M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Carnatic Musicians
Post Reply
advaitin
Posts: 103
Joined: 07 Dec 2010, 18:05

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by advaitin »

A lovely 30 off minutes from Prasar bharati archives. Liked it a lot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtApFlYvDGE

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by rajeshnat »

Few days back my mother's appa( grandfather) whose initials go as NSV had his 102nd anniversary. His words to me when i was in my teens was Athilyila Ariyakudi , apparam niraya semmangudi , appappa Flute Mali , apparam ellAthayum vuttutu MDR (Roughly in English he meant in his early years ariyakudi , then lot of semmangudi , few touches of Flute mali then i dropped everything and just stuck to MDR).

My grandfather used to say a lot about MDR especially his yadhukula kambodhi kedaragowlai cluster which i did not know that well then, I am not sure if he had heard this RTP of MDR may be he was referring MDR singing popular swati krithi in yadhukula kambODhi. This is just a 26 min pallavi with no violin return in Ragam . You can get the distinct ragaswaroopam of any raga very likely from only MDR

MDR- RK Venkatarama Sastry- Palghat Kunjumani . Single Raga RTP in yadhukula kAmbOdhi. I am assuming the first musician to sing RTP in yadhukulakAmbOdhi may have been MDR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKR_NBqBz4

musicofmdr
Posts: 27
Joined: 16 May 2020, 18:36

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by musicofmdr »

Dear rasikas,

On MDR’s birth date (20th May), I am happy to announce the release of a new website dedicated to the maestro:

https://musicofmdr.com/

This site is a humble attempt to list out some of MDR’s specialities with links to audio files which illustrate the point under discussion. I am sure that “MDR fans” will love it, and other rasikas would find it informative & interesting (and some may become MDR fans!) . Do visit, and feel free to comment directly in the site or in the posts here. Your inputs and feedback will help to make it more accurate and better. If you like the contents of the site and find it worth sharing, do spread the word.

Pointers to some of the topics discussed in the site have come from posts in this forum, and I thank members of this forum for that.

There are a good number of audio links, so, block some time during this lockdown and enjoy the great music :-)

#musicofmdr

PS: I am not sure if mdrbalaji is now active in this forum. If not, it would be great if someone in contact with him can share this site with him as well. It would be great to get his blessings and comments.

Pratyaksham Bala
Posts: 4164
Joined: 21 May 2010, 16:57

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

@musicofmdr
Post #12 may be of help :
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5717&p=88945#p88945

musicofmdr
Posts: 27
Joined: 16 May 2020, 18:36

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by musicofmdr »

Pratyaksham Bala wrote: 22 May 2020, 19:21 @musicofmdr
Post #12 may be of help :
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5717&p=88945#p88945
@Pratyaksham Bala, thank you very much. I was able to share the site information with mdrbalaji using the given address.

#musicofmdr
https://musicofmdr.com/

musicofmdr
Posts: 27
Joined: 16 May 2020, 18:36

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by musicofmdr »

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=34547

This may be of interest to people who are reading this thread :-)

#musicofmdr
https://musicofmdr.com/

Rajan Padiachi
Posts: 10
Joined: 10 Jan 2020, 11:47

M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by Rajan Padiachi »

MR Ramanathan , is a true torchbearer of the old order, purely traditional.
i was fortunate to attends his concerts from 1981 to 1985 when i lived in Madras,
i recorded over 27 AIR concerts in that time of whcih two concerts i sat with him in the AIR studio
my Guru MN Kandaswami played mridangam. Vidwan MDR gave me a piece of kalkandu before the recording i tsill preserve that piece of kalkandu till today in memory of that day.
I discoved a rare varnam composed by Great Tiger Varadachariar, great Thana varnam in Bahudai - Adi Thalam, i got the script from my other guru Smt Savathri Rajan in 1982( she was a disciple of Tiger Garu and Veena Dhanammal ) which she got from her mother Mrs Seethalakshmi who was a disciple of Vidwan TIGER, however Tiger never composed the sahityam for it as he died before that. In 1983 My guru MKN phone MDR and asked him about the varnam - he remembered the varnam, and told my guru he will composed the sahityam, shame soon he died as well,
in 1985 i composed the sahityam myself and sent the audio to Smt Savatri Rajan as i was back in South Africa, She very inspiringly approved of it and totaly loved the composition, so as at today we the only family in South Africa that has a varnam of India which India does not have SABASH South Africa , i sang it many times.
i remember Balaji his son since he was little.
Thanks Rasikas for this great site.

shreyas
Posts: 251
Joined: 03 Mar 2018, 13:16

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by shreyas »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXzJBrTfkdo

A Mysore Vasudevachar themed concert.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by rajeshnat »

MDR assisting Rajesh with Submain and Main
--------------------------------------------------------
Prelude
----------
Today I had to talk with my family about my maternal grandfather.He listened to a lot of Ariyakudi , then Semmangudi , bit of touch and go with Flute mAli then in his words when i was in early teens he has told me that I dumped every one in carnatic and only stuck with MDR. He and I have discussed about kedaragowlai and particularly he goes gA gA with MDR yadhukulaCalmBodhi.

Interactions were limited and he was in mayavaram, tippirajapuram near kumbakonam then when he came in mid to late 80s i had the interaction. Then i had go out of madras to study college some where else and then he passed away

Also to refresh your memory , once when i was travelling from bangalore to chennai by brindavan or lalbagh express an elderly mama and i picked up conversation ,This is 2005 to 2010 circa. I was talking about MMI and may be bit of SSI , That elderly gentleman had a smile and the train reached Katpadi or so . He was smiling and appreciating my interest in CM, but deep down he was feeling hey you have not listened to that artist . I told that mama sir if I am right your favorite is MDR . That maama got surprised and asked how did you know is what he asked . I said i could see a long silence and smile like my late thatha and i see that with you and I assumed all that is part of being a MDR fan.

What can one say about this phenom MDR . Every thing is corona effect standstill where even cities have some silence and natural charm which was missing . I donot think i am going to ever appreciate MDR say and put in my carnatic vocal trinity zone like MMI-SSI-GNB.But MDR the phenom teaches us how to listen intently and not lose the depth of CM.

Submain- MAyAMAlavaGowlai with T
----------------------------------------------
My kid ditched Dance class after two years and my wife put her in carnatic paatu class. She just sang sarali varisai maaya maalva gowlai . I just now put this song . She ran away, appA is this taatha singing or praying in temple all alone. No I cannot take it . I guess perhaps one has to be born like MKR Sir to like MDR in the first hearing .

All said they say 30 exact minutes a day in yoga and meditation is good . But i think that can be challenged only by this below link

Meru Samaana (R,N,S) - maayaamaalavagowlai - Thyagaraja
MDR , the yogic meditative teacher is assisted by Lalgudi Jayaraman and Palakkad Mani Iyer.(year not known)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oA--tcV_K4

Main- Bhairavi with SS
---------------------------
First of all i had to check if there is a setting as 0.5x like 1x 2x in speed . Personally far more than lower register and vilambakalam, MDR deep baritoned male voice is his prime vehicle. He liberally decides to adjust his voice but nothing disturbs the overall muse . WIth the bhairavi on, the whole house is running away. My kid is wondering what is this. I think this bhairavi swarajathi can be played in all houses so that excess covid fearing folks can go out of their homes .In this swarajathi with so much spacing between jathi and swaras , it is bit like nadaswara vidwans being given lung space by tavil vidwans . One has to give it to this legend Palakkad Raghu Sir playing with such finesse.Through out the rendition I can kind of say the taalam is bhairavi in the able hands of Raghu Sir. Chalakkudi plays brilliantly with no anAvsiyam to disturb the search of Kamakshi grace aided by the voice of MDR. Swaras in bhairavi were not as great as swarajathi, but still well done.

Kamaakshi (NS,S)- Bhairavi - Shyamasastri
MDR , the marathon runner is assisterd by Chalakudi Narayanaswami and Palakkad Raghu(1979 at Indian Fine Arts, Madras)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPkYY5nSBUU

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

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by shankarank »

rajeshnat wrote: 04 Jul 2021, 15:43 MDR , the yogic meditative teacher is assisted by Lalgudi Jayaraman and Palakkad Mani Iyer.(year not known)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oA--tcV_K4
Thanks, I set the speed of youtube to 1.25 and got my madyama-cauka kAlam with full integrity! :D The man is scalable and the music is true to the new speed except the word "raghu" sounded a bit disproportionately quick. :lol: Just wondering what Mani Iyer would have thought if he knew we could vary the speeds like this, knowing what he thought of Mic.s not carrying his original clean sound! :mrgreen:

As regards the Alapana, I got jagan mOhini, some kamalamanOhari and a tinge of vakuLabharaNam all in one go! ;)

musicofmdr
Posts: 27
Joined: 16 May 2020, 18:36

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by musicofmdr »

rajeshnat wrote: 04 Jul 2021, 15:43 MDR assisting Rajesh with Submain and Main
--------------------------------------------------------
I do not think i am going to ever appreciate MDR say and put in my carnatic vocal trinity zone like MMI-SSI-GNB. But MDR the phenom teaches us how to listen intently and not lose the depth of CM.
Each form of music has its own specialities and strengths, and the same goes for musicians. Within a stream of music itself, there are different aspects that can be enjoyed and a listener may get attracted some parts more than the other based on the inherent and acquired tastes. But, this is no barrier to enjoy and appreciate something unique/interesting beyond one's primary interest. And, as you highlighted, one of the unique feature of MDR's music is the opportunity for a listener to become part of the performance - pace, pauses, gaps, conversations - all of these helps a listener to follow and instantly appreciate the music that is flowing. Listener is not numbed or swept away, but is given space to follow and to "passively" participate in one's own mind (For more details, you can refer https://musicofmdr.com/mdr-elephant-gait/, https://musicofmdr.com/mdr-meaningful-pauses/, https://musicofmdr.com/mdr-dialogues/ etc.)
rajeshnat wrote: 04 Jul 2021, 15:43 She ran away, appA is this taatha singing or praying in temple all alone. No I cannot take it . I guess perhaps one has to be born like MKR Sir to like MDR in the first hearing .
:) Yes, it is not easy, especially when you have been fairly exposed to the "conventional" way. It needs a complete re-alignment of "listening mindset".
rajeshnat wrote: 04 Jul 2021, 15:43 All said they say 30 exact minutes a day in yoga and meditation is good . But i think that can be challenged only by this below link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oA--tcV_K4
...
Personally far more than lower register and vilambakalam, MDR deep baritoned male voice is his prime vehicle.
Especially around 1:30, 2:15, 3:05-3:45 etc. LGJ's violin is a perfect partner, mirroring the style so nicely.
And the "takeoff" of the kriti is something you can hear N times and still get goosebumps! Note the way Mrudangam adds to the effect. The whole rendition is a great example of using "sound effects" to the fullest. The impact of the sudden start of the charanam after a long silent stretch is impactful.
rajeshnat wrote: 04 Jul 2021, 15:43 WIth the bhairavi on, the whole house is running away.
Though the audio quality is not great, a great rendition, as always. Leisurely pace that suits swarajathis also offer MDR plenty of scope to play with swara and sAhitya positioning. Sometimes, they are placed for the "sound effect", sometimes, the placement is to mirror the sAhitya and sometimes, he will be playing with the "speed". Beauty of this can be witnessed in this rendition too.

@rajeshnat, you could also get some inspiration for a "mangaLam anecdote" from one of the items in https://musicofmdr.com/mdr-subha-mangalam/ :)
shankarank wrote: 05 Jul 2021, 13:06 Thanks, I set the speed of youtube to 1.25 and got my madyama-cauka kAlam with full integrity! :D The man is scalable and the music is true to the new speed except the word "raghu" sounded a bit disproportionately quick. :lol:
As regards the Alapana, I got jagan mOhini, some kamalamanOhari and a tinge of vakuLabharaNam all in one go! ;)
Even 1.5x doesn't seem that bad! And I am sure you would have loved the swara placements :)

#musicofmdr
https://musicofmdr.com/

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: M.D. Ramanathan (MDR)

Post by rajeshnat »

today Jan 22, 2024 is indeed a great day for all of us to turn and establish the Lord RAmA that was missing for atleast 500 years. Sachi said in another post talked about pattabhishekam like feeling when he posted MLV in parvathi.

The originality of MDR is so different. When he takes this manirangu krithi of Dikshitar , so much of depth of india's religion and sprituality is explained just through music , even though. i dont understand sanskrit.

mamava pattabhi rama - manirangu - Muthuswami Dikshitar
sung by MDR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv4kAjK ... JoaQ%3D%3D

Post Reply