).

h) This is not revelusionising the concert paddhati and he is not trying to change anything here. People can have their own opinion.

i) Students who is listening to him, need not try to emulate this and blame it on him.

---------------------

These were some of the points he talked. I might have missed some, others may add. These are not my opinions.

[ranjanimalavi]

I went few minutes late and did not get a seat in the concert hall.
So i decided sit before the projection tv in the basement and listen to the concert.

For me listening to viriboni always gives goosebumps especially MDR.
Being a main item, and with a grand alapana, it was all worth it.
Except for a momentary distraction for somebody bringing in some hot water or milk,
when he was in the middle of the varnam.

I would love to hear the kalyani varnam also as a main item.

I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

Raman

[Rasika911]

we are waiting to hear about the explanation!

I don't think TM Krishna owes an explanation to anyone but what he said makes sense and one could have inferred this without too much trouble.

I don't understand why there is so much fuss about this. If anything TM Krishna deserves praise for singing varnam as the main, we are forgetting how much more difficult it is to sing an ata tala varnam as the main piece especially singing neraval is no easy task and is a pleasure to listen to when executed properly. I was fortunate enough to witness the academy concert and must say that his final round of non-stop nerval was absolutely spectacular. Singing javalis pre-main has been done before, I saw S.Sowmya sing a javali in the first half of the concert at the academy a while back but people tend not to talk about that. Singing a varnam at the start is not as much a rigid rule as is singing mangalam at the end. My understanding is that the former was a practice adopted by ariyakudi. Many artists also sing the karnataka kapi varnam in the middle of concerts. Sanjay Subrahmanyan has also rendered varnams in the middle of the concert even if its not the main piece. There is also an ARI broadcast where TM Krishna has sung the varali varnam as main.

[Always_Evolving]

Thanks Braindrain for giving a summary of the explanation. For me its not too convincing.
1. Varnams sung as openers does not necessarily mean they are given casual treatment. I've been to many many concerts where audience was spellbound by a Viriboni opener. This is not to argue that Viriboni's greatness as a composition is not sufficient to be presented as a main item but that the varnam structure IMO doesn't seem to lend itself that well to neraval perhaps... But I didn't hear the neravals presented that day. I could be wrong. The structure with second speed is also ideally suited as a warm-up -- again doesn't imply anything second-rung !

2. Padams are different from Javalis in their structure and scope. The former can be sung expansively because of the inherent depth and beauty in. But are typically not adorned further by alapanas, swarams or neravals. Hence they are sung post-Tani and not for the reason that they are given second-class treatment. Indeed people wait with baited breath for the padams sung by such stalwarts as Rama Ravi, and in the old days, the Dhanammal progeny.

3. I would really like to understand why padams and javalis are always mentioned in the same breath??! Yes I do know the stuff about their lyrical value, romantic content, bhavam-richness, etc. etc. But the songs are of different structure. Javali one-down serves what purpose? Do they lend themselves to kalpanaswarams as well as a Meru-samaana or Ramanatham bhajeham? What is the view of those who were present?

[sureshvv]

I don't think TM Krishna owes an explanation to anyone but what he said makes sense and one could have inferred this without too much trouble.

His explanation has made me rethink this and I have changed my feeling about it now. Can't agree with you that it was all easily inferable.

[bilahari]

I have no problems with TMK singing a varnam in the middle of the concert, but I agree with A_E that varnams are not ignored by the audience if presented right at the beginning of the concert. Much has to do with the nature of their treatment rather than their position in the songlist (also makes me wonder if the songs TMK DOES choose to sing at the start like the Dikshitar krithi in this concert he considers less worthy of the audience's attention...). All this leads me to wonder if Ariyakudi had specific reasons for arranging the kutcheri format the way he did?

[Rasika911]

I dont think its fair to compare singing the varnam at the start to singing the mangalam at the end. Singing varnam at the start is something which was started by ariyakudi purely because he found that its a good warm up and gives the concert a good atmosphere due to its rythm and tempo. If you find that a rendu kalai krithi like meru samana with a few quick rounds of neraval and swaram has the same affect then i dont think thats too bad.
I wonder is ariyakudi mentioned anything about singing abhangs and bhajans in concerts?

[Svaapana]

Rasika911,
I think ARI sang bhajans and "vaishnav janatho" for certain in his concerts. My father used to say that ARI would be requested to sing the later song "once more".

[arasi]

Wonder if music historians like Sriram have stumbled upon any old news item or anecdote where fellow-musicians or rasikAs have objected to Ariyakkudi's concert format. If so, it would be nice to know. Or, did the format just evolve naturally over the course of years that the change wasn't a dramatic one and thus became mainstream without much ado?
Experimentation is part of growth--even on stage, in small amounts. Time will tell. The response of rasikAs is another indication to the performer if his experiment has merit.
I do not think that there is any need to explain to the audience in such detail why the varNam needs an elaborate treatment so that it can take place of a heavy kruti.
Of course, tastes differ, so too one's perception about concert format. Yes, perceptions too. as Always_Evolving points out, padams and jAvaLis have been clubbed together because of their romantic content.
Personally, I feel that since varNams were meant to be a precis of a musical piece, why 'expand' them while there are so many heavy pieces which are ideal for elaboration? In my limited perception, varNams are purposely created in a way (at least, those by the exponents of it) where the rAgm lies hidden in the composition's folds, and that is where their beauty resides. To keep to the terseness of varNams and convey them intact is the challenge. I don't know, I may be wrong.. .

[karthikbala]

Rasika911,
I think ARI sang bhajans and "vaishnav janatho" for certain in his concerts.

Vaishnav janatho features in a Media Dreams album of ARI. Other pieces in that album: Huseni (Rama ninne), Kambhoji (Evari mata), Kharaharapriya (Rama niyeda) etc.

[s_hari]

TMK explained to audience because he was asked to do so in this concert. ARI had compelling reasons to change concert format - since those days concert was for more than 4 hours, and he came up with a new format for 3 hours concert - like varnam, few small keerthanas, sub main, main, RTP, post RTP items etc. I am not sure whether ARI would have canvassed for this format, and others, including his contemporaries would have followed this having seen merit. I tend to agree with arasi on her remarks. If one looks at compositions of trinity, the keerthanas has lot of bhava and meaning. So, a apt line can be taken up for neraval - which is suitable musically, lyrically. Most of the the time the neraval line might be conveying significant message or could be like "punch line" of the song. Viribhoni varnam might be musically rich, but not sure about significant meaning (can refer - http://www.sahityam.net/wiki/Viriboni). If i see this from music/art perspective, it is okay to sing varnam as main, but from bakthi rasa point of view, i prefer time and tested keerthanas be sung as main. If we it from art perspective, and want to focus on musical value only - one can sign any lines - like a song depicting nature, etc. It will be interesting to see if other TMK's contemporaries follow his format of singing javali up front, padam/varnam as main, and also on whether his students take this bani forward further.

-hari

[rajeevsid]

I just wish I were there for this concert??? Seems to have been a hell of a concert !!Heard the music academy RTV in Bharavi and I liked it. It was a great alapana and thanam and yes I agree with Hari, I would have preferred a time tested krithi. But it is just my preference now. Maybe preferences , traditions and thus public performances change in the due course of time, So no one really knows how the concert format will change in the future.

So basically ... lets just enjoy the music !!!!

Regards

[bhaktha]

I wonder is ariyakudi mentioned anything about singing abhangs and bhajans in concerts?

From the master himself: http://www.narada.org/ariyakudi/tradition.html

[Svaapana]

braindrain,

It was indeed a question, for the first time I was reading a javali as the second item of a major concert . There is nothing sacred about the sequence of krithis, of course.

[kadambam]

Vriboni and Amba Kamakshi are two compositions that elevate Bhairavi to supernatural status in carnatic ragas. Personally, singing a grand varnam in the begining of the concert (Kalyani, Hamsadhwani, Bhairavi, Kanada, Reetigowla or even Kambhodi) sets a momentum to the concert. It's like sending a good solid opening batsman into the pitch!!!

[vasanthakokilam]

There are two separate aspects/concerns:

1) Are varnams worthy of being treated as a main and
2) If varnam is sung as the main, is the audience being robbed of hearing the great kirthanas that are typically taken up as main.

I understand the second point and it has to be reconciled by the audience in various ways, they are often personal.

On the first point, the fact that we have to ask this question itself shows how much we are all conditioned over the past 80+ years.
Treating varnams strictly as a warm up piece is a big disservice to the varnam genre itself. Not that it can not act as a warm up piece, mot definitely it can. It is like
calling a Personal Digital Assitant (PDA) as a tip calculator. Yes it can do that, but it can do other things!! I always think of the treatment of a varnam in a bharathnatyam concert to
appreciate the true nature of what a varnam is.

Granted a varnam is not same as a krithi because of the differences in the sahitya bhava. But purely on the melodic and rhythmic treasure trove that varnams are, they deserve a much
better treatment in concerts.

[arunk]

Actually I think singing varnams in breakneck speed AND doubling that makes it a purely academic + vidwat related exercise (?). I find some folks (not talking about pros) pride themselves in rendering the varnam "as fast as possible".

Now, this is probably a bit of inferiority complex speaking as I myself cannot sing it "properly" at anything other than snail's pace , but I do love the beauty of the varnam (or say in particular some varnams) in an almost vilamba kala speed. And after such a vilamba kala rendition of purvanga, I find that even the act of delivering the same purvaga+muktayi at double-speed to be somewhat "odd" (cant think of a better word).

But I also think we have been conditioned to not treat varnam like a krithi - and now somehow we think it "is not good enough" to be treated as such - even though I think many of them are grand compositions in their own regard. I am not sure the varnam always was an "educational piece". I need to check Prof SRJ's video on varnams where he talks about is evolution.

Arun

[rshankar]

I always thought that a tAna varNam sung in three (or even 2 speeds) serves not merely as an excellent warm-up for the vocal cords, but like the alArippu (which serves to warm the body - all the angas and upangas of the body, and train the dancer's mind to get fixtaed on the rhythm of the naTTuvanAr's cymbals), it also gives a very clear indication of the caliber of the rest of the performance. Just as a sloppy alArippu presages a sloppy performance overall, so does a sloppy rendition of a varNam, IMO.

A pada varNam OTOH, needs to be lead upto, both in terms of building the dancer's physical, and emoting ability as well as building the audience's appreciation skills - and therefore, it is rightly placed in the center of a performance. There are instances when it is replaced by a daru varNam or a kriti like bhAvayAmi raghurAmam - but these are suitably adapted to give scope to nritta and abhinaya portions on par with a pada varNam. An alArippu, however long it can be made to be, can NEVER become the centerpiece of a dance performance because of its rather unidimentional nature (no lyrics). But a tAna varNam can be appropriately 'dressed up' (with an AlApana, neveral and k. svaras) to substitute for a center-piece. However, I wonder what other piece has the versatility of the tAna varNam to warm-up (e.g., the various speeds) in the event that the tAna varNam serves as the entre and not the appetizer. In this instance, I am not certain I would call the MD kriti suitable for a warm-up exercise, but who am I to judge that? If Sri Krishna felt that it was good to warm-up with (or if he felt that no warm-up was necessary), who am I to judge? All we can say is if we liked it, or not, and provide objective reasons (not the rather autistic 'It has never been done this way before' OR 'it was not how ARI did it' - but objective ones). I will reserve judgement until I actually get to hear this live...

[arunk]

Actually I have found TMK to hit a homerun even when he does not sing a varnam - he has opened with Sankarabharanam, Kharaharapriya etc. in a few concerts and he had my attention within the first minute - and I remember thinking "boy he sure hits the ground running".

So Varnam or not, a well delivered first item is always going to be a sufficient indicator of the caliber. On the other hand, if some/many artists *need* a varnam to warm-up, and that is why it is better early, then arent we trivializing this form of composition in a concert ?

ravi - Many of these varnams are actually like the varnams in dance which ARE main items. Many of them (e.g. natakurinji varnam) have lyrics for each of the swara section, which are almost always left out in order to make it into a "opening piece" (but there are different kinds of varnams indeed).

And in dance, there is neraval like elaboration done on varnams. So a varnam in CM need not be like an alarippu - that is oversimplifying what is actually a tough composition - which actually requires us to deliver as per the raga swaroopa. So I believe it is and atleast was a lot more. It has just been reduced to be so by the current concert format

Arun

[arasi]

Then, is there room in a concert for two varNams? If there can be several krutis, why not a couple of varNams too? One at the beginning and one much later? Surely, it doesn't have to be one tillAnA, one mangaLam!
As someone who is open-minded about artistes bending the rules (if the results are worth it), I have no qualms about it. I have often wondered why varNam which in the main deals with SringAra rasam is the first number in a concert. Then I tell myself, the exercise has other purposes which completely ignore the meaning the piece carries. It has been so, for countless years. So traditionally, even the most traditional of the traditionalists have sung them at the beginning of the concert. A few of them opt (ed) for an invocation, mainly about ganESa. Historically, I haven't heard of anyone singing padam or jAvaLi early on in a concert. If this gets repeated, we will get used to it and it will one day become tradition too. Anyway, it is up to the performers to present their concerts the way they choose to, within bounds.
My question is, while a pleated angavastram will very well serve as a vESHTi, unfurled, why go for it when you have hundreds of vESHTis available to wear?
Then again, that is how I think. I also think of things in ways which are not traditional. So, I have to respect individuality in others too!

[cacm]

Then, is there room in a concert for two varNams? If there can be several krutis, why not a couple of varNams too? One at the beginning and one much later? Surely, it doesn't have to be one tillAnA, one mangaLam!
As someone who is open-minded about artistes bending the rules (if the results are worth it), I have no qualms about it. I have often wondered why varNam which in the main deals with SringAra rasam is the first number in a concert. Then I tell myself, the exercise has other purposes which completely ignore the meaning the piece carries. It has been so, for countless years. So traditionally, even the most traditional of the traditionalists have sung them at the beginning of the concert. A few of them opt (ed) for an invocation, mainly about ganESa. Historically, I haven't heard of anyone singing padam or jAvaLi early on in a concert. If this gets repeated, we will get used to it and it will one day become tradition too. Anyway, it is up to the performers to present their concerts the way they choose to, within bounds.
My question is, while a pleated angavastram will very well serve as a vESHTi, unfurled, why go for it when you have hundreds of vESHTis available to wear?
Then again, that is how I think. I also think of things in ways which are not traditional. So, I have to respect individuality in others too!

Dear Arasi,
Please allow me to present an alternate view. I feel the GENIUS of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar whom I consider to be the EQUIVALENT OF GOD himself as far as Carnatic music is concerned is in distlling& presenting the best in our music in the most brilliant& creative manner possible. I am all for experimentation & creativity - my observations have nothing to do with current day artists-but I feel most things about our past have been muddied without a clear documentation of the past. Actually the best book on Benares has been written by Diana Eck & the most authentic history of India is by Michael Wood. We need to learn & have an authentic idea of how we have evolved.... VKV

[mohan]

Before Ariyakudi's days, were varnams presented in concerts? If so, whereabouts in the concert sequence did they come, etc?

[mohan]

Also was it TRS who once sang a concert in reverse order commencing with Mangalam and Tillana?

[rajeshnat]

Actually I have found TMK to hit a homerun even when he does not sing a varnam - he has opened with Sankarabharanam, Kharaharapriya etc. in a few concerts and he had my attention within the first minute - and I remember thinking "boy he sure hits the ground running".

Arun
Many musicians inclusive of TMK do this, usually when the start is late for a concert because of many reasons, they go with taking a like submain start for a concert.

[sais72]

Two other points that TM Krishna mentioned in that explanation were

1. The viriboni varnam lyrical structure was as complete as a Krithi (can somebody articulate this better!). He talked about the Anubandham followed smoothly with the pallavi etc. He described the correct way of singing varnams.

2. He also mentioned that he felt Shrungara rasa could also occupy centre stage in a carnatic music concert and does not see why it should be limited to Bhakti rasa (Again not his actual words).

[braindrain]

Thanks Sai, I missed them.

[venkatpv]

Varnams were sung as opening pieces even before Ariyakudi. Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan started the practice of singing varnam and RTP in the same raga, no?

warm up piece or not, singing a varnam first up is a good idea. can help you decide if the singer is worth your time

[rshankar]

warm up piece or not, singing a varnam first up is a good idea. can help you decide if the singer is worth your time

Venkat

Any opening piece should be able to tell you that, right? - OR - Is there something about how a varNam is structured that is going to tell you that? (I have the same feeling about an alArippu - I feel other opening items do not give me the quite the right frame-work to judge, but that may be more my deficiency.)

Arun,

If I understand you correctly, many of the varNams are infact like pada varNams (with sAhitya for the muktAyi and caraNa svarams) - in that case, are these pada varNams that became 'tAnamfied'? (I can see Arasi rolling her eyes!)

Sri TMK's views on 'bhakti' in music are well known - If I can paraphrase, I think he feels that if one is devoted enough to the rAga dEvatas, the others can take a back seat (note that he never said 'should', or for that matter he never said that it is the way for him) - The comment may well have been a dig at 'devout' performers who merely pay token lip service to the rAga dEvata. And Bombay Smt. Jayashree Ramanath has espoused the same views. So, for someone with that pov, as long as the rAga is presented appropriately, with no Sruti lapses, I guess the content of the composition is immaterial....

In 'mArgazhi rAgam' Sri TMK sings an awesome AlApana (one of the best behAg AlApanas) before presenting the jAvaLI, sAramaina mATalentO cAlu cAlu rA - I expected 'irakkam varAmal pOnadenna kAraNam en svAmikku', and I remember feeling a pang of disappointment when he took up sAramaina (I will admit to a having a fleeting thought of 'toDapakaTTaiku paTTu kunjalam' ), but, as he presented it, I completely forgot that it was a jAVaLI, with some light hearted choreography that usually goes with it - In other words, Sri TMK's presentation style did elevate the piece (for me)!

I agree that all innovation is not good (Sri Mythili Sharan Gupt, in his mega poem pancvaTI prasang, declares through the thoughts of lakshmaN that 'parivartan hi yadi unnati hai to ham baDhtE jAtE hai, kintu mujhE to sIdhE, saccE pUrv bhAv hI bhAtE hai' - 'if change is the same as progress, then we are indeed forging ahead, but, it is the simple and true concepts of our past that captivate me') - but I also think that unless several ideas are tried out, we will not have a clue as to where the next awesome idea will be from (and elevate the promoter to the status of the next 'god')!

[arasi]

Ravi,
How well Mythili Sharan put it! Holds true, even today. Yes, unnati is the key when one strives for and at a rare moment, reaches it too!
While I get serious about these things, I don't roll my eyes, Ravi, the optimist that I am . It is not unhealthy to have practitioners of CM who do not go on stage and give us the predictable fare each and every time without wanting to find on their own the hidden possibilities of our music. With those who do, their trying to understand it will not always result in winning numbers. But doing nothing to explore it would mean dishing out the same stuff day in and day out, however high class the presentation is. Let us leave the veterans out of it. I am saying this of the new generation of musicians. It is like our seeing a child exploring the world. While you do not want it to exceed the limits of safety, you do not stop it from learning to walk or explore its environment by 'playing it safe' all the time.
We only have to think how it is with our own lives: do we think and do the same things our grandparents or parents did? Our parents did not, nor do our children do what we ourselves do.
No, I am not for the wild flings of musicians but I am not scared by innovations either which are carried out with responsibility and sensitivity. They are not going to put any dents on CM is what I would say to those who worry about the well being of our music.

[Rasika911]

Here is an article with TM Krishna which brings up some of the issues brought up in this thread.

IF YOU THOUGHT TM Krishna’s passion was reserved merely for his singing, you haven’t heard him get started about his schooling. The Carnatic vocalist is an alumnus of The School (Krishnamurti Foundation India), and he reveals, almost reverentially, "The KFI environment is very, very special. It contributed a lot to my taking up music as a profession. Even today, it’s helped me in terms of how I approach my career, because the first thing you learn there is to do something that you can do, and to do the best that you can."¿

A lot of what we talk about snakes its way back to The School. Say, competition. "I believe it’s just a psychological phenomenon. It doesn’t actually exist. If my potential is going to be judged only with respect to what the next person is capable of, I could be mediocre all my life. That’s where KFI helped. Even when I was starting out, I never considered competing with anybody else. I just did what I needed to do, and I enjoyed doing it. That’s important: doing what you do because you love doing it."¿ And criticism? "If there’s something valuable to be taken from what a critic says, I will. But the rest of it is just personal perception, so I don’t take either the compliments or the criticism too seriously. Ultimately the greatest conscience to your performance is yourself."¿

But there are other times that Krishna doesn’t appear a product of The School so much as a law school. He holds very, very strong opinions about everything, and he will argue his case with an attorney’s zeal for persuading a jury until you, either convinced or exhausted, come around to his point of view. One of the cases he presents most eloquently the afternoon we meet is about musical tradition. Krishna is considered a traditionalist, but his concerts are often structured in ways that aren’t exactly traditional - for instance, he’s sung a varnam as the main piece (instead of the usual kriti). And he points out, "People believe that tradition is what they have listened to. If you ask a 70-year-old what musical tradition is, he’ll go back to Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. I’m proud to say I am a traditionalist, but I don’t believe that certain things that have come into practice over the years are necessarily part of tradition."¿

"Singing a varnam at the beginning of a concert was something Ariyakudi established. Now, let’s analyse this rationally. He’s a classic example of a traditionalist who was also a non-conformist - because he changed the face of Carnatic music performance."¿ Krishna is referring, of course, to the old master’s reconfiguration of the concert format - earlier, a performance would consist of fewer, elaborately-rendered numbers; Ramanuja Iyengar pioneered the shift to a mix with greater compositional variety - which is followed to this day. "For him, a varnam was very convenient. It helped him warm up his voice, get into the mood"¦ So is that part of tradition or is that just an individual’s personal preference that’s become ‘tradition’ over a period of time?"¿

The argument isn’t over - not just yet. "Besides, Carnatic music isn’t just kutcheri music - the performing end need not be the be all and the end all. The only way we analyse any art form today is based on how it is presented, but there is so much more to the form beyond the stage."¿ In other words, from the point of view of a kutcheri, a varnam may simply be a warm-up piece, but it is also an exquisite example of traditional craftsmanship. "The way the raga is captured in it is incredible. So why not give it a place of prominence? Within the boundaries of traditionalism and classicism, there is still so much room to experiment."¿

Listening to how Krishna analyses, deconstructs and rationalises every utterance of his, you can see why he first thought he’d make a career out of left-brain subjects like Management and Economics - despite starting to learn music from when he was about five-and-a-half. (The first guru was Seetharama Sharma, who was already teaching Krishna’s mother. Later, Krishna also learnt from Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.) Around 1985, his mother and his guru started a musical institute - Kalapeetham, in Mylapore - and Krishna joined the group classes there. Then in 1988, when he was 12, came his first official concert - at Chennai’s Music Academy, as part of their Spirit of Youth programme, which gave opportunities to talented youngsters.

But even then, says Krishna, "I didn’t think music was going to be my profession. I thought it was something I’d dabble in while working in some other field. I was always interested in Management and Economics."¿ (That’s what he ended up doing at Chennai’s Vivekananda College, a BA in Economics.) It was only around 1995-96, when he was in the third year at college, that he decided music would be his career. "What sparked that was probably a professional ascendance to a certain extent. I was getting good notices, and I got the confidence that this is something I could do."¿ There was no opposition from home. "A big plus was that we were comfortably off. My parents fully supported my decision."¿

"Even so,"¿ he adds, "at that point, I don’t know if I had the passion for music that I have now. But I loved singing, and when I realised I could make it a productive profession, I decided to go ahead. It was a rational decision."¿ Looking back, it was also the right decision. There was a time Krishna’s mother would give him auto fare so he could go and attend concerts of the biggest, brightest stars on the Carnatic music firmament. Today, he’s one of them - "a brand,"¿ as he labels himself, borrowing a term from his college education.

Of course, Krishna didn’t just say that. He’d talked earlier about how the leisurely-paced padam is a lost art in concerts today and that it needed to be revived, and I’d asked him if audiences these days have the patience to sit through padams and javalis. That’s when he whipped himself into corporate mode. "The first time you come to a TM Krishna concert, you just listen. The second time, you expect something based on the previous experience. And so on for the third and fourth times. Now who decided those expectations? I did. I fed you with the data every time you came to my concert, and that data formed the basis of your expectations. Put in business terms, I am a brand. The qualities of a brand are decided by the manufacturer, which is me. You buy the product once. If you like it, you buy it again. So if I think I can create an audience that can listen to a padam or a javali, it’s up to me to try and do it. I don’t agree with artists who say that they do things because their audience wanted those things. That’s the biggest lie. Nobody wants anything from you except honesty."¿

Some additional Q&A, that made it to Sruti"¦

Tell us about your earliest concerts.

I told you about the one at Music Academy. Then in 1989, I got an opportunity to perform at the Youth Association for Classical Music. (It was a pioneer organisation that encouraged new talent. Without YACM, none of us would exist today.) I sang my first music season concert in 1991, at Kapali Fine Arts. In 1992, I had my first season concert at the Music Academy. Gradually, I began performing more, at sabhas in Chennai and outside too, in places like Hosur. My 1994 Academy concert was well received. Then in 1995, I gave two concerts at Sastri Hall and these were also very well received. One of these was a varnam-only concert - for the tenth anniversary of YACM - and such a concert had never been attempted before. Many musicians were among the audience. The success of these three concerts gave me the confidence to think about music as a profession.

With the different perceptions, expectations and levels of understanding in the audience, how do you evaluate the "success"¿ of a concert?

Well, there’s only one thing you can be sure of, really. Walking away from a concert, you know how it went. There are so many days my concert is a big success, but I’m not happy with it at all. On the other hand, there could be times when I thought I performed artistically very well, and the audience could be bored. These things cannot be explained.

What about the evaluation of your performance by the critics in the audience?

A critic is one individual. He has certain perceptions based on his experiences as a listener. Those are based on many principles that have governed that person through the years, just like many principles govern me as a performer. So you need to accept that. If you read a review using your own guidelines, it could be totally off-target. What bothers me is when the criticism gets personal. If you come to my concert and write that TM Krishna was not in form and his raga alapana was not up to the mark, I’m absolutely fine with that.

In the music season coverage in local magazines, there have been digs that singers from today’s generation put on a lot of airs - what’s called bigu - on stage.

That’s what I mean. That’s way out of line. I strongly believe that your music is your personality, and how you are on stage is how you are as a person. In any case, how do they know the problems we face on stage? There was this concert once where this photographer kept clicking pictures with a flashbulb during my alapana. I’m very finicky about these things. When he kept doing this repeatedly, I had to stop singing and ask him to leave. Later, a review called me arrogant. I didn’t care, because I had come there to produce good music - for myself and for everybody else - and I need some basic parameters to deliver that.

There was this concert of yours where, after a Kedaragowlai alapana, you went straight to the anupallavi (jalajasana sanakadi"¦) before returning with a flourish to the pallavi (tulasi bilva mallikadi"¦). What makes you decide to do something like this? Is it to throw audience expectations off a bit?

Such things happen on the spot. At that moment, I just felt like singing the anupallavi. I never plan my concerts - except for the Academy concerts where I have to give a list (because they ask for it). It depends on what I feel like at that instant. Of course, things like singing a varnam as the main piece have to be thought about earlier. Otherwise, it’s all decided on stage. When I leave for the concert, my mind is a blank slate. I fill it up with items depending on my mood at the moment.

So you don’t believe in, say, picking out ragas that are not similar to one another in the same concert? Because, according to you, there is no concert planning ahead of time, so you may feel like singing a Darbar followed by a Nayaki.

I don’t believe in that philosophy at all. Any raga can be sung after anything. If you are a capable artist, even if you choose two very close ragas, you can sing them different enough so as to not confuse your audience. For me, the main question is: what do I feel like singing? It’s that simple. If I don’t enjoy singing something, I won’t sing it. There have been days I don’t know what to sing and I’ve asked the violinists - many of whom are my friends - for the raga I should take up. I think that’s also a way of challenging myself. But, mainly, that’s the kind of person I am. I don’t like planning. At the same time, I don’t say that my method is better than that of those who plan their concerts. About the only thing I try not to do during the season, for instance, is to repeat a raga. But sometimes, I’ve done that too. But even that is only with respect to the ragas. The kritis, I don’t decide. I love to keep myself as vague as possible.

That means the evening before a concert would be spent doing"¦ what exactly?

If there’s a cricket match on that day, I’ll watch it right to the last ball. If the match is in Chennai, I’ll be at the stadium. I’m a cricket fanatic. Otherwise, there is no routine, per se. I do try not going out. I just chill out; relax in front of the TV.

But what about your regular practice routine? What does that consist of?

My routine has changed from the times I was not a performing professional. Those days, I used to practice in the mornings. Now, I practice at night - past 11 p.m., till about 2 or 3 a.m. I’m a night person; I can’t get up in the morning. But I do not practice if I have a concert, because it brings about a certain fixedness in your mind if you start rehearsing certain things.

You talked about being non-traditional in concerts. How long did it take for you to realise that you could both try something like this and get away with it?

Of course, you can’t do this when you’re starting out. Because you yourself aren’t sure of many things at that point. To a large extent, you sing what you are taught. Over a period of time, you start understanding ragas better, understanding your voice better, understanding your capacity better. And that itself is a long process. It’s only after you reach a certain stage of proficiency and professional comfort - in the sense of being accepted in the musical community - that your responsibility level as an artist increases. That’s when you decide what you want to be known as, what you want to be to the audience.

You travel a lot. Do you tailor concerts according to audiences? For instance, in the north, would you sing an abhang or a Meera bhajan?

When I go to the north, I make it a point to sing only pure Carnatic pieces. Why should I sing something else? If they have come to listen to Carnatic music, they must listen to Carnatic music as it is. Why should we go and sing Yaman Kalyan over there? It would be like a Hindustani vocalist coming here and singing Begada, for example. There are enough people here who sing a good Begada, so the audience would want to listen to something they haven’t heard before. Some things I do, yes. In terms of the pieces, if there’s a Tamil audience, I sing more Tamil compositions.

Now that we’re talking language, do you have a take on the Telugu vs. Tamil song catalogue?

Not particularly. But for me, the Trinity - Thyagaraja, Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri - is the greatest. Everybody else comes after that. I consciously try to bring in at least one composition by each of them during a concert.

As a performer, you obviously have a lot more musical scholarship than the lay audience member. Now, when you try out something new - like singing the neraval on an unexpected line because that makes more sense to you - do you think the audience gets that? In other words, does it matter the extent to which your thoughts get across to a general audience?

Obviously a newcomer is not going to get this. But this is again a learning process for the audience. I cannot go about educating everybody in the middle of a concert; that becomes a lecture-demonstration. To one section of the audience, my singing a neraval at any line won’t make a difference. There’s another section that’s heard a neraval being done on a certain line all their lives, and they can instantly identify that I’m singing it at another place. Then there are the scholars, who know the meaning of the composition, and begin thinking about whether that line warrants the neraval treatment. With all these kinds of audiences, it’s not possible to address each person’s need or awareness level.

You’re one of the top performers today. What do you do to ensure you don’t stagnate and keep evolving?

One is by throwing challenges to myself - maybe singing a new raga, or starting a raga at an unexpected place and seeing where it leads me, or maybe structuring the concert differently. Otherwise, the best way to keep yourself fresh is by learning more compositions. That’s why I am still a student of Seetharama Sharma.

Copyright ©2006 The New Sunday Express, Sruti

[Sathej]

//Some of the lesser privilaged types do have some beautiful pieces ( padams, javali, varnam), in their lyrical and musical value. Why do we need to treat them as the post tani items.//

I suppose there are quite a few unjustified assumptions made here. 'Treat' them as 'post-tani items'? Can't quite see the meaning there. One can sing a Javali/Padam post-tani and still do an elaborate rendition. Why have it as 'pre-tani' in order to do an elaboration? There isn't any rule that an elaboration is not to be done after tani, I guess!

And the point about audience's lack of attention when a Varnam is sung at the beginning - I couldn't relate to it at all. I have been really captivated many a time by several Varnam renditions at the beginning including the Bhairavi Ata Tala Varnam, the Reethigowlai Ata Tala Varnam and even a few Adi Tala Varnams. There was once an occasion when I remember TNS singing Viriboni (Bhairavi) as the first piece with Neraval and Swarams at the Charanam line.

Sathej

[vasanthakokilam]

TMK's views from three years back are well known around here and he has put himself and his views out there in a clear and honest fashion. Whether people call some of that arrogant etc. are secondary. I do not have much sympathy for those flash photographers. We complain about our people in the neighboring seats whispering and putting thalam loudly, imagine the artists predicament of having to put up with flash photography. It is good to see him give abundant credit to YACM. It would have been even better if he had mentioned the few who were instrumental in starting YACM, like Sri. Balaji, Vijaya Siva etc.

But one thing I did not catch on to before is the sruthi writer inserting some insane personal views into the mix. When did thinking rationally and arguing a point to clarity antithetical to The School ? Don't they encourage independent thinking there? And the author tries to dismiss a well put together argument as an attorney's zeal to convince a jury. Well, instead of blaming a good thing, blame TMK if he had not considered equally valid points raised by the author. Now that will be interesting reading

[mohan]

deleted due to error

[bilahari]

Mohan, I believe that is a labeling error. The second track, labeled sAvEri varNam, is actually the continuation of the kAnaDa varNam from charaNam onwards.

[bilahari]

MDR sings a thorough viribhOni: http://www.sendspace.com/file/jr46rw

[annamalai]

the Varnam is simply used as a voice warming exercise just like a fast bowler bowling a few loosners outside the off stump to get into a rhythm. Hinduastani musicians usually start the concert with a slow and deliberate pace deliberately at the adhara shadjam and slowly building up the raga so that the voice is fully warmed up. Whereas a varnam with its speed and gamakas can be the most difficult to render at the start.

A good rendition of a Varnam (Vanajakshi - Kalyani Ata tala varnam or Kanakangi - Thodi or Sarasijanabha - Kamboji) at the start of a concert can be difficult. To render a varnam with all its gamaka details, when the voice if not fully warmed up can be difficult. BTW, some musicians (Ariyakudi, MD Ramanathan, Balamuralikrishna ....) had mastered rendition of Varnams. In that sense, a Varnam right in the middle as detailed piece when the voice is fully set can be a good experience and could be considered analogous to listening to Jyothi Swaroopini as a main piece in a concert. One could aruge if Ariyakudi ever sang Jyothi Swaroopini as a main piece in a concert.

Musicians alwyas to make a mark for themselves and there is always an exploration for new avenues. However, I feel that Innovation should not based on "why not" premise.