Ariyakudi kacheri paddhati

[sruthi]

I found the following writeup on the Ariyakudi concert format: http://www.narada.org/ariyakudi/tradition.html

Do we have more details on the format popularised by Sri Ariyakudi? I thought singing the same raga for varnam and main piece was also part of this format?
Or are there variations on the central theme proposed by him?

Look forward to your learned inputs.

Sruthi

[mohan]

In some concerts, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar has sung the varnam and the RTP in the same raga but I don't think this is really part of the kutcheri paddhati.

His prescribed concert format is given in the article:

The concert should begin with a varnam, to be immediately followed by a few fast-tempo kntis. A short and crisp alapana of two or three of the ragas of the kritis to be sung may be rendered. Kalpana-svaras must be limited and proportionate, and restricted to a few pieces, after a reasonable measure of niraval. The pieces selected should be of varied talas, and no two of the same tala need be sung consecutively. In rendering kalpanasvaras, for kritis or pallavis, it would be more appropriate to adopt the traditional mode of sarvalaghu pattern with variations in the nadai in tala imparting ranjakatva, keeping in view the raga-swarupa. An admixture of slow-and fast tempo kritis alternately is preferable. The main raga for tanam, pallavi, should be a Ghana raga familiar to the audience, and the rendering of the alapana must be fairly lengthy and should explore into the mandarasthayi as well. In the alapana of rare ragas, their distinctive character should reveal themselves at the first touches in all their purity and clearness, and should neither get confused with nor clash with ragas closely allied to or resembling them. A couple of opportunities (according to the convenience of the artiste) may be given to the mridangam player—the first an hour after the commencement, the second during the pallavi stage, in different talas of convenient tempos. The items should comprise padam, javali, tevaram, tiruppugazh, ashtapadi , tarangam, tillana, ragamalika and sloka, all of which must form Part II of the concert. The singer should enlist the cooperation of the companists all through with the object of making the concert a success.

The majority of concerts today still follow this format, although there are often slight variations.

[srkris]

Although much has been said on this topic, Ariyakudi's apparent contributions to the concert pattern is the addition of the tukkada section, and his focus on offering a variety fare subject to time limitations.

It appears that the substantial part of the concert format followed today precedes Ariyakudi's generation, and he didn't change it appreciably.

In Ariyakudi's own words, "Like my guru, I have never begun a concert without singing a varnam at the commencement. It imparts mellowness to the voice and a flavour to the subsequent rendering of kritis or ragas. Palghat Anantarama Bhagavatar and Bidaram Krishnappa began their concerts with tana varnas. In the past (pre-varna days), performers used to sing tanas in the Nattai, Gowla, Arabi, Varali and Sri ragas, to the accompaniment of tbe mridangam."

Hence it is perhaps wrong to say that the paddhati was invented by Ariyakudi in its entirety.

[mahavishnu]

Srkris, I agree. Perhaps it is fair to say that he refined the modern kutcheri paddhati and successfully implemented this method several hundred times. So much so, that it caught on with an entire generation of musicians as the prescribed or standard method. The format has clearly survived a hundred years and is not going away soon.

Not to sound irreverent, but I always have found that ARI's kutcheris were a bit "hurried". I have obviously not lived in Ariyakkudi's times, but in all the unedited concerts that I have heard, I notice that he never paused enough between songs. In many of the classic ARI/TNK/PMI recordings, no sooner than PMI would finish the tirmanam for the previous kriti, ARI would already be on the alapanai for the next song. Somehow this does not give you enough time to digest the previous piece, especially when the transition is very dramatic; for example pantuvarali to sankarabharanam. Then again, not having seen him "live", I am not sure what the perception was like for people in the audience then.

[anandasangeetham]

there was one OST-Chandramouli-Bhakthavatsalam concert at German Hall. this was some time back where Sri OST sang the first 6 songs without so much of a second gap between the songs. at the start of the seventh song...Sri Bhaktavatsalam commented vervaya thotachuka time kudingo sir ( please give time to wipe out the perspiration )...but I agree with Mahavishnu that when there is such a hurried pace between songs it is difficult to enjoy...

incidentally I also found it difficult to enjoy the ragamalika songs where every word or a line (short ones) has a different raga...

I loved the concerts where the main artist takes time (not too much-) to interact with fellow artistes, gauge the audience for response if any...ala Sri MDR, Sri Santhanam, Sri SSI, Sri Somu....

[sruthi]

I had always assumed that singing a prati-madhyama raga early in a concert was part of Ariyakudi format. But he doesn't seem to mention this in the article quoted.
Does anyone know where this practice originated?

[arasi]

We use the expression 'jana ranjakam' even today to describe an artiste who may not exactly play to the gallery, but still appeals to quite a number of people. In my childhood I've heard the elders say: AriyakkuDi pATTu ranjakamAna pATTu! enna viru viuppu! (ARI's music is very appealing. How lively!). In that, he broke the tradition. Yes, in thukkaDA numbers too. Nothing more, perhaps.
Singing without a pause isn't appealing to me, either. Not encouraging and worse, not recognizing (!) the accompanists is another.
I am not sure if I'm right in thinking that it all goes with ARI's personality. he was highly successful. Accompanists were honored when he asked them to play for him (However meager their share!). Singing the way he did, came easy to him. He did not have to work very hard, and it suited him. As a very young child, I liked his concerts very much because they were interesting and breezy--and MMI's (even better!). MMI of course was not appreciated as much by some because of his 'ta ra la lAs' and for singing with such abandon! Not one bit traditional However, he was adored by many others and I loved to hear them praise his music. Other male singers honestly were a drag (of course, I didn't realize how good they were at that age). Another thing: ARI and MMI sang songs in tamizh! (arunAchalak kavi and thiruppAvai!).

[venkat1926]

"ot to sound irreverent, but I always have found that ARI's kutcheris were a bit "hurried""
yes it was the time of 78 and 45 RPM days. within each record ARI wanted people to sing as many items possible. But with the present mp3 days it is not necessary to follow this paddathi at least in records. We can have records with only RTP elaborate. we can have two or three items in one mp3. ARI made his important contribution in a point of time. Time moves on and does not stop for anybody.