Karnatic Music Forum Lec Dem

[thanjavooran]

Karnatic Music Forum

Lec Dem by SKA Smt Neela Ramgopal on 02 08 2015 on Kanaka Dasa's compositions. Supported by her disciple Yoga Keerthana.


The program started at 10 15 hrs with very limited rasiskas. Smt Neela Avl thanked the organizers for arranging this Lec Dem in Chennai. She has accepted this with extreme pleasure as she was all these days closely associated with Kannada speaking people and she was happy to speak in Tamil after a long gap. The Lec Dem was in chaste Tamil exhibiting her proficiency in Tamil language too.

Some of the interesting points noted are given below.

Started with invocation song Porumaiyudan ninnadi
The 12th century was considered as dark years as sahithyam was not considered as important for music.
Meru samana Maya malava Gowla This was sung to emphasize the importance of sahithyam for Sangeetham
Sahhithyam should be given due respect / importance
Though Kanakadasa was not possessing technical knowledge in Music, considered sahithyam as his main motive and was a prolific composer. His compositions can fit in C.M and H.Music
Dem
Kesava Nattai as set by Sriman R K Srikantan.
Rudhu Vaibhava Gopala krishna Adiga once refused to preside over a function stating though the music was excellent his creations need not much music.But Shri Narasimhachari refused this statement and his view was different.
Demos
Thore Ruci Mukari
Sesha sayana ninna saveri
Bajiciparukelamaanava Sankarabaranam
Kaku nilyayi was his Mudhra
Ethavaasuni Poorvi kalyani ?
Keerthaneya maadi Hindolam
Jabavamaadi Hindolam
Ninnu nane nenda nonu Varali
Thiruppathi Thimmaiya Folk Nindhasthuthi
Bandha thena vaiyya Govindha setti Folk. This can set in two different thaalam.
Kula kula vennu Madhyamavathi
Ellodum maadu hotte kaki Folk
Easa ninna Samooha ganam Bajan
Ambujathala Surutti
Mangalam

My observation

There were only 30 rasikas. The programme came to an end at 11 20 hrs. Smt Neela Ramgopal is a very learned Musician and promoted lot of disciples. She has a very sweet voice . She has proficiency in Tamil too. The entire Lec was in chaste Tamil. Dr. Sundar's absence was conspicuous. There can be lot of Lyric mistakes request for correction.

Thanjavooran
02 08 2015

[munirao2001]

Thanjavooran Sir,

Thanks for the report on Lec & Demo by Sangeeta Kala Acharya Vidu.Neela Ramgopal, a Scholar besides being a performer and teacher, par excellence.
Sir, NR hails from Kumbakonam and shifted to Bengaluru after the marrage and domiciled in Bengaluru. Bengaluru rasikas and students of Karnataka Sangeetha are enlivened and enriched with her contributions. NR is also a forumite.
My observation based on your report

The 12th century was considered as dark years as sahithyam was not considered as important for music.

It is historically not correct. 12th Century works on 'Pada Sahithya' is mostly lost. Only 'Padya Sahithya' is available. Studying the 'Padya Sahithya' with references to 'gana' 'geetam', 'aalaapana' and 'gaayana', mostly on the 'Keertana' and 'devotional' music content, the Sahithyam and sangeetha were emphasized having equal importance for 'bhaava prakatana' and embalishment with primacy for Sahithya bhaavam. Art form of music was in nascent form. Sangeeta sampradaya inheritance only through karna parampara and through the works of Vyasa Koota and Daasa Koota Saints , Composers and practitioners.

munirao2001

[harimau]

Smt Neela Avl thanked the organizers for arranging this Lec Dem in Chennai. She has accepted this with extreme pleasure as she was all these days closely associated with Kannada speaking people and she was happy to speak in Tamil after a long gap. The Lec Dem was in chaste Tamil exhibiting her proficiency in Tamil also.

As Sri Munirao has pointed out, Smt Neela Ramgopal is a native of Tanjore district who is domiciled in Bangalore after her wedding to her husband who was employed at HAL.

Her proficiency in Tamil should not surprise anyone; perhaps her fluency in Kannada should!

As to your comments about her music, all I can say is that it is not the kind that gets your blood pumping and your toe tapping, which seems to be the criteria for being popular with the Chennai audience. For that, i would go to a bar. However, it invites the listener to listen carefully, introspect on it and internalise it, leading to greater appreciation of the nuances of Carnatic music. I remember a concert some 5 years ago in Brahma Gana Sabha where she sang an all-Tamil concert reaching back into the 1940s for songs that were popular at that time. It was so fantastic that a veteran mridangist said to me that it was a pity a recording wouldn't be available for people to listen again and again and savour the music.

I would add that I haven't heard such a comment by this veteran mridangist about any other musician.

That says volumes about Neela mami's music more than any titles or awards she has received so far. Equally, it speaks volumes about the inability of Chennai sabhas and audience to recognise the values her music promotes.

[thanjavooran]

Shri Harimau,
Excellent! One point is not clear to me. Are you praising the Vidwat of Vidushi Smt Neela Ramgopal or / by underestimating the calibre of Chennai Rasikas?
Thanjavooran
04 08 2015

[harimau]

Shri Harimau,
Excellent! One point is not clear to me. Are you praising the Vidwat of Vidushi Smt Neela Ramgopal or / by underestimating the calibre of Chennai Rasikas?
Thanjavooran
04 08 2015

Both.

People say it is not only the sishya who looks for a great guru but equally the guru also seeks the right sishya.

Here is a true story.

Smt Neela Ramgopal had not learnt under MLV yet listeners compared her style of singing with MLV's. This reached MLV's ears and when she was invited to present a concert in Bangalore, MLV telephoned Smt Neela Ramgopal and invited her to provide vocal support. When Neela Mami demurred, MLV assured her she would choose for the concerts only those songs that both knew and the concert passed off successfully. This relationship continued for a few concerts more.

Somewhere on another thread, someone talked about two kinds of RTP; one where the musician just swoops over the raga and another where the music grabs hold of the listener like a python (is that a fair paraphrasing?). Chennai Rasikas seem to prefer the former. A non-vegetarian comparison is like shovelling chicken nuggets down one's throat at McDonald's as opposed to leisurely savouring Coq au Vin at a fancy French restaurant.

Mostly we are getting chicken nuggets in Chennai concerts. And the crowd likes it!

[pattamaa]

Talking about neela mami and pallavi... i have heard quite a few live... here is one recording where she sang this misra nadai pallavi impromptu... one rasika asked her to sing a song in keeravani, and she sang his grand pallavi in keeravani !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A9ePSnKYjA

I am sure this is phython pallavi...