Recently, I was introduced to the Veena of Shri Parthasarathy by Shri Nageswaran under the topic of Veena S. Balachander which I started a few months ago. After listening to the wonderful Veena of Shri Parthasarathy, I feel he deserves a stand-alone topic dedicated to exploring his Veena and music.
Sadly, for reasons I seriously cannot fathom, Shri Parthasarathy has been relatively unknown to the Carnatic audience. This does not mean that he has been unknown to the institution of Carnatic music organizations. I venture to say, that the institution of Carnatic music and possibly even Vainikas who have seen his great talent have done nothing to bring him forth to the greater audience. And, for this you and I - the general lovers of music and Veena in particular, pay the price - we have been denied this great opportunity to experience his immense vidwat, manodharma and expertise on the Veena.
Shri Parthasarathy redefines the standards for contemporary Veena music, walking the path of the legendary Veena S. Balachander.
All Vainikas with an objective mind cannot deny the virtuosity and greatness of Shri Parthasarathy - or his music and his rightful position as a great Carnatic, Classical Vainika.
I have started a new sub-series within the SB Homage series on youtube dedicated to such Vainikas. I am thrilled to start off the "Living Spirit of SB" series with the first video of Shri Parthasarathy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98i6Xwsyh08
Since youtube limits a video to be at most 10 minutes, I will split the video concert I have from Shri Nageswaran and present them in this new series in the following days.
A verse from Gray's poem comes to mind:
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Let us not let that happen and take on a collective conscience to respect and enshrine such wonderful talent, gift and divince music.
Peace and best regards,
Gopal
Veena Virtuoso: Shri Parthasarathy
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S.NAGESWARAN
- Posts: 1076
- Joined: 11 Feb 2009, 08:54
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mgkumars
- Posts: 40
- Joined: 25 Sep 2007, 07:07
The only dark-mark that the so called "classicists" could burden Shri Parthasarathy with is that he has played in the film industry - and, let me add, he is a veteran Vainika in the film industry.
To directly counter their arguments, the video clipping on youtube shows that Shri Parthasarathy is not only eminently capable of playing chaste Carnatic music but also in way few of the top Vainikas today can play. Now I can almost hear whispers from these classicists that Shri Parthasarathy is not a traditionalist.
I would like to differentiate between tradition and convention. Shri Parthasarathy might be an unconventional Vainika - but, by no means can he be called a deviator from tradition.
Tradition is a great magnanimous edifice that simply provides basic but firm ground rules. Convention, on the other hand, is a specific interpretation of that grand body of tradition. We often mistake convention for tradition. Convention is simply a common practice. Tradition can be a timeless entity - but its interpretations in the form of convention is mostly a passing fad.
So, when one tends to think of Shri Parthasarathy as an un-traditional Carnatic musician - please pause to define to yourself what you mean by tradition?
The greatest impediment to art and science comes from popular and rampant misconceptions and an unmitigated spread of these wrong beliefs.
To praise someone one does not need knowledge - but, when we choose to criticize, we must halt for a moment - and we must think if we have the right knowledge and facts to do so and further the courage and conviction to bear the great responsibility for its consequences
Sadly, these responsible forces were absent and therefore Shri Parthasarathy remains an unknown name to those open-minded, open-armed lovers of Classical music in its truest traditional form.
To directly counter their arguments, the video clipping on youtube shows that Shri Parthasarathy is not only eminently capable of playing chaste Carnatic music but also in way few of the top Vainikas today can play. Now I can almost hear whispers from these classicists that Shri Parthasarathy is not a traditionalist.
I would like to differentiate between tradition and convention. Shri Parthasarathy might be an unconventional Vainika - but, by no means can he be called a deviator from tradition.
Tradition is a great magnanimous edifice that simply provides basic but firm ground rules. Convention, on the other hand, is a specific interpretation of that grand body of tradition. We often mistake convention for tradition. Convention is simply a common practice. Tradition can be a timeless entity - but its interpretations in the form of convention is mostly a passing fad.
So, when one tends to think of Shri Parthasarathy as an un-traditional Carnatic musician - please pause to define to yourself what you mean by tradition?
The greatest impediment to art and science comes from popular and rampant misconceptions and an unmitigated spread of these wrong beliefs.
To praise someone one does not need knowledge - but, when we choose to criticize, we must halt for a moment - and we must think if we have the right knowledge and facts to do so and further the courage and conviction to bear the great responsibility for its consequences
Sadly, these responsible forces were absent and therefore Shri Parthasarathy remains an unknown name to those open-minded, open-armed lovers of Classical music in its truest traditional form.
Last edited by mgkumars on 07 Apr 2009, 23:43, edited 1 time in total.