In the recent Sanjay concert review posted in the reviews forum, there is a mention of the Sahana song Oh Oh kAlamE. It is in Tamil and I can hear most of the lyrics from a rendition by Dandapani Desikar. But not all. If the lyrics are available, please post. And one of us can try to translate ( I do not think it is difficult Tamil ).
The one intriguing thing about the lyrics is, though the song is from the 19th century, it is secular but philosophical. It talks about Time and its doings. May be it is a mid-life crisis.... but of late I am obsessed with, annoyed by and sort of bewildered at how fast time is running. A week feels lot shorter now than twenty years back And this song appealed to me at a deeper level probably because of this context. And the rasa introduced by Sahana is spot on for this material.
Meena, I looked for it and I could not locate it either. I think they went with the other server when it bit the dust. If anyone ( CML?) has an archive of the reviews forum, could you please re-post the few reviews that got lost due to rolling back to the 3/30/06 backup.?
Overall, it was a good experience. The accompanyists were accomplished and involved, and that made the big difference. Kaanada varnam was peppy, harmonious and Sanjay's shruti got in place fairly quickly. Ideal start. Rama Ninnuvina was delightful, languid and resonated with the audience again....thanks to the beauty and simplicity of the lyrics. His neraval at "Nannu Rakshimpa.." was awesome, and Nagai's response was commendable. Then came an absolute delight of a Sahana alapanai..Sanjay seemed to have Sahana in his grips, and his voice was in its elements during this alapanai. Nagai's response again was first-rate - starting off in the lower octaves and ramping it up beautifully, elaborating on all the wonderful sancharas that sahana possesses. The krithi selected was not familiar to me, so I couldnt make much of it. Then came the Tanaroopi krithi "Vaa Velava Vaa"..a total let down. I am not against tamil pieces in kutcheris, but these two pieces tended to dilute the impact of the concert.
Good came back into the concert with RTP in Kharaharapriya. Sanjay started with an elegant alapanai, and Nagai one-upped him yet again. Taanam was the piece-de-resistance..developed lusciously by between Sanjay and Nagai. Guruvayoor Dorai mama could be heard gasping during the elaborate affair...a 20 minute taanam. The pallavi was spectacularly rendered, in good pace, devotion and renedition with the mridangam/khanjira providing excellent accompaniments. Pallavi selection on Shanmugha was perfect, considering it was karithigai. The swarams were routine, but added to the value The thani was straightforward, with minor kanakku patterns. My cousin, who is a mridangist not without merit from the Palghat Mani school seemed to appreciate the finer points more than I did. Keeping time is simple, when a layam specialist aka Guruvayoor Dorai is at the helm, he opined. Sanjay completed the concert with a melodious Behag, a virutham and a thillana.
The auditorium sound arrangements were spectacular, there was a brief one minute introduction, and this atmosphere made the whole occasion better than it was. Yesterday's concert in CMANA, NJ was in chaos mode, quite a bad expperience compared to this event. I will write abt it later this week.
I agree with you, after having listened to MMD Desikar's version. It seems to have a better impact on me now, than it did at the moment, when I heard it. On a side note, yesterday, Sanjay sang a Subramanya Bharatiyar krithi, when he did a neraval on "Tamizh Naad". No song on Dr. JJ was sung, however, I am glad to report.
Mahesh, your songlist from the Sanjay concert is what prompted me to look up that song on the internet but then much to my surprise I found the MMD Desikar's version in my local hard drive!! Now I am addicted to MMDD's version. Thanks.
As I wrote before, the topic of this song is quite a departure from the other composers of his era. Outside of Padams and Javalis, the focus was mainly religious, moral and spiritual, right?. This song is not void of that content but seems to approach it from a secular angle. I do not know anything else about the rest of the works of Mayavaram Vedanayakam Pillai, may be that was his chosen lyrical genre, a departure from the norm of his times, a prelude of the film lyrical genre to come 50 years later.
On a side note, yesterday, Sanjay sang a Subramanya Bharatiyar krithi, when he did a neraval on "Tamizh Naad". No song on Dr. JJ was sung, however, I am glad to report.
Mahesh, just curious. Is this a Bharatiar kriti or Papanasam Sivan's
tribute to Bharatiar (pAmAlaikkiNai unDO - harikAmbhOji)? There's a Gita
cassettes release of MMI (w/ MSG) which features a very nice rendition
of this kriti with neraval at "tamizh nADu sey tava payanAi vandavA"
(and that's what prompts me to ask the question). Sory if my question's
totally off-base!
you are possibly right. The krithi selected was not familiar to me, neither were Sanjay's pronunciations particularly enticing. I presumed ...that it was a Bharatiyar krithi due to the fact that I heard "Subramanya Bharathi" pronounced rather prominently. The Harikambodhi alapanai was nice, however. I have it written down, will definitely get down to the details later this week.
Thanks very much Lakshmanji for the lyrics. MMDD sings only the 4th charanam, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the other charanams.
>darbAr / shahAnA.
Does this mean it used to be sung in one of the ragas or as a ragamalika?
I was going to provide a translation but there are just too many things I am not sure of. I will let others take a crack at that ( CML, RS ? ). Some of the references may need some explanation as well ( probably not as much as other compositions since the concepts may not be as profound ).
Also, there are some differences between these lyrics and how MMDD sings. ( not huge ).
Sanjays concert at Margazhi Festival organised by Jaya TV at the Youth Hostel Hall was a very great event and Ms Subasris introduction of Muaical Super Star Sanjay @
Sanagita Klanidhi Designate of 2015-16 was a fitting one.Sanjays winning team in the nimble nice fingers of Varadu@Violin and Strong firm hands of Neyveli Venkatesh
on Mridangam opened up with tempo and speed and Sanjay took the rather unsung composer Sri Ramaswamy Sivan as his theme.I am not going into the nuances of his raga etc but i want to stress that Sanjay attracts ALL from 8 to 80year rasikas and a few were truly emotional and happy at the nicely decorated venue.I am reminded of the GOLDEN period of evergreen Madurai Mani Iyer and GNB when they used to be at the famed Kapali Temple in the 50s and 60s!Sanajay is the true Super Star@music
In one Sanjay concert perhaps you can meet ALL our friends at a time!Kudos Sanjay
S.Venugopalan
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Posted by: Venugopalan S <[email protected]>
And this song appealed to me at a deeper level probably because of this context. And the rasa introduced by Sahana is spot on for this material.