DR. RADHA BHASKAR AT VANI MAHAL-14/2

[CRama]

Dr.Radha Bhaskar accompanied by Usha Rajagopalan on the violin, Nellai Balaji on the Mridangam and Nerkunam Sankar on the Ganjira presented a thematic concert- THYAGARAJA SANGEETHA ANUBHAVAM, as a part of the on going Thyagaraja Aradhana Celebrations. List of songs.

Sree Ganapathinee- Saurashtram
Bale balendu bhooshani-Reethigowla (R)
Manasayetulo-Malayamarutham (R)
Bagayanayya-Chandrajothi (R,S)
Kaligiyuntegada-Keeravani (R,S), Tani
Sree Rama sree rama-Sahana
Vadanadyuthi-Panthuvarali
Nagumomu-Madhyamavathy
Pavamana-Mangalm

Dr.Radha Bhaskar and Mudhra Bhaskar has taken it as a mission to build up a base of knowledgeable rasikas. I read an article in Sruti about the proliferation of talented young musicians- but whom they would sing for? A very pertinent question in today’s context- because the majority audience in any concert is of people above 50. So there is a need for introducing the taste for CM in the minds of youngsters and the Bhaskars are doing their yeomen service in this direction through their Music Appreciation Programmes and thematic lec-dems. Even for musically inclined rasikas, such lec dems provide wealth of information which will help us to enjoy a regular concert in a more profound manner.
The concert started with a solemn Sree Ganapathini. At the introduction , RB spoke about the greatness of Thyagaraja and his compositions.

Thyagaraja kritis are outstanding and unparalleled creations of music with an admirable blend of sahithya and sangita bhava.
He introduced notable variety in ragas, talams, kalapramanams.
His creations are epitome of structural beauty.
He has composed 700+ compositions in more than 200 ragams of which more than 100 ragams have been created by him.
His compositions are pregnant with bhakthi, craftsmanship, spiritualilty, musical values, simplicity, and a host of emotions.
He introduced many rare ragams and composed beautiful kritis in them to show the structure of the ragams which had been a model for the succeeding composers.
He introduced the concept of sangathis at appropriate lines of the kritis. He very intelligently created the sangathis to suit the context of the lines of the songs. RB demonstrated how it synchronised with the bhavam conveyed in the sahithyam by taking up Etavunera.

Eventhough majority of his compositions are in telugu, there are many in sanskrit and in manipravalam. He seamlessly combined telugu and Sanskrit in some of the songs. To illustrate this, she took up Bale balendu bhooshani in Reethigowla. An alapana of the ragam was presented and the attention was drawn to the last two lines starting Naamanasuna in telugu which blend seamlessly with the rest of the lines in Sanskrit. (To be continued)

[CRama]

(Continued)

His compositions are the benchmarks for the contours of the ragams like Malayamarutham, Bindumalini, Kalyanavasantham etc. He created the ragam Malayamarutham by omitting the Ma of Chakravakam. RB sang a very good alapana of ragam Malayamarutham and followed up with the kriti Manasayetulo.
Another creation of Thyagaraja is the ragam Chandrajothi and two kritis in that ragam- Bagayanayya and Sasivadana. RB sang the former and decorated with a few doses of kalpana swaras. She demonstrated how the scales are clearly shown in the beginning of the song itself in both the kritis.

Melakarta ragas like Kharaharapriya, Thodi, Harikambodi have become immensely popular due to the wealth of Thyagaraja kritis in them- each kriti different in terms of eduppu, structure, laya intricacies, bhavam, contour of the ragam etc. Sreeranjini and Abhogi are two janya ragams of KHP. Thyagaraja has created Jayamanohari by a combination of these two ragams. Here also in the Kriti Nee bhakthi bhagyasudha, the arohanam and avarohanam are clearly shown in the first two lines.

Thyagaraja has composed Kaligiyuntegada in Keeravani- a Melakarta raga. This was taken as the main song. Elaborate alapana of Keeravani and swaras at Bahugasree Raghu provided the required manodharmam quotient to make the concert an enjoyable fair. Thyagaraja has created two janya ragams out of Keeravani- Kalyanavasantham and Kiranavali. Here also RB demonstrated how the arohanam and avarohanam are clearly shown in the pallavi itself in the songs.

Thyagaraja has adopted varying formats for his kritis. He was a trendsetter in this aspect. The widely used format is pallavi, anupallavi, charanam in which the second half of charanam follows the tune of the anupallavi. (eg, Bandureethi). This is the format mostly adopted by later day composers. However, in some kritis like Ramabhirama in Durbar, it is pallavi, anupallavi and charanam and the first half of charanam is in sync with the pallavi and second half of charanam in sync with anupallavi. In the Divayanama sankeerthanam and utsava sampradaya keerthanam, it is pallavi and many charanams in the same tune. Here the language and tune is very simple for people to sing along. To show this point, RB sang the Divyanama keerthanam- Sree Rama Sree Rama in Sahana. Some songs have multi charanams with different mettu –like Brochevarevare in Sreeranjini. Many songs have three charanams in the same mettu like that adopted by Syama Sastri. Neverthless we sing only one charanam- mostly the charanam having the mudra. Thyagaraja has also composed some songs with madhyamakala sahithyam following the pattern adopted by MD. Eg Eesa pahimam in Kalyani. Thyagaraja has given us a treasure trove of music. The complexion of Carnatic music concert got changed after the time of Thyagaraja.

Another distinctive characteristic of Thyagaraja kritis are the varying eduppus. RB gave examples of varying eduppus- like sama edam, kaal edam, ara edam, mukkal edam, naalu talli, 1 ½ edam etc. She presented a medley of songs having eduppu at 1 ½ edam (only first line) which included Brovabharama, Teliyaleru rama, Marugelara, Bandureethi, Enthanerchina, Ganamurthy, Tanavaritanamu, Bagayanayya and Etiyochanalu.

Panthuvarali is a sampoorna melakarta ragam. But Thyagaraja has used limited range of this raga and composed the Utsava sampradaya keerthanam- Vadanadyuti. Similarly using the mid range of swaras of Madhyamavathy, he has composed Nagumomu.

We are able to enjoy the concerts just because of the musicality in them- even without understanding the philosophical message or spiritual content in them. That is the greatness of his music. Understanding these nuances will enable us to enjoy the concert in an exhalted manner.

Usha Rajagopalan’s violin was sweet and pleasant throughout. Her alapanas of Reethigowla, Malayamarutham, Chandrajothi and Keeravani were soulful. The percussion team played with good understanding.

Thanks to Radha Bhaskar and the organisers for enlightening us on various subtelities of Thyagaraja kritis. Overall a very good programme.

[Govindaswamy]

Is the recording of this programme available

[CRama]

Vani Mahal would have recorded the audio. But remote possibility of accessing it.