G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB)

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 08 Aug 2009, 20:08

Thanks gamakam!
Is there a email available so that I can order the book?

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 08 Aug 2009, 21:27

rajeshnat,

That was another project that has been in the back-burner for a few years now. I'm glad to know someone actually did read those articles and still remembers them. I hope I can finish that series sometime.

cmlover, you can try this link: http://www.vikatan.com/pubshop/shop.asp the book title is ÃƒÂ Ã‚Â®Ã¢â‚¬Â¡ÃƒÂ Ã‚Â®Ã…Â¡ÃƒÂ Ã‚Â¯Ã‹â€ ÃƒÂ Ã‚Â®Ã‚Â¯ÃƒÂ Ã‚Â¯Ã‚Â

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 08 Aug 2009, 22:43

gamakam,
Your GNB book has sort of morphed into our coffee table book. I was quite surprised when some very prominent persons in the field of music visited my home and read it for the first time"¦may be not publicized well"¦
Your writing is very fluid and so hilarious, the way you start off with the chapter, "TAkiyilirindu thanjavoorukku"

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 08 Aug 2009, 23:26

kedharam - Thanks for your encouragement. It is no surprise that not many know about my book. It is my first book and I've not much in the print media so that people would remember my name.

Folks, I'm a little embarassed about this discussion on my writing especially on this thread on DKP. I also feel I ought to respond especially when you guys take time write so many nice things. I am sure most would agree if I say we should stick to discussing only DKP here.

If you want to reach me, pls mail to ramchi@gmail.com.

cpblog · Post by **cpblog** » 09 Aug 2009, 20:41

To: Sri Coolkarniji et.al.

I have a 20min audio by GNB on 'Atulita Guna Sri Rama' in Mohanam. Both GNB and Chowdiah have rendered this with great feeling. I am, however, unable to post this (and some others) because of the intermediatory noises from tapes which have become corroded over half a century. Can anyone advise me of a contact person/studio that can remaster this in any corner of the world (the music is in tact)? I tried to do it on my own with a Wavepad sound editor but I am afraid I don't have enough acumen.

http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 09 Aug 2009, 21:14

Hi cpblog, I think the pice you are referring to is "Sri Rama Ramani". The concert is available commercially. If i remember right the concert also has a Kambhoji RTP.

cpblog · Post by **cpblog** » 10 Aug 2009, 02:38

Thank you for your thoughts, gamakam. This was from a private performance that needed to be treasured and I was using this as a test case to have a lot of other pieces cleaned up. I was looking for some suggestions from folks who have direct experiences with this sort of thing.

cpblog · Post by **cpblog** » 11 Aug 2009, 20:30

Dear Rasikas,

Our team at http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/ owes you all an apology. We put up some GNB music on our blog thinking it was from a 1957 performance of GNB-Chowdiah-Raghu in "Parvati". Turns out that the labels were somehow mixed up and that the music is actually from a GNB-Chowdiah performance in Mumbai which was brought by one of Chowdiah's disciples and left behind with the the old collections in the house. We have since retracted the audio to maintain the necessary authenticity with our project.

We are also thankful to Gamakam, who in some way through his posting here, created a sort of hint for us to do some self examination.

matterwaves · Post by **matterwaves** » 20 Aug 2009, 12:56

A rare kharaharapriya rendition with LGJ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMu_qBGq ... re=related

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 20 Aug 2009, 13:25

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 20 Aug 2009, 16:32

That's a nice Kharaharapriya piece. I wish there were more recordings of GNB's Kharaharapriya. It is a favourite among his disciples such as MLV, TSK and TVR.

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 20 Oct 2009, 10:57

http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co "¦ %e0%af%8d/

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 22 Oct 2009, 11:08

Members

Is there any GNB Version of "Bruhi Mukundedi" ? If so pls upload audio.

Thank you
J.Balaji

balusatya · Post by **balusatya** » 24 Oct 2009, 22:14

Has GNB composed on Subramanya?

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 22 Nov 2009, 12:28

found a nice rendering , for those who might be interested.
http://rapidshare.de/files/48719341/05- ... a.mp3.html

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 31 Dec 2009, 16:51

http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... ntenary-2/

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 06 Jan 2010, 15:31

Today 6th January is GNB's birthday.
Many happy returns (hope he will return!) to the maestro!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 29 Jan 2010, 15:15

our gamakam(lalitha ram) has polished and added charisma to GNB in
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/01/29/stor ... 370800.htm

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 01 Feb 2010, 19:29

Rajesh,

How could I add charisma to GNB. I too basked on his glory!

Thanks for the link. I wan't aware of the hindu coverage.

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 04 Feb 2010, 18:25

DVD review in Amudasurabhi: http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... aseegaran/

gbmahesh · Post by **gbmahesh** » 08 Apr 2010, 13:19

Vidwan Shri K S Kaildas has reviewed Gandharva Ganam and his review is available in the link below:
http://varalaaru.com/Default.asp?articleid=981

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 13 Apr 2010, 10:55

A small tribute from Sindhuja and I on this the maestro's centenary.

http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/04/cel ... ja-in.html (In English)

http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... srichakra/ (in Tamil)

We intend to feature a few more compositions in the coming weeks.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 13 Apr 2010, 20:20

Gamakam - can you repost the links - they are not working...

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 13 Apr 2010, 22:40

rshankar: Reposting the links

http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/04/cel ... ja-in.html (English)

http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... srichakra/ (Tamil)

Enna_Solven · Post by **Enna_Solven** » 17 May 2010, 06:01

I am listening to GNB's vara ragalaya in chenju kambhoji from his 1965 Kallidaikurichi concert (from Sangeethapriya). This is a nine minute long rendering with raga alapana for about 3 minutes. I have 7 other versions where no one does alapana. Why?

Is it that only he could do that for rare ragas?

thenpaanan · Post by **thenpaanan** » 17 May 2010, 20:36

Enna_Solven wrote:I am listening to GNB's vara ragalaya in chenju kambhoji from his 1965 Kallidaikurichi concert (from Sangeethapriya). This is a nine minute long rendering with raga alapana for about 3 minutes. I have 7 other versions where no one does alapana. Why? Is it that only he could do that for rare ragas?

Isn't that capsule of chenjukanmbhoji a marvel and a thing of beauty? I can only hazard a guess to answer your question. What musicians choose to sing or not sing has as much to do with their personalities as anything else. To me the most significant characteristic of GNB's personality was his constant striving for innovation. He was always trying something new all through his career -- sometimes that meant taking risks with audience support or even his own voice. In his later concerts one can tell that his voice is not able to keep up with his imagination. One could argue that GNB got away with it with his golden voice and die-hard followers but consider that a different musician would have tried to eschew risk and sing what is easy and that would have still led to very successful concerts (after all he was immensely popular at all times). But GNB risked the ire of critics and disappointment of his fans late in life by taking those risks and perhaps that is a big reason his music is ever-fresh, why we are still listening to him after decades and generations of musicians since his passing away. Singing alapana for rare ragas (like singing neraval at unusual places), while not an innovation by itself, was probably driven by a desire to innovate at all times, to do things that were new. He must have inspired admiration (and perhaps also envy) from his peers (ARI, SSI, Ramnad Krishnan, etc) who were giants in their own right but could not innovate as much or in those particular ways. TNS is in this mould among contemporary musicians in that he too seems to attach a very high premium to innovation. Any suggestions on who in the younger generations is taking on the particular mantle of innovation?

-Then Paanan

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 21 May 2010, 15:23

Second song in the 'Celebrating GNB' series is 'Nee Daya Radha' - the varnam in Andholika. Feels good to be back after a long hibernation.

As usual we have write-ups in English and Tamil (I'm sure that will make Rajesh happy:-)

In English: http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/05/cel ... olika.html

In Tamil: http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... ya-varnam/

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 21 May 2010, 19:16

Gamakam wrote:As usual we have write-ups in English and Tamil (I'm sure that will make Rajesh happy:-)

Gamakam - thank you for sharing...The write-up in English makes me (among many others) very happy!!

cpblog · Post by **cpblog** » 18 Jun 2010, 15:05

Dear Rasikas,

Posted some GNB recollections from Mysore along with a 1971 veena concert of Vidwan ESS.
http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 18 Jun 2010, 23:39

cpblog wrote:Dear Rasikas,

Posted some GNB recollections from Mysore along with a 1971 veena concert of Vidwan ESS.

Where??

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 18 Jun 2010, 23:48

It must be charulata website

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 22 Jun 2010, 10:30

new_cmfan wrote:Lakshmanji
I have heard a song called sudhA mAdhurya in vandanatAriNi that isn't in your list. Is that by GNB? I thought it was...

This song in Vandana Dharini, was popular when my brother was alive, but I had my own doubt whether it was his composition. But later I came to know that Sri Calcutta Krishnamurthy, who was a constant visitor to our house has clarified that only my brother has composed it. It is unfortunate that Sri Kalyanaraman is not alive to-day to confirm this with authority.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 22 Jun 2010, 13:48

rajeshnat wrote: You can share all about your illustrious brother "GNB" . I am especially fond of him as a vaggeyakkara , almost every krithi of his was well rounded both musically and lyrically (atleast those in thamizh that I understand) . You can share about his disciples and how they learnt ranging from SKR , MLV, Trichur rAmachandran etal with GNB.
On a side note , I have heard thru grapevine that his best of recordings did not get released at all for many reasons some can be stated , some cannot be . Possibly few pointers there would immensely help all of us

GNB Jr answered :
-----------------------
Reg his best recordings, I wish to state, the recordings which we are doing the rounds and are available are all after 1952 or 1953, after his first heart-attack. As you may know, there are no recordings of his music prior to 1950 and40s are supposed to be the most glorious period of his music. Even the recordings we now have, many of them are thanks to Mr Venkatakrishna Iyer, father of Mr Someswara Babu, a disciple of my brother. For many of the concerts, he will come in his car and take my brother for the concert and drop him back. Unfortunately, most of these recordings have been lost due to Babu not taking care to preserve them carefully. We cannot blame him also as, he was busy accompanying my brother and after my brother's demise, he shifted to Bombay to teach music. Ih his busy schedule there, he could not take sufficient care. We however thank him and his father for what we have to-day. As far as O know, there is no other reason.

Reg his disciples, SKR was an intellectual, who used to argue with my brother with reg to several things and only after my brother clarified them to his satisfaction, he will leave it. If I remember correct, he started learning from brother from 1948-1950, while we were in T. nagar. He was brilliant and my brother used to ask for his (he used to discuss with alldisciples )views after each concert. He used to discuss freely with them. He used to advise his disciples to listen to the music of all the stalwarts like Ariyakudi, Chembai, Musiri, Semmangudi, Alathur Madurai Mani Iyer etc.. and imbibe what is best in each of them. He was extremely happy that SKR followed this advise to the spirit and evolved his own style, without deviating from the bani set by my brother, while he was himself alive to see it happen.

Reg MLV, she joined him as disciple a bit later, if I remember correct. She was an exemplary student. She used to listen to my brother singing a kriti once and she will memorize it . I know that when my brother sang RTP of Latangi, Natabhairavi etc, she used to sing them in her next concert. She had such a photographic memory. My brother also has learnt a few Purandaradasa kritis from her as he never felt shy to learn music from any source.
Reg TVR, he joined my brother in 1960 or 1961 and continued his training under him in Trivandrum, until my brother passed away in May, 1965. He is very sincere in his devotion to his Guru and to this day, he carries the tradition as his torch-bearer with utmost devotion.

I will be sharing my thoughts as and whensuch requests as received from ardent rasikas like you. Thanks.

satyabalu · Post by **satyabalu** » 06 Jul 2010, 19:33

GNB's Tamburas.

*SKA.Chinglepet Ranganathan has one presented to him.(He has personally shown me the one)
*Vid.Trivandrum K.Krishnakumar -Told me he was presented the one used by MLV.
*Just wanted to share this information.

satyabalu · Post by **satyabalu** » 06 Jul 2010, 23:02

Any link available for his Kannada composition-Ento moralida Eda?

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 22 Sep 2010, 11:34

Third Song in the 'Celebrating GNB' series is 'Nee paadamE Gathi' in Nalinakanthi.

I didn't have the time for write-ups in both English and Tamil. I thought of writing in Tamil first and then remembered rajeshnat:-) Chose to write in English.

Link here: http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/09/cel ... hi-in.html

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 07 Oct 2010, 12:03

Fourth Song in 'Celebrating GNB Series' is "Kamala CharanE" in Amrita Behag.

Sindhuja's rendition accompanied by my short write-up can seen here: http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/10/cel ... ne-in.html

A write up on the kriti in Tamil can be read here: http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... nbkriti-4/

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Oct 2010, 20:04

Gamakam wrote:Third Song in the 'Celebrating GNB' series is 'Nee paadamE Gathi' in Nalinakanthi.
I didn't have the time for write-ups in both English and Tamil. I thought of writing in Tamil first and then remembered rajeshnat:-) Chose to write in English.
Link here: http://octaves.blogspot.com/2010/09/cel ... hi-in.html

Thank you Rajesh - (anantakOTi namaskAram) - and thank you gamakam: in indulging Rajesh you have made your blog accessible to tons of others - and given how informative and insightful they are, it would be a pity to deprive the non-tamizh readers of that experience...Sindhuja's version was great; in particular, the AlApana was very appealing!! And finally, a belated 'congratulations' on having become a father!!

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 09 Oct 2010, 09:08

Thank you Shankar.

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 11 Oct 2010, 14:02

Are there any anecdotes about TR Balu ( Balasubramaniam) another deciple of Shri GNB

who it is understood had died at a very early age of 30 years.
I am having three songs of him- not when and where I got- lying in my pen drive for long .
I have uploaded same to day to my mediafire account. He was accompanied by LGJ.
venkatakailasam

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 13 Oct 2010, 14:58

The subject song rendered by Shri GNB And by MLV are linked below:

GNB 018-vararAgalaya--chenchu-kAmbhOji--Adi.mp3:
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/wsa7vwbu7yc4pgg

'E'-SWARA-046-ML Vasantha kumari-VaraRagaLaya-Senj:
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/xtv6dx3lrwyw3nb

venkatakailasam

Sindhuja · Post by **Sindhuja** » 15 Oct 2010, 14:44

Thanks Shankar!

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 04 Dec 2010, 20:33

venkatakailasam wrote:Are there any anecdotes about TR Balu ( Balasubramaniam) another deciple of Shri GNB

who it is understood had died at a very early age of 30 years.
I am having three songs of him- not when and where I got- lying in my pen drive for long .
I have uploaded same to day to my mediafire account. He was accompanied by LGJ.
venkatakailasam

Sri T.R. Balasubramaniam was the second (the first was Mr S. Balasubramaniam, who is also no more and was not as popular as TRB). He joined my brother in early 1940s when he was in his teens and he was staying with our family for a very long time. He died on the stage, while performing in Gurukulam in in Abhiramapuram in mid 1950 when he was in his 30s. He has given the first recording of my brother's song, Sadapalaya in MOhanam. He has a son and daughter. His son, was in US when I heard of him last 7 or 8 years ago. His daughter is in Selayur near Madras. I have a full concert of TRB which is in audio tape. I have also taken a photograph with him when I was in my teens in 1950s. He was very close to Lalgidiji and for most of his concerts Lalgudiji has accompanied him. In fact, it was he, who introduced Lalgudi to my brother. TRB was almost our family member. He was not only my brother's disciple. He also looked after his finance also. My brother never used to carry a purse as long as TRB was alive. .

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 01 Jan 2011, 07:22

A well informative article on the legend is at In to days The Hindu :

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/01/stories ... 860700.htm

venkatakailasam

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 01 Jan 2011, 10:39

I just loved that phrase in the hindu writeup:
Unless an artiste is endowed with a good voice, his scholarship would be of little avail.

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 01 Jan 2011, 11:20

gienbee; I missed your posting dtd 03 12 10 reg Shri TRB. I saw it only to day.So many thanks to you for the details.I want to mix and post one of his songs with me at you tube so that many can listen to him. Is it possible to scan and send his image by mail ?
Thank you.

I can see a chain of 'thanks' from one to another and I could not get the link there for. Can I be enlightened If possible.

Ivenkatakailasam

thenpaanan · Post by **thenpaanan** » 02 Jan 2011, 02:35

venkatakailasam wrote:A well informative article on the legend is at In to days The Hindu :

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/01/stories ... 860700.htm

venkatakailasam

The tense of the article suggests that it was written when GNB was still alive or soon after his passing. However the dateline is 2011. When was the article written? I ask because it says ...

Music, we have in plenty, but it is all of a very cheap quality. This is undoubtedly due to the democratisation of art we see going on all around us, like the surge of a flood, which we are helpless in fighting against. Apart from the mechanical contrivances contributing to this (we are living in an age of gadgets) it is very disheartening to notice that artistes who supply music on the platform and are hence responsible for the growth and development of music culture, also descend to the level of playing to the gallery and thus lower the standards of taste in the art.

1. Which cheap quality music is being referred to here I wonder? Sometimes one generation's "cheap" music becomes the succeeding generations' classics.
2. What is this "democratization" that is being forced upon this author that (s)he so heartily dislikes? Is it that too many people are performing/learning/appreciating CM or that certain kinds of people who did not appreciate CM before are doing it now in numbers?
3. What are these gadgets that we are in the "age of" I wonder. Is it the microphone or the recording equipment or the electronic tambura or the iphone?
4. What is "playing to the gallery" here? Is it "light ragas" (like, ahem, chArukesi) or tukkaDAs or abhangs?

Because the date of authorship is unclear there is a certain timeless quality to it. It could have been written in 1930 or 1970 or 2010 and the meaningless rant would sound like it made sense. Without details that are not supplied in the article, this is useless as critical analysis because in the middle of talking about GNB's views on music the author seems to have inserted his/her own views on the subject without making the distinction clear. GNB, the peerless innovator that he was, would not have had such shallow perspective.

This portion of the article (the rest of the article that provides details on GNB's life and views is quite informative) could however be an outstanding gag article because it has such an authentic feel to it -- generation after generation has felt that the succeeding generations are somehow diluting/demeaning/destroying CM. That is ageless.

-Then Paanan

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 02 Jan 2011, 03:04

"Though only in his forties, Mr. Balasubramaniam's views on the subject of music have the stamp of maturity.."
and
"Probably the greatest money-spinner in the present-day Carnatic music world, G.N.B. is by no means anxious to pander to popular tastes."

indicate that the article was written in the 1950s.

But the use of the word "gadgets" is interesting. If it was the 50s, then the author is probably referring to sound systems and recording equipment.

But I definitely see your point.. Every generation seems to have this sinking feeling that the art form is going to the dogs.

gienbee · Post by **gienbee** » 09 Jan 2011, 19:22

vasanthakokilam wrote:"Though only in his forties, Mr. Balasubramaniam's views on the subject of music have the stamp of maturity.."
and
"Probably the greatest money-spinner in the present-day Carnatic music world, G.N.B. is by no means anxious to pander to popular tastes."

indicate that the article was written in the 1950s.

But the use of the word "gadgets" is interesting. If it was the 50s, then the author is probably referring to sound systems and recording equipment.

But I definitely see your point.. Every generation seems to have this sinking feeling that the art form is going to the dogs.

Dear Rasikas,
The article which appeared in The Hindu on 1st, Jan,2011 is a reprint of the article which was published on 29th Dec, 1951, as could be seen from the box beneath his photograph.
I do not subscribe to the view reg democratisation of music and cheapening. There are quite a lot of outstanding youngsters to-day who proudly have established their mark as great artists to-day.
Perhaps in the 50s when the article was published, it could have been the position as there were only 4 or 5 sabhas in Madras and youngstewrs were perhaps not encouraged as it is happening now. My brother has written an article titled "Democratisation of Art etc" in 50s and perhaps it will be worthwhile to go thru it to see what were his views.
Sri Thenpaanan: . I will try to scan and send the photograph as early as possible.
Thanks for your comments.
Balakrishnan

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 10 Mar 2011, 14:28

GNB - Isai Vaseekaran - DVD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-UM_ahn9eM

Is it not A journey through the music life of Shri GNB ??

venkatakailasam

rasikas.org

G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB)

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Some recollections of the great GNB from "Parvathi", Mysore

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Re:GNB's vara ragalaya in chenju kambhoji

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