What is natyasangeeth?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 02 Nov 2005, 19:28

Kulkarni sa'ab,
What is this genre of misuc? Is it akin to the 'sOpAnam' style of CM used in 'mOhiniAttam'?
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 03 Nov 2005, 06:15

rshankar
natyasangeeth has little to do with dance.It is Drama Music .As you are aware marathi theatre is still very vibrant and it has a glorious connection with classical music.Hirabai badodekar, Bal Gandharv, Sawai Gandharv(bhimsen Joshi's Guru),why even Mallikarjun Mansoor Performed for dramas.
I have several dramas on tape-they are just nonstop music( i dont understand marathi)-Soubhadra, Samshaya Kallol etc.With artists like Vasantrao Despande,Jitendra Abhisheki and Prabhakar Karekar Succeeding in Classical HM genre also, one can think of it as a school of music itself-

ramdas kamath, Sudheer Phadke are the other names not making it big in the Classical field.
I will post a natya geeth - Classical track combination for a few artists for you to see the influence of natyasangeeth on their classical styles.

chithra · Post by **chithra** » 08 Nov 2005, 12:23

Sri Kulkarni:

Would you please post some Maharshtrian Natya Sangeeth when you get a chance? I once heard this music form for an hour and fell forever in love with it. Many thanks.

Is Manik Verma a Natya Sangeeth exponent? Who were the stars of yester years, and the current stars for this music?

chithra

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 08 Nov 2005, 18:08

forgot to add that i am yet to convert my natyageeth (from the real dramas) to tapes.
once that is done i will give clippings from that as well

chithra · Post by **chithra** » 08 Nov 2005, 22:59

Kulkarniji, you made my day! Your description of radio music of those days was so evocative that I was instantly transported to my childhood. I recall the moment I fell in love with CS, though I had already been learning music - my mother woke me up one night to hear MSS's Jagadodharana, in the AIR National Prog. Well, I was forever hooked, and I applied myself heart and soul from that day onwards to learning CS properly... As you say, often the right music, whether thukkadas or not, at the right moment do transform us and our lives.

BTW, can we find silent evenings any more in cities, in India?

chithra

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Nov 2005, 04:13

Kulkarni sa'ab,
Thanks for the explanation and the tracks - education for both the mind and ears!
I made the mistake of equating 'natya' with dance, when it SHOULD mean drama in it's entirety:
The myth is that when the gods assked Brahma for a vEdh that was easy to undertand and practice, he took song from sAm vEdh, speech from rig, aBinaya (the expression of emotion) from yajur, and rasa from atharva vEdh, and created the fifth vEdh: the 'nAtya' vEdh - practioners of this vEdh were called natA and natI (on a lighter side, I wonder if they introduced themselves as 'nAtya shAKA aDHyAyIs'?). They could sing, dance and act. Bharata muni's nAtya shastra deals with this entire package, and not just dance exclusively. With the passage of time, as with many disciplines, specialization crept in, and natAs and natIs became adept at only music (gIth or gAn), dance (nrithya) or drama (nautankI), and the current breed of musicians, dancers and actors was born. These days, very few can do all three with equal felicity (Vyjayanthimala Bali comes to mind), and more can do 2 of the 3 (Vasumathi Bhadrinathan, who sings and dances; Shobana, who dances and acts; the Travancore sisters who also danced and acted etc), but most can only do justice to only one aspect. Dr. Padma Subramanian, the stickler for accuracy that she is, I think refers to her dance as Barathanrithyam, and not B'nAtyam for this reason.
The tracks that you posted are DIVINE! I am listening to 'mruganayanA, rasika mohinI': just the first strains of this song transported me to the world of Kalidasa and BANa BattA, and the romance of Vasanthasena and AmrapAlI.
THANKS.
Ravi

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Nov 2005, 23:11

forgot to add that i am yet to convert my natyageeth (from the real dramas) to tapes.
once that is done i will give clippings from that as well

Does this mean that the tracks that are posted here are not from dramas?
This leads to the next question:

Prabhakar karekar and Ajit kadkade tour US quite regularly.

Do they tour as part of the drama troupe, or as singers. If the former, do they also act? If the latter, how will their programs be listed: as a nAtya gIth concert or as a HM concert?
Thanks.
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 11 Nov 2005, 04:13

these drama geeths have become part of the singers repertoire in classical concerts,radio programs or even album releases.tracks uploaded till now were from this.

from real dramas , i mean 90 minutes of nonstop music , various artists singing songs of that same drama.kind of an opera you see.

the two artists are established hindusthani muscians and trval as such.though i will try to get more information on them

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 15 Nov 2005, 20:10

Kulkarni sa'ab,
Do you have any tracks of Lakshmi Shankar that you could post?
Thanks.
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Nov 2005, 18:18

laxmisankar.. will do it shortly.
I have managed to collect only some excellent tracks of Dhani (Shudha Dhanyasi), Ahir Bhairav(Chakravakam) , Brindavana Saranga and Gunakali and a few bhajans (you must have heard the Ab Ke madhav -Bhajan I put up earlier on this forum.

Lastly If you wish we can also look at a Jamshedpur rendering of Jog.

BTW if any one comes across a Keervani by her (Nat Nagara Athee Sundara-the song goes..) please do let me know...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 19 Nov 2005, 20:30

Kulkarni sa'ab,
Thanks for the tracks. I heard her DHanI from a previous u/l of yours and fell in love with her voice and what appears to be perfect tonal clarity with no muffling. Unfortunately, I was not fortunate enough to d/l the Bajan that was posted earlier (unless it is the same one that you have u/led in your post along with another DHani track). She does sem to be the DHanI queen (pun intended?)!
Ravi

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 23 Jun 2006, 19:07

Got around to this topic only now.

Asha Bhonsle has sung some fabulous natya sangeeth too. When i was in Bombay in the 80's there was a 15 minute slot in the evening in AIR that was devoted to natya sangeeth - that got me interested in it.

I also got the chance to listen to Jitendra Abhisheki and his group perform at IIT Bombay - a stage full of people taking turns and was an experience of a kind. There was no drame involved but only sangeet part of it.

Interestingly, MSG has played a natya sangeeth in his concerts (mostly in his HM concerts).

sumram99 · Post by **sumram99** » 23 Jun 2006, 20:37

Here is one in Raag Todi in Ektaal.

http://rapidshare.de/files/23893836/soham-har.mp3.html

Kji:

I have to download the Karekar tracks. I have a few by Pt. Ram Marathe but they are on audio tapes. I will transfer them and upload it

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 23 Jun 2006, 21:18

looking forward to ram marathe eagerly

sumram
you should download kaivalyakumar too.

it is a sweet hamsadhwani

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 23 Jun 2006, 21:36

Here is the clip of MSG

http://rapidshare.de/files/23898904/nat ... t.mp3.html

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 24 Jun 2006, 02:01

is the clip of MSG in mAnd?

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Jun 2006, 02:59

Suji, it sounds to me that way as well. This sounds like CM. Are such songs part of the maratti natya sangeeth repertoire as well? Can't help think that this MSG piece would be great for flute as well, given the rural imagery it brings forth.

kaivalyakumar's hamsadhwani and the other sivaranjani pieces are great. They are great gateway songs for a HM novice CM person to appreciate the phrasing and delivery style of HM.

sumram, is that soham-har sung by you? It sounds great.

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 24 Jun 2006, 03:24

MSG Clip - sections of it sound like mAnD but it quickly moves to others - frankly i am stumped on this.

One thing that i have noticed with natya sangeet is that they do not necessarily stick to a raga it its totality - they blend in other ragas so much so that the exercise of determining the raga becomes futile. My friend and i after a while decided that we simply enjoy the listening experience and not bother about the raga and stuff !!

Coolkarniji - can you repost the clippings once again - they have been deleted. Also i remember a piece starting with the words 'ge chanda makaranda' - i must have heard it a zillion times during the ganesh charurti days in bombay during the 80's; it is a fantastic one - if you have it please post it on rapidshare.

sumram99 · Post by **sumram99** » 24 Jun 2006, 03:46

VK:

sumram, is that soham-har sung by you? It sounds great.

Yes, that was sung by me. Thank you.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Jun 2006, 04:35

Sumati

Could you post the lyric for 'soham-har'?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2006, 04:41

Coolkarniji - can you repost the clippings once again

the karekar ones are working ! do you mean the earlier ones ?
e
That natyageeth ge chanda makaranda' is the one by vasanthrao despande.shall defintely put it up.
that one along with Priye Paha of Karekar and Mruga Nayana rasika Mohini ,again by Vasanthrao Despande are some of the very famous ones.

You are right about the listening experience ...I have several such dramas recorded on tape -Samshya Kallol, Subhadra and others.I dont understand a word of it but they are great listening experiences.

Will get back to all this after tuesday.Right now rushing for a Lunch appointment with DRS in Bangalore

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 24 Jun 2006, 17:52

do you mean the earlier ones ?

I mean the older ones posted in 2005. thanks in advance for resposting.

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 01 Jul 2006, 18:16

coolkarni - thanks for the clips - they are wonderful. the clarity at the speed he has sung these two pieces are amazing

I have heard some other performer (may be Abhisheki) sing 'ge chanda' at a slower pace (would seem half as slow

)

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jul 2006, 18:36

will look up the abhisheki stuff tonight for some natyageeths

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Jul 2006, 19:36

Kulkarni sa'ab,
Thanks: interesting to read these exchanges: and I did recognize 'mrugnayanI rasika mOhinI'...
After a lot of effort on your part, I think I understand what this is all about: the word nATya here is used in the sense it was used in the nATya shAstra, [and not just dance (as I simplisticially thought)] and hence it's use in theatre...
I assume the ''Ashatai" in these exchanges refers to Asha Bhonsle...
BTW, I wonder if tamizh theater had any equivalent system to nATya gIt or was it just CM to begin with? I have read that PU Chinnappa and SDS and others used to sing CM in the plays they were acting in....
Ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 18 Dec 2006, 07:58

I have spent a fine evening in a very very rural and idyllic setting-
at the home of a person who was honoured as one of the rathnas in the just concluded Golden Jubilee Celebrations in Karnataka.(Mudenur Sangannanavar)

At one point ,conversation veered around to Natyasangeeth and he ( an Octogenarian) went into some details about the patronage for such dramas .
Davangere - in karnataka-is a place for all farmers to sell their Agricultural produce (it is still a centre , even now) and farmers used to flock to these places in their bullock carts , loaded with goods.
After the sale was over the evenings , the common practice was for the Dallals (Middlemen-Traders) to ask the farmers to collect the money in the morning and return.
So with a whole night to spend, these farmers would flock to the drama theatres.
Bal Gandharv , would be amazed to notice that the farmers would be chattering throughout the drama and only stop when the singing started .So that is how the practice of extended singing sessions in these dramas started.
There were members from the other sections of society too.
Bal Gandharvs -feminine-roles in Sarees used to be a fashion statement with the result that the ladies of Davangere would make a bee line to Hubli the next day to look for those designs !!
The old man told me these stories in the still of a night in his village - One has to walk four kms to get to the nearest road which connects me to a nearby town..

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Dec 2006, 09:43

Kji,
That is so neat...so, music was used to hold the audience's attention? Neat! Goosebumps, indeed!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 23 Dec 2006, 13:19

http://www.kamat.com/goaround/by_mohanmam.htm

visit here for some fine articles by music critic -mohan nadkarni..

ravi- there is one on natysangeeth

and the link for the full set of aticles

http://www.kamat.com/goaround/articles.htm

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Dec 2006, 00:48

Kji,
http://www.kamat.com/indica/music/natya_sangeet.htm
Thank you for those links. I loved this article in particular.

Are there any renditions of songs from shAkuntal, rAmrAjyaviyOga and soubhadra still available (in the original tunes)?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 28 Dec 2006, 09:01

soubhadra..yes

but you wil have to wait...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Dec 2006, 10:36

SURE...I will wait!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Dec 2006, 21:49

Ravi,
Wasn't it the same story in tamizh nADu? S.G. Kittappa sang, more than acted in a drama. I suppose drama meant merely being dressed up in costumes and to move on the stage and do nothing except sing. We have heard of instances when S.G. Kittappa was Harischandra on stage, mourning the death of his loved ones, the gallery would demand a song totally unrelated to the scene--like kODaiyilE iLaippATri koLLa!'

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Dec 2006, 00:52

Yes, Arasi! That is indeed the case.