Ideas for a Seemantham concert?

[ragam-talam]

Another doubt I have is:
The concert duration is about 45 minutes.
Do I have to necessarily play kalpanaswarams or neravals elaborately?
Or Is it enough to just include raga alapana and tanam?
I thought a neraval might be good in some songs.
Please give your suggestions.

At 10 mins on average for each piece, I would say about 5 items would be just about right.
And considering it's a veena recital, tanam would be good to include. Not sure about neraval etc.
Dikshitar kritis may be more suited to veena playing, considering he was a vainika himself.
And mangala ragas like the ones recommended by others may be more suitable, e.g. Khamas, Madhayamavathi, Sri ragam, Manirangu, Suruti, Anandabhairavi, Atana. Plus a few lullabies in Nilambari-like ragas.
As I said before, best to avoid vivadi ragas for such an occasion.

[PUNARVASU]

Yes, I have heard the song' santAngOpAlakrishNam' sung during seemantham; do people sing 'santAna rAmaswAminam (hindOLa vasantham)-also?

[fuddyduddy]

i have sung bv raman/bv lakshmans 'Mannupugazh kosalai' in several seemanthams.. Its raagamalikai ending with nilambari and 'thaalelo' at the end of every verse.
Actually would love to have a professional version of this paasuram, if anyone has it, since my version will work only within the family circles

[arasi]

Fuddyduddy,
I was thinking of it too, and of other pAsurams. Perfect for a cradling ceremony! There are countless gems in literature and CM which celebrate God in the form of a child.Some old movie songs too.

[baboosh]

I will be playing Veena in a seemantham(a ceremony for pregnant women). Is there any prescribed format to play in a Seemantham? Are there specific songs that are a must/part of seemantham?
Somebody, please give me suggestions on how to choose songs and other things. Are there any songs that are apt for the function?

Tradition mentions that we have to play Kedaragaula raga which is supposed to soothen the foetus

[arasi]

Haven't heard that one before...

[baboosh]

Haven't heard that one before...

I Learnt that from a vedic scholar who was talking about prenatal ceremonies who was also a Kathakalakshepam exponent

[srinivasrgvn]

I am also playing for a seemantham soon and this thread has been really useful.

[mohan]

I wonder what the original poster (tribute) ended up playing for the seemantam? Srinivasrgvn do tell us what you play!

This thread dates back two years ago. My son, Akshay, is celebrating his 2nd birthday tomorrow!

[rshankar]

Birthday wishes to Akshay!

[cienu]

Time flies ! Happy birthday to little Akshay !

[arasi]

Mohan,
The very best to him and to the family. How they grow up before you know!

Srini,
Would love to hear from you, though you may be steeped in your studies...

[PUNARVASU]

Happy birthday Akshay.

[arasi]

ragam-talam,
Waiting to hear from you. Do we have to wait till next season?

[srinivasrgvn]

Mohan, first of all, Birthday wishes to your son! I have zeroed in on this list,

1) samikki sari - kEdAragaula
2) pAlvadiyummugam - nAttaikuranji
3) santhAnagOpAlakrishnam - khamAs
4) ranganAthAshtakam - slOkam - rAgamAlika
5) kanne en - neelAmbari
6) mAyanai mannu - srI - thiruppAvai

Based on members' suggestions and trying to incorporate the wishes of the mother(who, incidentally, is my cousin sister), I thought these would be appropriate. I do not know how far the slOka is going to come out on an instrument, like Veena, but that is a special wish from my aunt, as she hails from Srirangam and chanting ranganAthasktakam is a family tradition for them. I still haven't set the rAgamAlika for it and suggestions are welcome, from all.

Arasi,
Yes, I am indeed steeped in studies, as my exam is fast approaching, in May. But, I can't stay away from my Veena!

[rajeshnat]

srinivasrgvn
There you are coming like shreya and hari hmmmm . I have not heard this ranganAthAshtakam, any vocalist have taken up . Your studies are important get bit older soooner so that you can jump back along with shreya - who is practicing Dikshitar krithis.

Mohan
Best wishes to your son Akshay??

[vgovindan]

rajesh,
Here is ranganAthAshTakam by Kalavati - http://cid-bbaf7e1ca0356380.office.live ... avathi.mp3

[mohan]

Srinivasrgvn good luck with your concert!

Thanks all for your birthday wishes to Akshay ... now I have to put up with the 'terrible two's'!

[mahavishnu]

Mohan. Belated congrats.
I found the three-s to be worse! You probably have experienced this already. It is still relatively easy to trick them at 2 It gets progressively more difficult as they get smarter.

They should have special song lists for tireless young parents too. Muddugare Yashoda just doesn't cut it.

[mohan]

They should have special song lists for tireless young parents too. Muddugare Yashoda just doesn't cut it.

vishamakara kannan perhaps?

[mahavishnu]

Let's not even go there

[arasi]

Wait a second young fathers! I've a feeling ammAs or pATTis are listening to this and are saying : appaDiyE unnaik koNDirukku vishamattiRkku

[mahavishnu]

Arasi: yes you are right

My mother told me that as a a three year old, I used to routinely throw the angavastram of her music teacher (Sri Baluswami Dikshitar) into the well, just to annoy him and so she would pay me more attention. The poor man had to fish it out using a rope and pulley each time. He was so sweet, he never once yelled at me.

I only realized much later what an amazing man he was. The number of MD compositions that he had imbibed over the generations of scholarship in his family was incredible. I wish I could see him today, to apologize for being a silly child...

[mohan]

MV - who was this Baluswami Dikshitar and how was he related to Muthuswamy Dikshitar?

[mahavishnu]

Mohan: Sri Balaswami Dikshitar was MD's brother's great grandson and a vainika/singer/scholar. He was the last musical person in that family.
All of us in my family were fortunate enough to learn from him. He taught me "sakti sahita ganapatim" a nottuswaram when I was 4; the first composition I ever learned.

I am copying the part about thim from the wikipedia entry on Dikshitar.

Descendants

Muthuswami Dikshitar died on 21 October 1835. Dikshitar had a daughter but it was the descendants of his brother Baluswami who have preserved his musical legacy, and his compositions have been popularized due to the efforts of people like Subbarama Dikshitar and Ambi Dikshitar.

Baluswami Dikshitar, the sixth descendant in the line, a well known vainika by his own rights, resided in Trichy and then moved to Chennai in 1957. He died in November 1985. He has two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Muthuswamy, the seventh descendent in the line, retired as a top executive in the State Bank of India group of banks and then was the Managing Director and CEO of a private sector bank.The younger son runs his own small scale industry near Madurai. Both the daughters are married and well settled in Chennai.

The Raja Rajeswari, Vallabha Ganapathi, Sree Chakra, Banalingam, Saligramam and other idols, given to Shri Muthuswamy Dikshithar by his guru Chidambaranatha Yogi is in the family with the eldest son Muthuswamy along with the veena (with the upturned Yaali Mukha) with the Sanskrit inscription "Sri Ram" said to have been given to Dikshithar by Goddess Sarasvati, when he bathed in the river Ganges, as indication of his having attained Mantra Siddhi.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Santhanagopalakrishnam (Khamas) is considered a 'must' for Seemantham. My family members used to sing it in all such occasions. My mother used to sing along with the Veena. Taanam rendering would also be insisted by the elders.
The compositions selected would invariably be on Lord Krishna like Balagopala (bhairavi), songs from Krishnaleela Tarangini etc. Kriti-s on Lord Subrahmanya could also be heard.