Dear Rasikas, I have a question for you all.
I've come across two Thodi raga pada-varnams that I think have the same identical swaras, at least in the second half.
One is Daani Samajendra by Swati Thirunal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQa0kfgYzNo
The other is Mohalagiri Kondein Swami by the Thanjavur Quartet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8Gf5Ml0cA
Did the TQ compose the varnam Mohalagiri in Serfoji's court (because its in praise of Sri Rajagopal of Mannargudi)? And then when they moved to Kerala to work in Travancore, did they allow Swati Thirunal to copy and compose Daani? Or did the TQ compose Mohalagiri after they moved to Travancore and collaborated with Swati Thirunal?
What gives?
Same Varnam, but different lyrics?
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rshankar
- Posts: 13754
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26
Re: Same Varnam, but different lyrics?
This may be a veritable Pandora's box to open. There are quite a few such instances where two remarkably similar compositions exist that are attributed to two different composers. I can't think of the song immediately, but there is a composition of Sri GKB'S that also falls into this category, among many others. But your line of enquiry and the questions you raise formed the basis of the late Sri Balachander's campaign to evaluate these compositions more thoroughly.
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keerthi
- Posts: 1309
- Joined: 12 Oct 2008, 14:10
Re: Same Varnam, but different lyrics?
ardhanarishwar,
There are many, many examples of multiples compositions with the same vaRNAmeTTu. Especially among the compositions of the Tanjore Quartette family. shAma shAstri and padam composers have composed multiple songs with the same tune.
There also cases of traditionally established varNameTTu-s (akin to the dhuns of North Indian Classical music)that have been used by several composers spanning many decades or even centuries.
Surely you must have noticed that the khamAs varNams in telugu and tamil - sAmini rammanavE and sAmiyai azhaittODi vADi are identical in musical form. There is a SanskRt sAhityam to this varNam - sA vAmA rushA yAtu.
There are similarly the husEni compositions - E mandayAnarA and E mAyalAdirA in telugu, pAhi mAm bRhannAyaki in sanskrt and enda mAyakkAriyO in tamizh.
It is likely that the composers who were employed by the court and temple were under pressure to produce a new varNam for every event that took place, major or minor. The smart thing for them to do was probably compose a few stock musical templates, and then make one sAhityam in prAise of BrihadIsha, one in praise of Tulaja/ Shahaji/ sharabhOji and one in praise of an important minister for good measure.
Similarly, they must have juggled between tamil, telugu, sanskRt and occasionally marAThi lyrics for these compositions; which given the same musical setting were easy for the chorus to perform and easy for the dancer to emote.
Not too different from the practice of some academicians of recycling one bit of research output, and milking two papers, one conference proceeding(s)and half a dozen poster presentations out of it, is it?
There are many, many examples of multiples compositions with the same vaRNAmeTTu. Especially among the compositions of the Tanjore Quartette family. shAma shAstri and padam composers have composed multiple songs with the same tune.
There also cases of traditionally established varNameTTu-s (akin to the dhuns of North Indian Classical music)that have been used by several composers spanning many decades or even centuries.
Surely you must have noticed that the khamAs varNams in telugu and tamil - sAmini rammanavE and sAmiyai azhaittODi vADi are identical in musical form. There is a SanskRt sAhityam to this varNam - sA vAmA rushA yAtu.
There are similarly the husEni compositions - E mandayAnarA and E mAyalAdirA in telugu, pAhi mAm bRhannAyaki in sanskrt and enda mAyakkAriyO in tamizh.
It is likely that the composers who were employed by the court and temple were under pressure to produce a new varNam for every event that took place, major or minor. The smart thing for them to do was probably compose a few stock musical templates, and then make one sAhityam in prAise of BrihadIsha, one in praise of Tulaja/ Shahaji/ sharabhOji and one in praise of an important minister for good measure.
Similarly, they must have juggled between tamil, telugu, sanskRt and occasionally marAThi lyrics for these compositions; which given the same musical setting were easy for the chorus to perform and easy for the dancer to emote.
Not too different from the practice of some academicians of recycling one bit of research output, and milking two papers, one conference proceeding(s)and half a dozen poster presentations out of it, is it?