Dr. MBK is no more

[rajeshnat]

BalamuraliKrishna was a truly multifaceted artist .He shed possibly every 5 to 10 years his older avatar and came up with a new avatar

# The early day recordings showed considerable adherence to intense carnatic paddhati that got certainly diluted as he moved on.

# I particularly liked his jayadeva ashtapadi For me his rendition was very prized possession then and with that casette I got more exposed to his music

# I think with the success of Oru Naal pOduma song in the movie tiruvilayadal ,he got few million rasikas from the older era of KV Mahadevan

# With the chinna kannal azhaikiran , he got another few million rasikas from the newer era of Illayaraja. I think these two songs made him as a household name in every home especially in tamilnadu. Also the kannada film hamsageethE which earned him a national award must have given him national reach . All the rest of his film songs were not as a big hit as these 3.

#The snippet of Doordarshan(isaindal en isai) of Mile Sur Mera themera did open close to billlion rasikas .Atleast then with his mile sur mera ,the whole of India thought he was the most popular carnatic musician. How much we all enjoyed when that Mile Sur mEra thumAra was relayed at regular intervals ?

# HIs tillanas were one of a kind with a lot of laya vishayam especially -the brindavani and kathana kuthoohalam are at the top of my head.Few of his compositions in krithis were very original,I particularly liked his gAna sudha rasa in nattai which i think is on sadguru Thyagaraja and Pirai Aniyum Perumaan in hamsadhwani. Certain composition like Hanuma in sarasangi had so much of originality.

# He was very unconventional and just created few ragas like mahati, sarvashri which are very difficult to sing and only few were able to sing the same.

# If the era of SSI-MMI-GNB etaal were focussed on singing pallavis in very few ragas, certainly balamuralikrishna really opened so many many ragas to the pallavi like hamsavinodini . Also some combo raga pallavis like sunaadavinodini and bhairavi was lovely. I would humbly say it is only MLV and BMK who opened atleast 10 to 20 ragas ,which were not atttempted by any musician before.

# Personally he had a high share of ambiguities , possibly he was searching a different pattern of ragas . THat ambiguity and roller coaster ride was the personality of BMK music.

# I think his jugalbandhis were all hits , few like bhimsenjoshi or pandit jasraj with BMK did open to each of us the other unfamailiar world.

# So many audio casettes came , particularly apart from his jayadeva collection , i loved his pancharathna krithi renditon(such a prized possession for me that audio casette) and few numbers like seetha kalyana vaibhogamE, nagumOmu, manasa sanchararE were out of the world with his voice shining like a pearl.

# He never cared for critics opinion . I remember an anecdote when BMK sang in AIR , the recording did not come well . Many in AIR requested him to re record , but BMK just did not care and said "that is all you have got today" and asked the AIR team to just broadcast the imperfect recording. He had guts and was always creating music mostly on spot .

# Finally what can one say when at the age of 15 , he had already mastered all 72 melakarthas and started composing many numbers .

He certainly lived a long life and more importantly his music touched many fresh blood rasikas. Condolences to his family and sishya parampara

[randomhari]

A 1977 malayalam song (Pahadi, V.saranga, S.bhairavi)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i49BcwXLiuU

[Rsachi]

Dear rasikas,
Today's Friday Review carries an excellent write-up by Deepa Ganesh on the legend:
A practice in freedom:

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/m ... 694064.ece



I would like to compliment the writer for her language and her profiling of a remarkable musician. Her description is closest to my own experience of Dr. BMK, as a lay person in the audience.

More power to such writers!

[msakella]

Yes, whatever our brother-member ‘rajeshanat’ wrote about Balamuralikrishna is true.

Whatever Balamuralikrishna did in our music was unique. His sense of both Shruti and Laya was of very high order and very special to tell. While accompanying him on Violin many a time it was a real enjoyment of music in very high degree.

As per one anecdote when one rasika criticised his way of rendering he asked ‘if I sing in Shruti you criticise me that I am singing Hindusthani, if I sing more with Bhava you criticise me that I am singing light-music. Then in which way shall I have to sing?” How many can do so? He only can do so. amsharma

[varsha]

A Tree is best Measured ....
When fallen
Carl Sandburg

https://archive.org/details/GuruniSmari ... savinOdini

[ramarama]

While I have attended a few fun concerts (and "fun" is the word for a BMK concert!), my lasting memory of the maestro is a video I saw a couple of times in which he sang, accompanying himself on the viola and kanjira in a triple role - and in his singing mode, he even encourages himself on the viola and kanjira with the appreciative smiles and nods and "shabaashs!" Needed a wicked mind and talent to pull that off! And what a down to earth and genial personality he had, too, off stage. Related to Amsharmasir's posting, I have also heard anecdotally that he said once, that if a Carnatic singer sings in shruti, s/he is brushed off as a playback/light singer

[kamalamba]

Here is BMK talking about and demonstrating voice culture; master piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccGhf4Y-cw

[ramarama]

I guess my memory played tricks with me re#56 above - it was a lasting memory but wrong That video is of Dr BMK playing the viola accompanying himself on mridangam and kanjira. The first part of that video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Grz1s9tps. The second part is linked on the side of that video. Enjoy!

[varsha]

https://archive.org/details/BMKBhimsEnJ ... neyarKoil2

[semmu86]

https://archive.org/details/BMKBhimsEnJ ... neyarKoil2

Brilliant!! What a gem!Some wonderful memories of BMK singing @ Nanganallur. Another unforgettable gem would be the concert with TNK-UKS-THV-Harishankar.

[varsha]

https://archive.org/details/Track1_201611

[maduraimini]

Sympathies to his family, students and fans. He was a genius, playing the Viola, Violin and mridangam, besides singing. He composed many songs, found new ragas and his sruthi was always perfect. His diction was very good. May his soul Rest in Peace!

[girish_a]

As we alighted from the train, a few people who recognised him, came and took photographs with him, some diving right onto his feet. I asked him if it gets a bit too much, to which Dr Saraswathi replied that recently at a packed concert, some fans tried to slowly pluck some of his hair to keep as memorabilia.

AND

Here is one more anecdote that Balamurali himself narrated. It seems that he had once been gifted with a new pair of footwear and had worn them for a concert in Chennai. He had left the slippers outside and after the concert, discovered his slippers missing.

Months later, he got a letter from a fan who confessed that he just wanted to have a memorabilia and so stole the slippers. The fan said that he would return the slippers and hoped that Balamurali would send some small item that he used.

https://churumuri.wordpress.com/2010/03 ... d-amritam/

[girish_a]

This is the best interview BMK interview out there. I think it is good because it is so informal. He explains why his singing is liked, how to sing a composition, his musical lineage, his jugalbandis with Bhimsen Joshi, even his court disputes. Must watch. And it is in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWPvkqBYW78