Smt TS Sathyavathi - lecdem - 25 August 2012

[srikant1987]

Smt TS Sathyavathi's lecdem at Suchitra Cultural Society, Banashankari
25 August 2012

WARNING: The lecdem was in Kannada, my understanding of which is thoroughly lacking.

I had expected a concert, but it was a lecdem by Smt Sathyavathi. Like all lecdems, it moved through various things, but it seemed to discuss "rasa" in music. Also, a work by Sri Someshwara was mentioned, where in he has described 14 kinds of listeners and the kind of music they like.

Smt Sathyavathi expressed the opinion that a raga is not to be associated with any rasa, and that all rAgas simply have a "gAnarasa" by nature. The rasa that actually comes out, she said, is importantly a function of the sthAyi, the pace and above all the performer's own vision and craft. She laid great emphasis on how the real rasa comes out very often in the sAhitya.

Using various examples, she demonstrated that some compositions direct a slower rendition (she took dEvi brOva samayamidE for this), and that some others encourage a moderate or energetic speed by virtue of their sAhitya. For this, she took a patriotic song "munde naDe" -- and sang it turning off the shruti, which was curious. It is my opinion that all Indian melodic music, sounds just as good, if not a bazillion times better, with shruti. She also sang some song, "banniri maduvege" or something, which she said was apposite only to some brisk singing.

Implicitly, she laid great emphasis that we should look to the sAhitya in any composition to understand the intended rasa and try to bring it out to our utmost.

Regarding rAgas not always aligning to a particular rasa, she said that sAvEri generally emanates karuNA rasa, and that Thyagaraja has employed it for vIra and adbhuta rasas in rAma bANa.

She also sang a passage of swarams in brisk pace to demonstrate that shubhapantuvarALi can also be sprightly.

Facial expressions were also employed to depict the rasa the music was supposed to carry.

Early on in her lecdem, Smt Sathyavathi sang two "versions" of mEru samAna. She said she was earlier once invited to give a two-session lecdem before many listeners and practitioners of Hindustani music. In her first part, she talked and talked about the importance and glory of sAhitya in Karnataka music, and apparently felt she had delivered her point across very well. In teh second part, she sang the two mEru samAnas: the first one was as she likes, with all syllables in the sAhitya pronounced with care, and the sAhityabhAvam paid attention to. The second one was a "hindustAni"-ised version, with the vowels changed here and there, etc. And she asked her audience which they like and was completely taken away that they liked the second version more.

Towards the end there was a question that if there is really no particular rasa in any rAga, how is one to identify a rAgam. TSS answered it singing a "tODi" with flat notes and said that the gamakas give a rAgam its character. It was only when elaborating her answer that she actually said there are 'sancAras' that lie at the heart of any rAgam's character, and sang a weird kAnaDa phrase (pmmg) and characteristic aThANa phrase (prsd). I guess, to cut it short, her answer is that a certain sharpness / technical knowhow is necessary for that. One may not be able to simply 'feel' the rAgam from the music.

The fourteen kinds of listeners included (I remember only some):
1. Vanilla-flavour music, like mAnasa sancararE, which is in medium tempo, not venturing much into mandra or tAra sthAyi, etc., and where sAhityam is not emotionally oriented and may even be disregarded to give pretty much the same music as with complete understanding of the sAhityam.

2. Music which ventures generously into non-madhya sthAyis -- especially tAra sthAyi (TSS spoke rather dismissively of such music and its fans, saying "surely there may not be such listeners among you".)

3. Clear pronunciation (of swara names as well as sAhitya) are emphasized by some others

4. Some like complexity for its own sake

5. Some others like everything neat and 'in order' (they are said to be "paruDha jana"). It seemed they'll be put of by an early usage of antaragAndhAra in Anandabhairavi, etc.

6. There are some 'yOgi jana' with their own taste.

... so on, there were 14 of them.

The lecdem seemed to by and large keep out instrumental music: even the second mEru samAna didn't seem musically richer than the first to me. There are many qualities plainly palpable in instrumental music, which also take up different meaning from in vocal music. For example, a word like 'clarity' which is largely taken to mean 'pronunciation' in vocal music, is a distinct, perceptible quality of music itself.

All in all, Smt TS Sathyavathi laid out her complete musical paradigm very articulately and plainly in the span of the lecdem.

[arasi]

Srikant,
Thanks! I have heard her lecdem once (and several concerts) and came to know how articulate she is besides being a scholarly and impressive vocalist.
And, I like her style--a no-nonsense one which draws even the unlettered listeners into the fold.

#4 are the kaNakku-minded listeners, I guess.
#1, the vanilla flavor is well understood.

Dare we all claim to be yOgi jana just because we happen to have our own own tastes? !!