Prof SRJ lec-dem music academy Dec 16th 2008

[uday_shankar]

Lec-dem "Eka raga kritis of Tyagaraja"

by Prof S R Janakiraman
(Vocal assistance Toronto brothers, Ashwin and Rohin)

Venue: Music Academy mini Hall
Date: Dec 16th 2008, 8:05 AM

The theme of Prof S R Janakiraman's lecdem was to highlight some of the ragas in which tyagaraja has composed only a single song. Not the ragas themselves, but the kritis too. I was most pleasantly surprised to find out that the audience for the 8 AM session, apart from the session chairs vidvan AKC Natarjan and shri Pappu Srinivasa Rao and numerous lay rasikas, was a virtual who's who of Carnatic music. It wouldn't be wrong to characterize the session as who's who listening to what's what being expounded by a musician's musician.

An SRJ lec-dem is always an overwhelming experience. It's hard enough to assimilate and digest the sheer density of musical wisdom and information but the problem gets compounded by the fact that SRJ laces his lectures with extrordinary elegance, endless dry wit and great drama, not to speak of the truly evocative music during the singing portions. But it's a sweet problem to have. We are truly fortunate to have someone like him in our midst and vidvan PSN reflected everyone's sentiments when he summed it up in the end by wishing for SRJ's continued presence for at least another fifty years. PSN also recalled his guru SSI's regard for SRJ.

SRJ was ably assisted in the singing portions by a couple of fine lads who are making a name as musicians in their own right, the Toronto brothers Ashwin and Rohin. SRJ graciously introducted them somewhere in the middle of the lecture, pointing out to their extrordinary talents in many areas - Ashwin just graduated with a PhD in electrical engineering ("he does not electrocute but rather electrifies people!") and Rohin is soon to follow suit in Biomedical engineering. He called them the "Two Gentlemen of Toronto, not Verona, mind you":-). The lec-dem occassionally verged on a mini-class for the brothers, as is often the case when gurus are assisted on stage by their shishyas.

The conclusion of the lecdem saw a few benign sparks flying. Prof Ramanathan asked some questions (I don't recall them, one of them had to do with a prayOga in Kaikavasi I think) but SRJ, in deference to the clock, waved it off to "aduttha katcheri" (next concert), recalling an MMI ancedote. When it came to Shri AKC's turn to sum up, he would have none of it and declared it imperative that SRJ answer all questions. After all, he too had a doubt - he had learnt kaikavasi in a slightly different way (without the D3 I think). It was all in a spirit of respect and benign camaradarie.

Here's a recollection (alas, so much has already disappeared from memory):

1. supradIpam (varaSikhi vAhanA)
a) Janya of suryakantam
b) SRMPDS/SNDPMGRS
c) this is the only kriti of tyagaraja on Lord Subrahmanya

2. Vijayavasantham (nI cittamu)
a) Janya of visvAmbari
b) texts have given the scale as SMPDNS/SNPMGS but SNDNP is also there

(now I'm not sure which D, it seems awkward now to sing S N3 D3 N3 P)

3. dundubhi (lIla gAnu jUcE)
a) 48th mela
b) the raga is wrongly put as divyamaNi in some texts
c) All kinds of other confusions in nomenclature exist too

4. Kaikavasi (vAcAmagOcaramE)
a) Janya of nItimati (60th mela)
b) SRGMPDNS/SNPMGRS
c) there's another kriti by someone in which there are versions without ShaTSruti dhaivatam
d) although SRJ didnt mention this, does kriti describes an episode that is not found in Valmiki's rAmAyaNA ?

(one "criticism", I felt that in sangatis involving PDNS I sometimes heard it as P D2 N3 S rather than P D3 N3 S. Or was that another raga ?!)

5. dIpakam (kaLalanErccina)
a) Janya of Kamavardhini (Pantuvarali is a wrong name for Kamavardhini)
b) kriti brought to the fore by the great GNB

6. Vardhani (manasA mana sAmartyamEmi)
a) janya of kOkilapriya

7. gAnavaridhi (daya jUcuTakidi vElarA)
a) janya of vAgudIshvari
b) composed by tyagaraja towards the end of his life, one of his last compositions
c) when it appeared that the Toronto brothers might have been singing a particular sangati as GRGM instead of clearly MRGM SRJ pointed out that MRGM will "save" the raga while GRGM will "shave" it !

[vijay]

Thanks Uday - SRJ's lec dems are indeed a treat - even for those of us who are not able to completely grasp the finer details. Hope to hear him at some other venue later in the season. Would request you to keep your reports on lec dems and concerts coming in

[arasi]

Can't think of anyone better qualified than Uday to write on lec-dems. Wish you would write more, Uday.
As for me (from the layman class), I have missed his demo all these years by not being in Chennai on those particular days. Like a jamakkALam man or a sound assistant in a concert, I would have gained some knowledge in spite of my lack ofschooling in the theoretical side of CM.

[uday_shankar]

Thanks Arasi, but that's not true at all.

Here's a couple errors I noticed:

1) I meant Pappu Venugopala Rao not Srinivasa Rao. My most sincere apologies.
2) It's not "Eka Raga Kritis", that would encompass mostly all kritis composed by anybody ! It's "Eka Kriti Ragas".

[sns]

Another review here:

http://sriramv.wordpress.com/2008/12/16 ... em-by-srj/

[PUNARVASU]

uday_shankar wrote:

1. supradIpam (varaSikhi vAhanA)
a) Janya of suryakantam
b) SRMPDS/SNDPMGRS
c) this is the only kriti of tyagaraja on Lord Subrahmanya

There is the kriti in tOdi- 'nIvaNti daivamunu shaDAnana' by Saint tyAgarAja on Lord Subramanya.

[PUNARVASU]

Another review here:

http://sriramv.wordpress.com/2008/12/16 ... em-by-srj/

In this review it states that 'varaashikhivAhana' is one of the two krithis of Saint tyAgaraja on Lord Subramanya

[Ashwin]

Unfortunately, I provided the wrong details to Uday regarding the supradIpam kriti - SRJ Mama has informed me that nIvaNTi daivamu (tODi) is the other kriti in praise of Lord subrahmaNya (as sriramv has also mentioned). Sorry for the error!

Ashwin