
Mannarkoil J Balaji
Dear Sri.Thanjavooran, musicians shall always be musicians. There is absolutely no point brooding over this fact. Instead, let me join you in congratulating Balaji and co for continuing their wonderful efforts, following the footsteps of Sri.Kandaswamy Pillai. Am sure Sri.K.S.Kalidas is an huge inspirational force behind conducting this isai anjali in a grand manner year after year. Our salutations to him too.thanjavooran wrote:IMHO the other school [ Thanjavur ] also could have come and paid their homage to the great mastero. Why this Kanchipuram-- Sringeri attitude? Music is Music.
Sir, I dont know whether you are referring to Alathur bros' photo from that particular concert or their general concert photos. If it is the latter, then there are lot of them available here.Sam Swaminathan wrote: By any chance, would you or your family have a picture of the concert of Alathur Brothers...at least we can get to see their faces, if not hear their wonderful music !!! Please !!
Guess, this was one of the brilliant parts of the post. Such loyalty is seen in this forum too, regarding which i think that not much can be done. After Chembai, i would say that it was PSP who went out of the way to support talented youngsters. Palghat Raghu once told me that PSP didn't have that difference between whether a person is learning from him or from PMI. Any talented youngster he came across, he would lovingly refer to him as "enga veetu thambi". In fact Sri.Raghu also told me that it was PSP who had sponsored his visit once to Calcutta to enable him play for GNB and told Raghu that it is enough if he pays him back after coming back from Calcutta after getting his remuneration. Can we ever imagine such a thing these days?Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: My father writes"This instance of propriety and musical esteem is mentioned here to stress their mutual regard-- though there were many tale-bearers who would claim that Palani's Thoppi Gumukhi" was unparalled!! It beats me WHY there is so much partisanship among a section of the public when the artistes themselves never encouraged such manifestations of loyalty carried too far ".End of Quote!!
Well, am afraid, that am none the wiser about this. Even though i may claim to know the rudiments of laya, spotting what nadais mridangists play in the thani, when the thani is going to end etc.. through my father, never did i learn layam formally or even bothered to ask a laya vidwan regarding this especially to someone of PSP's stature, although am sure he would have taught me gladly had i asked him, considering that he was an epitome of magnanimity and humility.raghavt wrote: Could any one of you throw some light on the teaching/training methodologies that he used to follow?
Thanks.
Sir, I can very well understand that. We cannot ask Great Masters about the subject(Layam/Mridangam). All we can do is to simply sit and listen to them. If we are capable enough, we will understand/grasp something. I being a student of this school, and also a die-hard worshipper of PSP The Great and and a die-hard fan of TS Sir was curious about the way PSP The Great would have trained him. I need to put this question to Sankaran sir when I meet him this year (December Season)...varadharajan wrote: never did i learn layam formally or even bothered to ask a laya vidwan regarding this especially to someone of PSP's stature
Picturesque language, I'm enjoying this thread. I wish I could write in the same manner.in his personal manners there was not a mean bone in his body when it came to teaching his students--none of the "hoarding" techniques that some were prone to in those days!! While Trichy Sankaran has preserved the legacy of the Master, I am sure he would be the first one to acknowledge that PSP saw in him the true legatee of his style of playing.Ofcourse Trichy Sankaran has built on it with his own innovations despite the fact he has been in NA for over 40 years and not having the advantage of an year-round interaction with artistes in India(except during the December season).
Yes, the patron is definitely not Parthasarathy mama, as he was a worshipper of iyengArvAL and also managed to get his son Venkatesan tutored by him. To him, iyengArvAL epitomized Karnatak music itself. Whereas this patron was distantly related to the royal family and hence the choice of Semmangudi mama. Many thanks for that informative article on layam. Though i have understood/experienced almost all the points in these years, i guess it is such a specialized subject, that it takes a qualified mridangist to explain them clearly.Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:Varadharajan: Great post!! I may take a guess re: the patron @ Allepey--it COULD NOT have been Papa Mama because if it were -- the concert itself would have been that of ARI!!!
Most certainly i wish to contribute whatever little i can.Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: I am working on Semmangudi Mama's post(that has been hampered by some digital miscues on my part!) and I look forward to your contributions/intercessions!!
MKR sirRamasubramanian M.K wrote: In my next post I will relate two anecdotes which would be indicative of PMI's dedication to the craft and his respect for the Instrument and HOW he tended for it and his lament about HOW he has been misunderstood for his opposition to the mike which was NOT MOTIVATED by any commercial/monetary considerations.
More on this later---
Well i don't think so. Atleast it dosn't seem rare to me, as i have heard quite a lot of that combo in Trivandrum-Allepey-Tripunithura, and also after coming to Chennai. I don't know your age, but if you are relatively in the younger bracket, then it may seem to you so as there are not much of recordings available of that combo.ksrimech wrote:Varada, wasn't SSI-PSP a rare combo?