Ramnad Krishnan

Carnatic Musicians
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Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

As someone had suggested, let us not wait to celebrate Centenary of Vidwans to listen to them intently. Keep on appreciating good music whenever possible.

I feel sorry to note that the music of MD Ramanathan and several greats seem to be waiting for Centenary events.

Concert (records) listening joints - as happening already-shall be encouraged.

Good that Ramnad Krishnan's music has opened up our eyes and ears.

shankarank
Posts: 4042
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by shankarank »

https://youtu.be/joMwpv0Trfs?t=2167

இந்த மிருதங்கம் எத்தினி பேருக்குய்யா தாங்கும்?? எடுத்த எடுப்பிலேயே தெரியலே? பெரிய சங்கீதம்முனு! :geek: :roll: :roll: (:high-brow: , :high-brow: ) :twisted:

How many artistes can elicit that type of accompaniment? The nature of music ( that it is something great!) should be evident right at the outset!

இதெல்லாம் தபலாவுக்கும் மிருதங்கத்துக்கும் வித்தியாசம் தெரிஞ்சாத்தானே தெரியும்! First people should learn to diff. between tabla and Mridangam! :mrgreen: :lol:

yello, yello .. common , common! :lol:

narayan
Posts: 383
Joined: 05 Oct 2008, 07:43

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by narayan »

vijay.siddharth, I doubt if it is a competition and one can listen to Ramnad as well as Madurai Somu and TNS and S Kalyanaraman and everyone else. Feel free to enjoy all of them, including the differences. Much has been written about Ramnad in this as well as other forums. Quite a few musicians have been impacted by his music, I must say.
Last edited by narayan on 29 Oct 2017, 13:22, edited 1 time in total.

shankarank
Posts: 4042
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by shankarank »

narayan wrote: 28 Oct 2017, 20:59 It's a free country (still!).
So it was not a free country before? so in late 1800s and early 1900s people did not enjoy different musicians and understand differences? How much freedom is required to enjoy music? How much freedom have we lost or we going to lose?

What country are we talking about?

bala747
Posts: 314
Joined: 20 Mar 2006, 12:56

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by bala747 »

I was wrong about Ramnad Krishnan too in the past, in exactly the same vein.

But hear his early concerts and he was up there as a legend. The concert posted above for instance, not many artists can sing a Varali like that, beyond a few cliched phrases (as most "musicians" these days tend to do).

And the Begada is one of a kind. Begada is not an easy raga to even attempt, but he makes it sound so effortless.

narayan
Posts: 383
Joined: 05 Oct 2008, 07:43

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by narayan »

shankarank wrote: 28 Oct 2017, 22:15
narayan wrote: 28 Oct 2017, 20:59 It's a free country (still!).
So it was not a free country before? so in late 1800s and early 1900s people did not enjoy different musicians and understand differences? How much freedom is required to enjoy music? How much freedom have we lost or we going to lose?

What country are we talking about?
Have removed the offending part. May please continue with discussion regarding Ramnad. Thanks for the alert.

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by varsha »

in recent times, I have been listening to a lot of recordings by Ramnad Krishnan sir..... But, I find that, with the exception of his handling of ragams like Sahana and Shankarabharanam
With RK it cant be lots of recordings ( a disservice to the artist - the centenary too did not change the status - leaving us to believe a cliched state of things . Over four decades Ive mustered only 32 concerts and yet ... the stats are interesting
The repertoire in these 32 concerts spreads over 175 krithis !!!
What makes him stand out for me ?
1. Over 40 of the 175 , RK has put his indelible stamp . Whenever someone sings one of these - bale balendu or govardhana giridhari , the name " RK " flashes across.We can get to this later
2.The rest of the krithis showcases his fascination for ragas first , krithi next . Many among these , he sings the proportion of a 8 mt alapana and 4 mt krithi . We can come to these too. Each of these ragas , he has handled two to four krithis with great finesse.
filigree work
3.The same krithi does not appear in the fixed slot in the concert proceedings . Same one at position 1 , 3 , 7... in different concerts
4.His is a voice that goes so smooth with just a khanjira . Most mrdangam sounds in his concerts are just softly played
5.Engages in rapid changes of pace at times with swaras - classic cases are mandari etc.
6.The opening of the concert is invariably fast paced. Even in the slow phases he has that kind of power on leash , waiting to let loose
7.In many ways he is the exact opposite of MDR to my ears.
I love them all just as they come.
Here is the first part of the less heard ones.
https://archive.org/details/RAmnAdKrishnan-1

Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

The ultimate analysis shows that it was only Ramnad Krishnan (among Vidwans) who could sing closest to the Dhanammal Bani (more specifically T Brinda).

The centenary events in Chennai certainly helped rasikas to appreciate the depth and nuances of the music of RK. The sort of 'confession' echoed by every artist was that he/she has been attempting to 'sing like RK' but could never succeed!

vilomachapu
Posts: 81
Joined: 06 Jan 2016, 17:20

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by vilomachapu »

The ultimate analysis shows that it was only Ramnad Krishnan (among Vidwans) who could sing closest to the Dhanammal Bani (more specifically T Brinda).
Tell me which song, which raga RK has sung like Brinda. RK's style is more akin to GNB, not Dhanammal style. He did not sing many Dikshitar or SS songs. Also he did not sing padams. His music had more of 'alakshyam', the don't care type. It had nothing to do with Dhanammal style though he might have learnt from the family. RK's music has more of hype than substancdde. It was people like Spencer Venugopal, Sanjay Subramanian, TMK etc who blew RK's music out of proportion.

MaheshS
Posts: 1186
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by MaheshS »

Lets do a test and see? I've picked Dikshitar's master piece in Shankarabaranam, Akshayalinga Vibho.

Brinda & Muktha

Ramnad Krishnan

Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: Why Ramnad Krishnan sir?

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

vilomachapu,
Have not you heard Modi jese (Khamas javali) from RK?
Aaalaapana of Sahana? or Kannada?

No alakshya comments please!

MaheshS
Posts: 1186
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Re: Ramnad Krishnan

Post by MaheshS »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_r-CPFqXz0&t=137m50s => Sri Mushnam uses RK as an example.

Jim
Posts: 21
Joined: 08 Nov 2009, 04:00

Re: Re:

Post by Jim »

narayara000 wrote: 07 Sep 2017, 12:41
Jim wrote: 10 Jan 2010, 03:54 Just to get things rolling again... Here's a story from 1968.

I learned Telisi Rama Chintanato from Krishnan with the chittiswara: r-gmrsnp-prsr-gm|r--p-mrg|mpdps---|| etc. A friend taught me the other chittaswara (r--rgmrgmp- etc.), which is the more common one I believe, and I wrote it down in my music notebook. When I showed off my knowledge of the new chittaswara to Krishnan at my next lesson he made a face and told me it was no good -- went out of the raga. I still have the notebook and the huge "X" that he wrote through that chittaswara. I always wondered, was this RK just asserting a preference or is there a genuine disagreement about the appropriateness of two Poorna Chandriga chittaswaras?
Hello, can you please post Ramnad Krishnan's chittaswaram in full
Here is the Chittaswara I learned from Ramnad Krishnan in 1968:

Capital letters denote lower register
Bold letters denote upper register

r - g m r s N P - P r s r - g m | r - - p - m r g | m p d p s - - - || repeat
s n p r - r g m r - r s n p r - | - s - - p - r s | n p m r g m r s || repeat

shanks
Posts: 118
Joined: 25 May 2006, 22:03

Re: Ramnad Krishnan

Post by shanks »

Interesting that I learnt this variation of chittaswaram with one minor difference for the kriti 'palukavEmi nA daivama' !!

I vaguely recollect listening this combo in some concerts too.

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Re:

Post by narayara000 »

Jim wrote: 08 Nov 2017, 19:39

Here is the Chittaswara I learned from Ramnad Krishnan in 1968:

Capital letters denote lower register
Bold letters denote upper register

r - g m r s N P - P r s r - g m | r - - p - m r g | m p d p s - - - || repeat
s n p r - r g m r - r s n p r - | - s - - p - r s | n p m r g m r s || repeat
Ya this chittaswaram does seem to bring out more of the "poornachandrika flavor" than the standard chittaswaram
Last edited by narayara000 on 08 Nov 2017, 23:30, edited 1 time in total.

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Ramnad Krishnan

Post by narayara000 »

shanks wrote: 08 Nov 2017, 22:59 Interesting that I learnt this variation of chittaswaram with one minor difference for the kriti 'palukavEmi nA daivama' !!
It makes sense because both are Adi thala krithis that start at samam, and first note is "Ri"

raviscn
Posts: 9
Joined: 06 Oct 2020, 16:05

Re: Ramnad Krishnan

Post by raviscn »

there is a much celebrated music academy 1957 concert of Ramnad Krishnan. its mentioned in below article
https://musicacademymadras.in/musicacad ... 018-50.pdf

Do any one have a digital copy of that concert? Thanks in advance

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