Music and Me

When music engulfs the air ...

I was looking forward to this Sunday (December 12, 2009). With the music season on, I thought I would make it to some sabha or the other. A severe stomach ache, however, left me lying on the bed most of the day. I was half-asleep and half-awake. Even as the morning was slowing slipping into afternoon, I stayed in the bed. As I was ruing my predicament, lovely music wafted into the air and seeped into our flat on the second floor uninvited! We have moved to this flat on T.P. Koil Street, opposite the Lord Narasimhar Sannathi of the famed Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane couple of years ago. The second house to our left is an illustrious place. It is where the famous Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathiyar lived many years ago. After a hiatus of one-year, the Bharathiyar House is seeing music festival this December. Lying in the bed, I could hear the inimitable T.M. Krishna singing the poet’s songs. There was vibrancy in voice. One could sense the energy with which he sang. He was followed by Vijay Shiva and Sangeetha Shivakumar. There’s was followed by a series of short-duration concerts. Feeling better, I thought I would go to the temple. As I was heading to the temple, my legs automatically headed to the Bharthiyar House. Young Sainthavi was all absorbed as she rendered some of the popular numbers of the Poet. "Chinan chiru kiliye…’’, "Assai mugam marandthu poochi…’’ et al were rendered with so much dedication. A sense of commitment was palpable in her face. As Ragam sisters were readying to sing, I proceeded to the temple. When I went round the main pragaram, there was this dance recital. T.M. Krishna-initiated `Kalachaara Marumalarchi Trust’, I was told, is organizing a music festival in the temple, with a series of concerts. I could spot a sizeable number of people watching the dance recital. As I was returning home, I again slipped into Bharathi House, where Mahathi was giving her concert. It was refreshing to see the hall packed, with assorted people. That they have come to hear Carnatic music, casting aside many other distraction-entertainments available aplenty in this fast-phased life, is a happy augury. Who said that we are moving backward culturally? The music festivity in December gives eternal hope to a doubtless optimist like me!

Violin brothers Ganesh & Kumaresh

When they bow, Ganesh & Kumaresh sound distinct

They play together. They have been playing the duet as siblings for longer years than anybody else. Their music merges seamlessly. Yet, they work assiduously to retain their individual identities as artistes. If one loves playful music, the other weaves romance around his music. There is something `playfully romantic' about their combined music. They are the `sound engineers of the modern violin'! In a free-wheeling chat with www.carnaticdarbar.com on a breezy Boxing Day morning, the brothers - Ganesh and Kumaresh - reveal their insightful minds. What is the advantage of playing together? Kumaresh has a ready-made answer. ``We share. We argue. We fight. We come to a consensus. We have grown like this. We have grown the art also this way,'' he says. Since they know each other and play together, they are able to work up a perfect alignment in terms of communication, co-ordination and execution. More than anything else, their joint playing, according to Kumaresh, has fostered family unity. ``We retain our individual characters as artistes even as we perform together,’’ Ganesh adds quickly. ``When we play, you can hear two distinct violins. They are differently sounding but merge into one,'' Kumaresh says.
At this point, Ganesh interjects to emphasis that their playing is vastly different from others who play duet on the violin. ``They try to play as one,'' he points out. The Ganesh-Kumaresh duo, however, tries to introduce new concepts into concert shows. The assimilation of a sound and its dissemination in different formats are crucial factor that distinguishes them from others. Use of vadhi and samvadhi phrases, the splitting of a note (into dwi-binna and tri-binna) and the like mark them out from the rest of the duet players. ``These concepts have not been explored. All these exist in Shastras. Our present system of music is based on melody,'' Kumaresh says. ``Sound is universal. We are working on different aspects of sound and trying to see how best they could be introduced on the stage,'' Ganesh adds. Basically, the brothers are trying to bring back to life different concepts of sound that are already there. Gods have never been portrayed as singers. Goddess Saraswathi plays veena. Lord Krishna plays the flute. They go about giving a list of instruments Gods and Goddesses play. ``No God is portrayed as a singer!'', points out Kumaresh. According to them, instrumentalists have been primarily instrumental in the success of vocalists. Are they not worried about criticism? Well, not a bit, says Kumaresh. ``We never bother about criticism. We consult our guru and father. If he says okay, we go ahead with and don't bother about anything,'' he adds. According to Kumaresh, ``music has to be heard. It should be enjoyed. And, not written. Unfortunately, it is taken over by English elitists of Chennai''. What do they teach? ``They teach you the language, the compositions and what not. You only play compositions and not music,'' he points out. ``We need to teach pure music - a music that is powerful to communicate. We need to teach ragas and talas,'' he goes on to add. Ganesh is convinced that music is all about sound. Kumaresh is of the view that artistes should be left free. He does not agree with the oft-repeated ``the art is bigger than the artiste'' talk. ``If there is no artiste, there will be no art,’’ argues he. What does music or violin mean to them? ``It is life. Life is music. It brings lot of contentment,'' avers Ganesh. What do they want to achieve in music? ``Just keep playing music. Open up new idioms for the music world and make them contemporary,'' says Kumaresh. The ``introductory face-to-face session' with the violin brothers has brought out the clarity in their thinking and purpose in their outlook.

Flautist Shahank

A classical-cum-contemporary show by Shashank

It was a controlled demonstration of his mastery. He had a complete sway over the gadget he held in his hands. As they bend to his blowing in quiet submission, the bamboo flutes produced fresh, vibrant and resonating music. The child prodigy Shashank has come a long way. Today, he is a mature musician. Gone was his uncontrolled jest for brashness. A sense of responsibility was obvious in his approach, even as he showed up his natural propensity to innovate. He produced a well-bundled classical-cum-contemporary concert. "Sarasijanabasodari…’’ in Naga Gandhari, a composition of Dikshitar’s, must have warmed the hearts of traditionalists. If there was style in the way he played this kriti, the substance in his repertoire came out clearly. "Manavyala kimpara…’’ in Nalinakanti and the Ritigaula piece `Janani…’ too showed up the tempered facet of the evolved artiste. As his wont, he offered a choice to the listeners. Between Pantuvarali and Purvi Kalyani, the listeners’ pick was Pantuvarali. Shashank was scintillating, as he sketched the raga in all its splendour in the RTP (ragam, tanam and pallavi) phase. As he embarked on his Pantuvarali trip, he literally went unstoppable. He dipped deep, exploring the myriad hues of the raga. As he traversed different octaves, his hands instantly reached to flutes of different pitches. The use of multiple flutes of varied pitches brought out assorted facet of the raga in a telling and glorious way. He also demonstrated how to alternate between two octaves simultaneously. "This requires little bit of practice,’’ he said, sending peels of laughter among the audience. `Sharavanabhava Guhane Shanmuga’ was the pallavi line. It was set to 16 beats. The take-off and landing in each round of pallavi-playing were smooth and perfect. The percussion support was in the form of tavil by Thiruvalaputhur Kaliamoorthy and mridangam by Parupalli Phalgum. He was also accompanied by violinist Nagain Sriram. One felt that tavil was a bit of a noise to go with an instrument such as flute. But the tavil artiste re-adjusted himself very well with the flautist and played well within the freedom available to him. In the `thani’ session, there was a lively duel between the tavil and mridangam artistes. The violinist did an exemplary job and let the spotlight firmly on Shashank. The fag-end pieces - `Krishna Ne Begane…’’ in Yamuna Kalyani and "Chinanchiru Kiliye…’’ in ragamalika – were played to perfection. Shashank brought the curtain down with the fast-paced "Raguvamsa Sudha…’’ in Kathanakuthuhalam. It was indeed a joyous end to a lovely evening concert on December 21 at Sivakami Pethachi Auditorium for Brahma Gana Sabha.