Music in kalaignar's family

[mahakavi]

The article below is in Thamizh. Some of us have been taking mu ka to task for a temple built by one of his admirers. Now read about the musician in his family (his grand-daughter ezhilarasi) who gave a vINai concert at the World Classical Thamizh Conference.
http://tamil.chennaionline.com/tamilcol ... YNAME=HRam

For those who can't read Thamizh, the article by the editor of chennaionline.com mentions the talent of this youngster playing mOhanam, bhairavi, and dEsh songs of Bharathi and BharathidAsan.

[Vijayakumar]

This was one of the hopeless performances of carnatic music i have ever come across. Totally out of synch and out of tune.

[mahakavi]

Vijayakumar:
Can you be more specific please? Not that I care either way, but instead of just a blanket pronouncement, specifics would help either to approve or reject the performance.

[gobilalitha]

Would it not have been a graceful act, if a visually or physically handicapped ( mu.ka very often refers to persons with matru thiran) had been given a chance, instead of a family member gobilalitha

[mahakavi]

GBL:
Yes. But there were cronies who ran the show and they wanted to ingratiate themselves with the boss. That is another story.
I just wanted to know what was wrong with the young lady's performance. If the person who made the comment specifies what was wrong that is enough. I have no vested interest in this. Just because it is nepotism we should not condemn it if there is talent. For example, we have some musicians whose offspring are propped up by sabhas or friends to the stage. Do we say, "Oh, you know why...". That is my point.

[Sam Swaminathan]

"Out of sync and out of tune"!!! but in line with the DMK's politics and their performance in Govt?

[fduddy]

GBL:
Yes. But there were cronies who ran the show and they wanted to ingratiate themselves with the boss. That is another story.
I just wanted to know what was wrong with the young lady's performance. If the person who made the comment specifies what was wrong that is enough. I have no vested interest in this. Just because it is nepotism we should not condemn it if there is talent. For example, we have some musicians whose offspring are propped up by sabhas or friends to the stage. Do we say, "Oh, you know why...". That is my point.

GBL, Wishful thinking Our man in this young age wants to control everything that is possible in TN today. Therefore he would not have wanted to give this opportunity to an outsider.

MK - What I heard from my fiends folks who just came from Coimbatore is that, the veena playing was so horrible. No sruti, no musical element/content and it was apaswaram! Nothing more than this is known!

[ragam-talam]

No sruti, no musical element/content and it was apaswaram! Nothing more than this is known!

That's enough details. We don't need to know more! (except perhaps which musicians lined up to be her guru!)

[mahakavi]

MK - What I heard from my fiends folks who just came from Coimbatore is that, the veena playing was so horrible. No sruti, no musical element/content and it was apaswaram! Nothing more than this is known!

>>fiends<< (demons?) :devil:
No wonder they gave such a negative review.
I know you had a typo there. Take it easy!

[cmlover]

Mu Ka in his very young days did try to learn Nadaswaram!

[cmlover]

Take it easy MK!
fduddy does have the liberty to describe his associates

[arasi]

It's about a young player who is learning CM and perhaps would continue to do so. What pleasure can we rasikAs derive by knocking a kid just because she happens to be a child from the first family?
In fact, our usual cheers should be doubled. Think of the perks CM would gain if more of the grandkids take to CM and it becomes the trend. For the CM world, (karunA) nidhi CAla sukhamE!

[mahakavi]

Didn't Bharathi sing, "kuppaiyilE malar konjcum kurukkattik koDi vaLarAdO?"?Don't take the first word literally here. Perhaps this girl can improve over time. She was perhaps given exposure to appease the tonDargaL's request.

[semmu86]

"Out of sync and out of tune"!!! but in line with the DMK's politics and their performance in Govt?

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Some tidbits re: The T.N. CM's lineage and relation to Carnatic Music:
MK's father-inlaw Vazhuvoor Sundaram Pillai was a disciple of Tiruvarur Ramaswamy Pillai (composer of Jagadheeswari in Mohanam and Ekkalathilum in Purvikalyani) who himself was a disciple of Suddha Maddalam Tambiapa Pillai of Tiruvarur who was one of Muthswamy Dikshitar's FAVORITE disciples. There is a legend that MD composed the Navagriha kritis in order to cure Thambiappan's stomach ache. Vazhuvoor Sundaram Pillai's family was a storehouse of Dikshithar kritis.Despite his son C.S.Jayaraman(playback singer) being the Principal of the Carnatic College of Music in Chennai,much of the treasures have been lost since no member of the family really took to music. Incidentally Tiruvarur Ramaswamy Pillai himself did not have many disciples so that it is fair to say that he must have taught Vazhuvoor Sundaram Pillai all the MD krithis that he may have learned from Tambiappan.It is a pity that none of his(Sundaram Pillai) heirs passed along the hoary tradition and the TN CM has done very little to promote the lineage.
What little of the MD's legacy we have we owe it to Sattanur Panchanada Iyer the youngest disciple of MD. Veena Dhanammal and Tiruppamburam Natarajasundaram Pillai were both disciples of Sattanur Panchanada Iyer.(If my memory serves me correct,the latter was the father of Tiruppamburam N Swaminatha Pillai a flautist slightly ahead of Mali's time and he was also the guru of T.Viswanathan(of the Dhanammal Family).This speaks volumes for the Dhanammal family's respect for tradition and preservation of culture.The Great lady not only was a devout disciple of the MD school and made sure her granddaughters kept up the tradition but also saw to it that her grandson Viswa held onto the other branch of MD(The Tiruppamburam school) branch of the MD lineage(Swaminatha Pillai).She may have had her legitimate grouses against the coterie that dominated the CM music scene during her times and did not give her the recognition that she richly deserved.But that did not deter her from zealously guarding and preserving the traditions for posterity, whereas the TN CM's benign neglect and indifference to CM --presumably due to his early years' misguided belief that the CM was an Elitist conspiracy aimed at drowning out the Dravidian culture--has definitely robbed us of the traditions and repertoire of his Father-in-law.


For all the TN CM's penchant for Tamil literature, and the fondness for the pristine and ancient art forms and the benign neglect and scorn of the rich musical tradition from the family he married into,the propping up of an young kid just because she happens to be his Great Grand daughter exposes the "crassness' in the whole affair!!

[mahakavi]

MKR:
I relished your tracing of the musical background of the VazhuvUr/triuppAmburam traditions.
Just a thought.
OnAy seyda kuRRattukku ADu baliyAvadA? (Should we sacrifice the goat for the misdeed of the wolf?)

[rajeshnat]

CM was an Elitist conspiracy aimed at drowning out the Dravidian culture--has definitely robbed us of the traditions and repertoire of his Father-in-law.

MKR Sir
Perhaps all the MD compositions took the route of another sishya parampara like ambi dikshitar and then DKP/DKJ and may be it is in safe hands. Till mid of 20th century,CM was certainly not just practiced only by the so called forward caste brahmins, it was caste agnostic . But now the reality is CM is more practiced only by brahmins and sadly rasika base is also dwindling as consumption is also very polarized . Very good post , I never knew that connection.But the silver lining is veena concert by MK's granddaughter, hopefully let it change to improve the demand side of CM.

[cmlover]

Fascinating MKR. Just tell us which fil it is (Dayalu or Rajathi) father.
Mu Ka's father Muthuvelar also must have a CM connection. Otherwise he would not have asked him to learn nadaswaram in younger days. I guess Mu Ka once addressed the Music Academy. I'd love to read his address there!
I thought our treasure of MD songs come through Naina Pillai of Kanchipuram from whom DKP acquired many of the MD songs. Do continue tracking of the history which is quite fascinating. Can you tell us about our ex President Abul Kalaam's trainining too since we know he is an excellent Vina player...

[kssr]

I guess Mu Ka once addressed the Music Academy. I'd love to read his address there!

Many years back, my uncle narrated how Mu Ka gave the brilliant speech on music in Music Academy. It went on for over an hour. It seems he had a prepared speech which was unusual for him in those days, when he used to be an expert ex-tempore orator.He explained it also, saying that he is an amateur concerning music and hence the written script. There was not a single political touch. Starting from Thaalaattu, he described various Isai forms that travel with us in our lives, till even after our death when Oppaari paattu gives you a musical send off!! Yes. I would also like to read it, if available.
One other non-political speech which I admire is the speech (kavidai) he gave on AIR soon after Annadurai's death. People said that he had it prepared when CNA was ailing. I do not believe it.

[ragam-talam]

Seems the young 'vidushi' had her 'arangetram' just recently in April, at the prestigious Music Academy, in the presence of 'bigwigs'.
See here: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/ta ... 388280.ece

CHENNAI, April 5, 2010
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Sunday said it was his “prayer” — even though he did not believe in god — that his family should remain united. Punning on the word “kalai” (which means both “art” and “disturb” in Tamil), Mr. Karunanidhi said his was an artistic family and also one that could not and should not be disturbed and should remain united.

Mr. Karunanidhi was participating in the veena ‘arangetram' of his granddaughter Ezhilarasi Jothimani at The Music Academy. He said just as people and government could not be separated, music and pleasure could not be separated.

Music maestro Ilayaraja and vocalist Nithyasree Mahadevan were among those who participated.

'Nidhi chaala sukhame' indeed...

[mahakavi]

>>One other non-political speech which I admire is the speech (kavidai) he gave on AIR soon after Annadurai's death. People said that he had it prepared when CNA was ailing. I do not believe it.<<

I can believe it. You have to give him the credit. Mu ka was and is a great political craftsman. Even now he is the seniormost politician in the whole of India. When CNA died everybody was expecting Nedunchezhiyan to become the CM. But mu ka pulled it off for himself. He probably gave an oration similar to what Antony gave after Caesar's assasination. That mobilized the party members to anoint him with the office.

[cmlover]

You are right!
That mUnRezhutthu oration simply galvanized the DMK membership to flock to him!
The comparison with Mark Antony is very apt!

[ragam-talam]

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_ho ... hi_1367916
>>The CM’s huge family comprising his two wives, all their children and the Marans were in full attendance. Ezhilarasi is the daughter of Karunanidhi’s eldest daughter Selvi and son-in-law Murasoli Selvam [brother of late Murasoli Maran].<<

[cmlover]

Any pictures available?
Found one here
http://hindia.in/tamilnews/tag/ezhilarasi-jothimani/
http://www.timescontent.com/tss/showcas ... imani.html

[kssr]

When CNA died everybody was expecting Nedunchezhiyan to become the CM. But mu ka pulled it off for himself.

He did not pull off anything. It is a question of basic competence and political skill. Neither Nedu nor today's Anbu has it. Even today the party is unable to find a replacement. Why not some one else try to "pull off"? Irrespective of our personal (dis)likes, we have to give credit where it is due.

Shhhhhh... Before someone asks us to shut up, we stop this political discussion

[knrh05]

Fascinating MKR. Just tell us which fil it is (Dayalu or Rajathi) father.

His first wife, that died young, was Chidamabaram Jayaraman's sister. Their child is Mu ka Muthu who is out of favor with the ruling family.

[cmlover]

Yes Padmavathy!
I thought she was a Brahmin!

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Ref: Rajeshnat/CM Lover's Posts:
In trying to "excoriate" MK's indiference and abandonment of a rich tradition I may have overemphasised the Sattanur Panchanada Iyer branch of MD's disciples,to the detriment of the Ambi Dikshithar and the Kallidaikurichi Schools of MD. This digression has NOTHING to do with the Kalaignar topic so forumites who are sticklers for protocol and fidelity to the topic on hand,I crave your indulgence !!Somehow the pretended historian in me carries me away towards trivia and insipid detail!!

First let me clarify the Ambi Dikshitar-DKP "axis". Ambi Dikshithar died in 1936- was born in 1863--son of Subbarama Dikshitar(the author of the magnum opus Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini--SSP)-Subbarama D ikshitar (SD) as is well-known is the Grandson of MD's brother-- Baluswamy Dikshitar--BD-- was younger to MD by 11 years) ) thro his Daughter Annapurni( she married Sivarama Iyer of Tiruvarur)Subbarama Dikshithar was born 4 years after MD died(1839). BD adopted his own grandson Subbarama Dikshitar as his son--BD died in 1858--when SD was 19 years old. However there is a story involving BD-SD and Thyagaraja. When SD was four years old BD took him to see the Bard(T) to thiruvaiyaru. It seems T talked about the greatness of his contemporary MD with great emotion and blessed SD.Subsequently BD moved to Ettayapuram to the Raja's court(Rajah Jagadvira Rama Kumara Eddappa. Ettayapuram is 50 kms from Tirunelveli(incidentally my home district--Tanjorean forumites--Music did extend beyond Tanjore and the Cauvery Delta!!!!). MD had earlier established 'roots" in the court.

At Ettayapuram under the Royal patronage SD learned under several direct disciples of MD and performed several musical feats-- one of them--@ 17 years of age SD composed a Tana varnam in darbar and presented to the successor Raja Venkateswara Ettappa who suspected that BD must have composed it and passing it off as his grandson's(also adopted son!!). To test the raja challenged SD to compose a Jathiswaram in the Rga Yaman in one hour.The Raja also stipulated that after the Anupallavi, the svara passage should start on the Dhaivataa and the passage should be set in three tempos--fast,medium and slow and then again in the three tempos in the reverse order. The Raja also ordered 2 guards to watch him(SD) to ensure that there was no hanky panky! In one hour SD had composed and presented the piece before the Raja who was astonished and genuinely in awe of the young man and presented a pair of shawls AND TEN sovereigns of Gold(Imagine in 1856!!!) SD was versatile in Veena and Vocal besides being fluent in Telugu and Sanskrit.

SD's impetus for the SSP itself was triggered by one of those oddities in life. In madras there was one Mr.Chinnaswami Mudaliar(whose tireless work to preserve CM has not been sufficiently recognized) who was a Superintendent in the Madras Govt Secretariat in Colonial days. he was an ardent rasika of CM.He sought the help of the scions of Walajapet Venkatramana Bhafgavathar Sishya Parampara of Thyagaraja and with their help wrote out 800 compositions of Thygaraja(there are different versions of the volume of compos by the Saint--500 or so) in staff notation. This publication made waves in the Ettayapuram Court and resulted in SD corresponding with Mudaiiar--the latter invited SD thrice to Chennai and played host (combined SD stayed for 4 years in Chennai) and taught Mudaliar the intricacies of Music with special emphasis on MD's kritis. Mudaliar notted sveral of these compositions. These efforts combined with Mudaliar's; earlier efforts to notate Thygarja's compositions, tokk a heavy toll on his health and eyesight. Mudaliar then went to the court of Ettttyapuram appealed to the King and the court musicians to spread the vast knowledge of SD with emphasis on preserving the Dikshitar School. Initially SD, it seems was very suspicious of Mudaliar's motives and was lukewam about parting with his family "hierlooms". Mudaliar finally succeeded in convincing the Raja to persuade SD to notate( Note down everything in writing and notation and everything he knew without hiding anything was the :mandate"). SD worked on SSP for four years --printing began in 1901--Mudaliar died in Dec 1901 but thanks to the King's continued interest it got published in 1904 --- true Magnum Opus--in Telugu in 2 volumes containing many biographies of persons noteworthy in the CM world--right from Sarangadeva to Subbarama Dikshitar himself(no paeans to modesty!!!).The science of Music has been elaborately treated--hundreds of compositions including 229 kritis of MD, a few of Thyagaraja's and Syama sastry--are all given in the notation. SSP has been the mainstay of CM musicians an schlars regarding the Sangeetha lakshana. MA had brought out 5 volumes in Tamil script.(read somewhere that TMK is "Tim(n)kering with the monumental work_!!).

SD died in 1906 @ 67 years. Subramania Bharathi sang an elegy on his death praising SD's contributions to CM. SD had a son whom he named Muthuswamy Dikshitar(1862) and also known as AMBI DIKSHITAR. He enjoyed the Royal patronage @ Ettayapuram and then moved to madras where he taught TLVenkatrama Iyer, the Kallidaikurichi brothers--Vedanta Bhagavathar and Ramalinga Bhagavathar-(-the latter has taught my late aunt some of the compositions) and even SRajam had learnt from Ambi Dikshitar. However AD died in 1936--when S Rajam must have been 19 years old and Pattammal ony 17--so HOW much could they have learned given their ages and the short span. To DKP's credit (imbibing the Thyagaraja School as well thro the Walajapet--Naina Pillai nexus and the Dikshitar School thro Ambi Dikshitar and the Dhanammal family's credit(thro their Sattanur panchanada Iyer(MD School) and the Naina Pillai nexus(Naina Pillai was an admirer of Dhanammal)

Ambi Dikshitar also taught Vina Vidwans--brothers-Anathakrishna Iyer and Sundaram Iyer--the former moved to Calcutta and popularised MD kritis there(I wonder if Calcutta Krishnamurthy may have been one of the benificiaries !!!) Sundaram Iyer has published the entire MD compositions with notations and is considered a good authentic reference work even today.
I hope the above clarifies the various lineages that have helped preserve MD's compositions.

Incidentally the Kalyani composition Kanthimathi(in praise of Kanthimathi Amman of Tirunelveli ofetn sung by Brindamma) and the Sankarabaranam kriti Sankaracharyam-are both SD's composiitons--the latter a tribute to the 65th Pitathipathi of Kanchi Mutt who was visiting Ettayapuram and SD presented the piece at the court.
In rehashing this hoary history, I cannot but admire the SD's and the Mudaliars whose tenacity,passion and penchant for preservation has spawned a whole economic industry supporting artists-institutions, the "ancillary" suppliers of music instruments and appurtenances-- a virtual recession-proof industry for generations to come!!

Against this WHAT DO WE HAVE NOW?

A bunch of talented upstarts fighting over "crumbs" and rights and royalties!!

To quote Edmund Burke on the French revolution:
I thought ten thousand swords would have leapt from their scabbards to avenge the looks that threatened the Queen with insults!! Lo!! the AGE of Chivalry is gone--that of Sophisters,economists and calculators has succeeded!!!

T H E E N D!!!
(if you got this far in this post,you must be having insomnia!!)

[rshankar]

(if you got this far in this post,you must be having insomnia!!)

MKR - certainly not insomnia, but your writing! LOVELY!

[arasi]

MKR,
What an inspired piece!
Thank you for educating me.
Above all, thanks for bringing to focus the shining truth that on the banks of kAvEri, whether in Karnataka or tamizh nadu, tAmra varNi and even the kUVam in Chennai, CM has been nurtured by great musicians and supported by music lovers to an extent one cannot imagine would have been possible in those days of great talent but of the tendency of keeping it all within one's own family.
Yes, it was all achieved by the dogged persistence of Mudaliar.
A great feat without any fanfare. What a contrast tosome of today's media-obssessed musicians! Of course, one has to march with the times. Yet, to do so without caring for the music as much as they do for being in the limelight!
Their names going down in the history of CM or their names and and film star-sized pictures spread across the newspapers? The choice is theirs...

[cacm]

Dear MKR,
For the sake of completeness & tho' to some it may sound self-serving & tangential let me add the following:
S.Rajam also directly learnt from Ambi Dhikshithar(was his disciple also) especially the VARA KRITIS usually called Navagraha Kritis & MOST OF the LEADING VIDWANS of the Golden Period- apart from others- LEARNT THESE KRITIS(apart from others)- from S.Rajam. His PADANTHARAM was considered to be to the closest to Dhikshithar(acc to MMI). I persuaded him to sing these Vara Kritis without any accompaniments & include them as part of a book I was FORTUNATE to co-author with him ("Mythologies, Mysteries, Modern Facts of the Nine Planets"). As a matter of the high lights of the book as far as I am concerned were his paintings of the Navagrahas & other line drawings the AUDIO CD which was part of the Book.
An interesting Historical occurance was when DKP& S.Rajam sang together Dhikshithar compositions on ONE occasion at a private get together- I am still hunting for 50 years to see if any one recorded it like MMI'S PAAMALAIKKINAI UNDO(Sivan) which I located after a thirty year search!-
DKP was so enthralled with that experience she wanted to repeat it but to my knowledge it never happened........VKV

[arasi]

VKV,
Thanks for reminding us of S.Rajam's learning from Ambi Dikshitar. A pity you still cannot find a recording of his singing with DKP.

RMK,
You speak of the Calcutta school and mention Calcutta Krishnamurthy. We have on the forum vaiNikAs J&J who are also from that school!

[cmlover]

Many thanks MKR
We are learning a lot of CM History from your recollections. It is nice as a true Historian you are able to provide names and references. There may still be materials somebody's attics connected with these events. We fervently hope those will come out of the woodworks. S Rajam himself is a great musical monument. It will be nice if VKV can share with us hs associations with him. The book that he coauthored with him is a real Gem and a masterpiece on the Vara Kritis.

Will the Ettayapuram Royalty still have manuscripts and records on their hosting of the SD family. Will they share them in public interest? We can raise money to get them published!

There is a lot of CM History still buried inprivate hands. The Govt may be indifferent but we Rasikas can help if some of you take the initiative!

Lastly I would still compliment TMK for attempting to capture the ancient ways of rendering CM in collaboration with RKS. We should appreciate and encourage him. He is a highly talented accomplished CM artiste in hsi own right in spite of his quirks

[chalanata]

MKR,
Thanks for bringing the much required sense in the discussion.