TMK-OPEN HOUSE DISCUSSION-QUESTIONS

[munirao2001]

You are aware by the announcement posted here and published outside, SRLKM, Bengaluru is conducting the Symposium on Carnatic Music on SUN 27th.
The third agenda is 'Open House' discussion with maestro TMK answering to the questions related to Carnatic Music. To establish the best clarity and understanding, please post the questions to TMK. I have planned to attend the program. Our Bengaluru forumites, who are interested are also likely to attend. Bengaluru Forumites of rasikas.org as a group can select the relevant and best questions posted here and discuss with TMK, on behalf of rasikas.org members, who will not be in a position to attend the program. The other two programs are -L & D by TMK and 'Manodharma in Carnatic Music' Panel discussions.
All those members who are interested to question, please post the questions in this thread.

munirao2001

[VK RAMAN]

1. Why do you change the concert format?
2. Why do you sing Mangalam in the beginning?
3. Why did you announce that you will not sing for .......
4. You sing for Bhakti or sing as a artist

[vgovindan]

Mr TMK, you have a golden voice - a God's gift and nurtured by your own self effort; you have excellent talent in CM. Kindly do not waste your energy in espousing your - whatever - cause. Just take a maun-vrat for some time. Not maun-vrat for music. Then see the effect of your silence. In the meanwhile, kindly get the general statistics of rasikas attending music concerts - and your concerts in particular. See whether your ideas do match with the expectations of most of the audience. Kindly do not think what musicians dictate as music is music. Every single individual has a disctinct idea - and a goal - for music. Your interviews with people like Gopal Krishna Gandhi who know little about music are most jarring. You are only exposing yourself. You deserve better.

[kvchellappa]

TMK lec-dem in Bengaluru

Certain predictable things about TMK events:
1. It will not start on time.
2. Adjusting the tambura and preliminary instructions will take due time.
3. In between, there will be an enquiry about how much time he could take. Luckily, he must have been told of it in advance, as he looked at the watch and replied to himself.
It was nice to hear him say that tradition is what evolves organically against a core. His actions appeared (to me) to challenge it. He was scholarly and articulate. I am unable to say whether his research and points are towards organic evolution of music. Evolution discounts the past except what is already carried in the organism. It does not look back and resurrect a past specimen.

I liked the talk of Sri HKV. He said:
1. An accompanist is just that – an accompanist.
2. He has to follow the thought process of the main artist. He must play the raga delineated by the main artist; or, if the artist so directs, he has to play a different raga. TMK said, ‘I do not know who he is referring to.' (Engappan kuthiukkuLLe ille.)
3. If the artist does alapana with thyagaraja yoga vaibhavam, the violist cannot bring in marivere phrases in his return.
3. Experimentation goes on from time to time. GNB faced resistance to what he tried, but it stood the test of time. ARI introduced a pattern of singing about 13 pieces in a performance and it has stood the test of time.
I left after this.

[hnbhagavan]

Dear KV Chellappa,

The role of accompaniment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7szJ5dOF7X8
I am posting this again.This lecture demo illustrates all that HKV said with illustrations.

[munirao2001]

VKR and VG Sirs,

I am sorry that I was unable to raise the questions due to least time given for Q & A, as usual mismanaging the time. I intervened only to clarify on few important issues discussed-tradition, bani, style, manodharma and bhava.

Brief report on 'Antaranga, Bahiranga' event with three programs.

TMK in his L & D spoke on many issues which required a deep study but left many questions unanswered in the past history-oral and written-tradition; sampradaya;convention; oral and written; lakshya and lakshana; raga;kampita gamaka; aesthetics; gender domination.

Panel discussion on 'Manodharma' was moderated by TMK. TMK raised selected questions to each of the Panelists seeking different perspectives-Vidu,Neela Ramgopal on changes, choice, quality, comparison-Past Vs Present; Prof.V.Ramanathan- historical developments and diversity; Vid.H.K.Venkatram- Role of soloist and accompanist-Violin; Vid.Anoor Ananthkrishna Sharma- demands and challenges as accompanist-mridangam.

TMK chaired the 'Open Discussion' answered few questions raised by the audience-few of them were on difficulties of percussion artists; bhava; tradition and innovation; mass appreciation of KM.

munirao2001

[vasanthakokilam]

I am unable to say whether his research and points are towards organic evolution of music. Evolution discounts the past except what is already carried in the organism. It does not look back and resurrect a past specimen.

You definitely got him on a technicality. He is on record saying the he is on proper classical grounds for the format he uses and he is invoking a past which has gone away. If he used evolution in the 'natural evolution of species', you are right.

But the non technical normal meaning of the word evolution does not require that the past once shed remains shed. Scientists do this all the time, annoyingly so, take a normal word and give it a very specific technical meaning that can be quite different from the normal use of the word.

If TMK wants a better analogy from genetics it is 'genetic expression'. The genes themselves do not disappear from one generation to the other but the expression of the genes, the traits, can skip generations. So he can claim that he is expressing a musical gene that is within the system all along but unexpressed or muted for a few generations

[kvchellappa]

Thanks. You are like Sankara on BS.

[rshankar]

I don't think genetics is the right discipline to base Sri TMK's musical presentation - based on what he's saying, he's reviving a tradition that predates the ARI-paddhati.
To me it is more like the person who carefully wipes away an established 20th century masterpiece to reveal a medieval painting underneath.
Question: what's the evidence that Sri TMK's presentation was actually followed before the ARI-paddhati took root?