The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

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kvchellappa
Posts: 3596
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by kvchellappa »

M.S. Subbulakshmi told the mridangam maestro Karaikudi Mani after a Kutcheri, “Mani, today you only sang the song.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 738183.ece

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Rsachi »

Image

KVC, you beat me to it, sir!

BTW we have featured several fine articles on Guru Karaikudi Mani in the latest Lalitha Kala Tarangini magazine. This issue has been described as a collector's issue elsewhere.

I have linked a litePDF file here:
version here:
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/cfe ... 4f63a324a8

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by rshankar »

Maybe it's just me, but I found the article from Hindu to be one of the most unintelligible pieces I've read! It was made unnecessarily complex- there's a beauty in simplicity that seems to elude many a writer!

kvchellappa
Posts: 3596
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by kvchellappa »

Thanks Rsachi for the link to the latest issue of Lalithakala Tarangini. Could you pl give the link to the souvenir they brought on Smt MS last year (Sep?)?

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Nick H »

Rsachi wrote:BTW we have featured several fine articles on Guru Karaikudi Mani in the latest Lalitha Kala Tarangini magazine. This issue has been described as a collector's issue elsewhere.
Oh! Are you involved with this magazine?

Somebody gave me a copy at a concert a few weeks ago, and I didn't think of it for a while, and then, opening it, found it to be a real treasure!

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Rsachi »

Yes KVC. It was a special issue and not a souvenir. BTW the entire magazine is free, printed in cr on artpaper, and carries NO advertisements or sponsorships. Commendable.
The link :
http://www.srlkmandira.org/newsletters/ ... pecial.pdf

All their issues are archived in that location (promoted folder).

(the English transations of late Mr Krishnamurthy's articles were done by me).

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Rsachi »

Nick, yes, I am a regular contributor of writings and well-wisher of SRLKM.

RShankar, :D yes, some of these writers have superb ideas but adopt a somewhat abstruse idiom. To his credit, the author here is making some very insghtful points, though:
1. Is there a grammar to percussion strokes to accompany a song? A type of bhava? Yes, there is. It is not obvious like words or raga moods, but follows a deep design and artistic capability.
2. Who exemplified that? The author has mentioned Mani Iyer and Raghu. I would add Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani.

There is a story about SSI's Marubalka and the PMI accompaniment for anupallavi. It always used to elicit a big applause. When SSI expressed that the applause was for his singing, Mani Iyer stopped playing at that point the next time, and the anticlimax clinched the issue in his favour.
Raghu was legendary in accompanying KVN. In the Behag kriti Kandu Dhanyanade, the way he plays for Charana is climactic.
I have heard an Academy SSI concert where Sivaraman takes the tillana to the stratosphere with his play.
Karaikudi Mani is simply fantastic in this aspect. He knows to sing very well, and that sure helps him accompany the way he does.

I shared a little while ago an MSS Kalyani - Needu Charana (1958). The mridangam there adds infinite beauty to the lyrics.

Hope I have managed to communicate my enthusiasm for the author's ideas sufficiently!
Last edited by Rsachi on 17 Jun 2016, 15:01, edited 1 time in total.

kvchellappa
Posts: 3596
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by kvchellappa »

Sivaraman might have liked his name as Suvairaman rather than Suvaraman :)

Rsachi
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Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Rsachi »

;)

The concert of 063-SSI with TNK and PMI linked in the Best Vocal-Violin-Mridangam amply illustrates what PMI excelled at. The art of accompaniment at its very best.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by rshankar »

RSachi - thank you for a) getting the author's point (which was buried in verbose prose) across, and b) proving my point regarding simplicity! :)

kvchellappa
Posts: 3596
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by kvchellappa »

Thanks Rsachi for the link to the special issue. I find my soul whenever I listen to or read about MS.

Rsachi
Posts: 5039
Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54

Re: The Hindu article: vadana becoming gayana

Post by Rsachi »

KVC, then please listen to this Kalyani

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