Gayathri Girish @ Tamil Isai Fest - A historical perspective

[Sathej]

Smt Gayathri Girish - Vocal
Shri BV Raghavendra Rao - Violin
Shri AS Ranganathan - Mrudangam
Shri Nerkunam Sankar - Kanjira

Date : March 29, 2010
Venue : Vani Mahal - Obul Reddy Hall
Sabha : Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha

The concert was essentially based on a theme announced to be 'Sangam Mudhal Indru Varai' and was conceived to be a presentation of Tamizh Isai from a historical perspective.

1) An Introduction to the theme chosen
2) Pathupaattu - a verse on Swamimalai from Tirumurugaatrupadai by Nakkeerar - a Virutham in Bowli
3) Ettuthokai : Parippadal - a composition tuned to Sankarabharanam
Kalithokai - a composition in Arabhi
4) Pathinenkeezh Kanakku - a Virutham in Shanmukhapriya followed by a Thirukkural verse tuned in Shanmukhapriya - S
5) Silappadikaram - a verse set in Kanada - A
Manimegalai - a Kambhoji composition
6) Thevaram - Vananai - Keeravani
7) Divya Prabandham - Anjana Vannanai - Kapi
8 ) Thiru Usal - Thiruvasagam - Seerar - Kurinji
9) Kamba Ramayanam - Namam Annadhu - Karnaranjani
10) Thiruppugazh - Kadhi Modhi - Chandrakauns
11) Meenakshi Pillai Tamizh - Kumaragurupparar - Sangu Kidandha - Kalyani
12) Enneramum - Thodi - Marimutha Pillai
13) Yaro Ivar Yaro - Saveri - Arunachala Kavi - AST
14) Petra Thai - Ramalingar Arutpa followed by Irakkam Varamal - Behag - Gopalakrishna Bharathi
15) Kakkai Chiraganile - Brindavana Saranga - Subramanya Bharathiar
16) Kavadi Chindu - Subramania Bharathiar
17) Katrinile Varum - Kalki Krishnamurthy
18) Karpagame - Madhyamavathi - Papanasam Sivan
19) Dasavathara Mangalam - Ambujam Krishna

An introduction was made that laid out the theme of the concert - a presentation of Tamizh Isai in a historical framework, tracing its evolution from ancient ages to the present times. It was discussed that the Tamil language has undergone several changes over the centuries, there being striking differences between lyrics in say, Pathupattu and compositions of Subramanya Bharathiar.

Beginning with the Sangam age and the ancient literary works like the Pathupaattu and Thirukkural, appropriate verses and Viruthams tuned to different Ragams were sung to illustrate the lyrical and musical significance of the works. The Thirukkural verses (Agara Mudhala Ezhuthellam) set to Shanmukhapriya were beautifully sung with a round of Swarams. The Silapadikaram verse began as 'Masaru Ponne' set in Kanada and was preceded by an Alapanai.

The 6th - 8th century age comprising of Thevaram and Divya Prabhandam was elucidated in short. The Keeravani Thevaram Vananai - a personal favourite, was sung very well. A Kurinji composition was chosen for the Thiruvasagam period. This was followed by a coverage of the 10th, 12th and 15th centuries. This comprised of a verse from Kamba Ramayanam set to Karnaranjani and the Chandrakauns Thiruppugazh. The rhythmic (Layam) aspect in the Karnaranjani was quite striking, the composition seemed to fall in place beautifully with the Talam.

The Pillai Thamizh framework was exemplified by a verse on Meenakshi in Kalyani, it was announced that this composition is characterized by what is known as Chandam - the lyrical - rhythmic coherence. The Mrudangam support here was very good.Then the focus shifted to the Seerkazhi Moovar period - when the structuring of compositions as Pallavi-Anupallavi-Charanam roughly came about. This was supported by a rendition of Enneramum in Thodi by Marimutha Pillai, attention was drawn to the extensive imagery portrayed particularly in the Charanam of composition.

This was followed by a detailed Saveri and Yaro Ivar Yaro. It was announced that this had been originally set in Saveri and was changed to Bhairavi only later. The pick of the concert, to me, was in the Swaram exposition. The final round of Keezh Kala Swarams at Chandra Bimba was wonderful, the single round carried on for about 3-4 minutes at a slow pace and it was Saveri in all its essence with slow and beautiful exploration of each Gamakam laden swaram. The Tani that followed was nice as well. The percussionists supported well all the way.

Then the 'modern' age was dealt with, giving a few examples of composers in the 19th and 20th centuries like Gopalakrishna Bharathi (Irakkam Varamal), Subramnya Bharathiar (Kakkai Chiraganile and a Kavadi Chindu), Kalki Krishnamurthy and Papanasam Sivan. The concert concluded with a Dasavathara Mangalam by Ambujam Krishna. The violinist played with nice anticipation all through and his responses were all measured and appropriate.

It was an extremely methodical presentation punctuated periodically by succinct explanations. Can imagine the amount of efforts that should have gone into such a performance.

I have attempted to cover as much as I could here, apologize for any omissions/errors..

Sathej

[rajeshnat]

Sathej
GG indeed has a flair for digging compositions and giving a well thought out thematic concerts.What rAga is dasavathAra mangalam?. Perhaps just before that she could have gone for arasi's inDru varuvAnO in kalyAna vasantham which GG has sung before.

[kssr]

What a fantastic effort. Sometime back, I wrote an article about Carnatic Music in Tamil Literature (see following link). I am not a specialist in any of the two subjects but keenly interested in both! If only someone can help me get a recording of the concert, with the artist's consent I will be very grateful.

http://nadasurabhi.org/articles/8-carna ... literature

[bilahari]

Thanks for the nice review, Sathej. Indeed, GG's songlists are always interesting. Looking forward to hearing her this season.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
The daSavatAra mangaLam of Ambujam Krishna is in sourAshTram.
maN maDandai, malar mangai maNALanukku mangaLam is the first line and it goes on to trace his avatArams and ends with :
IraindavatArattiRku mangaLam--avan
IrARu nAmattiRkum mangaLam--adai
uraippOrkkum kETpOrkkum jaya mangaLam
jaya mangaLam nitya Suba mangaLam.

* I have typed the words as they are written in tamizh. suba for subha, mangaLam (not mangalam) and so on.

Gayathri Girish indeed is bold in taking up unknown krutis. She must have worked hard on this impressive concert which traces centuries of tamizh poetry and music.
Rajesh, I do hope that at some point, she would sing another one of my songs, though I have to say she did a great job of singing 'inRu varuvAnO?' at her Brahma GAna Sabha concert during the season.

[priyaram78]

I was fortunate enough to attend this concert of my fav. vocalist Gayathri Girish. I just loved her renditions in kAnadA and shanmukhapriyA. Her rendition of karpagame and kaakai chiranginile were a treat. hope to attend more of her concerts in future in chennai. thanks Sathej for the wonderful review.

[VK RAMAN]

Blessed are the ones who attended this Tamil Isai!

[Sathej]

Arasi is right, the Mangalam by Ambujam Krishna was in Saurashtram. Yes, the efforts put in by the artiste were readily apparent, backed by a balanced presentation.

Sathej

[sureshvv]

Kudos to Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha for conducting a series such as this to promote Tamil isai. And kudos to Smt. Gayathri Girish for a phenomenal presentation designed more to elucidate rather than overwhelm the rasika. The narration was kept simple and succinct without showboating abstruse knowledge or confounding with an overload of details. The entire concert made one appreciate how every generation of composers stands inspired on the shoulders of the giants who came before them. Literary adornments certainly make things more interesting but timeless poetry speaks straight to the heart and songs such as mAsaRuponne in a lovely kaanada (from silapadhigaram no less) and "kalvi azhage azhagu" were examples of the freshness of ideas in centuries old literature.

PS: I missed Oothukkadu in the list given how well Gayathri sings his kritis. And a tillana of Lalgudi would have rounded out the evening nicely. Of course, the "kaala attavanai" would have taken a small hit but poetic license would definitely have covered it.

[arasi]

Inspiring post, Suresh. Yes, Gayathri Girish has to be appreciated for singing such a concert (and of course for carefully choosing the songs and setting a few verses to music too). Not long ago, we used to find posts of resentment on hearing about any tamizh isai concert, simply because one couldn't separate politics from the arts. It is heartening to see that more and more vocalists are singing tamizh krutis.
Just before someone calls me a fanatic, I want to say that when yesterday (?) I read a post where a rasikA said she/he was happy to hear an all kannaDa concert, I was happy too--by which I mean, high time we all got to be proud of hearing all our regional languages sung on stage. That CM can flourish by performers unearthing unsung songs and poems from every language we speak. Thousands of such gems from the past stay unknown because many vidvAns and vidUshis do not take up even one new kruti for exposition in their concerts years on end.
We are seeing changes now, and kudos to such performers who keep expanding their repertoire to the delight of rasikAs. Again, I am not saying this of those who just add a meaningless little movie song or sing a contemporary song just to please a composer who is in the audience Yes, even in my case, unless it is a song worth anyone's while, I would not feel very happy listening to it just because it is my song.
How true! Every generation of composers owe it to the giants of the previous generations. Nothing is new. It has all been done. Yet, times change, the contexts too, so the perception of the poets and composers, and also of the readers and audience. So, the process never stops, this business of poetry and song...

[rshankar]

A lovely list, and nothing short of what I have come to expect from Smt. GG. Suresh, I have missed your updates on her TV series (was it eppaDi pADinarO?) - has the series concluded?

[Sribala]

"The rhythmic (Layam) aspect in the Karnaranjani was quite striking, the composition seemed to fall in place beautifully with the Talam."

No wonder being so. It was set to music by none other than Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan Sir.

[tamizh_isai]

It is a long list but the creative aspects of carnatic music like niraval and kalpanaswaras are not seen much. Tamizh songs also offer the possibility for this.The legend Madurai TN Seshagopalan has sung many of these songs in detail as main krutis in his concerts.

[sangithapithu1]

Yes tamizh isai is correct, I have heard TNS sir's rendition of kamba ramayana Paadalgal, few years back at Tamil isai sangam with niraval kalpana swaram and alapana. It is a remarkable memorable concert indeed.

[arasi]

Another vocalist who takes tamizh iSai seriously and gives it enough focus by singing tamizh songs as main items in a concert is Sanjay Subrahmanyan.

[sureshvv]

Suresh, I have missed your updates on her TV series (was it eppaDi pADinarO?) - has the series concluded?

Unfortunately this series has gone through more personnel changes than a cheesy MGR dream sequence duet. Only Sri. Venkatram seems to be holding on to the high-speed merry-go-round with the skin of his nails. I used to think treating people as interchangeable cogs was just an IT thing

[arasi]

That seems to be the 'IT' (adu tAn norm) thing