seetha rAjan@SKGS on May 30th,2010

[rajeshnat]

seetha rAjan@SKGS on May 30th,2010
-------------------------------------------------
Vocal : seetha rAjan
Support : Two sishya vidushis one with just tamburA and the other who sang with the tamburA
Violin : EmbAr kannan
Mrudangam : umayAlapuram mAli
Ghatam : Dr S karthik

Concert duration : 2 hours and 20 minutes
Occasion and Sponsors : maharAja swati tirunAl jayanthi celebrations

1. pAhi saurE padmanAbha (RS, S) - nAttai
5 mins swaras
2. Shree kumAra(RS) - atANA
3. pancha bAna tanu (R S)- poorvikalyAni
7 mins alApanai , 4 mins violin return
and 5 mins swaras

4. Shree SA padmanAbha pAhi?? (rAga sketch) - kamAs???
5. bhavathi viswasO (R,S)- mukhAri
7 mins alApanai and 5 mins violin return
7 mins swaras

6.gaNgeya vasana dhAra (R) - hameerkalyANi
4 mins alApanai and 2 mins violin return
7. samAjEndra bhItiharaNa - revaguPti??

8A. sarasijanAbhA murArE (R N S) - tOdi
10 mins alApanai and 5 mins violin return
neraval in "muravAri dasa meeta mOhana mani bhusha??" for 8 mins
10 mins swaras
8B. tani for 14 mins

9. Kanakamaya maayeedum - husEni
10. bansi vAlE - shankara ???
11. bAchatu murali murAru sundari yamunA ?? - sindhubhairavi???
12. bhujaga sAyinO - yadukula kAmbOdhi

There must be a battery of sishyAs of semmangudi mAmA , most of the male sishyAs of semmangudi mAma have either left or very retired from performing music .Among the vidushis if Smt parasala is one star , smt seethA rAjan must not be that far from her,certainly Smt seethA rAjan is indeed a true torchbearer of Semmangudi sishya parampara . I have heard once in a lecdem concert but this is the first time I am hearing her in a full live concert . This concert had many rare numbers of Swati tirunAl and it was quite a head turner for me to hear many swathi's gems.

The start was superb in nAttai , perhaps it is such a rare krithi that may have got lost out to few MD krithis in nAttai and that famous krithi of puliyur duraiswami iyer . This krithi pAhi saurE with her swara prasthAnas did bring in early excellence. The AtAna was well done and then she went into a detailed alApana of poorvikalyAni , she lost a bit of voice but she managed it very well , one has to give it to her she kept up the pitch for all songs and did not sag at all.The krithi of poorvikalyANi was well done and this is the first time I am hearing this number.

The next was perhaps in kamaS (hope it is not harikAmbOdhi)and I enjoyed that a lot. If one needs to define intense classicism without a shade of dilution I guess mukhAri fits as an apt choice , what a lovely rAga alApana in mukhAri ,a kind that was not like semmangudi mAma , but it was more like musiri in mukhAri kind of a pitch where there was lot of deep contemplation and the krithi was very well done with a real dash of nice poruttam swaras .To me the pick of the day was indeed mukhAri

The contrast of mukhAri with hameerkalyAni was well done and she sang the krithi beautifully perhaps I can say Swati was an intelligent vageyakkara who kind of gave a thyagarAja musical touch to the words that appeared like dikshitar. The next in revagupti?? (hopefully it was not bowli) was well done and the contrast of hameer and bowli was brilliant.

The main was perhaps the most known krithi , her spread of tOdi was a sampradaya intense touch , the krithi had its first neraval and I found it just good , kind of her voice was intense madhyama kAlam and when she opened a bit in tara sthayi it just did not come out that well. The swaras were quite well done .

If mukhAri was gold , the silver was huseni , it was a haunting number again intense classicism was intact. THe next bansi vAle is I think in rAga shankarA kind of having a lot of overlap with mOhanam and I enjoyed that bhajan a lot . The next bAchatu murali was I think sindhubhairavi and it was the most low key number for the concert , the classicism that was intense dropped into somewhat like say a 'padmanAbha bhajana mandali' concert (carnatic concerts should not dilute towards sampradaya bhajan concert is my pet peeve and her guru semmangudi only sang bhajan but did not sing a bhajanai concert). The last mangalam in yadukula KAmbodi brought back the carnatic aesthetics and she gave a fitting finish.

The vocal accompanist vidushi (sorry I dont know her name) was giving the right support kind of perfect thrust and silence combination,all the three accompanist lifted the concert .Embar kannan had a high shruthi sowkhyam, mAli's tapping though did not have much firework patterns but had the right touch to the madhyamakAla aesthetics of Smt seethA . Karthik is an asset for every concert his play during songs has a lot of aesthetics .

Overall a very good to excellent concert. It was a dry may carnatic month at madras and with lone swati star it shined well.

[cienu]

Lovely review Rajesh. Indeed, Seetha Mami is a shining jewel of the Semmnagudi shishya parampara.

[eppramod]

"Sreesa padmanaabha" is inded in khamas
see ....http://www.swathithirunal.in/htmlfile/340.htm


I have heard Sanjay sing "Bansiwale" in Mohanam and according to the above site "Baajat murali.." is in patdeep


Pramod

[rajeshnat]

I have heard Sanjay sing "Bansiwale" in Mohanam and according to the above site "Baajat murali.." is in patdeep

Pramod
Somewhere in the forum some one said if bansiwalE is in shankara , for me it had a shade of mohanam ,though HM touch was there. Lji can you help .May be you are right with paTdeep,thanks

[ganeshkant]

Based on the 17th chapter of Bhagavad Gita I was just thinking whether the music what we hear can also be classified as Satvik,Rajas and Tamas and found that it is possible,no doubt.

If U don’t see any ostentation,extra frills and deliberate body language but hear only subtle and sublime music with bhava shudhdhi that transcends you to a higher plane and during the concert you are so engulfed by the serenity that you don’t want to utter even a sabash,bale ,aaha or even mhmm.. or vuch.. vuch… probably U can call it a Satvik concert.

Mrs.SR’s concert that day was of the above said kind.She sang only time tested phrases and didn’t attempt any thing new but offered a whole lot hitherto unheard.Except Gangeya vasana in HK all other kritis were new to me.The selection of ragas were excellent with a good mixture of shudhdha and prathi madhyama ragams.All the alapanais were measured and presented unhurriedly.It really sounded like a package to Swiss in the summer.

Kannan’s presentations were in contrast to SR and had short and fast phrases bit clichéd but that helped in another way by placing SR in a much higher pedestal in comparison.

Mali played a satvik role throughout and Karthik played his deputy’s role cheerfully.

Bhansiwale was sung in Shudh Kalyan.

[Lakshman]

The song was originally tuned to bhairavi (hindustani). At least this is what is indicated in the booklet of hindustani compositions by ST compiled by S.N.Ratanjankar.

[rajeshnat]

The song was originally tuned to bhairavi (hindustani). At least this is what is indicated in the booklet of hindustani compositions by ST compiled by S.N.Ratanjankar.

Lji
Which song are you talking about bansiwale or bajaat murali as tuned to bhairavi (hindustani)?

[thenpaanan]

seetha rAjan@SKGS on May 30th,2010
-------------------------------------------------
Vocal : seetha rAjan
Support : Two sishya vidushis one with just tamburA and the other who sang with the tamburA
Violin : EmbAr kannan
Mrudangam : umayAlapuram mAli
Ghatam : Dr S karthik
...

The contrast of mukhAri with hameerkalyAni was well done and she sang the krithi beautifully perhaps I can say Swati was an intelligent vageyakkara who kind of gave a thyagarAja musical touch to the words that appeared like dikshitar.

...

It should be noted that the tunes for ST kritis are modern ones (is this true without exception? has any original ST melody survived the ravages of time?). It is kind of sad that we rarely record/notate the name of the person who tuned a particular kriti (much less than the lyric writer). In the present context it may be that recent generations have absorbed the musical jauntiness of a Tyagaraja along with the lyrical complexity of a Dikshitar that enables them to come up with a combination such as what we see in ST kritis. Primary credit to Muthiah Bhagavatar and SSI?

Related question: is there any place where the tuner's name is recorded for each ST kriti?

I am surprised to hear that Smt Seetha Rajan had trouble with her voice. What I have listened of her, she is one of the rare singers today who combines deep and encyclopedic knowledge with an excellent and robust vocal style -- typically she uses her voice admirably, good sonorous sound in the middle register and I always look to see how she uses the lyrics skillfully in her presentation -- effortless but clear diction.

-Then Paanan

[eppramod]

The next in revagupti?? (hopefully it was not bowli) was well done and the contrast of hameer and bowli was brilliant.

>>> 7. samAjEndra bhItiharaNa - revaguPti??

again according to the previously mentioned web site this kriti is in Bhoopalam

Pramod

[Lakshman]

rajeshnat:
Both bAjat murli and bansivAlE are in hindustanibhairavi in Ratanjankar's booklet.

In the book Musical Works of Svati Tirunal by Gowri Kuppuswamy the raga for sAmajEndra is given as bhUpALa. In the books by SSI the rAgA is rEvagupti.

[ksrimech]

My God. What a song list. I missed another wonderful concert again!

[keerthi]

It should be noted that the tunes for ST kritis are modern ones (is this true without exception? has any original ST melody survived the ravages of time?). It is kind of sad that we rarely record/notate the name of the person who tuned a particular kriti (much less than the lyric writer). In the present context it may be that recent generations have absorbed the musical jauntiness of a Tyagaraja along with the lyrical complexity of a Dikshitar that enables them to come up with a combination such as what we see in ST kritis. Primary credit to Muthiah Bhagavatar and SSI?


-Then Paanan

The sangIta sampradAya pradarshini, and the prathamAbhyAsapustakamu of SubbarAma dikshitar have notations for the following -

1. sarasa-sama-mukha param ava - kamAs
2. mandara-dhara - thOdi

There are older malayalam publications, which have notations for the compositions of Swati TirunAl in notations that pre-date H.M.Bhagavatar and Semmangudi.

The BhAgavatar collected all the traditional notations that were available form the oral tradition of the local temple performers as well as from several householders (non professional musicians).

He engaged the help of contemporary linguists to put a critical edition of the lyrics, comparing the multiple versions available.

In cases where the original tunes couldn't be traced, some of the songs were tuned by Muthiah BhAgavatar.

I suppose it mustn't be too hard to be able to identify the pieces tuned by SSI.

It may be an interesting exercise for an academic student of music at kerala to try and trace the tune-smiths for each of the songs.

[rajeshnat]

Bhansiwale was sung in Shudh Kalyan.

Hindustani shudh kalyAn carnatic equivalent is mohanakalyAni right. I was thinking when I did hear this number it had a shade of mohanakalyAni too there instead of mohanam . I think ganeshkant is right with the rAgA

[rajeshnat]

>>> 7. samAjEndra bhItiharaNa - revaguPti??

again according to the previously mentioned web site this kriti is in Bhoopalam

Pramod

As Lji indicated in another post , she rendered the ssi tuned revagupti. I was pretty sure it was not the bhoopAlam rendition that she rendered ( Personally I am not sure between revagupti and bowli , but bhUpAlam always has some kind of shade of shubhapantuvarAli in there , smt seethA must have sung only the revagupTi)

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Bansivale song.

Sri Maharajapuram Santhanam used to sing this song frequently.

He has sung in the raag Bhoop, Hindustani equivalant of Mohanam in Carnatic music.

S.NAGESWARAN.
02.06.2010.

[rajeshnat]

Hindu Review of the concert
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/06/04/stor ... 220200.htm

[thenpaanan]

Hindu Review of the concert
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/06/04/stor ... 220200.htm

Both from the review details earlier and in the photograph posted in this newspaper review, Ms. Rajan is using not one but two real tamburas! What a troglodyte!

-Then Paanan

[mahakavi]

A troglodyte --- I will choose that anyday over a high-wire actor!
We talk fondly of pristine beaches, virgin territory and similar "most desirable" things. Then why frown upon a troglodyte?

[ganeshkant]

Thenpaanan,What new or odd U found in using 2 tanpuras ? Almost all HM concerts use 2 tanpuras apart from 1 or 2 sruti boxes.

[rshankar]

Ganesh, I think Then Paanam was being very appreciative of the importance Smt. Seetha was giving to Sruti - that statement of his should be taken in the form of 'nindA stuti' and not at face value!

[thenpaanan]

Ganesh, I think Then Paanam was being very appreciative of the importance Smt. Seetha was giving to Sruti - that statement of his should be taken in the form of 'nindA stuti' and not at face value!

Thanks, rshankar. I guess the clapping smiley does not transmit too well.

@ganeshkant You ask "what is odd about using two tanpuras..." Unlike in HM, real tanpuras are a critically endangered species in carnatic concerts.

Also, we discussed in a separate thread on tamburas that there might be an extra benefit in having two real _well-tuned_ tamburas on stage in that they may sympathetically create a larger aural atmosphere than the sum of the two.

-Then Paanan