Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

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vark
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Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by vark »

When singing carnatic music songs, we sing the pallavi each time once after the anupallavi, once after each charanam or chittai swaram (if any)

Why is this so?

vgovindan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by vgovindan »

A simple answer would be that it is a 'refrain'.

SrinathK
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by SrinathK »

Sometimes it is also functional, connecting the anupallavi or charanam to the pallavi to give the complete meaning of the line.

http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... i.html?m=1

A song like this could logically begin in the anupallavi.

vgovindan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by vgovindan »

Srinath,
I have my reservations on your observation. Anupallavi, in that case would be without a context. Normally, in tyAgarAja kRtis, pallavi is sort of heading, anupallavi a synopsis and caraNa(s) amplification.

rshankar
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by rshankar »

In many (may not be in all) kRtis the pallavi completes the meaning of the anupallavi/caraNam(s). For example
(a recent request), in the composition of Sri Sivan's on kAntimati annai of nellai, the anupallavi is "SAnti peRa engum tEDi vandaDainda kumbha munik-karuL Sambhu uLam kavar", and if it sung without appending the pallavi (kAntimati annai nI gati kAttaruL karuNAnidhi amba), it will be meaningless. And the same is true of the caraNam -
"gaNyamigu tiru vIdigaLil angum kaniyinum iniya tamizh maRai muzhangum
puNya nadiyiR siRanda tAmiraparNi vaDakarai nellai pati vaLar" - meaningless without singing the pallavi at the end. So, to me, it is more than just a refrain.

I would consider, "Old McDonald had a farm" as a refrain - not repeating it would not change the meaning, IMO. Same with many film songs - In most of them, repeats of the pallavi serve to highlight different moods, as the caraNam is typically complete in itself wrt meaning.

In one of his Lec-Dems, Prof. SRJ says that even for tAna varNams, the pallavi must be sung at the end, otherwise the meaning is lost.

pada varNams are treated differently - in the pUrvAnga, the pallavi is repeated (eventhough, in most instances, the pallavi, anupallavi, and the muktAyi/eTTugaDa svara sAhityam passage are complete wrt meaning), so truly more of a refrain, while in the uttarAnga, the caraNa sAhityam is repeated after each of the caraNasvara sAhityam passages, as it does complete the meaning in many of them.

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

Lets also not forget how musical atItam was built into it as well :D : with artha bhAva that is sadguru is always atIta ;)

guru lEka(y)eTuvaNTi guNiki teliyaga pOdu

karukaina hRd-rOga gahanamunu koTTanu sad-(guru)

And - he already took the song from a high note to place the guru at the top- as is musical convention!
Last edited by shankarank on 06 Jun 2020, 08:50, edited 2 times in total.

vgovindan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by vgovindan »

Unlike Indian (traditional) meals, where curd is the last item, in western six course meals, sweet is reserved at the end. Similarly too, sometimes tyAgarAja reserves sweet right at the tail end. Example is 'SAntamu lEka'.

The SAnta we all understand is peace interspersed with war (with ourselves, and others). The SAnta he means is that quiescence which is our natural state - upaSAnta. tyAgarAja keeps that most important prefix - if I may call it so - 'upa' right at the tail. Those who do not take note of this 'crown' of the kRti, miss the substance.

Therefore pallavi is, neither a simple refrain nor a heading; it is the engine that drives the train, but without the conductor at the tail, the driver is rushing to nowhere.

The fakes now being unearthed are just shunted coaches without an engine and/or conductor.

kmrasika
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by kmrasika »

Good explanation on the reasoning for repeating the pallavi after anupallavi and caraņa for purposes of maintaining the continuity of the context of song.

There are compositions wherein the pallavi is not at all repeated after it is commenced. This is found in the predecessor form of the current rāgamāḷika, called rāga prabandham. Examples of these would be the śrī tyāgarāja caritamāḷika, with the starting words, "rāmacandra pādābjē" of maisūr vāsudēvācārya, and the similar form of compositions he penned on muttusvāmi dīkṣita, śyāmā śāstri and jayacāmarājēndra ōḍēyār.

vark
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by vark »

Oh okay, thank you for all your answers. So, to clarify, the pallavi is repeated because it is 1) either a refrain or 2) used to give the complete meaning of the anupallavi/caranam.

Ananthakrishna
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by Ananthakrishna »

Yes, The Pallavi is repeated in krithis mainly since it is a recurring motif that gives a sense of conclusion when sung after a section of the krithi like Anupallavi or Charanam, from both a literal and melodic standpoint.

As far as the sahityam is concerned, to repeat the last sangathi (typically) of the pallavi before concluding that section of the song and moving on to the next helps complete the meaning of the lyrics.

Melodically too, Pallavis are structured such that when sung after the Anupallavi or Charanam, they can provide an effective means of concluding one section and linking it to the other. It provides melodic continuity to the composition.

Say for instance, we consider the krithi Vatapi Ganapatim, After one renders the Madhyama Kaala portion of the Anupallavi, to conclude right there is not as melodically pleasing as going back to Vatapi Ganapatim, and bringing it to a more comfortable conclusion. Also, to pick up the charanam right after the madhyama kaala portion is not as melodically pleasing as starting the charanam after linking it to the Pallavi.

The main reason why the Pallavi is repeated, is therefore because of the lyrical and melodic continuity it gives. And that's how the Pallavi has been structured in krithis, and some Varnams.

In older compositional forms, as has been mentioned earler, the Pallavi was not always repeated, since the composition was structured so as to ensure melodic continuity is not affected.

Manian
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by Manian »

My understanding is pallavi is the mother who looks after her children Anupallavi – her child and other children charanam. So, she has to reassure there are safe. In other words, by revisiting Pallavi, the raga, swarasthanas and srutis) are rechecked without any effort. A lyrics is a cyclic one though it is written in a linear fashion. Till the whole lyrics is finished, it has to be safe guarded. Also, when it is sung the last time, the ending are vowels like the Thalattu for making the children sleep. Why and how did they start is not written down as the writing did not exist like today. So, it was sravanam- to listen through ears and repeat, but over a period of time the familiarity becomes a routine and always accepted as “our ancestors have said”. Like our character developed in childhood stays with us, but do we know how that was done? That is called experience and unless documented gets lot. How many times in our old age people ask, I should have asked about that..” but did not do when we are young. The system evolves by experience and improvisation. Then it becomes a tradition. For example, people going through the perimeter three times in a temple was really a physical exercise to concentrate on the mind on GOD and to day many old people have leg problems and are advised that they should exercise. The tulsi (Basel) water is an antibacterial cough suppresent and was offered in the temple. Out ancestors integrated life was not recorded properly, thus we are trying to find the answers which may or may not be true. So, singing each song is a travel that begins and ends at the same house in the same way we started out.

thenpaanan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by thenpaanan »

I find the conversation rather strange. The general theme here seems to be that composers like Tyagaraja, Sivan, and others actively choose to repeat the pallavi after each stanza, be it anupallavi or each stanza of the charanam. Whereas the fact seems to be that the particular structure and repetition pattern was created before the Trinity period, and the composers are merely using the structure to make their art within it. I cannot recall the name of the person but Smt Vedavalli in her lecture on pre-Trinity composers mentions that the modern "kriti" structure (the repetition structure and the use of dvitIya akshara prAsa copied pattern from tamizh poetry tradition) can be credited to this person who lived shortly before the Trinity period. Note that the earlier compositions such as the enormous body of traditional bhakti compositions in tamizh are sung straight through without repeating the first stanza after each other stanza (sometimes the first stanza is repeated after the entire poem is sung but not after each stanza). I dont know how the daasaru paadaas fit into this. Perhaps this particular structure of paalavi/anupalavi/charanam is the effect of the call-and-respond pattern of the contemporary bhajana paddhati which might have already been in vogue by then since the varNam structure also has this pattern, but I am far from an expert on that. There is also the much weaker pattern of pallavi and anupallavi starting in opposing parts of the octave but that distracts from my point is that the repetition of the pallavi in the modern Carnatic kriti is a rule that simply came into being by acceptance of a proposed structure and tradition -- there is no logic to do that, just an accepted convention.

-T

RSR
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by RSR »

How can we understand this , when the kruthi is rendered by an instrumentalist- be it VeeNa, Nagaswaram, Flute, Violin , Gottuvaadhyam?

Words and the meaning in the lyrics do not enter into the picture.

So, it must be viewed as a 'music' refrain.

The purpose is best understood when the listener does not know the language of the composition

Even many great Hindi film songs of the 1950-1960 decade had the same structure. Knowledge of the language , diverts and dilutes our music appreciation.

thenpaanan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by thenpaanan »

RSR wrote: 13 Jul 2021, 10:11 How can we understand this , when the kruthi is rendered by an instrumentalist- be it VeeNa, Nagaswaram, Flute, Violin , Gottuvaadhyam?

Words and the meaning in the lyrics do not enter into the picture.

So, it must be viewed as a 'music' refrain.

The purpose is best understood when the listener does not know the language of the composition

Even many great Hindi film songs of the 1950-1960 decade had the same structure. Knowledge of the language , diverts and dilutes our music appreciation.
True enough. These days Carnatic violinists are experimenting with other structures and only time will tell if these will stick. Hindustani musicians have long had compositions specific to instruments such as sitar. Regardless, we have these structures to give some anchor to the audience, nothing more. The musician is typically trying to convey some nameless musical idea and the familiarity of the structure helps the audience comprehend the idea more easily. The more it is familiar, the easier it is to comprehend. These conventions have evolved organically over time and there is nothing sacrosanct about them.

-T

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

Going by these judgements, "Classical Music of the south" - the music just as music has been a massive failure in India! :lol:
So far!
And that extends to Indian venues outside as well.

Manian
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by Manian »

People have to differentiate between music (intonation in sentences ) and understanding the lyrics. A friend of mine was demonstrating to his American born kid in my house(they were my guest) that he can sing Twinkle twinkle little star in several ragas and the boy was enjoying . He also started learning was playing clarinet later and played several Carnatic ragas with English lyrics. The point is, those who want to know the lyrics, should first learn to compose and sing and then realize that most historical musician sung in whatever language they were fluent with. Now, we may not know Telugu or Sanskrit, but if some one first sings with separated words and then joined words, most words may be found in our native language. Here is an example ( I am not a Sanskrit scholar): “Sri kanthimathim Shankara Uvatim, Sri Guruguha janani vande aham”
In this one may not know Vante aham which is aham vanthe– I salute”.

Typical Tamilians may know akam or aham is a Brahminical word for house but is not objected when heard by others. So, either you want to hear music and enjoy or not is the question. Also, the Bhava or emotion is expounded only in lower octave and that is in general, not taught. But if you hear Rajarathnam Pillai's Shamugapriya, you melt? Why? In the lower octave, the same emotion as happiness or sorrow is kindled. Since music and emotions are processed in the same brain part – lyrics is processed on the left hemisphere of the brain as a linguistic part, those who have developed musical taste will not complain rather enjoy it. Of course, complaining is every one's right.

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

There is Rajarathinam and there is Mali - the latter was cited by one musical friend ( well learnt - she used to sing parulanna mATa, early 2000s), went like this to prove her point. Mali begins a rAgA, she went, and starts a krithi, gets drowned in some neraval and kanaKkus. He will forget what krithi he started with and just end the piece.

So kriti or the bhakti rasa in it is not so important, she goes - , it is all art and music! So Carnatic music you see after all is not about Bhakti. This was the understanding of youngsters.

And there was a Lec Dem by Dr. Sriram Parasuram on Thiru Rajarathinam. One could hear him do a lot of Alap and just run through the kriti at break neck speed , and move on to next Alapana. The point made was in the 30(s) the music was not about rendition of kritis.

It is the shifting of vocal music from darbar to commoners , along with musicians acquiring instrumental techniques , first made vocal popular and that then gave the kriti a prominent place.

But then even Mali and Rajarathinam , one had to start the kriti atleast to setup his kanaKku, and the other had to run through it as a bridge to next rAgA. The kriti served as a quick finale to their rAga rendition. Otherwise that kind of felt unfinished.

Same reason can be cited here. As Kriti gained in importance, it looks unfinished melodically , even rhythmically if left without joining back to Pallavi, which lands them in a comfortable lower mid octave.

Rhythmically also a caraNam will end pre-beat or past the start of cycle, so the pallavi had to be caught to go land in Arudhi. Some times we see the whole pallavi may not be sung. May be in 78 RPMs that could well be to save time.

The Mridangam can then do their finishing tIrmAnam.

So even if the form changed, there are still musical reasons for this.

Manian
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by Manian »

Bhakti in musical lyrics came along with Marathas. Harikatha came with them. When no movies, tvs and other media, people got used to listen to Bhakti based lyrics. The saw that as an extension of the temple deity. Historically, most music rendering took place in front of the temple in villages and small cities. So, Bhakti was extension of worship. Once Sabhas came, TV, Movie etc., the next generation familiar with those media liked Cine Music where sentimental and jolting lyrics became popular. If you go to a typical Sabha in Chennai ( or watch the audience on the TV channels) what percentage of young people are present in the audience? Less than 20%? So, when the lady said, Bhakti is not the key, she wanted to cater to those future audience. Will Musicians end the Bhakti based songs and move to sing only cine music to get the audience? May be!. Also some singers have cine music singers first and then combine the Sabha and their own YouTube channels to make sure that they have audience. In other words, time and the audience is going to dictate the type of lyrics and ragas that will float in the air. Those home made food is giving away to Pizzas and Pani Puris, but once the health consequences become real, they will be back to Grandma's cooking , provided she is alive or had left her videos of cooking. But till the current old generation is alive and patronize the Sabhas, Bhakti lyrics will be alive along with nice snacks sold there.

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

Manian wrote: 21 Aug 2021, 14:00 Bhakti in musical lyrics came along with Marathas. Harikatha came with them.
The kriti format and sAhithya were prevalent before the trinity in tamizh compositional stream: http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/pretrinity.txt

That also answers a query @thenpaanan raised as regards who might have defined this format first. But even in Purandara sangeetham returning to the pallavi, is there in the Bhajana tradition. There may be many firsts here!

Now if you are talking about public expression of it , in terms of performances, may be true that the Harikatha tradition was the first to engage the public.
Manian wrote: 21 Aug 2021, 14:00 If you go to a typical Sabha in Chennai ( or watch the audience on the TV channels) what percentage of young people are present in the audience? Less than 20%? So, when the lady said, Bhakti is not the key, she wanted to cater to those future audience.
This misses a larger point. Whether Bhakti or not, those who engage with this “art form” – let’s say, are definitely drawn to it’s rich heritage and sacredness. There is a reference to the past. I am not seeing the growth of “classical music” – as we refer to it beyond that. I am yet to see impresarios organizing tours and selling tickets in the box office, for the core aspect of this. Even dance dramas etc., still depend on the support of core musical community.

As regards youngsters Vs. the old, young people don’t have the disposable time. Situation is somewhat better in the U.S. with more amenities and ease of access. Even there the learning population don’t show up to listen, in fractional terms of the prevalent numbers that are learning.

Popular media/music is not a competitor at all with the classical art forms. This is a fallacy. Popular art runs out of material and comes back to draw from the traditional , all the time.

But as next generation people get older, this will trend will continue, provided we stand strong on the core fundamentals. Trust me, people will be bored of Television – the medium is almost dead in the U.S. Will be in India soon.

Those who came to pass time in the 50s and 60s for this music, are just that, time passers. They didn’t transfer the rasikatvam to the next generation. They didn’t inquire into it’s technical aspects – now that was the only way to engage deeply with the music at that time. Trying to understand the rAgas, lakshanas!

Today the mode of engagement should not be technical. There is lot more information available as regards deeper cultural awareness. A philosophical narrative is required!

Where things went missing? Those (rasikas not musicians) that had it did not foster it enough ( terindE tavaru seyvadu!). And those that had it, their combined affluence and wealth even adjusted for inflation surpassed all those who thronged to listen in the 50s and 60s! Still they did not do it!

Even now, the trend continues somewhat. Instrumental music , even in the U.S. where I expect to be better, what with all children learning Western violin, is not patronized well at all. An organizer of another Texas city than what I am in, talked about the difficulty. To paraphrase: "The musician quotes $x as their rate, but 50 people show up! What can I do?"

When I watch the proceedings at nAda Inbam, I get to hear many benefactors, whose memorial concerts are being held. So there were people, but not enough of them.

In the case of the lady that I quoted, Her argument came from within : She thought she didn't feel any burst of emotion like Bhakti or anything - she just tries to sing well - and all of us seem to enjoy it. So where is this Bhakti?

I think she misses the point. Bhakti is inborn and not kindled by the "lyrics" and their "meaning". Too often we have seen "sAhitya" bhavam being talked about. This is a fallacy created by the "educated" class, as they tried to express their pride of being the first or second generation "literate" people! This is a modern fallacy. If a Guru tells a Sishya this, that may be valid and that is a special sacred context!

Any public narrative should emphasize the experience of beauty ("SrngArA" ) of the sounds, which includes the svara, rAga and sAhitya!

Since you like Madurai Mani Iyer so much :D , I will conclude with a link to a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApGZ65-i3Kw by Sri Vijay Siva, where he connects the vowel enunciations of MMI to the philosophy of nAdA.

If nAda philopsophy are really appreciated, we should dismiss off-hand, any categorization of instrumental vs vocal music. Both are same!

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

thenpaanan wrote: 18 Jul 2021, 22:17 Hindustani musicians have long had compositions specific to instruments such as sitar. Regardless, we have these structures to give some anchor to the audience, nothing more.
They needed that because the verses may not fit a required rhythmic theme. You can refer here to see how Hindi undergoes extensions to get accommodated to the meter, Sri Tulsi Ramayan.

https://youtu.be/-lHuAreRvNQ?t=270

However in the southern languages and the Sanskrit that travelled south starting with gIta gOvindam that limitation does not exist. The speed with which nAdasvara vidvans transitioned to rendering the trinity compositions, starting with SrI tyAgaraja is a case in point. No the Mallari was not forgotten , just like the Pallavi was not as well. Whole music had a rough patch in 80s/90s.

As time constraints allowed, even rAgA exposition had to be abridged. To blame the prevalence of trinity compositions for the loss of instrumental genre is misguided.

All trinity compositions qualify for a first class instrumental genre! And they provided required variety as well. The cello rendition of SrI SyamaSastri svarajati - should leave one with no doubt!

The handling by musicians is what counts. They should see the compositional structure as musical, and the lyrical constraints as musical constraints, not literary.

The pedagogical pre-occupations brought in the kalpita/kalpana classification and spoiled the whole thing. Once you call something as "kalpana" then that is it! - There is no kalpana any more :lol:

thenpaanan
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by thenpaanan »

shankarank wrote: 29 Aug 2021, 06:33
They needed that because the verses may not fit a required rhythmic theme. You can refer here to see how Hindi undergoes extensions to get accommodated to the meter, Sri Tulsi Ramayan.

https://youtu.be/-lHuAreRvNQ?t=270
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing this very lucid and informative video. I really enjoyed the speaker's clear and precise style of explaining how small aspects of pronunciation change as a word travels from one language to another or even one art form (poetry) to another (singing). I have been looking for such an explanation for a long time.

The central theme of this video is the natural (and in his opinion, legitimate) constriction and elongation of vowel endings, e.g. how 'raama' in samskrita becomes 'raam' or 'raamaa" under various circumstances such as exigencies of metrical poetry, rhythm in singing, linguistic transfer, etc.

One thing that the speaker did not elaborate on (which is something I would have liked to see clarified) is whether there are instances where a deergha (long) vowel is legitimately shortened. It seems to happen very casually in Carnatic music -- e.g. dEvI is often sung closer to dEvi (i.e the end vowel shortened from a long to short vowel) and there are many other examples. such as kAmAkshI. TM Krishna in one of his videos (sorry, don't have the link handy, but it is on youtube) suggested that this is not done (i.e. short vowels are very often elongated but long vowels are generally not shortened).

Thanks again for the delightful tangent!

-T

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

Since this thread provides context – I will continue. This discussion is sort of related as it shows how lines in sAhithya are connected musically especially when crossing the arudhi or samam bridge. An addition to the discussion where returning to Pallavi adds music.

Short vowel elongation - seems to vary according to the pAtantaram or pattern adopted by musicians.

SSI:
https://youtu.be/sC6DUGyAr8k?t=419
vistARamu is taken on wave start and ‘vis’ a short vowel goes for long. On repeat the same vis , it shortness is handled with just 1/4th space after samam to keep subsequent sAhitya in place and ½ eduppu.

I remember a TMT recording where he does it from second beat of wave.

https://youtu.be/kh_Fa0VVnZA?t=179
Malladi Brothers do it with some symmetry – sakshi lands on second wave before samam and goes for 3 (in 32 count sollus) and they take it just before samam in 3 using for vistAramu using the extra for pure consonant ‘s’. But for repetition
of this line they also compress it on second sangati to ¼ aksharam.

I like the Malladi brothers version for the first round where the slight elongation provides for a kind of rhythmic verve and symmetry of 3(s). I think for repetition also this can be managed for repetition also. At least on the samam if not ¼ pre beat. But not rush it. vistAramu has to be little vistAram!! And as long as the dhIrgha in tAramu has more mAtras it will not sound incongruent. Here you have the extra voiceless consonant ‘s’ to accommodate as well.

TMK in his rendition of the same : https://youtu.be/TldaQwEMjI0?t=154 does not take the liberty of elongating the short with vistAramu instead elongates ‘sAkshi’ . He is taken in by the jArus of rItigauLa which where his devotion is. But those have been shown in sangatis which do not continue into second line.


Another instance is the handling of advaitamu. Something that I have not seen with other musicians is executed by Anahita/Apoorva sisters: https://youtu.be/7SyBBjVfjps?t=4538 . The advaitamu is taken atItam. It is atita vidya! So some bhavam is also conveyed. They also render the standard sangati without missing. Now ‘a’ in advaitamu is short but the voiceless consonant ‘d’ provides an opportunity to hold for longer. Elongation if it conveys a rhythmic verve is welcome.

I will post another example where I think the setting is not so optimal - in fact the long vowel is sort of shortened!

shankarank
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Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... hitae.html

anupallavi

pannaga Sayana peddala sva-bhAvam(u)

(i)Tl(u)NDaga bAguga nannE nIv(ennaDO)

The full word is svabhAvamu - not svabhAva. But all renditions split it there.

https://youtu.be/BAH5j1N4KiI?t=1687 - Vignesh Ishwar

https://youtu.be/MiRVfblQXmE?t=440 - KBMK

https://youtu.be/Clns0vGKh7k?t=202 - Abhishek Raghuram

<<added>>
https://youtu.be/mpqRyxzeVRg?t=167 - a Vainika Ramana Balachandran also into the mix.

and two more at Sangeehapriya.org from DKP and PSN.

What I see is the word split and execution of this line does not have the grandeur of the pallavi line!

The second line also shifts in prAsa : pannaga vs. miTluNdaga. The words pannaga and Sayana are elongated in the ending vowels excessively. pann... in pannaga is not held long enough. Some melody of whatever conception is slapped on the first line.

An optimal way, would be "pannaga Sayana where pann.. is held more at nn.., Sayana is paused with short "a" at the end. PeddalasvabhAmu is taken continuous from 1/4th instead of 1/2 after arudhi. Even 1/4 atItam to arudhi variation is possible. Now svabhAvamu will be on second dRtam as sva | bhAvamu with atItam so 'bhA' gets its elongation properly and they can end with a 'mu' for first line sangatis.

When continuing the second line the words join together as svabhAvamiTluNdaga. No 'u' there. the 'miT' should cross over samam - where 'luNdaga' then is 1/2 after exactly like pannaga. bAguga nannE will be pulled forward where nannE can be sung emphatically from 1/2 after with a pause in 'nE'. 'nI' then crosses samam as nIvennaDo.

Here svabhAva has been shortened and done very tentatively! All these words (pannaga, Sayana, peddala, svabhAva) don't have equal mAtras - svabhAva has 4, svabhAvamu has 5. pannaga and peddala have 3-1/2 and Sayana - 3.

This line has to be smoothed over by joining words.

pannaga Sayana - 6.5 peddala svabhAvamu - 8.5. With 1 (1/2 offset = 1 in a 16 count) offset at beginning of the cycle - so a total 16. The words cannot be exactly executed for 3.5 etc, sometimes adjusted to 3 or rounded to 4. They can be, but it will be a teeth wrenching exercise do a miSram on pannAga and peddala - a possibility in a odukkam type sangAti. With peddala - 'sva' of svabhAvamu , taking advantage of atItam , will be shortened to 1/2 (1/4th pre-beat in 16 count) to give room for peddala. Same with sayana. It will be executed faster within 2 mAtras ( in 16).

Sayana - reduce sleep. niddura nirAkarinci :D
peddala - execute it big! because it means big! :D

pannaga - should have a winding sangati - as it seems to have. It means AdiSEsha. Pausing on 'nn' makes it possible even at the starting sangati.

bhAvamu - should be sung with bhAvam - even a descending sangati to 'pa' should be added before lifting it up - to incorporate SN3DN2DP phrase which is the key bhAvam phrase of Saurashtram.

P:S pEru pedda pEru. Some Telugu classmates of mine had large names. Here is one I remember: Pauli SESha Venkatesa Raja Bhaskara Jagannatha Rao - we all got lot of puNya reciting his full name. He had four or five initials. :D
Last edited by shankarank on 02 Sep 2021, 23:03, edited 1 time in total.

shankarank
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Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Why is the Pallavi repeated after each 'stanza'

Post by shankarank »

I made some important edits and additions.

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