Sanjay Subrahmanyan Interview

komalangi · Post by **komalangi** » 05 Sep 2007, 04:12

For those who can read tamil, here's a link to a phenomenal interview that Sanjay has given in the past. http://www.kalachuvadu.com/issue-80/interview.htm

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 05 Sep 2007, 09:59

Mahesh, I understand. I was not defining bANi strictly through Guru Parampara but through incorporated features, technical and aesthetic. I will start looking for those in Sanjay's music.

komalangi, thanks for the link. Sanjay had said so much there and I am not done with reading it fully yet. It is quite a frank expression of his inner thoughts, feelings, fears, anxieties, and what motivates him in his creative pursuits. Some of this may defy the romantic notions people may have about musicians. It is fascinating and shows the real and human side of him.

(As a sibebar note, as I was reading it, I wondered how anyone can translate all this to another language and do full justice to the nuances of his colloquial and conversational expressions. Good translation of such things is a mighty tough job.)

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 05 Sep 2007, 20:54

Is it possible atleast to transliterate using some kind of a software? Although one look at the amount of text itself makes it seems impossible....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Sep 2007, 22:22

I cannot read the thamizh text on my computer. Otherwise, I would have a go.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 05 Sep 2007, 22:31

i tried my editor (can copy and paste tamil stuff) but since tamizh script is ambiguous and there are many sanskritized words used, the results are very much less than stellar (e.g. suppiramanyan, susarita

). Obviously fixable in a second pass with enough diligence - but I am being lazy here.

I cannot emphasize this enough: This is an excellent interview.

You get so many insights into a performer. Sometimes I think we rasikas look it at things only from our POV and hence it can be quite jaded and distorted. This allows you to get glimpses of (sometimes dramatically different) POV of the performer.

Arun

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 05 Sep 2007, 22:38

...especially the part where he talks abt Vivadhi ragams...looks so easy when he sings Sucharitra. Plus, the bit abt the superstition. IS Varali a vivadhi?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 05 Sep 2007, 23:11

Would be great if someone could translate - even if it is not a perfect one. What was the date of the interview? My guess (from the moustache) is that it was sometime last year...great photos too...

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 05 Sep 2007, 23:27

varALI is indeed vivadi and the superstition about it is that if a teacher teaches varALI to a student, then the relationship with that student would be affected.

nATTai is also of course vivadi - not sure if it has any dOSham with it.

vijay - you want translation or transliteration? I can put up what I did as a separate page in a website - but that is only transliteration.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 05 Sep 2007, 23:45

Arun transliteration would do for the time being. Thanks!

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 06 Sep 2007, 00:01

here it goes:

http://arunk.freepgs.com/tmp/sanjay_interview.htm (transliterated version. I fixed a few things but I am sure there are many glitches - many due to tamizh script being inherently ambiguous)

( LOL! I had ambitious instead of ambiguous which I have corrected. It is funny that "ambitious" is applicable when you think of using tamizh script to represent sanskritized sounds/combinations. No brickbats for this please! )

http://arunk.freepgs.com/tmp/sanjay_interview.pdf : PDF file created by printing the original interview page to pdf995 (a PDF print driver). I dont know if this will let those people who cannot view things in browser see it. Its quite possible that font unavailability is a problem with this too.

Arun

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 06 Sep 2007, 00:08

Thanks so much Arun!

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 06 Sep 2007, 00:54

Arun, thanks. Komalangi thanks for posting the original interview, which I read with much awe.

neyvEli sandAnagObAlan rombap piDikkum. samagAla kar^nADaga sangIdap pADagargaLil irundu rombavE mARubaTTavar. sila vishayangaLaip pADuvadil abAramAna kalai^nayam vAyttavar. isaiyai, pADuvadai avar aNugum muRai enakkup rombap piDittirukkiRadu.

This is the first that I am hearing about Sanjay's deep admiration for Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan and his uniqueness. Fascinating!

Like Arasi says, a consummate artiste is not only someone who is deeply inspired by preceding artistes (the history of it all), but is also someone that equally draws from his/her contemporaries.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 06 Sep 2007, 01:14

komalangi wrote:For those who can read tamil, here's a link to a phenomenal interview that Sanjay has given in the past. http://www.kalachuvadu.com/issue-80/interview.htm

Phenomenal "gushing stream of consciousness" interview indeed! Thank you for the link.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Sep 2007, 01:39

Well, My husband's computer could do it, and I have before me the printed pages of a fascinating interview in tamizh. I can translate in segments, but want the assurance first that kAlac cuvaDu has no probem about our translating it into english for our rasikA community.
Here is a unique perspective into the mind of a musician. I do not want to launch on this if for any reason my post gets deleted. It is a long interview of 24 pages!

srkris,
If you like, we could start a new thread as follows:
A Glimpse into the Inner World of a Musician--An interview with Sanjay in KalaccuvaDu

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 06 Sep 2007, 11:42

I translated one question. Since Tamizh is not my native language, I apologize for any mistakes in translation.

What's your frame of mind before a concert?

I go with the feeling that I should surprise myself in the concert. When a person like me, who breathes music, is surprised, it'll definitely surprise the audience, wouldn't it? They'll stop coming to the concert when they get bored. I'll also stop singing.

What I feel is that, a bond forms between the audience and the musician in a concert. The bond is what makes a person sit throughout the concert and enjoy it, and makes him leave midway in others' concerts. Though there are other reasons like talent, bani, song selection that determine a musician's success I feel that bonding with the audience is very important.

I love a certain degree of unpredictability in music. I try my best to introduce a surprise element in each concert. Even if it's just one thing.... If that doesn't happen, I feel that the concert lacked something. I'm very focussed in trying out something different be it in a krithi or an alapana.

My aim is not to please the rasikas. It's only to produce good quality music and sing good krithis. I don't give importance to pleasing the audience. Some musicians don't attach importance to anything. Not even singing proper Carnatic music. Who can do anything about it? You might have noticed this even when some people talk. They'll say something stupid all the time. That's their nature.

I'd have received an applause for singing a particular charanam brilliantly four times and then I'll try it once again, a little casually, to sing it a fifth time on the premise that it'll click. As if to point out my fallibility, it'll end up being a damp squib. I'll curse myself for going behind the applause. Some other thing will click and get me an applause. But the failure helps us in strengthening us again.

I'll mostly decide on the sangathis I'm going to sing on that day. I'll say to myself "Ok, the voice is in this shape. I should probably sing these sangathis. The mike is going to be in a certain condition in this auditorium. Certain sangathis may not come out right. I have so and so accompanists. I should probably eschew certain sangathis.." I'll travel along the path that I charted out. As we journey into the depths of a raga, it becomes very exciting. The raga will just pull you along while your mind is worried about the condition of the mike, sruthi, time...
Sometimes, I know when things aren't going well or aren't going to get better. At that time, I'll finish quickly.

It's just like drawing a picture. The first few strokes go according to plan. The rest happens automatically. While singing, I sometimes get into certain areas subconsciously.

Sometimes, we like certain phrases. It'll come out beautifully. We tend to come back to that often or sing around that. Sometimes, we entangle ourselves with a phrase such that it becomes difficult to come out of it.

I usually start with some standard phrases while singing an alapana. On some days, I'll plan on trying out something different. But on most occasions, I start in a certain bhani. Sometimes, I'll have a phrase running in my mind all the time. On such occasions, I try not to show it explicitly. (I didn't understand the next few sentences). The violinist might have played something to which I'll hold on and go along that route.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 06 Sep 2007, 12:33

thanks a lot sripathi!

arasi, i am waiting with crossed fingers to see that nod from srkris!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 06 Sep 2007, 12:54

Arasi, if the link is available in the public domain I don't think translation should pose any issues. However 24 pages is quite long so do it at your own pace and maybe some others can chip in too.

Thanks Sripathi!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 06 Sep 2007, 13:19

The interview provided a wonderful window into Sanjay's "humanness." I would gladly help to translate parts of it in my free time this weekend. Maybe we should assign tasks for the available translators.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Sep 2007, 20:59

Let me start from the very beginning. This way, the flow of conversation in the interview will stay.
Though the interview was conducted by several journalists, Prasanna Ramaswamy is the compiler (editor?) of the piece.
At the screening of 'AR Ar ASaippaDAr?' in Bangalore, one of the questions asked of her was "What can you say about the soul of Sanjay in reference to CM?"
Here in this interview, you can have a glimpse of an artiste's 'soul' in the aspect of his involvement with his art...

"To please the rasikAs alone is not my priority"

Q: How did you come into the world of music?

I played cricket, got injured in the head and I gave it up. I learnt to play the violin for seven years. Got injured in the hand and gave it up. Joined the chess Club, didn't continue. Joined the trekking expedition to the Himalayas, didn't make it. I have started on many things in my life without pursuing them to the end. However, while all this was happening, I was learning music too. I did not give up that one thing. Then I realized that music is what suits me the best and I made my decision to stick with it. Even now, there are many things that interest me which could turn the direction of my life. Still, I don't give up music. I keep getting ideas every day. I have a restlessness about doing new things with my art. In a way, that is what propels me. The day that restlessness ceases in me, I would stop breathing music, I think.

Q: What is the state of your mind when you perform?

I try to surprise mysef. If something would surprise a musician who is steeped in music, it would surely surprise the audience too. When they get bored with my music, they would stop coming to my concerts. I would then stop singing too.
I feel that there develops an emotional bond between the performer and an audience. That is what makes a listener sit through the concert. Makes him get up in the middle and walk away from other concerts. There are other aspects to a concert too--a singer's ability, bANi, choice of songs, etc. Above all, connecting with the audience is an important factor.
I enjoy the 'unpredictability' factor in music. I try to have some surprise elements in every one of my concerts. Even if one such surprise occurs, I am happy. I would focus on singing something utterly new. If nothing novel occurs in a performance, I would feel as if I have lost something.
My primary goal is not to satisfy my rasikAs. All I want to do is to create music of a high order. I like to sing songs of quality. To please the audience alone seems to be the aim of some singers. For them, traditional music takes a back seat, it seems. In the context of good music, this is like some people we come across in life who talk inanely about this and that.
In a concert, I would have sung a caraNam beautifully to a round of applause. Again, taking it for granted, I would sing it elsewhere without a care, and it would fall flat and I would kick myself. Then I would ponder: why should I stick with them? There will be other moments when I would be applauded for new efforts. Yes, when you fall on your face, it helps you to grow...

It all falls in place as to how I am going to sing such and such a sangati in a concert. Depending on my voice that day, I say to myself, I can sing this sangati; the mike in the sabha is such that these sangatis won't be effective; these are the accompanists, so I would avoid these sangatis.I would make decisions based on such factors and map the route of my musical journey for that evening.
It would all change in the concert hall. Once I get engrossed in the concert, the journey would get exciting. The state of the sound system, the violin which deviates from the Sruti or the ticking away of time would all be there on my mind in the background. Still, the rAgA would take me away. At times, I would realize that it won't work. Then I would wrap the rAgA up.
It is like painting. We have control over the picture upto the point of drawing the basic lines. Then, the process continues on its own. The singing would sail into unchartered territories.
Sometimes, we would take a fancy to certain phrases and we would linger on around them and that would sometimes turn into a spider's web and we would not know how to get out of it!
Normally, I would start a rAgA in the traditional way. Sometimes, I would opt to do it in a different way, based on a particular bANi. At times, I would get an unusual phrase which I would carry with me without delineating it to the fullest extent in the concert--say it without saying. I can realize the conclusion of it only after the concert is done. It is the same as in literature. Certain things are left unsaid.
Sometimes, the violinist would play something. I would take his route and chart my journey again.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 06 Sep 2007, 21:05

Excellent translation, Arasi.
I was struggling through the tamizh passages; your writing makes the whole thing flow so easily.

Can't wait for the rest!

Edited to add: Thanks also to Shripati. Sorry, I somehow missed your earlier post.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Sep 2007, 22:25

The interview continues...

Q: How do you begin your concerts?

I normally sing a rAga with the second or third piece. We need to warm up. For the audience too, it would be a bit too much to get into a rAgA at the very beginning. A concert starts with a varnam and sometimes with a viruttam.
It is difficult for me to assess my voice prior to each concert. It keeps changing. That is why I try to plan the concert according to the state of my voice. Sometimes I wonder if I don't take enough care in maintaining it. In another sense, this is a challenge which is exciting too. If everything about my voice is predictable, then to do the explorations I want to with music might get to be difficult. The concert I gave yesterday was smooth. It was a special one in recent times. I see a change in my voice of late. My voice is different from what it was two years ago. Last year my blood pressure was high. I took some medications for that. That was one reason for the change in my voice. I have stopped taking them. It might take a while to get my old voice back, though.

Q: The way in which you sing RTP is very different. Why?

At the very juncture in a concert when my voice is at its best is when I start singing the pallavi. I go to it an hour or hour and a half into the concert. That is when my voice would be ideally suited for the exercise. As they say in cricket, it is middling the ball perfectly.
At that time, my mind would be very relaxed after the initial agitations with a sense of having achieved a few things with the preceding pieces. The voice would be pliable for all the creative highlights which pallavi singing demands. I miss not singing a pallavi in a concert, if that happens. I take enough time to sing tAnam. I don't hurry through it in five minutes.I steep myself in it and sing it elaborately.
I give importance to the way I execute the pallavi line. In Mylapore Fine Arts I sang a pallavi (I leave out the telugu line because in the thamizh script it cannot be read correctly by me-Arasi). As sAhityA, it did not have a great impact--'a woman is standing', or some such thing. After that concert, Tanjavur Sankara Iyer said, "It was very nice. This is a line which has been familiar to the ears for fifty years or so. The audience can easily feel one with it. One should not take up new sAhityams for pallavis. It wouldn't stick in the minds of the listeners". I feel the same way. I would use only a familiar line for a pallavi.

Q: What happens in your inner world when you sing?

It is a kind of an excited state. If things happen as I plan, if a new thing clicks, I would be in a kind of trance when I sing. Whatever I sing that day would satisfy me. At times, I would be in an irritated state even at the instant I get on stage. I wouldn't be in good voice, no great accompanists, a distracted audience, and I would wait for the end of the concert. Giving a classy performance is a big challenge in such a situation. Ignoring all these, if you can pull it off, the concert can be a success.
It may so happen that from the very first piece, a concert would be a flop. The audience would be indifferent and one would continue listlessly.
Exactly the opposite can happen too. Whatever we sing would be a hit. The audience would like us and we would like them in turn. You can't really analyse it all. This happened once in Bangalore. Some kind of a restlessness consumed me. I tried my best to get out of it. The mrudangist was emphatic. The violinist was at his best. But something was terribly empty in me. I could even see it reflected in others. I carried on and suddenly, in the swarams I did a kaNakku. Instantly, things changed. The whole atmosphere got electrified. The very ambience of the place went through a change...

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 06 Sep 2007, 22:39

(I leave out the telugu line because in the thamizh script it cannot be read correctly by me-Arasi).

"niladA-ma-Ru-lU-koNTi-nee-nu"

Any telugu pundits around?

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 06 Sep 2007, 22:41

btw, am I wrong or is the script seriously screwed up in that article?

shishya · Post by **shishya** » 06 Sep 2007, 22:50

only the words marulukonTi make sense. Maybe the Translation from Telugu words to Tamil script distorted it.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 06 Sep 2007, 23:33

Thanks Arasi. Fascinating! This must be some kind of benchmark for a musician's interview! Wonder if this magazine has published others'...

komalangi · Post by **komalangi** » 06 Sep 2007, 23:59

vijay wrote:Thanks Arasi. Fascinating! This must be some kind of benchmark for a musician's interview! Wonder if this magazine has published others'...

Not to my knowledge. It is highly unlikely that you are going to get an interview of such quality because, there aren't/weren't too many (hardly any if at all) musicians who possess such as a rare combination of intellect, humility and passion.

shishya · Post by **shishya** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:21

komalangi,

No offense to Sri Sanjay, but your remarks seems to be a little exaggerated that there aren't/weren't any musicians with that combination (That includes intelligentsia and veterans like Sri T N. Krishnan, Sri TRS to name a few). I like Sri Sanjay's music but I wouldn't make that comment. The other musicians might not have had the opportunity to present their views. Just because someone doesn't get an opportunity to present their views does not automatically make them incapable of being intellectuals, humble or passionate about the art. For whatever reason, Sri Sanjay has been very articulate and very visible in the media, which should give the media a curiosity to dig into the minds of other musicians. I'm sure we will be taken by surprise.

sangeetarasikan · Post by **sangeetarasikan** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:41

Agree with Shishya. The interview is undoubtedly very insightful. But I'm sure there are enough artistes even among the present vidwans like Palghat Raghu, TNS, Sivaraman, Trichy Sankaran and Tanjavur Sankara Iyer, who come across as possessing the qualities you have mentioned. An astute interviewer like the one who has interviewed Sanjay can bring out the great qualities in their subjects.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:43

Let us separate Sanjay for a moment from this interview. Apart from the interest I have in Sanjay's music, it was the way the interview revealed the inner workings of a singer's mind that appealed to me and goaded me to translate it. I would even go to the extent of saying that this could be any meritorious artiste anywhere in the world speaking of his living with music.
Whether it be Amjad Ali Khan or Pavarotti (may his soul rest in peace), it is valuable for us as rasikAs to see where good music comes from.
As for being popular with the media and the rest, 'kAlaccuvaDu' and the media have nothing in common. It is a sterling literary magazine which lives up to its name (Foot Prints in Time). The essays and stories which appear there have a lasting quality. Anything that appears in that journal is worth translating.
So, let me continue...

sangeetarasikan · Post by **sangeetarasikan** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:45

The Pallavi words, if I am not mistaken, might be nelatA marulukoNTinI neepai chAla sadAnanda. IIRC, KVN used to sing it.

sangeetarasikan · Post by **sangeetarasikan** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:46

Well said, Arasi.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 07 Sep 2007, 01:13

thanks arasi for your wonderful efforts!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 03:27

The interview continues...

Q: Who are the composers you like most?

A lot of them. Starting with Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, a lot of tamizh kritis, Subbaraya Shastri, Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar and many more. No one in particular.

Q: Favorite singers?

GNB, Semmangudi, Madurai Mani Iyer and many more. I like Ilayaraja too. I listen to a lot of music. There is very little in CM that I don't like to listen to.
Neyveli Santhanagopalan's music appeals to me a lot. He is very different among contemporary singers. When it comes to certain aspects of CM, he has unbelievable finesse. His approach to music is very appealing to me. When it comes to skill, I like a lot of others. The gentle flow of music from mandolin Srinivas, for example.
Semmangudi used to say: you shouldn't just get carried away with adbhuta rasA alone, my boy, SAntam, SringAram and other rasAs should be there too!
I am awed by virtuosity. One needs to work very diligently on it. I have great respect and regard for those who work hard and concentrate on what they take on.
I like tamizh movie songs. I like those that are more than ten years old to the recent ones. I like Mohd Rafi's singing a lot. He is the only one from among hindi film singers that I like. In tamizh, I am very fond of Susheela's singing. Time does not diminish her music. I like SPB too.

Q: Tell us about accompanists.

When I leave home for a concert, I like to have an unclouded mind. You go out for dinner with a few friends. Supposing someone says something to hurt someone else's sensibilities, the whole evening would be ruined. It is the same when it comes to concerts. An accompanist should be sympathetic. If he is competitive ('who is superior?'), you would get the message at the very beginning. I have to overcome this hurdle and sing through the rest of the concert. The next time his name comes up for a concert, I may have to say 'not him'. I am decisive about this.

Traditionally, the main song is where tani Avartanam occurs. Even if earlier songs are sung in detail, that is where it takes place. When tani comes after RTP (about two hours into the concert), the accompanists are tired. It is vital that they are given tani time when they are energetic. That's how it used to be. Even then, there are those who would play a short crisp piece and leave it at that. There are others who drag it on and use up most of the concert time!
Generally, there are two kinds of accompanists. Whatever we sing, the first sort can play it exactly like it. Another kind is the
one who plays right along with our singing. Nagai Muralidharan is a wizard in producing whatever we sing. This enhances our sangatis. Varadarajan follows my singing like a shadow. Those from abroad are amazed by it. They ask, 'how is it possible for him to follow you so faithfully?'. If I stay in Sadjam and take off on successive sangatis, the effect of his staying with sA in the background is extremely pleasing.

Q: Do you have conversations on music with the accompanists?

In recent years, Nagai Muralidharan has been playing for me. When I am with him, it is an opportunity for me to nourish myself. He has a lot of experience. He is great at deciding the apt places for him to play. He could launch on his own if he wanted to. But he won't do it. 'We have come to perform together today. this is your territory, this is mine', is the well planned way in which he operates. Though he is aware of his expertise, he would restrain himself in his playing. It shows his largesse of heart. With those of nearly my age, it is no big deal. There is a camaraderie of being in the same age group, as with Varadarajan, Arunprakash and Neyveli Venkatesh. Muralidharan is very much my senior. Though we have been associated only in recent years, his attitude towards me shows his maturity. It is also a challenge for me to prepare myself to excel when he accompanies me. When Guruvayur Dorai, Mannargudi Easwaran, Srimushnam Raja Rao and other veterans play for me, I would say to myself, 'such greats are playing for you. you should sing very well too'.
When you start a concert, you have no clue how it is all going to turn out. You would have sung a kaNakku, and it won't work. He would have played well. 'I didn't sing it right. I will sing it again', I would say to myself and sing it again. There would be this silent conversation going on between Nagai and me. After the concert he would say, 'you sang like this in that particular instant. I didn't quite play it then. I will practise it at home'. He fully well knows how to play it. Still, that is what he would say.
'Listen, AKC played this sangati', he would demonstrate and I would sing it in the next concert. He would smile and play it after me.
I discuss a lot of theory with N. Ramanathan, S.R. Janakiraman and Vedavalli Mami. If I have a question, I call them up and ask. They respond to my questions with care and interest.

Q: How do you feel when you are compared with others?

If I sing a rAgam, and another does too, they would come to me and say, 'you sang it well. So and so sang it very well too'. What am I to make out of it? Do they mean that the rAgA was better because the other vocalist sang it? I try not to think on those lines. I can't help it sometimes. It can be bothersome. I try not to be fazed by it. 'They compare because it is comparable, I suppose. What if I sing it in an incomparable way?', I say to myself and use it as an incentive. 'It was perhaps because of laziness that I didn't try something even better. Let me work on it'. A comment like that can after all lead to something positive-- is another way of looking at it.
When someone else handles something in his concert beautifully, I would think, why haven't I done it myself? Not because I want to compete. Why didn't I strive towards it too, is my thought. Then I would try it on my own to satisfy my ego. I do not like it when others do it from a different angle (the other angle I would think is 'just to compete and nothing more--Arasi). AKC said it beautifully. Karukuricci I were in the same arena. We were considered competitors at that time. He played a tremendous tODi. I wanted to perform something equal to that, immediately went to Desikar and learnt a tirunavukkarasar's piece. I heard this snippet recently and decided that I should take it the same way and get better in the process.
I have also started thinking and doing various other things. They are the results of my being agitated. I only wish to take them and turn them into positive things. Besides, It is suffocating to be repeating the same things over and over again. I am starting to venture out on other paths.

Q: Are you familiar with folk songs?

I am a metropolitan. I don't know any more than a few kAvaDIc cindus. The most I can say is that I have heard Ilayaraja's music. I do not know if his songs represent that genre. I haven't heard much of folk. My birth, upbringing and environment may be the reasons for that. There were enough challenges for me even in my familiar world. Those would have kept me busy from exploring folk music and such.

Q: Other interests?

I like sports. Cricket is a favorite. Internet and board games too. I love literature. I used to like english literature. Now, I am turning to tamizh literature too. I see a lot of movies. Old tamizh ones too. I like history. Of late, I am drawn to physical training.
But for traveling to concert venues, I am not that keen on travel.

I don't do sAdakam (music practise) regularly. I sing with my students when they come for lessons, for about an hour or two every day. I listen to a lot of music. Play computer games. I play with my children for an hour or two in the morning. I go to the gym for two hours.
When there are cricket matches, I am lost in them. I see a movie or two a week. I used to be crazy about gadgets. Now, board games have taken over.
There are too many elements like internet, cell phone and others in our times and reading is getting to be a forgotten thing as a result. It saddens me.
I like to read about sports and literary works. I like Harry Potter too. I am starting on Noam Chomsky's book now.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 07 Sep 2007, 04:29

komalangi wrote:
vijay wrote:Thanks Arasi. Fascinating! This must be some kind of benchmark for a musician's interview! Wonder if this magazine has published others'...
Not to my knowledge. It is highly unlikely that you are going to get an interview of such quality because, there aren't/weren't too many (hardly any if at all) musicians who possess such as a rare combination of intellect, humility and passion.

Add honesty and fearlessness to the list. Many more knowledgeable people would tread softly and not be willing to offend anyone's sensibilities - like the importance of enunciation of the sahitya (which is a favorite "sacred cow" in these fora for example)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 06:20

sureshvv,
Everything in its perspective, I suppose! The same thing can be read as 'music takes precedence' or 'I care two hoots for sAhityA'! An open mind helps.
For someone who loves sAhityA, I would not be translating this if I took it to be an offensive statement...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 08:10

Interview continued...

Q: About hindustAni and CM?

I have heard Bade Gulam and Amir Khan. I have no great love for HM. To me, the two forms of Indian music are very different. You can't compare northern and southern cuisine and say this or that is superior.The two are as different as that. In their approach and content, there are vast differences. I am not keen on comparing the two. I have been asked, ''They sing this rAgA in this manner in hindustAni. Why don't you?" This irritates me.

Q: About rasikA's knowledge, audience which is not familiar with CM?

I have given several concerts for europeans who have no idea about our music. To start with, they are 'under two hours' concerts, like a radio concert. In order to share as many aspects as possible of CM with them, I would sing one kIrtanai, swarAs (I am guessing this. The original says Sruti--Arasi) in another, a pallavi, a tillAnA--and a tukkaDA at the end to show them the dimensions of our music. Even if you sing different rAgAs, to uninitiated ears, it would all sound the same. To a knowledgeable audience, a tODi and SankarAbharaNam would sound different with a different gAndhAram and madhyamam. So, I would sing one rAgA briskly. In another I would employ a lot of brigAs. If my voice is malleable, I would use kArvais in an elaborate rAgA. That is an entirely different experience. I would plan sixty to seventy percent of my concert with the aim of giving a large sampling of our music to the newbies. There is a certain freedom there to exercise our whims. Those concerts work out too, at times.
There are two kinds of musical theatres in France. In Theatre de la Ville the audience is comprised of those who come to listen to our music out of curiosity. They would assume that any foreigner showcased there would be a big shot in his own country and applaud wholeheartedly without restraint. You can expect a crowd of more than a thousand there. It is not possible to hear such applauding anywhere else--that too from the very first number. Then there is Musee Guime.The audience are a different sort there. Not many in number, they take a little time to get attuned to CM. It is a challenge to usher them into CM and I like that. It is exciting to meet them at their wave length.
Then there was this spanish village. Houses in a row, little alleyways, a church in the middle, like a catholic agrahAram. There was this beautiful hall--seating for about hundred and fifty. There were twenty people sitting there that day. Thrice during the performance they asked for encore! The organizer said that it had never happened before. Breaking many barriers, somewhere on a wave length, they had an encounter with CM.

Q: Sound systems, the hassles at the time of the concert...

You have to see it to believe it, the way westerners care about setting up a concert. The mike test starts at three for a concert which takes place at five. Mike test means not singing sa pa sa and leaving the stage. They would make you sing almost a kutchEri! In Madrid, Spain, my concert was held in a huge hall. The british organizer asked me to sing. Then the violinist had to play, then the mrudangist. 'I want the audience to hear your natural voice without changing the volume of it', he said. I was stunned. After many adjustments, he achieved what he wanted. The audience was nearly five hundred strong.
The sound thing can be trying at times. The sound man would not understand us. The mikes for the violin and mrudangam may be set in a way which would not be compatible. I can't say 'bring the mike level for the violin down'. The accompanist will be in conversation with the sound man through three or four songs. I can't say, 'please attend to the music' to him because that might mean the harmony we need to perform together may be lost. In some sabhas, the whole concert would suffer with sound problems. It was very difficult for me at first. Now I have learnt to live with it.
Among the audience, some will say it is fine, others will say no. The secretary would say it is fine. 'Audience say it is not', I would say and this would go on in place of the concert for a while. In a particular season, I argued with all the sabhas. Once I pushed away the mike and sang a song without it. I then decided that I wouldn't worry about this anymore.
It is not possible to have a mike-less concert nowadays. The hall should be conducive to it. Accompanists have to play very sensitively. We modern musicians are used to performing with amplification. I have sung in a few places here and abroad without one. You have to sing with great effort on top of the violin and the mrudangam. It is almost impossible to perform without mikes.
I get mentally ready before I get on the stage, having evaluated the venue. One has to get into a state of equanimity before a performance.

There are those who would put tALA haphazardly. There was one rasika. He would come to many of my concerts and enjoy them with his wrong beat. I put up with it for long and while I was putting a difficult tALam once, and I saw him with his own merry rhythm, I said, 'please stop putting tALam!'. He got angry and left the hall. He never came to my concert again. It was the vigor with which he kept (!!) tAlam that riled me. There are many hassles like this. Once, when I had allowed a lot of time for tani and was ready to start again, the secretary siezed my mike and started on his vote of thanks. 'I have another hour left to sing. After that you can speak', I said.
Another time in a Papanasam Sivan's memorial concert, a VIP leader was present. Before the main rAgA, they asked him to speak. The tempo was lost and it was almost impossible to resurrect the concert again.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 08:39

Interview continued...

Q: How do you choose your songs for a concert?

More than what I sing, 'how I sing it' is important to me. There is a new trend. If it is around gaNESa caturti, one would sing songs about him. This is appealing to the audience as well. If it happens to be vaikuNTa EkAdaSi, I would get a morning phone call: 'sing O rangaSAyi'. On tiruvAdirai, chits would be there for natarAjA songs.
I do not tend to do it. Once I gave a rAma navami concert in Seshadripuram, Bangalore. I sang bilhari and SrI cAmuNDESvari. The gentleman who spoke said, 'we assume that we should only sing about rAmA on Rama's day. Sanjay sang about cAmuNDi beautifully. Some think this song should be sung during navarAtri. rAmanavami here is a celebration of music'. I liked that.
I sang in Tirumalai Tiruppati--all staunch vaishNavAs there. Singers normally sing only about vishNu there. A disciple of Papanasam Sivan in the audience asked me to sing tiruvaDi SaraNam. 'You mean, here?', I asked. He said, 'Do!'. He was a man who believed in the unity of various sects. So I sang it.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 07 Sep 2007, 09:13

Arasi - a million thanks for your yeoman service in translating this. This is just fascinating stuff.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 09:30

Interview continues...

Q: About handling vivAdi rAgAs?

There are dissonant notes in vivAdi rAgAs. It has been believed from yore that singing them would shorten your life, bad things will happen to you, it is a sin and so on. I did not sing them in the beginning. Some of my rasikAs and friends suggested that they would be suitable for my voice. I would argue with them. 'They are not full fledged rAgAs. Semmangudi, GNB and Ariyakkudi rarely sang them. Did they not know? What am I going to achieve?'. As time went by, I started singing them. After connecting with Nagai Muralidharan, I have started singing more. He has accompanied Kalyanaraman many times. As far as I know, only Balamurali and Kalyanaraman have sung them often. My guru, in his own sweet way said, 'You could sing them too!' He would not insist that I should sing this or that as a rule. He added, 'Kalyanaraman has sung all the 72 mEla kartAs. With him, the songs died too'. This was lodged in my mind. Last year, from the time I went on tour, my interest in them grew. I learnt several from Nagai Muralidharan. sucaritra, nAganandini...He would play them to me. 'Who cares to sing them these days? You can do it. The rasikAs seem to like them too', he would say. From then on, I have been singing them regularly. I am trying to introduce them into the mainstream. It isn't as easy to sing them, though. You can't sing sucaritrA breezily with just the notes. You have to work on it.
When you handle the notes, the sangatis could flop. You can't sing them freely because of our not being familiar with dissonant notes. You have to bring down the barrier. You have to practise them to the extent that ome can't tell a vivAdi rAgA from a regular rAgA in the facility with which you sing them. However experienced or proficient you are in music, practise alone would make them shine.
Muralidharan taught me one in kOsalam in San Diego. I couldn't sing a part of it that well. So I sang it again and again about thirty times. 'You persist, don't you', he said. This is the way I am.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 07 Sep 2007, 09:58

Arasi:

Super work with the translation. Thanks.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Sep 2007, 10:16

Interview continues...

Q: About tamizh iSai?

My guru (Calcutta Krishnamurthy) did not have a very brahminic influence in CM. His gurus were Ponniah Pillai and Swaminatha Pillai. Now, after beginning to learn from SRT (nAgaswara vidwan SemponnAr Koil), I am singing even more tamizh songs.
I remember it well. In 1987, at the beginning of my career, an old man came to my concert. 'You should understand at this young age that there aren't any better kritis than those of T, MD and SS. Knowing this would help you'. It annoyed me no end. How many songs in tamizh has he listened to? What kind of a judgement is it, I thought.
When I was young, I knew that my patti (and guru Rukmini Rajagopalan) was very much interested in tamizh songs. She used to love Jayaraman's singing. I went to the mArgazhi bhajanai regularly then. Listening to all the tamizh songs there was a treat to me. I heard PPS's disciple Setalapatti Balu's impeccable pronounciation of tamizh and was greatly impressed. There is truly a difference in one's diction when one knows his tamizh.
kAnci and tiruppati do not electrify me. cidambaram does...

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 07 Sep 2007, 10:49

Wow. Now the songlists of Sanjay's tour with Nagai / Easwaran all start to make sense. varuNapriyAs, kOsalams, nAganandinis, suCaritras, gAyakapriyAs etc. What's amazing is that most of the learning took place in between concerts on a hectic tour, and the rAgAs learnt were promptly distilled and sung in concerts on the very same tour. Speaks volumes for Sanjay's capacity to learn and internalize music.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Sep 2007, 11:47

Arasi hats off for bringing the interview alive! Just fascinating. Just wondering if it makes sense to hive off the post interview section into a separate thread. This sparks off so many thoughts!! This is one of the best interviews of any kind that I have read...

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Sep 2007, 11:56

arasi wrote:There are those who would put tALA haphazardly. There was one rasika. He would come to many of my concerts. and enjoy them with his wrong beat. I put up with it for long and while I was putting a difficult tALam, and I saw him with his own merry rhythm, I said, 'please stop putting tALam!'. He got angry and left the hall. He never came to my concert again. It was the vigor with which he kept (!!) tAlam that riled me.

This gentleman almost sounds like me! The concert was in the Music Academy Mini Hall, in Feb 2004. One of the rasikas had already riled Sanjay by shouting out a request for Akshaya Linga Vibho after a detailed alaapana of Bhairavi had completed! Then here I was during the tani, merrily clapping along to one of the Chapu talas while some complex korvais in Adi taalam were being executed...I looked up halfway through the tani to find Sanjay (and pretty much everyone on stage) glaring at me! Fortenately, I stopped my vexatious tala putting and the matter ended there! I've been experimenting with less visible and noisy techniques of time keeping ever since but I can't really help myself...it is a form of inebriation!!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Sep 2007, 12:19

arasi wrote:Interview continued...

Q: About hindustAni and CM?

I have heard Bade Gulam and Amir Khan. I have no great love for HM. To me, the two forms of Indian music are very different. You can't compare northern and southern cuisine and say this or that is superior.The two are as different as that. In their approach and content, there are vast differences. I am not keen on comparing the two. I have been asked, ''They sing this rAgA in this manner in hindustAni. Why don't you?" This irritates me.

This is somewhat disappointing to note in someone who is as passionate about widening his horizons as Sanjay. I suppose one can't really help a personal preference...but the educational possibilities of exposure to HM should not be overooked either. I am not sure I agree with his dismissal of the similarities between the two...the more I listen to HM, the more I feel that the similarities are greater than the differences. As a primarily carnatic rasika, I can relate to HM in a manner that I cannot, to any other form of music including Indian film songs..

Despite their sometimes arrogant attitude towards CM, many hindustani musicians have successfully borrowed ideas from CM - in fact the Kirana GHarana to which Bhimsen Joshi is basically a carnatic influenced style...there are numerous ragas that the north indian have borrowed...some have adopted our technique of swara singing

On the other side of the coin, there is much to be learnt from HM, Dhrupad in particular, especially in their vocal techniques and method of raga elaboration and I think a stint with Hindustani teachers would do a world of good to our musicians. Musicians like Voleti, TNS and NSG have clearly demonstrate how knowledge of HM can be effectiely employed in our music without necessarily compromising on tradition...I do hope Sanjay overcomes his personal preferences to understand the art better - we would all be the better off for it...

Interestingly I read about a technique called Merukhand in an interview with a leading HM artiste, I forget which - apparently this is an arcane and very demanding technique that helps one gain an absolute mastery of swara permutations and combinations. I understand that the knowledge and use of this technique is now limited to a small number of Dhrupad traditions...from what little I read, it seemed to be a technique that needs to be rescued from oblivion. Would be interesting if anyone could throw light on this and whether this technique exists in the carnatic tradition as well.

kssuresh · Post by **kssuresh** » 07 Sep 2007, 13:40

arasi wrote:kAnci and tiruppati do not electrify me. cidambaram does...

In his rendition of kANa vendamO (papanasam sivan) his passion comes through. listen here. http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~harihara ... endamo.mp3 Thanks to Sri Hariharan.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Sep 2007, 14:25

But I wonder what's so special about Chidambaram as compared to Kanchi and Tirupathi? I too have noticed that Sanjay's Pallavi themes are almost always centred on Chidambaran/Nataraja - perhaps Sanjay's kula daivam or something?

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 07 Sep 2007, 14:41

Vijay,
Just curious if you have visited the Chidambaram temple. If you've not, you should definitely plan to do so. I was and still continue to be in awe of that temple.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Sep 2007, 15:37

Bala I indeed have been to Chidamabaram and was impressed enough despite nagging demands for one donation or the other...Tirupati is a bit of a touristy spectacle but Kancheepuram was the best of the three...just the magnificent diversity of temples was mind-boggling - it really transports you to the Pallava era...Tanjore/Kumbakonam and Hampi were also places that had a similar effect. BTW my comments are strictly restricted to the atmosphere/ambience of these places.

Of couse CHiadambaram has a special place in the classica arts of Tamil Nadu given their associations with the Cosmic Dance and so on...

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 07 Sep 2007, 15:59

yeah, they do have an aggressive salesforce! Kancheepuram didn't have the same effect but it was more to do with me than anything else.