M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 25 Feb 2007, 20:47

wonderful!

Arun

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 26 Feb 2007, 05:47

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/08/15/st ... 322200.htm

The vilambita kaala gaanam during Kathakali dance performances influenced his delivery of Carnatic songs, he once acknowledged.

And with his 'abhinaya' on stage, an MDR kutcheri itself was like a kathakali performance, a friend of mine told me once!

meena · Post by **meena** » 03 Mar 2007, 06:12

another lovely comp. of sree mdr's -hariyum haranum - aThANA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa8TjGEpxPs

and my fav. sAgara Sayana - bAgeSrI,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYnpvdDYcrs

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 03 Mar 2007, 06:20

Meena! this is brilliant stuff! Thanks so much.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 03 Mar 2007, 10:46

A beautiful Reethigoula and a composition of Mysore Vasudevachariar.
http://rapidshare.com/files/19135098/02 ... igowla.mp3

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Mar 2007, 12:32

Thanks Meena. Prince Ravi Varma has an excellent voice. His finesse works very well on the bAgeSrI piece, it was quite soulful but not so much with the aThANA where the usual aThANA punch is missing ( sounded more like kanada to me when he sings in that melismatic manner at the end of pallavi and anupallavi )

kaapi · Post by **kaapi** » 03 Mar 2007, 20:52

vasanthakokilam wrote:T ( sounded more like kanada to me

Yes. It did sound like kAnada at those places.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 03 Mar 2007, 21:02

i thought it was quite legit aTANA throughout. It was presented with a different rasa than the more common vIra rasa. aTANA is indeed allied with kAnaDa and i think has some phrases common with characteristic phrases of kAnaDA (m-d combination), and perhaps the similarity becomes accentuated in a relaxed rendering of aTANA.

Arun

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Mar 2007, 23:46

and perhaps the similarity becomes accentuated in a relaxed rendering of aTANA.

Yup. What he chose to end the pallavi and anupallavi and the relaxed rendering caused the accentuation of the similarity ( you have a way with words Arunk

)

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 04 Mar 2007, 00:32

.

I heard it again (actually i love this composition and the prince has done a wonderful job - great voice, excellent nidAnam). I dont know the precise swaras in the phrasing at the finish of the pallavi part, but i think the anuswaras employed in gamakas there cannot really occur in kAnaDa (dha has shades of kakali - which is of course allowed and quite common in aTANA but i think never in kAnaDA). He does after this end with d/r'....s'.... - but that is not unique to kanada alone - a very common ending. The anupallavi is also similar although i think phrasing is slightly different - to my ears there is a definite shade of kakali in the dha, which cannot be kAnaDA.

My 2 cents - people can of course correct any mistakes in my interpretation.

Arun

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 04 Mar 2007, 00:34

I couldn't hear any kanada in his rendition. Just atana.

"pannaga shayanan hari
pannaga bhUshaNan haran"

Wonderful sahityam indeed!

meena · Post by **meena** » 04 Mar 2007, 04:10

jayaram/VK ur welcome

kaapi · Post by **kaapi** » 04 Mar 2007, 11:55

arunk and jayaram I am not able to agree with you. I heard MDR's version just now ( this is a commercial release and hence I am unable to upload ) and it was atANa all the way. Rama Verma brings in a lot of kAnaDa when he ends the pallavi with sn1r1s.

annapoorne · Post by **annapoorne** » 04 Mar 2007, 13:06

Today's morning AIR 9 a.m. concert - MDR- V Thiagarajan - T K Murthy.
Just Merusamana, Meenakshi memudam and Nadupai.
Neraval, swaram at Madhu madha moditha......and after the thani avarthanam
he finishes off with Madhu........mahadevaa. A wonderful concert.

srinivasasarma · Post by **srinivasasarma** » 04 Mar 2007, 19:23

i heard one more charanam of "hariyum haranum" atana - recently, may be you all know !

Venu ghAna lolan hari veenA pathiyAm haran
vedangalai meettan hari vedha roopaney haran
Anavangalai kalaivAn hari thAnuvAga iruppAn haran
Veenaha pEsiyadellam varadadAsan sol thappAdu ... hariyum (this is what i cud understand)

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 04 Mar 2007, 19:36

The full lyrics here: http://mdramanathan.com/compositions.htm

meena · Post by **meena** » 05 Mar 2007, 00:38

srinivasasarma

here is the 'corrected version':

hariyum haranum. rAgam: aThANA. tAlam: Adi.

P: hariyum haranum onrE enru ariyAdarum uLarO
sari pArttu SolvArE sAdhu janangaL sanmadhi idE
A: parivuDan padinAngu lOkangaLai pAlittaruLvAn hari
paSu pASa vimOchanan haran paragatiyai aruLvAnE
C1:pannaga Sayanan hari pannaga bhUshaNan haran (sau)
bhAgyalakshmi piriyAda hari pAdi umai bhAgan haran
pANDavanukku sArathi hari pASupadam koDuttAn haran
vENDinAl aruLvAr iruvarum varada dAsan Sol taTTAdu
C2: vEnu gAna lOlan hari vINA pANiyAm haran
vEdanaigaLai tIrpAn hari veda rUpanE haran
ANavangaLai kaLaivAn hari sAdhuvAga iruppAn haran
vINAga peccu idellAm varada dAsan Sol taTTAdu

ajith · Post by **ajith** » 06 Mar 2007, 12:53

Dear All,

I just joined today and thought of asking about an MDR Kriti on the Lord Poornatrayeesa of Tripunithura temple,Kerala set to Poornachandrika Raga??

Appreciate your input..

Good Day!

-Ajith.

srinivasasarma · Post by **srinivasasarma** » 08 Mar 2007, 17:43

meena

thanks a lot. guruvayoorappa

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 08 Mar 2007, 17:52

meena,
is it not 'sadhu janangal kannin maniye'?

mdrbalaji · Post by **mdrbalaji** » 08 Mar 2007, 22:13

The lyrics meena provided is correct.

Sometimes in the end, he adds "oru sillar OLarE"!!!:)

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 08 Mar 2007, 22:59

mdrbalaji wrote:The lyrics meena provided is correct.

Sometimes in the end, he adds "oru sillar OLarE"!!!:)

Good one!

meena · Post by **meena** » 09 Mar 2007, 02:02

Sometimes in the end, he adds "oru sillar OLarE"!!!smile

Thats the beauty of sree mdr and the excitement i get when i listen to his music . Its his innovation

Always a surprise. Its that aha moment!

venkat , another 'die-hard fan' of sree mdr's - has summarized sree mdr music ( PL. note its just his opinion):

The divine music of M D Ramanathan

These are jottings (and quite possibly over-eulogized at that) of a fan of the great M D Ramanathan. As far as possible, the examples should elucidate the point being made. Please understand that many of the opinions are those of the author. However, the examples are all authentic. Only what we infer from them differs from person to person.

Innovation: Undoubtedly innovation and creativity stand out in MDR's music. They keep surfacing and you have no choice but to admire them. You may dislike his voice, the tempo or the lack of a fixed pattern, but the innovation â€“ yes, it is there for all to see; no doubt about it. I'll keep coming back to this in each aspect of his music. Each time you listen to the same song (in different concerts) you can find differences. Even in songs like endarO. Sometimes, the style itself changes as in the various instances of nATTai.

However, let me point out a few things here that won't fall in the other categories. In one concert, the audience applauds after the supposed end of the song (endarO). Then, while still keeping count of the tALam, he continues with niraval and svaram! Or take the case of bAlagOpAla where he sang some kalpana svaram, then went back to niraval and followed it up with svaram.

Understanding of sAhityam: The innovation does not stop with the music alone. It enters the realm of sAhityam and when MDR does that, you know what the song is meant to be. You may complain that the words are not clear, but if you know the words of the song, learn from him their splitting.

In a rendering of kAmAkshI, he splits the words correctly to sing

nA cintala vEvEga dIrchAmmAyipuDu (kAmAkshI)

Most people sing this line as nA cintala vEvEgati and cammAyipuDu (kAmAkshI), which has no meaning.

In the same song, where most people sing sampadalaniccEvipuDuma | ... ... kabhayamI ... yyavE, he sings

sampadalaniccEvipuDu | mAku ... ...abhayamI ... yyavE

Of course, such things may affect the preset talam.

His innovation in sAhityam is borne out by the rendering of vAtApi where he sings the line "praNava svarUpa vakra tunDam" and waits for seven beats. Then he sings

Om (last vIcu of Adi tALam) praNava svarUpa ...

These small things (like the more famous akhila, nikhila, sakala interchanges, (tri)(jagat)(amba) etc.) add a personal touch to the song.

Tempo: The unmistakable characteristic of MDR's music, his tempo is slower than that of other people's, but not necessarily slow by itself. Some of his music, like a few of his kEdArams or nATakuranjIs, is extremely rapid. But, generally, there's no better way to put it than saying (in Tamizh)

nirutti nidAnamA, anubhaviccu pADuvAr

His yadukula kAmbhOjIs are always slow, but bear in mind that muttusvAmi dIkshitar chose this rAgam for shani because Saturn is the slowest planet.

Silence: Only if you have slow music, can you use the power of silence. How many times I've "heard" nothing in a concert. The effect can only be felt and is really wonderful, but none better than in mEru samAna. In this case, the violinist, mridangist, ghaTam artiste and MDR all stop after the anupallavi and start simultaneously an Avartam later. The effect is simply wonderful. In the interim, you can hear all the little noises around you.

Anupallavi starts: Many a time MDR would start from the anupallavi of a song. These are invariably anupallavis that have sancArams in the higher octave, or they have lot of emotional power.

Examples would be kShInamai, where, I assure you, the effect is grand. So too in varugalAmO and mOkShamu, where once he's supposed to have stunned Lalgudi Jayaraman himself. Another feature of his music, which requires that the listener has heard an earlier (traditional) rendition of the kriti, is what I call "atIta sangati" (taken after atIta graha in tALa) or pre-sangatis. He was a master at doing a mini-neraval of the opening line of a song before singing the traditional tune. For example, mahAnubhAvulu in endarO, rAma bhakti in apa rAma bhakti, similar to what MS does, and indeed he did, in sogasugA mRdanga tALamu.

tALam: An amazing master of tALam, he would be distracted several times before picking up from where he left off. Typical distractions are mike problems or his mini-speeches to the audience. But these didn't prevent him from singing aTa tALa varNams in misra gati Adi tALam.

AlApanais: His rAgam AlApanais smacked of the rAgam. He was popularly credited with the ability to make each svaram carry the stamp of the rAgam. They say of him

avarODu ovvoru svarattilum rAgam teriyum

Besides, his raga renditions had some uncharacteristic phrases that one normally associates with instruments. I'm inclined to call it "disjointed svarams", i.e. one svaram completely unrelated to the previous one. He had even disjointed svarams during svara kalpana, these things succeeding on account of the impeccable svarasthAnam.

Check this out for example. In an AlApanai of rAmapriyA, he has sung Ri^ ni ma ri. Who would expect such a thing from a vocalist? Maybe with Mali, but from a vocalist! Or examine one of his shankarAbharaNams: it has a lot of Western-type plain notes and the famous Sa^ pa sa, which he's used so often. Maybe you can feel the effect in the hamsadhvani svaram pa ni; Sa^ pa, ga ni; sa, ri karAmbuja pAsha..." As can be expected, patterned swaram by MDR is rare.

Interpolation: Apart from entire silence in the hall, there are many cases of MDR keeping silent. Sometimes the violinist and the mridangist, or only the mridangist continue. But there lies the beauty of it. By then, the listener has got a grasp of the context of the AlApanai, song, svaram or whatever, and the listener fills in the gaps. Probably, MDR was the only artiste to make full use of Rabindranath Tagore's observation in a poem on music:

The listener sings in the mind

(Unfortunately, I've forgotten the name of the poem. I read it in my English text book in IITM)

These gaps are not to be confused with the typical prolonged gaps between stanzas of a song. These actually come suddenly in the middle of a burst of innovation.

Of the many examples of interpolation, the hamsadhvani svaram (gajavadana, rUpakam, varadadAsa) is simplest for even a beginner. He sings in fast pace

sa,; ri ga pa ga ri -

ri,; ga pa ni pa ga -

ga,; pa --------------

pa,; ------------------

ni; Sa Ri ------------

Sa; Ri Ga Pa Ga Ri

Where the dots appear, MDR is silent, while the violinist takes over. The sequence is so compelling that we have to fill in the gaps.

mandra sthAyi sancArams: Can one leave this aspect out? Even though the world knows about it, some examples are in order.

In the kAmAkshI svarajati, the audibility in the first caraNam is amazing. In one shrI AlApanai, he finishes off at madra sa and attempts to reach anumandra ni and pa!!! In a tODI AlApanai, he weaves a brilliant, soothing tODI in the mandra styAyi for about three minutes, again reaching mandra sa. It's hard to imagine someone singing the tODI ga with its full gamakam in the mandra sthAyi.

Innovation is innovation: In all the concerts of MDR that I've heard, there is NO instance of his having employed the makuTa svaram. If ever, he has used at most the first two lines of the popular makuTa svaram. (Note that the kEdAram makuTa svaram in tyAgarAjagurumAshrayE is part of a ciTTa svaram)

All said and done, makuTa svaram is a blemish on svara kalpana, because it is prepared, and to use prepared material in svara kalpana would go against MDR's principles. In fact, the makuTa svaram is often left to interpolation, maybe with the attitude, "You know it as well as I do"

The other side of innovation:

He was totally at ease on stage and maybe that is what led to the innovation. But then, creativity and perfection are two sides of the same coin. In one rendering of kAmAkshI, he sings the first line of the sAhityam, realizes that he hasn't yet sung the svaram and goes back to it. In the same concert, he starts varugalAmO in normal shruti, and then he changes to madhyama shruti. What is interesting is his recognition of this trade-off between creativity and perfection. There are instances (so I've heard from a friend) when he has not succeeded in some extempore attempt and he has acknowledged these immediately. But, don't let this bother you â€“ for the creativity that he's shown, his execution accuracy is amazing, almost super-human. These examples are only exceptions, in the real sense of the term, in successful attempts.

These are some of the things that drew me to MDR and I remain forever his ardent fan. For those of you who feel that certain important things have been missed out, please put it down to human lapses. "What happened to the melody of kApi or the power of nATTai?" you may ask, but then one can't pin everything down, can he?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 09 Mar 2007, 02:42

Aha, Meena, thank you for that wonderful excerpt!
A hug for you.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Mar 2007, 03:17

Jayaram,
He understood and enunciated the sAhityam correctly!

meena · Post by **meena** » 09 Mar 2007, 04:25

ajith wrote:I just joined today and thought of asking about an MDR Kriti on the Lord Poornatrayeesa of Tripunithura temple,Kerala set to Poornachandrika Raga??

ajith
welcome to the forum !
where did u hear this kriti? and is the audio clip available? thanks

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 09 Mar 2007, 05:51

Ravi - yes, but he also used silences quite effectively, so I suppose that evens it out!

MDR rasikas, please see the 'Speeches at kutcheris' thread for MDR Padmasri felicitation speeches.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 09 Mar 2007, 07:23

Here is a partial review of a recently released double CD of MDR: http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/03/09/stor ... 580500.htm

Like the reviewer, last year I received a duplicate CD in the packaging. I emailed the recording company (Rajalakshmi Audio) and they promptly posted me the proper CD.

mdrbalaji · Post by **mdrbalaji** » 09 Mar 2007, 10:00

Mohan,

a small correction.. the recording was released by Charsur & not Rajalakshmi Audio.. or is this a different concert released by RA?? Could you pl confirm.

Thanks,
Balaji

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 09 Mar 2007, 17:26

No - I meant the duplicate CD I got it was a Sikkil Bhaskaran recording by Rajalakshmi Audio

meena · Post by **meena** » 10 Mar 2007, 02:44

Sree mdr recording that Charsur has released, the sindhubhairavi thillana is ALSO a comp. of sree mdr.

This full conc. was shared many many moons ago on xdrive/sangeetham bboard.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 10 Mar 2007, 02:49

How does this copyright work for the old masters? Who makes the money? Do their families see a penny of the profits? I wonder...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Mar 2007, 03:39

jayaram wrote:How does this copyright work for the old masters? Who makes the money? Do their families see a penny of the profits? I wonder...

This deserves a separate thread of it's own. This is not happening to just Sri MDR, but many otherrs as well...Under General Discussion possibly?

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 10 Mar 2007, 10:50

Nice to catch up after a very long break... rshankar, wasn't the copyright issue a discussion long ago, which effectively killed full concerts being shared in this forum? There was the case of Giri Traders bringing out a cd with concerts that were shared by Raju Asokan sir in the old sangeetham forums... The question is when does a recording become copyrighted? Simply because it's brought out commercially, or is it if it is brought out commercially with the full consent of the performers/decendents, in which case they pay royalty?

I think if they implement copyright laws properly, we would see a lot such issues cropping up....

Ninja

ajith · Post by **ajith** » 10 Mar 2007, 11:53

Meena,

Thanks ..I never had a chance to hear this piece..Eversince I came to know that he has written a kriti on Poornathrayeesa started asking MDR fans ..So far no luck..Our Srinivasasarmaji also replied that he has never heard HIM singing this??
Maybe,Balaji can help me??:)

-Ajith.

meena · Post by **meena** » 10 Mar 2007, 12:03

ajith

sree mdr has composed in poornachandrika:
Karunajuda (tanavarnam) and
Rakendu Vadana (kriti)
Do not know if these comp. are on Poornathrayeesa. Like u said only Balaji can confirm.

ajith · Post by **ajith** » 10 Mar 2007, 12:20

meena,

thanks..The kriti am lookin' for starts with Poornathrayeesa only..
We will wait for Balaji's thoughts..

-Ajith

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 10 Mar 2007, 13:30

Yes, there is an MDR kriti 'pUrNa trayESa' in pUrNacandrika rAgam, Adi tALam

srinivasasarma · Post by **srinivasasarma** » 10 Mar 2007, 18:35

meena
Mr. Venkat's reading of MDR is fantastic- i went thru word by word and enjoyed. Honestly now, at 67, i feel sad
that i have not learnt carnatic music technically too. 0fcourse i am fortunate in listening many many concerts in Mds
of MDR. I am proud to be one of his fans, or fanatics !
i do remember once MDR started from anupallavi - sama rAga - mAnasa sanchararE. A Great person indeed.

mdrbalaji · Post by **mdrbalaji** » 13 Mar 2007, 08:39

Friends,

He has definitely composed on Poorna Trayesha, if i am right he is the presiding deity in Tirupunathara. There is also one composition "Vatapatrashayee Pahimam" & please give me some days to find out. I definitely don't have any audio versions of the above compositions, & his compositions are in Telugu and one of my friend helps me to read his notes.

Dear Srinivas Sir,
Thanks for sharing interesting anectodes about my father. Please share with all rasikas your priceless memories of live experiences of his concerts.

Ragjay · Post by **Ragjay** » 13 Mar 2007, 21:08

The concert of MDR mentioned in page 10 by vasya is a Bangalore concert and the accompaniyng artist are TNK ang UKS . If my memory serves me right it is a Fort Ram Seva Mandli concert in the mid 70s Bye Ragjay

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 14 Mar 2007, 10:13

http://www.badongo.com/file/2460500

nice alapana

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 14 Mar 2007, 11:07

Ragjay: thank you for providing information regarding the concert.

Kji: thanks for the alapana.

unique indeed!! as always.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 14 Mar 2007, 11:29

divakar
sometimes I feel like hoarding rare MDR stuff so that they come in handy when we go throigh long periods without hearing from you..

wonder which concert recording was used to pluck this..

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 14 Mar 2007, 12:13

Kji
i'm regular in lyrics section.
with MDR i dont need invitation. i listen to him daily. this alapana is very rare indeed. it is unique in a true sense since no one can reproduce the same, ever.
that Voice is unique as also the manner in which he renders. soulful.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 14 Mar 2007, 12:57

Divakarji
I treasure this more for the violin bit- together they float on HM territory (to my ears ).
It is a priceless bit indeed.

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Mar 2007, 23:35

The pantuvarali alapana is from the RTP - pantuvarali - Navarathri Mandapam 1975 concert with Sree V. Thyagarajan and Sree Palghat Raghu

mdrbalaji · Post by **mdrbalaji** » 15 Mar 2007, 00:15

I heard this RTP for the first time almost 15 - 20 years ago, when Prince Rama Varma called me for a ride in his white ambassador. He played this in the car as we travelled through the traffic less (then!!!) Besant Avenue Road in Adyar. I didn't realize the effect of this beautiful musical piece on external reality. The same road that i would have travelled umpteen times appeared fresh & i felt as though my father was driving me through to notice the exterior beauty. It was truly a unique unforgettable experience.

The Bhavayami in this concert is also special, if i am right it is for almost 30 minutes. Especially when he starts Mohanam & Raghu mama's accompaniment is awesome.

meena · Post by **meena** » 15 Mar 2007, 00:46

balaji

incase u missed the alapana video clip. Kji has posted the link here:
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=41121#p41121

mdrbalaji · Post by **mdrbalaji** » 16 Mar 2007, 00:45

Ajith,

Here's the composition on Lord Purnathrayesha..

Ragam: Poornachandrika
Talam: Adi

(P)poornathrayesa pAhimAm
pUrnAnanda sahitha rakshamAm

(AP) karna sOdhara prathistitha prayO
karUnAsAgara kAmithaphaladA

(C) poornachandrikA sammruduhAsa
purita yakta manOrata vEpa(ta??) ba-
vArNava mana janOdaraka sa-
rvEsa sreesha varadadAsa sannuta

There is one more in Bilahari

Talam Adi

(P) paripAhimam poornathrayesa
varabhaktha jana hrudyavesha

(AP) varapAndava prathistitha prayO
varadAna nipuNa vandaneeya viyo

(C) varakeraLa dEsha prayAva
varamaddalAdi vAdya susEva
paramAdbuta tEjO maya rUpa
varadAkila sri varadadAsa sannuta

This link gives more about Lord Poornathrayeesa. It is believed that Arjuna built this temple & that is why in both the anu-pallavis, he uses Karna Sodhara & Vara Pandava..

http://www.keralaiyers.com/temple_poorn ... 5944f83f95