Homage to Tyagaraja: Observations on Thiruvaiyaru

[mahanara]

Posting an article by Smt. Gayathri Chandrasekar that has been published in Abhivyakthi magazine, Feb 2010 edition (ananyaculture.org).

Homage to Tyagaraja: Observations on Tiruvaiyaru By Gayatri Chandrashekar.

The annual homage to the peerless composer Tyagaraja at Tiruvaiyaru attracts musicians from all over the south. Like the five rivers that come together at Tiruvaiyaru, musicians from all corners of the world, and from the various cities and towns converge, with the intent to sing the five gems, the saint’s pancha ratna compositions in unison, on Bahula panchami day, the fifth day after the full moon in the month of Magh.. The effort is made, not withstanding the travel and the rudimentary facilities available at the blessed town.

Egging them in their endeavour is the status of the saint himself : he is to Karnatic music what Shakespeare is to English. He created sangati-s in songs, freed music from the golden grip of poetry and set music per se on a creative path. He handled as many as 47 melakarta-s and composed in as many as 211 raga-s. His Samadhi is the most sacred focal point of this annual homage. He is the composer of the pancha ratna kriti-s in Ghana raga-s that are so grandly conceived with interwoven melody and intricate rhythm, that the most acclaimed masters take pride in singing in unison with other performers.

To bring together a large number of vocalists and instrumentalists is no mean task. Many have vigorously attempted to do this. To pay homage to Purandaradasa, the father of Karnatic music who lived a clear two and a half centuries before Tyagaraja, several functions are held in Karnataka annually. However the absence of authenticated details about the bard’s life and lack of geographic focus have been impediments. To sing in unison ‘Lambodara ‘ , ‘Kundagowra’ and such other gita-s does not enthuse performers of stature. The absence of dhaatu or mettu as the great devotee originally sang his songs, has been another draw back.

Attempts to pay homage to Kanaka dasa in Haveri district of Karnataka too suffer similar disadvantages.

Ettayapuram in Tamil Nadu saw some attempts to pay homage to Muthuswamy Dikshithar , whose stature as a composer equals that of Tyagaraja. Dikshitar Day falls on the day of Naraka Chaturdasi. However, a large number of musicians do not congregate in Ettayapuram and certainly the majestic Navavarana and Navagraha kriti-s were not created for Goshti ganam.

It is 162 years since Tyagaraja passed away. How does the aradhana come through in the electronic age ? With All India Radio and Doordarshan bringing the event faithfully ‘live’ across the country, year after year, what can been done to improve the quality of the event ? Mercifully, the excesses of yesteryears such as hand gestures of tala above head level to catch the camera person’s eye have been curbed this year.

The first and foremost point that deserves immediate attention is the chosen pitch. Here the men have all the advantages. They run away with the point, game and set . They decree and choose ‘C’ or 1 katte and the vidushi-s have to tune themselves to the octave above . This translates to 8 katte, straining the ladies’ vocal chords beyond limit. God has not created women to sing at that super high pitch. The result is the jarring screechy voice and loss of pitch alignment particularly in tara sthayi sadja especially during karvai-s, thus bringing down the quality of singing and sadly the stature of the compositions of Tyagaraja, the incomparable composer.

Now sadja and panchama are samvadi swara-s just as sadja and suddha madyama are. In most concerts, we hear performers change from panchama to madyama sruti to suit the needs of compositions and to create a better aural experience. Would it not be a good idea to segregate the male and female singers and plan that the men sing with ‘C” as adhara sruti and the women sing at either ‘F’{4 katte} or ‘G’{5 katte} as adhara sruti? As pointed out ‘C’ goes very well with either ‘F’ or ‘G’ as it has a friendly, helpful and cooperative disposition to both notes. Let us free the women from the discomfort of screeching at the top of their voices , many times falsifying their tones in order to achieve the high notes. Only when the voice is in its true element and is in full flow, the beauty of the compositions comes through and even those who do not know a great deal about the southern system of music can enjoy the rendering. Are not the live broadcasts and telecasts meant to serve this purpose?

For all the years that they have been made to sing in unnatural voices, that too in the midst of the busy music season in Chennai, when some still have concert engagements to fulfill, let the women singers have the opening song ‘Jagadananda karaka’ exclusively for them. They will sing this in unison in either ‘F’ or ‘G’ as their adhara sruti. The next composition ‘Dudukukala’ full of pathos, shall be rendered by the men singers with ‘C’ as their sruti, the third ‘Sadhinchane by the ladies, the fourth ‘Kanakaruchira’ by the men and the beautiful concluding song ‘Endaro mahanubhavulu’ by the indomitable ladies. The overall effect will be pleasing and spiritually uplifting. Needless to say, the men will have their own accompanists and the ladies their own, exclusively. The impact of different adhara sruti-s for the two different groups will be quite pleasing adding a charming note of variety to the rendering.

Even after many years of conducting the aradhana, a sense of time has not permeated the organisers. This year, the last of the pancha ratna-s was cut short by Doordarshan’s national channel to accommodate other equally important scheduled programmes. To fit all songs within the allotted time requires a little practice and advance planning Standard versions of the pancha ratna-s are already available and it is just a matter of fitting the music within the time available.

To stage the same show year after year kills listener and viewer interest. To constantly innovate and improve is the secret to hold the attention of the proximate audience and those in front of the small screen or radio across the country.[update][Update][/update][/Update]

[thenpaanan]

Posting an article by Smt. Gayathri Chandrasekar that has been published in Abhivyakthi magazine, Feb 2010 edition (ananyaculture.org).

Homage to Tyagaraja: Observations on Tiruvaiyaru By Gayatri Chandrashekar.

...
The first and foremost point that deserves immediate attention is the chosen pitch. Here the men have all the advantages. They run away with the point, game and set . They decree and choose ‘C’ or 1 katte and the vidushi-s have to tune themselves to the octave above . This translates to 8 katte, straining the ladies’ vocal chords beyond limit. God has not created women to sing at that super high pitch. The result is the jarring screechy voice and loss of pitch alignment particularly in tara sthayi sadja especially during karvai-s, thus bringing down the quality of singing and sadly the stature of the compositions of Tyagaraja, the incomparable composer.

Now sadja and panchama are samvadi swara-s just as sadja and suddha madyama are. In most concerts, we hear performers change from panchama to madyama sruti to suit the needs of compositions and to create a better aural experience. Would it not be a good idea to segregate the male and female singers and plan that the men sing with ‘C” as adhara sruti and the women sing at either ‘F’{4 katte} or ‘G’{5 katte} as adhara sruti? As pointed out ‘C’ goes very well with either ‘F’ or ‘G’ as it has a friendly, helpful and cooperative disposition to both notes. Let us free the women from the discomfort of screeching at the top of their voices , many times falsifying their tones in order to achieve the high notes. Only when the voice is in its true element and is in full flow, the beauty of the compositions comes through and even those who do not know a great deal about the southern system of music can enjoy the rendering. Are not the live broadcasts and telecasts meant to serve this purpose?

...

Quite a sensible suggestion. This business of men and women having to sing at an octave kritis that themselves span more than the normal range makes no sense and yet tradition demands that we follow mostly without thinking too much about it (or perhaps people have thought about it and given up and so we cannot tell).

This problem also exists for the innumerable aradhanas that happen across the world. In my neck of the woods, the typical setting is 5 kattai with the men sinking low and becoming inaudible in some lengthy passages. One may argue that with twenty or sometimes thirty people singing together nothing is clearly audible anyway.

Whatever the case may be, it would be nice to hear if there have been innovative ways in which Tyagaraja aradhanas have been held to improve the overall experience. Wesleyan, perhaps?

-Then Paanan

[vasanthakokilam]

Would it not be a good idea to segregate the male and female singers and plan that the men sing with ‘C” as adhara sruti and the women sing at either ‘F’{4 katte} or ‘G’{5 katte} as adhara sruti? As pointed out ‘C’ goes very well with either ‘F’ or ‘G’ as it has a friendly, helpful and cooperative disposition to both notes.

While I agree that 8 kattai for female is quite high, I do not quite understand what Smt. Gayathri Chandrasekar is suggesting. When a song is sung at Ma as the sruthi, the sruthi box is also set to that 4 kattai. So that is a case of Adhara Shadja itself changing. I do not understand how male at 1 kattai and female at 4 kattai can sing together the same raga.

On the other hand, I can see some possibilities where the females can switch to the lower octave when the swara goes high. But that is a different thing.

[chalanata]

passages in lower octaves can be for men while the higher octaves can be for women; alternatively charanams can be sung by men and women alternatively and the men and women have to be bifurcated into groups to render the respective passages suitable to them. a common practice session is necessary.
people going to Thiruvaiyaru please visit the Shiva temple at Tirumazhapadi. It is in such a sorry state of affairs. I shed tears seeing the state of affairs in the temple.

[mahakavi]

Sundarar, the last of the tEvAram trinity, sang about the deity at tirumazhapADi, as " ponnAr mEniyanE........mazhpADiyuL mANikkamE" after the Lord's entreaty to him "did you forget me?" These are certain landmark instances in Saivite religous history which cannot be ignored. I hereby commend all who support the renovation/maintenance of small rural temples (which were once famous) in ruinous state currently.