Balachander Concert 1967 - multiple sangathis of siva siva siva enaradha

[ranjanimalavi]

I thought the sangathis played by Balachandar to demonstrate siva siva enaradha (i counted 9, played within 40 seconds) were fantastic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQNuS1E-aTc

Raman

[shankarank]

But the very concept of rAgA abstraction in Indian music demands that such a development is a natural outcome. WHat happened however is the creeping of analytical sangatis, where the reductionist framework of mind started playing with individual notes.

Sri Balachandar rightly notes that, the added sangatis must maintain fidelity to the existing ones handed over.

Pedagogy had a role in this. A Guru had to use a structured way of teaching and the system had to preserve the integrity of compositions. In some cases things got stuck with "pAThantaram". Sticking to "pAThantaram" became a virtue.

In other cases, the pAThAntaram that broke down the music to the note, now became a tool to construct ( analytically) new sangatis. This is when aesthetics were lost a bit.

There are competing agendas here.

[Sachi_R]

I am thoroughly enjoying this concert. Thanks to the Trust and Nadabhrnga, we are treated to a very intimate feel of the maestro's music.

https://youtu.be/gItmEvt_dx4

It is for me always a pity that as natives of this land we have to communicate in English. And water down our communications "for the benefit of our northern and southern bandhus."


I can feel the maestro's reverence for the music of Saint Thyagaraja and the Carnatic vocal idiom. His laya and his shruti quality please me no end. He is negotiating the concert with panache although he himself confesses that he is more into long raga essays or swaras rather than a spree of songs.

The accompaniments on the mridangam and violin are extremely enjoyable. Sri. Ramnad Eswaran has played very well.

The audio quality is great. That SB was not using a contact mic in this concert makes my hypothesis that the contact mic has killed the veena sound valid!

The pluck of S Balachander is unmatched. It has a rough and ready muscular persona. But he does not either caricature vocal music or extrapolate beyond the limits of aesthetics. Perhaps because he was an unrivalled hero, he did not feel the need to stretch his music to such an extent that it would begin to offend as needless gimmickry.

[gardabha_gana]

I loved this vey much... Hearing the Veena w/o the "pickup" was a delight! These days, forget the contact mike, the veena is not left alone You have violin, fusion etc drown the Veena