Look who is saying standards are slipping!

[VK RAMAN]

I agree that future is built on the experience of the past. But what I want to emphasise is that we should use past as a reference and no more We should not allow past to be our master May Sri Rama bless you

Well said

[munirao2001]

veeyens3
You say that "we should use past as a reference and no more". The excellence is not restricted by the time and is eternal. Excellences in the past continue to give total satisfaction in the present and in the future. It is not on only the reference material, but value proposition . We should shed our weakness for sense of insecurity and doubts in the present and fear of the future. Our quest for excellence and actions, keeping the mind afresh, open and unconditioned will only help in overcoming the weakness and give strength of sense of security, intelligence, awareness, concentration, sensitivity, observation and appreciation of the beauty in the present, as they unfold. Values imbibed from the past will act as guide to search for the excellence in the present and for total enjoyment and satisfaction. Creative Excellence in the present will ensure continued excellence in the future.

[girish_a]

Here is an experiment: Listen for an hour or so to a GNB or SSI recording. After that, listen for an hour or so to a recording (or live concert) of a top artist of today.

Personally, I am inclined to agree that there is some truth to the complaint about slipping standards.

[veeyens3]

I think one answer to this riddle lies in the sayings "Ekam sat:viprAhA bahudA vadanthi and "lOkO binna ruchi"

[bala747]

Standards don't 'slip', they change.

It is not fair to compare what was popular a hundred years ago to what is popular today in the same genre and then say, just because one cannot change his or her own expectations of music and musicians, that the standards have slipped.

I am sure there were thousands who threw verbal brickbats at Ariyakudi for introducing a new concert platform that allowed for a greater enjoyment of the different aspects of Carnatic music. Honestly, does anyone today REALLY want Nityasree or Sanjay to sing one raga alapana for three hours? I can barely stand them for 10 minutes! (joking, people). Would it be fair to say that just because TM Krishna didn't sing Thodi for eight days straight he is a poor musician?

I don't know about Thodi Sitaramayya's abilities to perform sruthi bhedams, ragamalika thanams, javalis, Pallavis in Devamanohari and Vijayanagari etc in the same concert within three hours. You don't hear anyone saying 'Oh back in the day standards were so bad that when Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer sang Chakravakam, which has been around since the 17th century, no one could identify it, even court musicians and kings!' Today if a musician doesn't know a ragam like Chakravakam, he would be a laughing stock!

I am not saying that newer artistes are better, just saying that it is not fair to equate a change in standards to a slip in standards.

No, I don't like the trend of singing tukkada-RTPs, treating it like just a filler item, mediocre artistes attempting RTPs in weird ragas (yes I know GNB did it with Saveri and Devamanohari, but you are not GNB), overindulgence of ragamalika swaras in the RTP (as you can see, the loss of importance of the ragam thanam pallavi is a big deal with me) or the singing of Bhajans and Abhangs (and making a mockery of them on stage), etc but that does not equate to the fact that standards around me are dropping. It simply means I cannot change my own tastes to let go of what I liked and cherished listening to in the past.

[arasi]

Bala747,
I echo your words. Standards don't slip when it comes to something as old as CM (as it is with all of our good old languages). They change, of course. Change is inevitable and it's not to be frowned upon.
Sometimes I wonder: some of us have experienced the old music scene. Ah, the golden age! Still, the standards have also improved here and there in the past several decades!
The older generation is supposed to be nostalgic about the grand musicians of yore--understandable. The younger listeners are able to hear music preserved on tape and are able to appreciate it--a great thing. Yet, they cannot hold that what they hear of the old music is the only iron-clad standard. Had it been like that in the younger days of the present age seniors, MMI wouldn't have become visible at all, and it would have been the loss of that generation and of the present generation.
There should be an open mindedness which does not brand things that do not fall strictly within what is sacredly held as traditional. If we do not allow in newness (of high quality, of course), CM would still be looked upon as a great art form, but as something of the past (like sanskrit?).
Most of us rasikAs dread the scenario of CM veering towards pop music and of gaining that status. Yet, how many of us would like it to be treated as an heirloom, something to be dusted once in a while and put back on the shelf as an antique? On the other hand, w e need sponsors in this modern age for the growth of the arts, but to what extent? That jingles about the product is also sung on stage?? Everything has its place.The only watchword should be that we don't bring down the quality of the music. The standards shouldn't fall but attempts which make our music even better should not be rejected solely with fear that such a thing would tamper with the old sterling standards. I hope not. In sports, playing with protective gear is not a bad thing, wearing a helmet while out on a two wheeler in today's traffic is a good thing. Are there still those who say: in our days, we didn't bother with all that? We do need to grow with times. The same applies to the arts. Otherwise, the history of a stagnant state in the arts, say after a century, can be told in a single page to the future generations!

[Nick H]

That jingles about the product is also sung on stage??

... The line taken up for neraval reminded us of the availability of snacks prepared by New Woodlands kitchen. This was presented with such bhava that, the entire hall, including all of the musicians apart from the mridangist, departed for the canteen after a very brief round of swaras. A truly moving experience. This season has seen a substantial increase in the performance of RTPs* which has been very gratifying to the traditionalists, especially the sabha treasurers. The only note of dissent came from the now-aged Dr Nalli, who wondered what had become of the old songs, and said that he saw no reason for the constantly-projected scrolling of credits and acknowledgements on the stage backdrop.


*That's retail trade profits

[arasi]

Turning Orwellian, are we

[mridangamkid]

"In brief, ancient works do speak of longer instruments, but insist on five kattai sruthi only with good reason."

I remember reading this in the paper and have been looking for these "ancient works" since, but to no avail. Does anyone know what he is referring to?