Gunagrahi

The International Journal on Music & Dance

VOL. VI

ISSUE. 11

APRIL 2004

/too&sicCee& -2004

M.K. SARASWATHI

Dr.TSACHIDEVI

G.RAVI KIRAN

S.V. BALAKRISHNA

MYSORE V. SHRIKANTH

TUMKUR B RAVISHANKAR

Minister Rani Satish Honouring V.S.Krishna Iyer, Mayor Ramesh, T. V. Dwarakanat
T. R. Satishchandran & S. Krishnamurthi during the Founder’s Day at
Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Fort High School Compound.

[calendar of events

17'" April, Saturday. 5.30 pm.: BTM Cultural Acad-
emy presents violm" dueFby Ranjani and Gayathri at Sri Ramana Maharshi Academy for the
Blind. Ill Phase. JP Nagar. IS" 1 April. Sunday, 6.00 pm.: ‘Bharatanjali* a Bharatanalya feature

by disci pies of Guru B. Bhanumathi (Nritva Kala Mandiram).

2 1 ' to 26"' April.: Sri Tyagaraja Gana Sabha Trust and Sri Mookambika Talavadya

Sangeetha Kalashale present Sri Shankara Jayanthi Sangeethotsava at Sri Vani Education ( entre.
No. 1 246, 4’" main. 2nd stage. Raja j inagar. 2I S| April, Wed.. 5pm : Elute Recital by Master R.
Vijayaraghava and party. 6.30 pm : Inauguration of ‘Sabha Programme* by Kajalakshmi
Thirutiarayan. Chief Guests : M. Srinivas and L.S. Shyama sundara Sharma. 7 pm : Violin Duct
by T.S. Krishnamurthy and B.S. R. Deepak and party. 22 nd April. I burs. 5pm : Vocal Recital by
Bharathi Sriram and parly. 7 pm: Harmonium concert by C. Ramadas and party. 2. , '' a Apiil, Eii..
5 pm : Vocal Recital by Shrulhi Anand and party. 7 pm: Nadavadya Vaibhavu directed by Anoor
Ananthakrishna Sharma. 24'" April. Sat. 5 pm : Vocal Recital by Master Amruth Nagasundar and
party. 7 pm: Flute Duet by B.K. Ananthram and Master Amil A Nadig and party. 25"' April, Sun,

1 0.30 am : Bhakthi Sangeetha by Gudibande Sisters and party. 5.30 pm : Yaledictoi y I unction and
presentation of ‘Kalabhushana award* to Rajalakshmi Thirunarayan by Kamahmath, honouring
and felicitation of artistes. 7 pm: Panchaveena recital by Rajalakshmi Thirunarayan and party.
26"’ April. Mon, 5 pm : Vocal recital by Tejaswini and party. 7 pm: Nadaswara Concert by ML.

Narasimhalu and Anjaneyalu and party.

23 r " April, Friday, 6.30 p m.: Nadajyotlii Sri Thyagarujaswamy Bhajana Sabha pre-
sents Vocal Recital by M.S. Vidya with R. Achutha (Violin), Mysore A Radhesh (Mridanga),
Bellary M. Ramesh (Khanjira) at Sri Kannyakaparameshwari Temple Premises, S'" Cross,

Malleswaram.

24th April. Saturday, 6.30 p m.: Raaga Sudhalaya presents Vocal Recital by Shrulhi

Anand and party at BEL Sri Ganapathy Temple, BEL Colony, Jalahalli.

24"’ April, Saturday. 6 p in.: Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira presents Cultural Evening
Programme in association with Dept, ol Kannada & C n 1 1 lire at Devagiri Sangeetha Sabhangana.
Banashankari II Stage.

IS" 1 April. Sunday, 10 a.m.: Veena Doreswamy Iyengar Memorial Trust presents
“Raga Tana Pallavi” by M.S, Shcela accompanied by Nalina Mohan (Violin), Anoor
Ananthakrishna Sharma (Mridanga), B.K. Chandramouli (Khanjira).

18"’ April, Sunday, 6.30 p.m.: ANANYA presents Karnatak Vocal Recital by Manorama
Prasad accompanied by T.S. Krishnamurthy (Violin), M.A. Krishnamurthy (Mridanga).

25"’ April, Sunday, 6.00 p.m.: Release of Cassette on Vecna Recital “Guru Vandana"
featuring Prashanth Iyengar. The Cassette will be released by R. Visveswaran. This will be
followed by a Veena Recital by Prashanth Iyengar accompanied by K. V. Prasad (Mridanga) and
V. Surcsh (Ghata).

18th April, Sunday at 4. 15 p.m.: Nadasurabhi, presents Rudrapatnam Brothers -
R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanath - Vocal, B.Raghuram - Violin, T.S. Krishnamurthy -
Mridanga A.V. Kashinath - Khanjira at Indian Heritage Academy Hall, Koramangala

Karnataka, s only English International JoumsLL on rrusic and dam*

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Vol. VI

Issue 11

April-2004

Calendar of Events
Music compositions
f rom the Editor General
Sangati— Ananya Sangectotsava
Reviews

Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra

Cassette/CD Review
Leisure

2

4

5
7

11

13

14

15

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3

Music Compositions common to Karnatic music and Bharatanatya

The highly advanced and sophisticated performing arts namely Karnatic Music and Bharatanatya
are preserved well in South India. These two arts which are important parts of Drama in the beginning,
slowly developed and became full-fledged independent arts in the course of time. During the period of
Musical Trinity, Karnatic Music reached its peak and the famous Tanjore Quartette (Ponnayya, Chinnayya,
Sivanandam and Vadivelu) shaped the dance style called Bharatanatya and they had written musical com-
positions for it. These two arts are the two pillars of cultural heritage of India. Naturally we find the same
type of compositions learned and performed in these two arts. Bharatanatya and Karnatic Music are very
popular and any art festival will not be complete without the performance of these two arts.

Dance is entirely dependent on music even though we find in the history of art, dance is earlier
than music. Bharatha, the author of ‘Natya Sastra’ , apportioned seven chapters to music. In Silappadikaram
we find that the dancer Madhavi was well-versed in music too. Abhinaya Darpana says: A dancer should be
able to perform to the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music. Again it is said: A dancer should
sing by her mouth, express the meaning by gestures, bhava with her eyes and beat time with her teet. So,
knowledge of dance will not be complete without the knowledge of music.”

The items: .

The compositions we come across in Bharatanatya programme are Alarippu or Pushpanjali, Jatiswara.

Shabda, Swarajati, Padavama, Pada, Javali and Tillana. All the compositions except alarippu and shabda are
mastered by music students too. They differ only in handling these pieces which are different from dance
performances. Jatiswara is a musical composition with pallavi, anupallavi and charana divisions. This com-
position consists of only swaras. In Karnatic Music, the swarajathis are learnt under technical form No
musician sings them in the performance. The purpose of learning these swarajatis is to know the melodic
aspect of raga, skill of playing instruments, knowledge of 5 nadais in the swara pattern and to know the raga.
All swarajatis can be danced except very few which are meant for improving the skill of veena playing an
to improve the melodic aspect. These swarajatis are not suitable for dance. It is unfortunate that now a days
musicians do not show interest in learning them as they are not sung in music performances and they are
considered as dance items. It is better to learn at least five jatiswaras in popular ragas by the students o
music The beautiful Kalyani jatiswara by K. Ponnaiah Pillai and the jatiswara in Saraswati by Ellappa
Nattuvanar are feasts to the eyes and ears. We can quote many such examples. In this form, we find all the
five nadais are introduced and adavus are set by the dance master and are executed by the dancer. The
dancer weaves many patterns of adavus for a single line. So the vocalist repeats the line many times. Most
of the jatiswaras are in major and lively ragas. We do not find jatiswaras in ragas like Punnagavarah, Ghanta
Ahiri and Vivadi melas. The talas used in jatiswaras are adi, tishra eka, roopaka, chapu, etc. Long an

complicated talas are avoided.

The only difference from jatiswara is the sahitya for the swara portion. The dancer dances nritta
for swara and abhinaya for sahitya. At present very few artistes perform swarajathi. In the book ‘Tanjore
Quartette’, there are 10 swarajathis; except for the two, all other swarajathis are in the pattern of pada varnas.
Since there is not much difference between swarajathi and pada varna and also it is tiring to dance both
swarajathi and pada varna, gradually performance of swarajathi is left out in the dance recital. Shyama Sastr,

has composed beautiful swarajathis Bhairavi, Yadukula Kambhoji and Todi. These swarajathis sparkle

with raga bhava and they are more suitable for music than dance recitals.

Pddd Varna

Varna, a technical as well as a melodic form, is the most important piece in Karnatic Music and
Bharatanatya. Prior to the time of Tanjore Quartette, there were no two types of

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From (he Editor General

New Wave of Interest in Young Artistes

Times have now changed. Classical music has been successfully

democratised. The aura surrounding it is gone. It is increasingly being
looked upon as a performing game. No doubt, its popularity is spread-
ing. It is attracting more and more people. As a consequence, there has
been a tremendous boom in the number of performers.

Of course, the demand for classical music has not witnessed any
corresponding boom. Still the boom in the performing community is
significant. It includes a very large percentage of young men and
women. According to natural law, only a few among them are talented
But all consider themselves talented. Everyone thinks he is competent.
This thinking is regardless of achievement. It is more centred on the
theory that only with performing opportunities can one improve.

Young men and women have suffered the burning desire to per-
orm. The situation was frustrating for them a few years ago. Only
lew institutions were evincing interest in talent promotion and in youns
musicians. These f unctioned with no clear ideas of talent scouting. Stilf.
they touched the fringe of the problem. They accommodated some of
the aspiring youth in the melas they held for talent promotion.

Their service was found inadequate. Too many were left out.
r he situation was getting ripe for youth to organise itself. And Youth
organised itself. The last few years have witnessed youth musical as-
sociations springing up and providing a platform for many younn men
women and children. They have been doing many enterprising things

apart from organising monthly concerts and periodical melas. And youth
interest in classical music is still growing.

These developments have not gone unnoticed. The .solidarity
among youth has been appreciated. It has created a new wave of in-
terest in them. More sabhas are entering the talent promotion arena
and looking with inviting eyes on young artistes hoping for performing
opportunities. Alongside of these developments, youth listening interest
is also picking up. This is crucial for the future of Karnatak Music.

In the light of above observations, the unique second 'Sangaihi'
Ananya Yuva Sangeethotsava under the joint auspices of Ananya BTM
Cultural Academy, Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira and Thyagaraja

G.i ,a Sabha to be held from 5' h to 9' h May 2004 in different parts of the
Bangalore City acquires a lot of importance.

Karnataka Kala Sri Dr. M. Surya Prasad.

—

^!ch Hy ^^^ppaiah, vama with the section known as anubandha was prevalent. Since it disturbed the
balanced length of the purvanga and uttaranga. it was gradually given up. We do not know from what time

onwards the vama has been classified under two headings Tana Varna and Pada Varna. Tana varnas

have no sahilya for muktayeeswaras and eharana swaras. whereas pada varnas have sahitya for all the
swara portion. But pada varnas are earlier than tana vamas. It may be said that pada vamas have been
developed from swarajathis as it is stated earlier that out of 10 swarajathis of Tanjore Quartette, except two.

all 8 swarajathis are in the model of pada vamas.

But the very famous vama by Muthuswamy Dikshitar “Roopamu Juchi" in Todi raga was com-
posed on the pattern of tana vama. Later on Tiger Varadhachariar added sahitya for muktayeeswara and
eharana swaras. However only pada varnas are taught to dance students, while both the varnas are taught

to music students. . , . .

Varnas are scholarly compositions. They are learnt and practiced with great care and assiduity y

vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers. It is a piece for the training of the voice; it develops linger skill.

improves the technique and style of execution in the instruments. Pada vama brings out the best aspects ol

nritta and nrithva. The four lines of the pallavi and anupallavi are treated as separate set and each line is

preceded by teermanas with a beautiful jathi sequence. In the abhinaya. the dancer employs technique ol

sanchari bhava to bring out the main mood of the composition. It is a testing ground for the dance master

and dancer. The capacity of the master and the disciple is well brought out in this piece.

In Karnatic Music, varnas are usually practiced in two speeds. In the music performance, it is c
first piece sung or played in a fast tempo to give a ‘warming up’ for the whole programme. Students of music
learn varnas of both types and also in ata tala and jhampa talas. But pada varnas are not sung in the music
performances. Pada varnas usually composed in adi. roopaka and in rakthi ragas. Learning a num r o
varnas gives immense value for musicians as well as for dancers. They improve the manodharma sangeetlu.

So, vama has a unique place in both performances.

Strictly speaking, though pada is a composition in shringara rasa, nowadays any song which give,
scope for abhinaya in the field of dance is called pada. On this basis, songs of Musical Trinity. Annanuichatya
Papanasham Shivan and other contemporary composers are performed in a dance recital. During the n
Balasaraswathi and other prominent dancers, padas of Kshetrayya. Ghanam Knshnayyahr, Sarangapam,
Subbarama Iyer. Muthudandavar, etc. were performed. One rarely comes across any musician singing padas
in their recitals. One and the same composition is sung and danced, for example. “Meenakshi memudam ol
Muthuswamy Dikshitar or “Devi Ne eye Tunai" in Keeravani by Papanasham Shivan is sung in music
performances as well as dance recitals. To dance and sing a pada, one needs advanced training in dance and
music “Music and abhinaya become inseparable as every curve in the music ot the pada is translated in the
graceful movement of the body. The beautiful co-ordination of melody and abhinaya finds a superb con-
summation in the dance form”. There is much scope for sanchari bhava for the dancer in executing the
abhinaya. Padas are usually composed in adi, triputa, mishra chapu talas and ragas like Punnagavara ,
Ghanta, Ahiri, Sahana. Kambhoji, Shankarabharana etc. Javalis are also in Shringara rasa. Butin madhyama
kala. After the serious performance of varna and pada. performance of javali is a welcome relaxation lor the
audience as well as for the performer. Most of the javalis are in light classical ragas and in Telugu ant
Kannada languages. Dharmapuri Subbaraya and Patnam Subramanya Iyer are some of thejavali composers.

1 Tilbna is a very lively composition. Pallavi Seshayya, Patnam Subramanya Iyer. Swathi Tirunal, Veene

n i! ^ 1 ^

6

¥ WrftSc T

jffiSsS INAUGURATION ^

Guest of Honour :

Sri Dr. A.V. Prasanna,

KAS, Secretary, Kannada Abhivrudhi Pradhikara

Presided by :

Sri Shyamasundar Sharma,

Dote : Principal, Sri Vani Vidya Kendra

Venue *

Wednesday, 5 th May 2004 Sri Vani Vidya Kendra,

2nd ‘E’ Block, Rajajinagar, B- 10,

ANANYA in association with

BTM Cultural Academy, BTM Layout, Bangalore - 76.

Sri Ramalalithakala Mandira, (Devagiri Sangeetha Sabha), BSK II Stage, Bangalore -50.
Sri Tyagaraja Gana Sabha Trust (R), Rajajinagar, Bangalore - 10.

ANANYA PURASKARA PRADANA

Guest of Honour :

Sri K.V.R. Tagore, IPS, IGP, Central Range, Bangalore.

Presided by :

Dr. U.R. Anantha Murthy, President, Ananya

Ananya Puraskara : Vid. M.K. Saraswathi Shastra Kausthubha : Dr. T. Shaclli Devi

Yuva Puraskara :

Vid. G. Ravikiran (Vocal), Vid. Mysore V. Srikanth (Violin)

Vid. Tumkur B. Kavishankar (Mridanga) and Vid. S.V. Balakrishna (Morsing)

Date :

Sunday, 9th May, 2004
at 9.00 a.m.

Venue :

Bangalore Gayana Samaja

SANG ATI - a common pursuit by
like-minded organisations.

Inaugural recital by :

Balasubramanya Sharma (Vocal), T.S. Krishna Murthy (Violin),
Tumkur B. Ravishankar (Mridanga), Pramath Kiran (Morsing)
Anchor : Kum. Aswini Subramanya

Date : Wednesday,

5th May 2004 at6-00p.m.
Venue : Sri Vani Vidya
Kendra, 2nd ‘E* Block.
Rajajinagar, B- 10.

Date/

Day

BTM CULTURAL
ACADEMY (5 JO pjn.)

Sri Ramanamaharshi
Academy for the Blind
3rd Main, 3rd Phase,
J.RNagar, B-78.

SRI THYAGARAJA
GANASABHA TRUST (R)
(6 JO p.m.)

Sri Vani Vidya Kendra
1246, 4th Main. II Stg.,
Rajajinagar, B’lorc - 10.

SRI RAMA LALITHA
KALAMANDIRA
(6.00 p.m.)

Dcvagiri Sangeetha
Sabhangana, 9th Main.
BSK 2nd Stage, B’lorc-70.

ANANYA
(6 JO p.m.)

Ananya Sabhangana
91/2, 4th Main,
Malleswaram
Bangalore - 560003.

Thu.

6th

May

2004

A.P. Sarvothama (Flute)

A. V. Satyanarayana (Violin)
A.S.N. Swamy (Mridanga)
S.V. Balakrishna (Morsing)

Chandan Kumar (Flute)

A.P. Srinivas (Violin)

A. Renuka Prasad (Mridanga)
S.N. Narayanamuithy (Ghata)

Manjula Surcndra (Veena)
V. Krishna (Mridanga)
B.R. Ravi Kumar (Ghata)

Kumar Maidur
(Hindustani Vocal)

Shashibhushan Gurjar (Tabla)

Narasimha Kulkami
(Harmonium)

Fri.

7th

May

2004

Harini & Sharada. N.R. (Vocal)

Chamlatha Raman ujam (Violin)

K.U. Jayachandra Rao
(Mridanga)

R. Ramcsh (Ghata)

Sahana Ramachandra (Vocal)

B. Lakshmi (Violin)

S. Prashanth (Mridanga)

Bharadwaj Sathavalli
(Morsing)

Satish Bhat (Hindustani Vocal)

Gurumurthy Vaidya (Tabla)

Narasimha Kulkami
(Harmonium)

Amrutha Venkatesh \fccna
Chaitanya Kumar \fcnu
A.V. Satyanarayana Violin
Mysore Sudarshan (Mndanga)
G. Gumprasanna (Khanjari)

Sat.

8th

May

2004

Ashwini Sathish (Vocal)
Jyothsna Manjunath (Violin)
B.S. Anand (Mridanga)

Bctta Venkatesh (Ghata)

Manasa Nayana (Vocal)

B.K. Raghu (Violin)

Ravishankar Sharma K. V.
(Mridanga)

B. Shashi shankar (Ghata)

Ranjani Hebbar (Vocal)

Sunitha Ramabhadran (Violin)

B.R. Srinivas (Mridanga)

Bhagyalakshmi Krishna
(Morsing)

B.N.S.MuralifVfocal)
Rajesh (Violin)

Harsha Samaga (Mndanga)
G. Omkar Rao (Ghata)

PURASKARA PRADANA & SANGATI SAMAROPA

9.00 a m. NAGASWARA VADANA : Vid. Maiyunath and Party

10.00 a.m. RECITAL by awardees of Ananya Yuva Puraskara

11.00a.m. ANANYA PURASKARA and YUVA PURASKARA PRESENTATION CEREMONY
HOOnoon SANGATI VADYA VAIBHAVA - Directed by Vid. Anooru Ananthakrishna Sharma

Veena

Manjula Surendra, Amrutha Venkatesh

Violin

Charulatha Ramanujam, A.V. Sathyanarayana, T.S. Krishnamurthy

Flute

A.P. Sarvotham, Chaitanya Kumar

Mridanga

Ghata

Khanjari

A.S.N. Swamy, K.U. Jayachandra Rao
R. Ramesh, Narayana Murthy
Guruprasanna

( Date : 'v

Sunday, 9th May, 2004
at 9.00 a.m.

Morsing

Betta Venkatesh, Bhagyalakshmi Krishna

Venue :

Rhythm Pad

Pramath Kiran

Bangalore Gayana Samaja

Anchor : Kum. Manasi Prasad y K R Road ’ Bangalore ~

8

V kI M K Sara^wnlhi

Hailing from Mysore, she is an
accomplished artist in both vocal and veena.

She belongs to Veene Sheshanna’s
pa ram para. She has been trained by the
illustrious gurus Vid. M.J. Srinivasa
Iyengar (veena) and Prof. Gouri
Kuppuswamy (vocal). She has won laurels
all along her music career. She is a well
known artiste with AIR and Doordarshan and
has performed all over India.

She has received Senior Fellowship from
the Govt, of India and has also been nominated as the Veena Guru
for the Guru-Shishya ParamfHjra project meant for the conservation
Of Vrena parumpura

Many organizations have honoured her for her accomplishments
and have bestowed vanous titles on her Among them are Gandharva
Ganavidyadhan. Veena Gunavishurade, Sangeetha Kalatapusvi,
Lahihakala Patna and Gayanataya Samral.

She has two veena cassettes to her credit. She is actively involved
in training students. Many of her students have received scholarships
from the Central Govt, and Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy.
Anunya Puraskara 2004 is yet another jewel in the crown of laurels
won by her.

Ananya gratefully thanks her for her acceptance to receive the award
and wishes her still greater heights of fulfulfillment.

Dr. T. Shachidevi

Dr. T. Shachidevi. a Kamatak Musician is also a
noted Musia)Jogist. Shachidevi had the previlege
to learn music under scholars like Vid.
Belakavadi Varadaraja Iyengar, Dr. Rallapalli
Anantakrishna Sharma and others. Being a
Master’s in Music from Venkateshwara
University. Shachidevi served as a Professor of
— 1 Music in Maharani’s College. Bangalore.

She was awarded a Doctorate from Bangalore University for the topic
"A Study of the evolution of compositional forms in Karnatak Music".
Shachidevi alongwith her elder sister Vid. T. Sharada (Tirumala
Sisters), have performed many Vocal concerts in reputed sabhas and
also in All India Radio. They have authored books on music like
Karnataka Sangeetha Darpana (4 volumes), Shobana Shataka, Apoorva
Vamas and many more Dr. Shachidevi though retired from college, is
still teaching many students in both Practical and Theoretical aspects
of Music and also guiding students for the Doctoral research:
Ananya’s " Shastra Kausthuba 2004" award is in recognition of her
accomplishments in music and musicology.

Ananya gratefully thanks her for her acceptance to receive the award
and wishes her still greater heights of fulfulfillment.

Vid. G. Ravikiran

This talented young vocalist who is a
disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi R.K.
Srikantan. is also a B-grade artiste of AIR.
He has won innumerable prizes in the
competitions conducted by prestigious
organizations. Second place in the AIR
National level Kamatic Music competition,
best male vocalist in the Annual Concert
held by Bangalore Gayana Samaja, first prize in inter-collegiate
competitions held by BITS, Pilani are to his credit.

A software engineer by profession, he is keenly pursuing classical
music. The Ananya Yuvapuraskara is in recognition of his talent and
dedication to music .

r

Vid. Mysore V. Srikanth

Disciple of Vid. H.K. Narasimha Murthy of
Mysore, he started learning violin at the
tender age of nine and has the distinction of
having accompanied many stalwarts

A recipient of the cultural talent search
scholarship of Govt, of India, he has
achieved distinction in the Senior Grade
Music Examination and Thyagaraja

memorial competitions of Kanchi Kamakoti —

Mutt. An approved artiste of AIR, he has won numerous prizes and
accolades for his soulful rendering of the ragas. Among them are
the Best Violinist award from Madras Music Academy. Sri Krishna
Gana Sabha. The Indian Arts Society. Karnataka Ganakaia Panshat.
Ananya Yuvapuraskara is yet another feather in his cap.

Vid. Tumkur B.
Ravishankar

Son of the renowned mridangist Late T.V.
Bhadrachar, the young and energetic
Ravishankar is a A grade Mridanga artiste
and is on the staff of AIR, Mysore. Initially
trained by his father, he is presently under
the tutelage of the Mridanga maestro, VkJ.
Karaikudi R. Mani. He has bagged the First
rank in the Vidwat Examination (mridanga)
held by the Karnataka Secondary Education
Examination Board. He is a recepient of scholarships from different
cultural bodies like Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy and Govt,
of India. He has accompanied several reputed artistes in concerts
both in India and abroad.

Vid. S.V. Balakrishna

A versatile percussionist, hailing from a
talented family, Balakrishna's early
musical influence came through his
parents Late Vid. S.V. Venkateshiah and
Vid. S.V. Kamalamma who were Veena
artists. Balu studied mridanga under the
able guidance of Vid. M. Vasudeva Rao.

Besides mridanga. Balu has proved his
abilities in mastering other percussion
instruments, mainly Morsing. Ghata and
Konakkol. He has been critically

acclaimed for his meticuluous control of the instrument, executing
complex rhythmic calculations and complete involvement in all his
performances.

It is a great pleasure that these young artistes are being honoured with Ananya Yuva Purasakara.
Ananya wishes that their talent will grow and bloom with incessant practice and encouragement.

9

GUNAGRAHI / APRIL— 2004

Dr.A.H.Ramarao & Sudha Rao Page

Karnataka College of Percus-
sion led by musician-couple TAS
Mani and R.A. Ramamani held
its annual 39 ,h music festival
under the joint auspices with
Ananya at Ananya auditorium
for five days.

Geetha and Revathi shine:

The sacred and rich raga tradi-
tion of the classical music system
was aglow right from the opening
Mandari vama to Purandaradasa’s
‘Kadagola taarenna' (Yamuna
Kalyani). Their veena play and
technique brought to the fore the

Hindusthani Kapi, Revathi and
Hindola ragas followed by a brief
swara prasthara. There was
sahitya shuddhi in their play. M.
T.Raja kesari (mridanga) and
.A. Raja gopalan (ghata) contrib-
uted their seasoned artistry in en-
riching the veena duet.
Ramamani regales:

A beautifully regulated rich and
resonant voice and gentle har-
mony between laya and bhava
conferred on singer R.A. Rama-
mani 's music various colours
and shades of evocative
powcr.Her vocali- sation could
stir the very soul of the listener
since the music produced by her
comprehensively covered vivid
melody, unwavering shruti fidel-
ity, sure but subtle laya grip, firm
sahitya enunciation, serene kala

sedate classicists. Geetha and
Revathi. An enjoyable tempo was
created in the rendition of
‘Saraseeruhasanapriye’ in Nata
and Begade for Subbarayana
Sastri’s ‘Shankari neeve’. The me-
lodic discipline they exhibited in
the shared alapanas in Kalyani for
Swati Tirunal’s ‘Pankaja
lochana’ and Behag for Mysore
Vasudevachar’s 1 Bhavaye ham’
was unique. The quality of their
play was marked by good un-
derstanding and matching
manodharma. In the raga, tana
and pallavi in Bhairavi set to a

pramana and creativity appropri-
ately guided by the classicist
sense of poetry and aesthetics.

Two prized-krithis by
Thyagaraja 'Manasu nilpa
shakti’ (Abhogi) and ‘Aada modi
galada’ (Charu- keshi) fell pleas-
antly on the ears. Unending and
attractive phrases both in the
raga and swara vistaras were im-
pressive. At no time, she seemed
to be in a hurry nor did she aim
at pyrotechnics. Hence the
natural glory of the ragas got au-
tomatically highlighted. She
scored well in the handling of

two-kalai khanda triputa tala with raga Varali. This prati-

trishra, melkaala and other adora-
tion, the duo demonstrated their
artistry and skill in the positive
manner. The tanamalika comprised
besides Bhairavi, Mohana,

madhyama raga has some inter-
esting and demanding combina-
tions of phrases. Rama mani

was able to weave them in her

11

own artistic way and we had
ingenuous phrases aplenty.
Kambhoji was another major
raga delineation for the presen-
tation of ’Evari maata’. Nalina
Mohan (violin), H.S.Sudhcendra
(mridanga), Ranganalh
Chakravarthy (ghata) and
M.Gururaj (morsing) lent excel-
lent support.

Rama Jagannath’s cassettes
released:

Endowed with a high-pitched
and yet melodious voice, Rama
Jagannath enthralled the audi-
ence at Nayana auditorium with
her singing of some select songs
which have been brought out in
the form of audio cassettes and
CDs by Lahari Recording Com-
pany. They comprised compo-
sitions by Haridasas like Gopala
dasa, Purandaradasa, Kanaka
dasa, Jagannathadasa, Kama-
lesha Vittala, Vidyaprasanna
Teertha, Raghu natha Kulkarni
in Kannada and Bhakta
Ramadasa, Jaya deva, Swamy
Dayananda Saraswathi,
Annamacharya, Lakshmiramana
in Telugu. Adi Shankaracharya's
Shiva asthakam and an excerpt
from Bhagavad Geetha (with a
. Kannada translation by
Prof.L.S.Seshagiri Rao).

Rama had adapted the time-
honoured traditional tunes for
these compositions. And her
style of singing with sahitya and
bhaava shuddhi is something to
marvel at. The musical support
too was appropriate without dis-
turbing the import of the lyrics.

%

Tala Vadya seminar and National festival of Percussions:

A two-day Tala Vadya seminar and National festival of Percussions was held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
under the joint aegis of the Percussive Arts Center and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Artistes from Karnataka,
Kerala, Kolkatta and Chennai participated in the deliberations inaugurated by Dr. Raja Ramanna. Critic
Mysore V. Subramanya was the chief guest. M.R.Doreswamy Iyengar presided over the function in the
absence of Justice Nittoor Srinivasa Rao who was indisposed. On the first evening Anoor Ananthakrishna
Sharma directed a captivating Percussion ensemble comprising folk instruments too. This was followed by
a special laya vinyasa M.T.Rajakesari (mridanga), B.N.Chandramowli (khanjira), Ravi (ghata) and
B.K.Chandramowli (konnokkol).

The seminar on Talavadya was presided over by N.S.Krishnamurthy. Dr.S. Vijayaraghavan, re-
gional direcotr, Dept.of dance, drama and music, Chennai chaired the session. Kadammanitta Reghu gave a
lec-dem on the temple vadyas. He threw light on Ganapati talam, Lakshmi talam etc. The Panchavadya
demonstration by K. Padmanabha Das and party of Trivandrum was enthralling. The Thayampakam dem-
onstration was chaired by V.G.Nair, Managing Director, Chemsyn ltd. T.S.Sathyavathi read out the key-
noted address prepared by B.M. Sundaram. Deepali Pal, reginal director of ICCR was the chief guest. The
valedictory address was given by noted musicologist Dr. R.Satyanarayana. Popular art critic Dr. M. Surya
Prasad was the chief guest. A jugalbandhi by Pandit Ravindra Yavagal and Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma,
a laya vinyasa led by Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam and a percussion ensemble ‘Tarang’ by the Kolkatta troupe
made the evening reverberate with rhythm. — KUSUMA RAO.

Jayanthi’s Magnificent Performance

Jayanthi Kumaresh enthralled the audience with her magnificent veena recital for Nada surabhi during
the monthly programme at Indian Heritage Academy Hall, Koramangala. Her performance was like a
breeze of fresh air, for the new year, displaying extraordinary talent through out the concert. She started
with the popular Kalyani varna - Vanajakshi - set to Adi Tala. Vallabha nayakasya in Begade was
pleasing. A Thyagaraja kriti in raga Manoran jani with a brief description of the raga and swara prastara
came out well. The masterpiece composition of Dikshitar, Thyagaraja yogavaibhavam in Anada bhairavi
with raga alapana was full of bhava and vaibhava. It was indeed a masterly presentation.

The main piece of the day was RTP in raga Hemavathi. A detailed and dignified raga and tanafollowed
by the pallavi set to Aditala adorned with ragamalika swaras was excellent. The support by Arjun Kumar
and Giridhar Udupa on the mridanga and Ghata respectively was ecstatic and their presentation of Tani
was superb and electrifying. The concert concluded with Baro Krishnaiah and a thillana in Behag.The

young, talented, trio made the concert highly impressive. HARINI RAGHAVAN

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12

i »

GUNAGRAHI/ APRIL-2004

CD/CASSETTES REVIEW : T.N.Seshagopalan — Dasa Ganamrutha Lahari. Vocal.
Volumes 1 and 2. Disc 1/Cassette 1 (GKTC 003) Purandaradasara devaranamas. Vol-
ume 1: Side A: Sindhura Vamam (Sloka), Lambodhara - Geethe Malahari Rupaka, Kalau
Kalmasha (Sloka), Harinarayana, Hamsadhwani, Adi. Srinivasa Neenc Paliso, Ananda Bhairavi,
Adi, Sri Rama Rama (Sloka), Rama Rama, Vasantha, Rupaka. Side B: Anjikinyathakaiya, Kalyani,
Chapu, Chandra Chooda, Darbari kanada, Adi, Tirupathi Venkata ramana, Hamsanandi, Adi.
Disc 2 / Cassette 2 (GKTC 004) Dasara Padagalu. Volume 2: Side A: Ramanujare namo,
Pantuvarali, Adi, Kanakadasa, Indu Enage, Bhairavi, Chapu, Raghavendra Swamy, Bhooshanake
Bhooshana, Shankarabharana, Jhampa, Sripadarayaru. Side B: Baro Murare, Desh, Adi,
Vadirajaru, Enna Paliso, Vardhani, Adi, Kakandaki Krishnaraya, Sada Enna, Behag, Rupaka,
Vijayadasaru, Baliya Manege- Ugabhoga, Bega Baro, Misra Maand, Adi, Vadirajaru.

There is no dearth for recordings on Dasara Padagalu. Both in olden times and recent
times, number of artists have released cassettes and CDs on ‘Haridasa Sahitya”, with a view to
popularize it. Thinking on the same lines, T.N. Seshagopalan of Chennnai has released double
cassette/double CD, Volume 1 containing the compositions of Puradaradasa and Volume 2 con-
sisting of rare compositions of other Haridasas. A marked difference in the recording brought out
by TNS lies in the fact that while several other artists have rendered these compositions as
devotional music, he has brought out the musical content in these compositions. He has rendered
these songs in a regular concert format with brief sketch of raga Kalyani and Darbari Kanada and
a crisp swara prastara with a tani avartana in the first volume and raga alapanaof Pantuvarali and
Shankarabharana in the second volume.

A versatile artiste that he is, noted for his pure classicism and rich manodharma, TNS has
demonstrated the inherent classical value of these compositions and proved how these songs
could fit into a full-fledged concert. The recordings provide a rich musical feast to the listeners
and a valuable collection for students of music and music lovers. — H.R.

Continued from Page no.6

Seshanna and other composers of erstwhile Mysore Royal Court are some of the tillana composers. At
present, Dr.Balamuralikrishna, Lalgudi Jayaram and others have composed scintillating tillanas. Tillanas are
set and sung in solfa syllables and end with a small line of sahitya. It is in fast tempo. It consists of number
of alltiringly sculpturesque poses of variegated patterns of movements executed with grace and elegance.
The predominant part of the composition is rhythm. The abhinaya portion is minimal. Tillana is sung in
music recitals too. But it is not sung as it is sung in dance performances where one single line is repeated
many times. Some times these tillanas are sung in Kalakshepa performances also.

So we find almost all the pieces in the music recitals are there in dance recitals too. It is very essential for
a dancer to leam Karnatic Music. A Bharatanatya dancer is able to bring out the melodic and rhythmic
aspects of music through these compositions. Thus dance and music are inseparable.

14

L.E.I.S.U.R.E.

PHOTO QUIZ

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4. It figures in .

5. Ciive an example for it.

6. What do you know about Chilli?

7. Explain China Taanaas?

8. These Taanaas are taught in
ragas.

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15

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