M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

[mdrbalaji]

Meenaji,

no Sir please, you can address me by my first name.

Balaji

[meena]

Balaji

When will u be launching the website? Eagerly looking fwd.

[mdrbalaji]

Meenaji,

Almost 60% of the work is done. This was the major part. Somehow i don't feel comfortable putting "Under Construction" in any of the pages.

It will get ready surely by this month end.

Balaji

[coolkarni]

Two more compositions sung by mdr..
http://rapidshare.de/files/3104620/MDRc ... m.MP3.html

http://rapidshare.de/files/3104979/05._ ... m.mp3.html

[divakar]

kulkarninji: thanks once again for two more clips.

[meena]

Kulkarniji thanku

[mdrbalaji]

Thank you coolkarni,

I have been searching for this piece for a long time.

BTW, does anybody have his Naa Jeevadhara in Bilahari? If anyone has it, please let me know.

I can understand all your eagerness for his webpage & i will try my level best to have it ready by end of this month.

regds,
balaji

[cmlover]

Can we have the lyrics for these two fine uruppadis?

[mdrbalaji]

I don't have it with me now. I will post it as soon as i transliterate it.

what is "uruppadis"?

[cmlover]

'uruppadi' is much more than the lyric itself. A musician takes the lyric polishes it, embellishes it, ornaments it and then presents it as a finished product to the Rasikas. It is just like a goldsmith who takes the raw gold, melts it, beats it and converts it into a fine ornament (uruppadi). Here with MDR's rendering we have the finished product and the lyrics are just the means to an understanding by us lay Rasikas.

[divakar]

manasA SrI rAmuni - bhUpAlam - Adi - telugu

P: manasA SrI rAmuni maravakayE madihIna janulavale nIvu

A: dinakara kOTi prakASuni dinakara (kula) vamSa bhUshaNuni
dAnavAkhila samhAruni dayA sudhA sAgaruni dina dinamu

C: sItA lakshmaNa bharata ripughna vAtAtmajAdulato velayu
sAkEtAdhipa rAja rAjeSvaruni varada varadadAsa vinutuni O

[mdrbalaji]

Awesome Divakar,

Thanks for the lyrics.

[mdrbalaji]

Divakar,

One clarification, the last line in charanam it appears to be sarasa varadadAsa vinutini O..

anyhow, i'll check the notes and confirm.

[divakar]

no. it is clear 'varada varadadAsa vinutuni .. '

anyway, you have the original. pl. chk.

[cmlover]

Thanks divakar!

How easy on the tongue and elegant! One need not know any special language to understand the lyrics. Also an appropriate choice of a raga - bhoopaalam to adore the foremost bhU paalaM!

[divakar]

subrahmaNyam bhajarE - hindOLam - ?? - sanskrit

P: subrahmaNyam bhajarE rE mAnasa suj~nAna rUpam suravaradam

A: subrahmaNyam surAgragaNyam cUrasamhArAdi nipuNam

C: mArakOTi prakASa gAtam mAradhara priyA susArdhakam
sAradhara sagIta dAyakam varada varadadAsAdi pOshakam

[cmlover]

thanks again Divaakar!

Shows what a scholar he was in all languages! Do we know why his compositions were not sung by other performers.

Balaji

Could you share with us your memories about his teaching methods and his sishyas(?) ? Did he compose these songs after visiting certain temples or just in privacy? If you are reserving these recollections for the site you are creating , please hold back and we understand!

[mdrbalaji]

cmlover,

As of now i have not planned to put any personal memories in the web page.Personally, it is really a hard exercise for me to bring all the wonderful memories that i have & express it in an organized manner.

On the other hand,i feel more comfortable to answer specific questions like the one you posted.

From what i heard, most of his disciples (from Kalakshetra), have pursued their careers as Music teachers and most of them felt that they remembered everything my father taught, & felt very comfortable in creative expressions like composing.


I have seen a personal video in which he teaches "Mamava Meenakshi" (Varali) He emphasizes on the Varali Madhyam and demonstrates how Thiagaraja and Dikshitar highlighted the "Varali Madhyamam" in their compositions. He also teaches Kalyani varanam and shows how some swara prayogas are commonly used in all major compositions (he starts from KamalajAsana geetham, sings it with full of azhutham, and shows few similar prayogas in the Varnam & the correlation with other trinity compositions)

I have heard, that the "student" should be of a real advanced stage & should be highly motivated to grasp his ideas. He was looking for someone like him, as how he learnt from Shri.Tiger. It never used to be just a kriti, ragam or neraval...infact some students have told me that he used to interlink various stories, humorous anecdotes & spiritual thoughts with the music lesson.

I was fortunate to learn few kritis under him & my case was exceptional, as he used to be patient and repeat the sangthis few times. But i was a restless naughty kid, who didn't have the patience then(REGRETS!!!).But i used to test his patience...(very dangerous!!)

When i recollect now, i could clearly see that he never forced music in me, but created a wonderful ambience which would facilitate such an interest. For instance, when there used to be power-failures at home, he used to sing a ragam, and there will be a quiz between my mom and me. He never forced music on anyone, but was ready to share/teach his ideas with anyone who came with interest. I remember during the last few months, a french violinist came to learn under my dad, and my dad was impressed with his dedication & interest. Inspite of his poor health, he taught him for few months.


Regarding his compositions, i am not too sure. It is a combination of both circumstances and creative urges. He has composed on other "trivial" daily activities like "how to make a coffee", "how to eat a Mango", "My horoscope", "My school" etc..

Another aspect about his teaching that i suddenly remembered, he strongly prohibited any of his students taking notes/notations. In fact, one local teacher was arranged to teach me all the sarali varusais and she had asked me to buy the "Ganamrutha Bodhini"; He wrote in the book in the opening page "kAdhAl kEtu pAdanum sangeetham, pustakam vaitu pAdum nilai paridAbam"

pardon my lenthy reply..

[cmlover]

Thank you very much! This is indeed a treat. I am sure you will be inundated with questions by the myriads of MDR-Worshippers here. It is interesting (I have also heard it before) his forbidding note-taking. Of course he had a prodigious memory! It is sad we do not have 'The sishya' to carry the torch

He has real feeling when he sings since he understands the lyrics thoroughly. Did he have a favourite raga (which the family know better)? How did he compose? Is it more inspirational or careful crafting? I do not want to infringe on your time too much. These are not idle curiosity but arise from listening to him over the years. We will relish his music better when we understand the personality behind! You are our only window into the personal past! Pl take your time.

[divakar]

thanks Balaji for the memorable incidents..

"kAdAl kETTu pADanum saNgItam"
sums up that its indeed for an advanced 'student' like he was to TIGER. His music was creative, his renditions were full of bhAvaM because he had knowledge of the kriti be it telugu or sanskrit.

Surely it will be impossible to have 'the student' for him since there is no 'carrying' possible for his music.

[coolkarni]

Surely it will be impossible to have 'the student' for him since there is no 'carrying' possible for his music.

let us hope that some students are here-who may carry his work forward-
in this group singing along with MDR
http://rapidshare.de/files/3235237/04-E ... S.mp3.html

PLUS
two short-duration tracks of MDR singing his own compositions
http://rapidshare.de/files/3233798/enna ... I.MP3.html

http://rapidshare.de/files/3233908/Ni_V ... i.MP3.html

[mdrbalaji]

Thanks coolkarni,

I will treat this as a Guru Poornima gift from you. I believe this was recorded in AIR!. By any chance do you have the other 4 kritis too. If so,could you please upload it? The mrudangist is TVG.

Balaji

[mdrbalaji]

Enna Kutram â?? Huseni â?? Adi

(P) enna kutram sEidhEnO enna kutram sEidhEnO
inamum sollAyO nIum annai kaNikumariyE (enna)

(AP) mannavan mahAdEvan manamuvandu uNdanai
mAmanam sEyavandAn maruthAyE adupOlE (enna)

(C ) paNagashayaNaN padumanAban sOdariyE
sanuthAngI nIyE sAdhujanapOshinI
munnapina theriyAdavan pOla
eNmEl nIyum innamum pArAmugam EnO
chinnavan varadadAsan (enna)

(Chittaswaram)

S R S â?? P , P â?? N D M , - P N D N S , | S , S N D M â?? P N D M , - P M G R S ||
R G M R G S â?? P N D M P â?? N D N Sâ?? , | Râ?? Gâ?? Mâ?? Râ?? G Sâ?? , P Sâ?? N D M , P M G || R S || (enna)

[mdrbalaji]

nI vanti daivamu â?? Kapi â?? Adi

(P) nI vanTi daivamu lEdani ninu nE
niratamunu namminAnurA rAmayya rAma (nI vanTi)

(AP) nAvanTi dInuDu nikhila bhuvanamandu
naLinaksha! nIku galgunA? IvELa (nI vanTi)

(C) pAparahita! nI pAdamEgati
pAtakamellanu dIrpavayya
kApAdumani vaccinavAriki
kAmitaphaladAyaka! shrI varadadAsudu (nI vanTi)

(Chitta swaram) (2 Versions)

S , , , N D , N P , M G , , , R | S , , , , , n S | G R , M R M P N ||
Sâ?? N Sâ?? Râ?? , - Gâ?? , Mâ?? Râ?? Gâ?? Sâ?? Râ?? â?? N Râ?? Sâ?? , | , N â?? D N P , , M | G R S R , M P N ||


S , N P , M G , R S , R N S , , , - R , M P N |
M , P N S P , N S R , G M , G R S N P M G R S , R , M P N

[Lakshman]

A couple of years ago Asahwathi Tirunal had a concert in Tiruvanathapuram where he sang only MDR's kritis. I tried to contact him to get a copy of the concert but was not successful.

[Lakshman]

Ashawathi > Ashwathi

[cmlover]

Thanks coolkarni, balaji!

Since our inexhaustible resource is coolkarni, it would make the recitals lively and informative if you can add the context and associated events (if you know it). Thanks.

Balaji:

Is there anybody who was considered his 'prime sishya' or 'vaarishu' by MDR?

[meena]

kulkarniji

thanku for the endaro mahanubhavulu clip.

Balaji
In this article:
DELETED

Through his association with Kalakshetra he taught many students out of which perhaps the late Jaya Pasupathi is the best known.

Do u have any info regarding late jaya pasupathi?

[mdrbalaji]

Jaya Pasupathi is wife of Pasupathi, who was a disciple of Mysore Vasudevacharya. If i am right, she learned from my dad mainly in Kalakshetra. She is no more. She passed away 14 years ago.

Many of my father's students from Kalakshetra pursued/still pursue Music Teaching at various capacities. In fact, if i may say, Kalakshetra produced more music teachers than performance artists unlike dance. There are many famous dancers from Kalakshetra, like Dhananjayans, Sudharani, Leela Sampson etc, but very few vocal musicians.

I really don't have an anwer to the some of the questions above.Some of his students, who spent almost 10 years learning from him, have told me that they found his style & thought process too difficult to comprehend & execute. So, when following itself is so difficult, how would it be possible to generate such thoughts on own accord?That was their concern..

In my personal experience, i have found that if i want to learn a kriti, i find shri.KVN's or DKJ/DKP's more approachable, but when i try my father's padAndaram, it seems impossible. Please don't take me wrong, it is just my personal experience. Sometimes, it appears as though it is simple, but it is mysteriously deceptive.

[divakar]

thanks kulkarniji for those additional clips of Sr MDR.

thanks balaji for the lyrics of the two compositions.

thanks for sharing more information about his sishyas.

Listening to his concerts, I feel it is just not possible to have any one to follow him because there seems to be no distinct 'style' as such. For a particular kriti, his rendition itself varies from concert to concert..

[cmlover]

Thanks Balaji

for an honest forthright answer. You have also pointed out the difficulty factor. It is very lucky that Tiger got MDR for the sishya who carried forward his style and embellished it. Gurukulavaasa has completely disappeared and so has the kind of gurubhakti that MDR idealized towards Tiger. It is most appropriate to recall it on thie guru pourNima day!

We are most fortunate to have a vast number of concerts and video as well as his own kritis available to reconstruct 'MDR Music'. Above all you are there who unselfishly shares his leagcy with the world without putting out any legal shackles. In my view you are a model worth emulation by other progenies of great Carnatic Musicians. Our goal is to enjoy, preserve and propagate this great art heritage of ours. The great collections of raju, coolkarni and many unnamed donors which are appearing in this site and others would not be possible were it not for the generosity of persons like you, Mrs Somu, GBR, SRJ (family and students) and others who will follow your shining example. It reminds me of the glorious efforts of U Ve Swaminatha Iyer who preserved for us the almost-lost literary gems of Tamizh in the early part of last century.

It is an honour to have you with us and your free and frank contributions to our discussions.

[coolkarni]

By any chance do you have the other 4 kritis too.

I regret to say that I dont have the other Four.
Incidentally , you may not remember me as the chap residing across the street at no 5 besant avenue (neighbour to kumar-akhila)
I missed a great opportunity in getting to know you early .Those were the days (1998-9) when my awareness of your fathers music was limited to the couple of albums in the market and somehow ,I had not overcome some impressions created very early in my life by the reviews i had read from some critics in bangalore (in the papers).
Well they had the right to express their views, but at an impressionable age, looking for directions to sustain my interest, I probably got carried away with their description of MDRs music as Rodana Sangeetha.
While I was too busy with artists of every other hue,MDR remained on the fringes.That is when i first came to know about you (my wife used to visit your mother)
and then one day , I received a clip - a very short one , in the swara passages of sogasuga mrudnaga thalamu.
that came my email -those heady early days of internet in India-
unbelievable to get a clip over the email -we kept playing it nonstop for days-it was only a 2 minute extract.
Tar Ramanujam who , these days , is active at sangeetham with his x drives, sent me that.he was relocating from thailand to the Us and was my Mp3-guru those days.
Much later i got the full concert with that specific rendering , but i must admit that it is one track which explains MDR in full.
Yes many may say Giripai , but that assessment has the same element of falsehood that befell Hindi Film actor Amjad khan when he was sterotyped as gabbar singh in sholay.(He regretted that role till his last breath).Even the assessment of the Kannada critics (some of them noted authors) had the same element of falsehood..
One look at the swaras here, it is clear that MDR CHOSE to sing like he did. And he must have been a brave man to do so.
More concerts followed and I have seen him in various moods ranging from the Searing hot to the Frosty melancholy.
Well , it is manodharma at its best-like as though we know the person without ever having met him.
As i keep listening to him these days, I still remember the days of my Rodana tag .all my later experiences with meanings of the kritis , familiarity with the general undercurrent of sadness in most HM raga renditions --they all lead me to believe that (as i say often) appreciating MDR is a fruit that grows on the tallest of branches .takes some time and effort for us to get there.
this thread on his compositions is only adding one more dimension to my admiration.
Here is the link that put me on course...

http://rapidshare.de/files/3245902/Soga ... _.mp3.html

[divakar]

thanks kulkarniji for you recollections and for the 'sogasugA' clip. unique rendering that!
thank you for sharing..

[arunk]

coolkarni,

Are you implying that MDR is stereotyped for giripai ? Maybe so but I for one dont mind at all. I have this 50 minute gem (includes a very goo tani). I am sure it is a combination of the meaning/situation behind the song, MDR's rendering of it, sahana being one very apt for his slow contemplative style etc. it is just pure bliss to hear. Everytime I listen to it, I go into a trance - outside world seems so far away. In short, I dont think I have heard a better sahana. I may be biased here but I do like and appreciate almost all musicians past and present. Among all the great ones I have heard, to me, MDR delivers the bhava of a raga the maximum - in every raga he chooses. Dont know why, how - its just how I perceive it

Arun

[Lakshman]

By any chance do you have the other 4 kritis too

.
Which songs are being refered to here?

[divakar]

Lakshmanji: the reference is regarding the other 4 paNcaratna kritis.

[cmlover]

coolkarni

That was a very nice story as to how you got to like MDR. In fact the Rodana label is too trite. I for one started liking him for that particular reason. 'one man's poison is another's food'
In fact my sentiments are very similar to what Arun has summarized. I was blown off my feet when I heard his Giripai. I once wrote in Sangeetham that Thyagaraja composed 'Giripai' knowing that there would be a MDR to sing it with native feeling! I believe it! But then with your and raju's help a whole new world of MDR has opened. I am still an addict for his melancholy! But MDR has revealed that there is an infinite variety of melancholy! Thanks for that iconoclastic 'sogasoga'

[coolkarni]

i had uploaded endaro in chorus.
balaji had responded saying it was from a radio program and was wondering if had the other four (out of the five pancharatna kritis)

aunk.
i was implying it in the sense that one tends to sum up an artist based on certain famous renderings.(atleast that was my mistake)
with the technologies at our command,we are now coming to know
that there is a bigger picture.
Today his giripai vies for a place in my assessment of his muisc , with so many outstanding RTP's in kalyani , the way he handles Todi in the concerts , his treatment of ragas like natakuranji and janaranjini,his unbelievable geetarthamu with l Subr in tow ......the list is big.

as far as giripai is concerned , you are dead right.except for BV raman Laxman, I am yet to hear any other rendering which can measure upto mdr's version.

[mdrbalaji]

cmlover sir,

Thanks for your kind words. I feel it is my duty to facilitate the desire of dedicated rasikas of my father's music to get a closer access to him. The day he passed away, many music fans who came to our house, kept on repeating he didn't die & he will live for ever. I did not understand the full meaning of that statement then, but realized it later. If any artist lives beyond his physical age, it is all due to the rasikas, who continue to revere the musician, out of choice.So, a musician's true age is dependent on the sum total of all rasika's age over time.

If other musician-families refuse to share more information/resources with rasikas, it could be because they fear exploitation. It has happened to us several times before. Unfortunately some musicians are involved in this too. In the name of "promoting our music, tradition & heritage" they indulge in fund-raising efforts for their own personal cause. I don't want to get into this discussion, but just trying to explain from another perspective.

coolkarni,
I recollect meeting you once, but i am not sure if you are the right person that i am thinking of. It is nice to hear how you got into the "MDR Circle", if i may call so. Many are under the impression that to appreciate his music, we need to elevate our taste & work towards it. But i have an interesting story to share:

During my high school days, i went to a famous "Student's Xerox" (xerox/binding store) to compile & bind my science project. It is a well-known shop at least for chennaites. It is a busy shop & i was asked to wait in the lobby. And, to my surprise, my father's music was played there & the shop owner was enjoying it. He noticed that even i was enjoying the music & started his conversation. He asked me whether i enjoy carnatic music & whether i have listened to MDR before. I had to suppress my excitment, coz i was more curious to hear him talk about it. He said that he didn't even know what the seven notes are, but when he listened to this music, there's an everlasting peace & that calms him down from the strenous daily operations.

These are exceptional cases, but in general to appreciate & enjoy his music, one needs to transcend beyond the boundaries of technical descriptions. In one interview, he quotes Rabindranath Tagore's "All Singing is not Music" to justify the "meaningful pauses" that he gives inbetween his singing. He mentions in the same interview that he wanted to pursue a traditional yet scientific approach to music & that he found in Shri Tiger, who according to him, was a Tiger in music but a gentle cow otherwise.

[divakar]

thanks balaji for those reminiscences.
i feel that these anecdotes should figure in Sri MDR's homepage too.
Even though they are in a relevant 'thread', over a period these should not be lost in the midst of discussions in this forum.

this is just my suggestion.

[meena]

He never played to the gallery

IN 1944, Justice T. L. Venkatrama Iyer, speaking at Dikshitar Day celebrations at R.R. Sabha, deplored the habit many musicians had of singing at the speed of the boat mail. This train, popular with those travelling between Madras and Kumbakonam, was the 1940s' equivalent of the present day superfast trains. One musician against whom such a criticism could never be levelled was the late M. D. Ramanathan popularly known as MDR, whose 80th birth anniversary was observed recently.

MDR was the only son of Manjaparai Devesa Bhagavatar. Although he majored in physics from the Palghat Victoria College, music was his first love. He had his early training in music under his father. In 1944, the year T. L. Venkatrama Iyer criticised musicians who sang at breakneck speed, MDR enrolled in Kalakshetra for the Sangita Shiromani course. The principal of Kalakshetra at that time was Tiger Varadachariar. MDR's entry into Kalakshetra was to mark the beginning of a guru-sishya relationship between Tiger and the tall, lanky young man from Palghat whom Tiger had interviewed at the time of admission.

While Tiger was equally at ease singing in madhyamakala and vilambakala, MDR confined himself to vilambakala, a tempo that suited his bass voice. While he excelled in every aspect of manodharma sangita, MDR never played to the gallery. He never indulged in excessive swara-singing and a sense of proportion was the hallmark of his kutcheries. He confined himself to ragas replete with rakti.

This writer has particularly enjoyed his Todi, Reetigowla, Kedaram, Hamsadhwani and Hindolam. His rendering of the Tyagaraja kriti, "Samajavaragamana," in Hindolam was unique. He would start the saranam with words "Sama Veda", although in the original version the saranam begins with the word "Veda". When asked him he added the prefix "Sama" "to the word "Veda", MDR with a twinkle in his eyes said, "Well, for one thing I'm a Sama Vedin. More important Lord Krishna Himself has said that of the four Vedas, He likes the Sama Veda the best."

His music was soul stirring and reposeful. Since he had an excellent knowledge of Telugu, he savoured every word in the sahitya. His vilambakala singing was a delight to his fans. MDR was a composer too and has written more than 300 songs in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. His Kadanakuthoohalam tillana was especially popular among his rasikas. His Bhageshree composition, "Saagara sayana vibho" has been immortalised by KVN. His mudra was "Varada Dasa", a tribute to his guru Tiger Varadachariar.

MDR was awarded Padma Sri in 1974. But the Sangita Kalanidhi never came his way. Many of his admirers were keen that he should have been conferred the title in 1983-84. That did not happen and he passed away soon after. But what was a mere award anyway when to his rasikas he was a Sangita Kalanidhi?

MDR did not have mass appeal, but he had his own band of committed rasikas who admired his total involvement in nadopasana.

SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI

[meena]

Video clip of sree KVN rendering sree MDR comp.-sAgara Sayana-bAgeSrI
posted on bboard by rajuji.

[drshrikaanth]

shrI mdr comp:

janani nAtajana-SankarAbharaNam-cApu-MDR
nIvale daivamu-yadukulakAmbhOji-cApu-MDR
pAdayugamunu-janaranjani-Adi-MDR
vighna rAja-SrIranjani-Adi-MDR

deleted

[venkmal]

how to open this .Rar file. which program it's associated with. explain please.
venkmal

[meena]

.rar is compressed file format, u need to install the 'free software' -'winrar' and extract the music files.

google pl. for the winrar d/l site . I cant look up the site for u now, for my wireless is giving me some prob.

[kodaganallur1]

Can Some one give me the lyrics of Sagara Sayana vibho

Kodaganallur.R.NagaSundaram

[Lakshman]

sAgara shayana. rAgA: bAgeshrI. Adi tALA.

P: sAgara shayana vibhO prabhO sAmagAna lOla sAdhu janAvana kSIra
A: nAgarAja shayana bAga brOvumayyA bAgA shrI bhUmi sahituDai velayu kSIra
C: pApa rahita nAma (dEva) pAmara vidUra pAtaka haraNa pAvana nAma
shrI padmanAbha shrtajana pOSaka shrIkara shubhakara varada dAsanuta

[kodaganallur1]

Thank you Lakshman

Kodaganallur R.Nagasundaram

[meena]

Folks,
not sure if u all are aware, of the site dedicated to Sree MDR:
http://mdramanathan.com/index.htm

has been update on the webpage-a new article has been uploaded under the 'Rasika's Voice', written by Dr. V Radhakrishnan
http://mdramanathan.com/rasikasvoice2.htm

[meena]

here is a beautiful slOkam on rAma. -SRngAraM kshitinaNdinI from shrI rAma karNAmRtaM.

rAgA:khamas (mind-blowing)- excellent saveri - sahana (has mdr stamp on it and kapi
and shrI MC 'talking' with his violin is something

Hope u all enjoy:


Text:
SringAram kShitinandInI viharaNE
vIram dhanur bhanjanE
KAruNyam bali bhOjanE
adbhuta rasam sindhou giri sthApanE
hAsyam ShUrpaNakhA mukhE
bhayam aghE
bheebatsam anyAmukhe
Roudram RavaNa mardanE
munijanE shAntam vapu: pAtu na: