Sri Sadasiva Brahmendral Aradhana, Shruti Laya (New York)

[ShrutiLaya]

Sri Sadasiva Brahmendral Aradhana, Shruti Laya (New York), June 26 2010; Group singing followed by a concert by Smt. Kiranavali Vidyasankar

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, a grand Sadasiva Brahmendral Aradhana was celebrated by Shruti Laya in conjunction with the Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation.

The event consisted of two parts. First there was a group singing of five of the saint's compositions. A large group of almost fifty, including music teachers Smt. Savitri Ramanand, Smt. Ranganayaki Srinivasan, Smt. Nivedita Shivaraj, Smt.Hymadevi Nibhanipudi, and many students - adults and children - participated in this homage to Sri.Sadasiva Brahmendral.

This was followed by a grand vocal concert by Smt. Kiranavali Vidyasankar with K.V.S.Vinay on the violin, and Pravin Sitaram on the mridangam. Most rasikas are familiar with Sri. Sadasiva Brahmendral's compositions as tukkadas or fillers between other major compositions. Smt. Kiranavali had clearly put in a lot of effort to establish that a full fledged Carnatic concert can be constructed purely from his compositions.

Song List:

1. Sthirata nahi nahi re - Sriranjani - Rupaka
2. Tattvajeevadwam - Keeravani - Adi
3. Bhajare gopalam - Hindolam - Adi
4. Khelati mama hrdaye - Athana - Adi
5. Bhajare raghuveeram - Kalyani - Mishra Chapu
6. Smaravaram varam - Sindhubhairavi - Adi
7. Chetahshri ramam - Surati - Adi
8. Sarvam brahmamayam - Madhuvanti - Adi
9. Bruhimukundeti - Kurinji - Adi
10. Anandapoorna bodhoham - Madhyamavati - Khanda Chapu

Video of the aradhana portion, pictures and more details are at our website (shrutilaya.org) but I am hoping one of the rasikas who attended will write a more in depth review!

To our knowledge, this is the one of the first aradhanas of Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra outside India (I know this rash statement will bring on many counter examples!) and we are extremely happy to have had this privilege.

- Sreenadh

[kssr]

It is very true that there are only aradhanas of Thyagaraja, Purandaradas and sometimes MD and SS. Great thought to have brought the spotlight on Sadasiva Brahmendral. Congratulations.

What were the five songs selected for group singing?
How long was the concert?
Are all the songs in the concert SB's composition?
In what languages has he composed?
Can someone write about SB and his music? This will be agood thread to educate on SB.

Best of luck to Shruti Laya for more such successful events in the future. You can also write about the organisation itself for our knowledge.

[VK RAMAN]

Here is a brief: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadasiva_Brahmendra

[tambram]

Here is the link to the exact page on the Shrutilaya website. It contains a more detailed review of the concert as well: http://shrutilaya.org/events/06-26-2010-sb/index.html

[ShrutiLaya]

Thank you, Tambram, for posting the exact link.

@KSSR, the five songs selected for group singing were

Thunga Tharange Gange (Kuntalavarali)
Pibare Ramarasam (YamunaKalyani)
Bhajare Gopalam Maanasa Bhajare Gopalam (Hindolam)
Maanasa Sancharare (Sama)
Bhajare Yadunaadham (Peelu)

We felt these were some of the more well known songs, and easy to learn for a larger group. The concert that followed was a little under two hours. All the songs in the concert were Sadasiva Brahmendral compositions. As far as I am aware, he has composed only in Sanskrit.

I am not very knowledgeable about Sadasiva Brahmendral myself (apart from what is commonly available on the internet). But the main inspiration behind this aradhana came from Dr. Andali Raghunath, who comes from Nerur, the birthplace of SB. The jeeva samadhi of Sri.SB is still there, and his aradhana is celebrated (with a few local singers) in May. Sri. Raghunath has been trying to renovate the area around the Jeeva Samadhi, build a guest house etc., I will request him to write a few lines, and perhaps share some of the photographs from the recent celebration in Nerur.

- Sreenadh