Tunesmiths?

[Enna_Solven]

Has there been any thread that exhaustively documented details of songs that were tuned by someone other than the composer?

Will there be interest to start one, if not done already? Like so:

Song - Ragam/Ragamalika(details) - Composer - Tuned by

[vasanthakokilam]

I think a lot of Annamacharya songs would come under this category and possibly some purandaradasa songs.

I will start of with this one

Bhavayami Raghuramam - Ragamalika - Swati Tirunal - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer

[ksrimech]

(1) rangA SrIrangA - asAvEri - rUpakam - ambujam kRSNA - semmanguDi SrInivAsa ayyar
(2) karumugil vaNNam - SrIranjani - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - K R kEdAranAthan
(3) tiruvaDi dariSanam - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - T M kRSNa
(4) saTrE tirumbum - kalyANi - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - Dr S rAmanAthan
(5) kandu kali tirndEn - kIravANi - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - K R kEdAranAthan
(6) pArthasArathi - kAmbhOji - kanDa tripuTa - ambujam kRSNA - madurai T N SESagOpAlan
(7) jagattinai kAttiDum - yamunakalyANi - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - V V SaTakOpan
(8) ayyan azhagan - sUraTi - miSra cApu - ambujam kRSNA - madurai T N SESagOpAlan
(9) ennasolli - kAnaDA - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - semmanguDi SrInivAsa ayyar (???)
(10) aDaikkalam aDaikkalam - madhyamAvathi - Adi - ambujam kRSNA - R vEdavalli (???)
(11) pannagEndraSayana - rAgamAlikA - rUpaam - svAti tirunAL mahArAjA - semmanguDi SrInivAsa ayyar (???)
(12) sAnandam kamalAmanOhari - rAgamAlikA - Adi - svAti tirunAL mahArAjA - semmanguDi SrInivAsa ayyar
(13) kamalajAsya - rAgamAlikA - Adi - svAti tirunAL mahArAjA - semmanguDi SrInivAsa ayyar (???)
(14) vandE vAsudevam - SrI - miSra cApu - annamayyA - nEdunUri kRSNamUrthi
(15) kSIrAbhdi kannikE - rAgamAlikA - Adi - purandaradAsaru - mahArajapuram santhAnam (???)
(16) kaNDEn kaNDEn - vasanthA - Adi - aruNAcalakavi - ariyakkuDi rAmAnuja ayyangAr

*(???) - What came to my mind. May be wrong. Corrections welcome.

[mohan]

Semmangudi has (re)tuned many songs of Swati Tirunal and Sadasiva Brahmendra. Here are some of the popular ones:

Deva Deva - Mayamalavagowla - Swati Tirunal - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Pankaja lochana - Kalyani - Swati Tirunal - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Vishweswara - Sindhu Bhairavi - Swati Tirunal - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Bhajare yadunātham - Pilu - Sadāsiva Brahmendra - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Bruhi mukundeti - Kurinji - Sadāsiva Brahmendra - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Gāyati Vanamāli - Misra Kāpi - Sadāsiva Brahmendra - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Sarvam brahmamayam - Senjurutti - Sadāsiva Brahmendra - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Manasa Sancharare - Sama -Sadāsiva Brahmendra - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer

I think Lalgudi Jayaraman has tuned some songs of Subramania Bharati and at least one of Swati Tirunal
Tillana - Dhanasri - Swati Tirunal - Lalgudi G. Jayaraman

Kadayanallur Venkatraman tuned many songs and stotra-s for the audio recordings of M.S. Subbulakshmi. The Kasi, Kamakshi and Rameswara Suprabhatam-s; Balaji Pancharatna Mala; sloka-s by Adi Sankara; and about thirty songs of Annamacharya were set to music by him. here is a brief list

Kurai onrum illai - Ragamalika - Rajaji - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Koluvadi bhakti - Kedaragowla - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Jo achuthananda - Kapi - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Bhavayami Gopalabalam - Yamuna kalyani - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Enta matramuna - Ragamalika - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Sriman Narayana - Bowli - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Ra ra chinnana - Senjurutti - Annamacharya - Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Mudakarata modakam (ganesha pancharatnam) - Ragamalika - ?- Kadayanallur Venkatraman
Sada Saranga Nayane - Ranjani - Holenarasipura Yoganarasimham - Kadayanallur Venkatraman

The kritis of Ambujam Krishna have been tuned by eminent vidwans like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, VV Sadagopan, Sattur AG Subramaniam, Madurai Krishnan, Dr S Ramanathan, KC Tyagarajan, KR Kedaranathan, TN Seshagopalan, R Vedavalli, Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan, Charumati Ramachandran and TM Krishna. Arasi would be able to provide more details. Here are a few in addition to the ones mentioned earlier by ksrimech:

Om Namo Narayana - Karnaranjani - Ambujam Krishna - Charumathi Ramachandran
Punnakai onre podume -Hamsanandi - Ambujam Krishna - T N Seshagopalan
Guruvayur appane - Rithigowla - Ambujam Krishna - T N Seshagopalan
Parthasarathi un padam - Kambhoji - Ambujam Krishna - T N Seshagopalan
Aravinda lochane - Neetimati - Ambujam Krishna - Dr S. Ramanathan

[arasi]

Mohan,
I think Lakshman would know better!
At first, I was struck by seeing TMK's name in the list. Then it occured to me. tiruvaDi caraNam was tuned in nArayaNi by K. R. Kedaranathan who tuned fifty one of her songs beautifully (geetamala 4). TMK retuned it and sang it at one of the Ambujam Krishna memorial concerts.

Krishna,
aDaikkalam aDaikkalam was tuned by V. V. Sadagopan. So were fifty of her other songs for Geetamala volume 1.
SSI and Musiri: 51 songs of volume 2. (enna Solli azhaittAl-SSI?).
Dr. S.Ramanathan (songs 1 to 25) and TNS (26 to 51) in volume3..
K.R. Kedaranathan: 51 songs in volume 4.
Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan has tuned several songs, some of which Sumitra Nitin has sung in the cd Tarakam.
Could someone give details about the songs Dr.Vedavalli has tuned?

[munirao2001]

Vasanthakokilam
All the lyrics of Annamacharya are set to tunes by composers/musicians, other than Annamacharya- starting from Shri Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma. We do not have any compositions of Annamayya in karna parampara. TTD took it as mission to popularize the Annamayya's lyrics, as his lyrics are on Visistadwaita philosophy and his istadevatha - Lord Venkateshwara.
Unfortunately, composers/musicians who have set the lyrics to tunes do not get any recognition at all. While announcing these compositions, the name of the tunesmith(s) has to be announced, to give them their due.

[vasanthakokilam]

>While announcing these compositions, the name of the tunesmith(s) has to be announced, to give them their due.

Great point. I agree. In film music, they do it right, they give credit to the lyricist, music director and singer. ( other than not explicitly acknowledging any sources from which they may have lifted the tune ) There the balance of power is skewed towards the music directory with lyrcist taking a back seat, where as in CM, the lyricist seems to rule.

Though majority of people who listen to CM listen to it primarily for the musical aspects, given the prominence of compositions in CM, the way we ask the question elicits the skewed response: "Whose composition is that?". We do not even think of asking "Who set music to it?" unless we some how know that the composer is not musician ( or the composition is really old like the vedas, slokas or suprabatham )

[arasi]

VK,
Well said. Easier for the composer who gets the song with music.
Let alone' take a back seat', the tunesmiths are forgotten or often mistaken for another tunesmith if there are more than one for a particular composer. Choosing a suitable rAgam (in AK's case, she did mention her preference in rAgam to them because she also sang her compositions as they came to her).
Then, for choosing the right tune to suit the mood of the song which is not easy.
For the words to fall in place with a natural flow--harder.
AK's songs are even more interesting because of the personalities and abilities of the various tunesmiths. Each brought his or her own assets in setting the tune to a song. Creativity, empathy and scholarship--all in varying proportions went into their individual work.
I have witnessed several sessions of both the composer and a few tunesmiths, in AK's case and I understand the difficulty involved in the process of tuning a song. Am I right in thinking that with film music, it mainly goes like this: brain-storming sessions with the music director, a harmonium (old way), key board and some instruments?, and if he is lucky, the lyricist is there too. How many songs did PS write for the cinema! How many are known as such? You are right again about the place of a tunesmith being more important in films.
Would be great if Cienu and Ramasubramanian bring their recollections about Kallidaikurichi at Kalki Gardens.

[rshankar]

Sri Arunachala Kavi did not tune the rAmanAtakam - they were tuned by his students who were also students of Sri MD's. Sri Ariyakudi re-tuned some of them.
Sri Dandapani Desikar (re)tuned tunbam nErgayil of Sri bhAratidAsan in dES.
Many (if not all) of the mahAkavi's compositions as they are currently in vogue are not sung in the rAgam's he suggested/composed them in. I am not sure who re-tuned them.
Sri OVK's tAyE yaSOdA was re-tuned as a rAgamAlika by R. Sudarsanam (?) for the movie kuladeivam.

[ksrimech]

Thanks for correcting me Arasi. Vedavalli mami is the only one I have heard singing that song. Thats why I thought she made have tuned it. Was kOlam kANa vArIr tuned by Smt Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan.

mohan - aravindalOchananE is a treat to listen when sung by Dr SR

[arasi]

kOlam kANa vArIR in nATTaik kuRinji was tuned by SSI. I do not know which songs in that volume were tuned by Musiri.

One of my favorites: enginic celvEn in varALi. I thought was SSI's. I realize that it was tuned by VVS. Not heard that one much at all but gAna mazhai and kaNNaniDam eDuttuc collaDi became very popular.

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

Please may we stop using the terms 'tunesmith' and 'tuned by' ? It sounds rather crude. Surely we mean 'music composer' and 'music composed by' even though it is not as short a phrase. Even light music and film music circles speak of 'music composed by' and 'lyrics by' --surely Carnatic music deserves a better term than 'tunesmith' and 'tuned by'!!

[VK RAMAN]

rAgam amaittavar

[Enna_Solven]

Sorry, I started the thread but got completely immersed in work. What about 'melodist'? That seems to be the only formal word. Looks like 'tunesmith' is informal.

However, 'smith' is not a pejorative/condescending term. He/she is the one who brings out the beauty of the song. No, goldsmith, no gold necklace.

Is Venkatachala Nilayam tuned by MLV? What other songs were tuned by her?

If people can keep posting in this thread, I am willing to compile, resolve differences and post them in another thread with just that info, for easy reference (no discussions).

[srinivasrgvn]

Oh, one of my favorites tuned by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt.R.Vedavalli is 'konjum silamboliyum' in bAgEshrI. Excellent tuning!

[ganeshkant]

Chinnachirukiliye (as sung today in ragamalika starting with kapi ending in Sivaranjani) tuned by C.R.Subbaraman for the film Manamahal.

Muththaitharu - Thiruppugazh - Shanmukhapriya - T.R.Papa for the film Arunagirinadhar.

Who tuned Karpooram Narumo in Kamas ? What a tuning !

[kssr]

"Set to Music" by ..............................

[munirao2001]

Credit should be " Lyric by ....... and music composed by................". But in exception cases, "Lyric by........Raga and Tala by....... and notation by...................."

[mohan]

For some the dance dramas where I have set the music for, they usually write "Musical composition by Mohan ...."

[mohan]

Subramania Bharati’s Chinnan Chiru Kiliye Kannamma’ was 'tuned' by C. R. Subburaman for N.S. Krishnan’s Manamagal ( 1951) in kApi, mAnd, vasanta, tilang and Sivaranjani.

Of late, TM Krishna sings this in different ragas (CalanATa, hamIrkalyANi, kharaharapriyA, mukhAri, bEgaDA, bhUpALa ) but I am not sure who tuned that.

[rshankar]

Of late, TM Krishna sings this in different ragas (CalanATa, hamIrkalyANi, kharaharapriyA, mukhAri, bEgaDA, bhUpALa ) but I am not sure who tuned that.

Sri Shriramkumar?

[mohan]

Actually I just confirmed that it is TMK himself.

[ksrimech]

Who tuned Karpooram Narumo in Kamas ? What a tuning !

I think T K Rangachari. I may be wrong though. I think he is the one who tuned naDanda kAlgaL nondavO from tirucchandaviruttam of tirumazhisaipirAn in sindhubhairavi.

[munirao2001]

Mohan
Credit for music composed by ....... should be given, when all the three aspects of composition- raga, tala and notations are given. Notation confirms and structures the composition of the composer. In abscence of notation, freedom to bring in changes is unrestricted and many a times, original composer's ideas/manodharma is lost. On such occasions, originally composed by.... and adopted with modifications by the performer, becomes the rule.

[RSR]

Smt.D.K.PattammaL sings some stanzas of 'chinnanchirRu kiLiye kaNNamma' ( Barathy poem)
here.
https://sites.google.com/site/dkpattamm ... -kannam-ma
( The ragams are kamaaj, kaapi, simmendramadhyama, ataana, and huseni
( thanks to Dr.Pasupathy forthe ragam information)
( this is the best )
--------------------------
see @ 21 , 22
---------------------------
@16
tuned' by C. R. Subburaman for N.S. Krishnan’s Manamagal ( 1951)
in kApi, mAnd, vasanta, tilang and Sivaranjani
The 'maNamagaL' song was marred by the visual. Is it by MLV?

[shankarank]

To draw some respect towards them we need to invent a homely nomenclature for them: gEyakkAras!

And the composer as vAkviSAradas

Obviously this could not have happened in isolation. All the principles set by existing compendium of musical output and the wisdom gained from them plays into doing this!

[sureshvv]

Is Venkatachala Nilayam tuned by MLV? What other songs were tuned by her?

T.K.Govinda Rao I think. As also many other kritis.

PS: Just noticed this thread.

[hnbhagavan]

What about Lalgudi pancharatna Kritis?Were they tunes by sri Lalgudi Jayaraman?
These Kritis were composed by Thyagayya when he visited Lalgudi as per reports.

[bhakthim dehi]

Interestingly, Lalgudi pancharatnam don't have multiple versions.

[SrinathK]

Lalgudi Jayaraman did make a lot of effort to bring the 5 kritis to their present form. I guess one reason they didn't have multiple versions was because it stayed in their parampara? Even someone as traditional as Brindamma vouched for his versions.

[RSR]

Just wondering... I have been searching for information about the music composer for more than a dozen wonderful 'plates' of Smt.MS. like

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31197#p334853
1) mAlaip pozhuthinile ( ragamalika)
(2) deivath thamizh Nattinile ( ragamalila)
3) thavamum paliththathammA
4)yaamarintha mozhikaLile (ragamalika)
5) chenthamizh Nadenum pothinile
6) aruL purivAy ( hamsadhvani)
7) itthani NaaL Ana pinnum
8) mANilatthai vaazhavaikka
9)vaNdaadum solai thanile ( harikamboidhi)
(10) vaNdinam muralum solai ( todi)
and many such 'plates' by both D.KPttammaL and N.C.Vasanthakokilam ( especially her piLLaip piraayatthile' ragamalika.)
Is it possible that these great vocalists set the tunes themselves? What is improbable about it? May be , they might have taken help from close friends.
Are all those pre-1950 plates set to music by S.V.Venkataraman, perhaps ? Likely?

[arasi]

About a dozen years ago, I heard Sanjay sing all the verses at Bengaluru Venugopalaswamy temple and was moved to tears. After a recent concert of his, it not only was recorded, but was blended with images of a lovely child in a manner which was touching--Just as Bharathi has celebrated children. Bharathi lovers can relive those moments of ecstasy of the poet to a small measure at least by watching it...

[HarishankarK]

TM Thiaarajan tuned many songs for MLV including Sharanambhava karuna mayi in Hamsavinodini and also Sakala Lokadhara in Valaji.
Not sure if Or Aru mugane was tuned by him as well - once Baby Sreeram announced that TMT had added lot of sangatis etc