Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2011

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pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2011

Post by pattamaa »

Prof S.R.Janakiraman - vocal
Smt K.H.Mangala - vocal support
Sri S.Varadarajan - violin
Sri Umayalpuram Mali - mridangam

24th Sep 2011, 6pm to 8pm
Sabha - Shanmukhapriya
Venue - R.K.Swamy Hall, Mylapore, chennai

lecdem on Ananda bhairavi and Ritigowlai

1. Sri SRJ mama started the lecdem by thanking the organizers. He mentioned that p S p phrase is mentioned by subba rama dikshitar in
Sangeetha Sampradaya pradarshini (SSP). He sang kim vachaneyam kima vachaneeyam - a composition of Sri Sadasiva brahmendra in ananda bhairavi, and towards end kim geyaniyam, kim ageyaneyam (meaning what to sing, what not to sing), and mentioned that he asked pappu venugopal rao whether he can add this line, and he said, ofcourse mama can add this line.

2. Mama mentioned that pp nn SS phrase comes in chitta swaram, in a song composed by Sri Ramaswamy sivan. he mentioned about phrases like n s g m r p are rare. He explained use of sudha and chatushruti daivatam in the phrase - n d p p- (cha. dha) and p d p (su. dha) are used.

3. he sang a ananda bhairavi geetam to explain. He said, the geetam doesn't resemble like anadha bhairavi vogue in current years, and actually is ananda bhairavi

4. Mama mentioned that in 17th century, Sri purandara dasa has composed a song and sang Rama Nama payasake, krishna nama sakkare.. He mentioned that in pallai, no dhaivatam and nishadam are seen.

5. he sand Badrachala ramadasa's paluke bangara mayena. During the song, he adviced current vocalists and students should not sing any thing and every thing coming to their voice and mind.

(I vagely remember mama mentioning that Sri Subbarama dikshitar kind of committed some blunder in SSP, but don't recall exact details).

6. Mama mentioned about a ramaswami sivan keertana, and sand chittai swaram containing p p n n s and highlighting this unique prayoga, pdpS is not necessarily characteristic prayoga of this raga.

7. SRJ mama then sang veenai kuppayyar varna in ananda bhairavi (saami nee pai...). Mama mentioned that Sri Kuppaiyar did gurukula vasam with St. Thyagaraja for about 40 years. There is no antara gandharam and kakali nishadam seen in this varnam. Mama said, that swaminatha pillai thought him this varnam, and mentioned how brindamma would begin with srn phrase..

8. mama humorously sang ding dong bell, pussy in the well in ananda bhairavi !!

9. mama sang the charanam of varnam, and swarams with thanam syllable (marubari and swaras)..

10. Mama sang dikshitar compositions - kamalabha sam rakshatu; he said that dikshitar didn't compose in misra chapu because he realized
his sahityam wasn't suitable for this tala (??), and that this song to be sung in misra ekam only. He sang the phrases ndp (with sudha dha)
and dnS (with cha. dha - appearing in madhyamakala sahitya) to show uses of both dha.

11. mama then sang anandeshwarena, a composition of sri dikshitar. He said, in 1942, he has heard Justice T.L.Venkatrama iyer singing this song,
with Smt DKP and Sri Rajam Iyer as vocal support, and mama learnt this keerthana with notation.

12. mama sang manasa guruguha and mentioned again that antara gandharam and kakali nishadam has no place in classical anandha bhairavi. He mentioned reason for how these two anya swaras are part of this raga - may be because of folkish nature these two swaras might have crept it.

13. Then, nike teliyakapote of thyagaraja was sung. Mama said (before song that) now comes our Raja, thyagaraja (!!). Mama said, Thyagaraja caught the raga, and dikshitar taught the raga, and said, this doesn't mean anything derogatory about Sri Thyagaraja, and actually in praise of thyagaraja only..

14. As a side tidbit, mama said that when kaisiki nishadam is there, kakali nishadam can come as anya swara, but when kakali is there, kaisiki never comes.

15. For shyama sastry, said that he was very fond of this raga, for unknown reason, and sang only chitta swaram instead of his composition due to
want of time.

Reetigowlai

1. He sand n s g r n phrase, and said rishabam is actually in gandharam place (and asked varadarajan on how he plays this phrase, jokingly.. and said
varadarajan knowns all most all songs...!

2. Mama said that panchamam need not be sung in reeti gowlai and demonstrated that. He mentioned that in a thyagaraja keerthana - seetha nayaka
srithajana poshaka - no chatusruti dhaivatam is present.

3. mama mentioned that gamakam is not used very often in madhyamam, and doesn't move much, very much like sa and pa and anandha bhairavi has
gamakam for madhyamam

4. mama sung reetigowlai varnam, vanajaksha, and said that varnam has to be sung (while learning) first with swaras only, and then with sahitya, then
akaram and then tanam syllable. He demonstrated again by singing thanam syllables for this varnam and it was very beautiful.

5. SRJ mama mentioned that panchamam is alpa swara in this raga, and it is not required. it may be required only to pause, and when some want to take a
breath.

6. Mama sung dwaitamu sukhama and ragarathna malikache (no dha in pallavi)

7. Mama demonstrated dikshitar's neelotpalambike and in phrase npnns (in mandara stayi) and ndmgrs phrase and mentioned that rishabam is sitting
in gandharam place.

8. Mama mentioned that anandha bhairavi and reetigowlai didn't exist in annamacharya's composition, and in later years, people have turned annamayya
song in ananda bhairavi.

9. In Neelotpalambika song, mama mentioned that two raga mudhra appear both nata bhairavi and reeti gowlai and that dikshitar didn't add nari reetigowlai
to satisfy katapayadi scheme. He mentioned quite a few ragas are unique to carnatic music (like huseni, surati etc), and both ananda bhairavi and
reeti gowlai also add to this list. He calls such ragas as choosy juicy ragas.

10. Mama sung some phrases which was sung by a person (sanyasi type, with ek tara in his hand), and how this very closely resembled reeti gowlai

11. Mama sung thyagaraja's paripalaya paripalaya and explained the meaning of this keerthana.

12. mama sung janani ninnuvina and showed how this composition is very different from trinity compositions and sang chittaswaram passage
( S-ndm, m--grs, s-np) and highlighted how madhyamam is sung.

13. While concluding, mama thanked organizers, sabha and audience, and he conveyed hearty thanks to every one; Jokingly he said, it should not be
heartfelt thanks and heartfelt is used only for condolences, and in other places, hearty only should be used.


This was very entertaining, educative and informative lecdem, and hope organizers will release video recording commercially for benefit of student
and connoisseurs. Hope someone can upload audio recording after appropriate permissions from artists.

Side notes
1. The lecdem concluded early to enable Sri Varadarajan to catch a train. I am sure mama could have easily continued for one more hour. He didn't have
any notes/books, and entire lecdem was extempore.
2. Among the audience were, bharat, and vainika (both members in this forumn), sriram parasuram, prince rama varma, and Sri K.A.kalidas.
3. After getting down from the stage, when i was there to help him, mama was wearing his chappals in reverse due to failing eye sight, when i pointed out
he mentioned a gopalakrishna bharati composition (in devamanohari) and how people do pada chedam, and humourously demonstrated it (i can't recollect the
composition now..)
4. Mama gave due credits to his gurus, like kalpagam mami (mentioned as kalpagam amma), and others from whom he learnt those compositions.
5. Sorry if i haven't written anything correct or accurate in about report. It may be just an oversight.

Thalaivarda
Posts: 114
Joined: 19 May 2010, 16:28

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by Thalaivarda »

Beautiful.Thanks a lot. :D

thanjavooran
Posts: 2972
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:44

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by thanjavooran »

Shri Pattamaa,
Excellent write up. Normally I never miss his Lec Dem. Your detailed report makes me happy. His humorous observation about Pada chedam -- I enjoyed a lot. Many thanks.
Thanjavooran 25 09 2011

satyabalu
Posts: 915
Joined: 28 Mar 2010, 11:07

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by satyabalu »

*looks like I have missed the useful programme from the doyen.
*I am sure he will do it next with some more aspects he could not cover esp in Ananda Bhairavi- as I believe no AB will be complete without Shyama Shastri.

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by arunk »

I am confused by the delegation of pa to pretty much completely dispensible in rItigauLa by Prof SRJ (whose lecdems, and especially narrative style I absolutely adore :-) ). While I do understand that the majority flavor of the raga involves phrases that dont involve pa, the one or 2 that involve it seem significant enough that many compositions seem to begin with phrases that involve pa - gmpmgrs (nannu viDaci, dvaitamu sukahama, guruvAyUrappanE), and pmgrs (the varnam itself, rAgaratnamAlikacE, cerarAvadEmirA, tatvam aRiya tarama). Also If I am not mistaken baDalikadIra begins with a variant sn`p` (?)

Arun

vainika
Posts: 433
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 11:32

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by vainika »

Thanks Pattamaa for the report.
arunk wrote:I am confused by the delegation of pa to pretty much completely dispensible in rItigauLa by Prof SRJ Arun
Arun, I don't think he said it was completely dispensable, so much as the essence of rItigauLa could be completely conveyed even without employing panchama in a phrase. He did speak about mandra sthAyi panchama and the phrase N P N N S as very characteristic of both versions of the rAga (D1 and D2).

Similarly, he said the essence of Ananda bhairavI could be conveyed without dhaivata, in fact, with just the S R G M P notes.

S'yama S'astri was not absent, Prof did sing snatches of marivErE.

LR

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by arunk »

Ah! That makes sense!

rbharath
Posts: 2326
Joined: 05 Feb 2010, 10:50

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by rbharath »

i did attend this lec-dem.. will fill in the blanks sooner than later..


twas a wonderful info-filled evening.. lots of useful insights..

gangar
Posts: 10
Joined: 30 Oct 2007, 20:18

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2

Post by gangar »

"he mentioned a gopalakrishna bharati composition (in devamanohari) and how people do pada chedam, and humourously demonstrated it (i can't recollect the
composition now.."[quote][/quote]

The composition Sir wud hv mentioned "Kaal maari Aadidum".by PApanAsam Sivan.. a scribal error i suppose :tmi:
Thanks for the write up :clap:

Neeta789789
Posts: 8
Joined: 11 Aug 2019, 00:11

Re: reetigowlai - Paripalaya Paripalaya Notation

Post by Neeta789789 »

Hello Madam,

Can you please send me the notation for Paripalaya song (Tyagaraja Krithi on ReetiGowla Raagam)...? I appreciate your help.
my email is: neeta789789@gmail.com

Thank you
Neeta

HarishankarK
Posts: 2216
Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2011

Post by HarishankarK »

GKB composition in Devamanohari is Aarukku thaan theriyum
What was the pada chedham joke? Does the song name remind you?

Would like to know what's the joke thing in Kaal maari aadidum as well??

HarishankarK
Posts: 2216
Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2011

Post by HarishankarK »

Kaal maari aadiya kanaga sabesha is Anadavan Pichchai song not PS

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Prof SRJ Lecdem on ananda bhairavi, reetigowlai - 24Sep2011

Post by Sachi_R »

Is there an audio recording in the open of this programme please?

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