Authorship and authenticity in Carnatic music

[RSR]

Would like to share a very thought-provoking article .
Who 'wrote' that song?Authorship and authenticity in Carnatic music
Vishnu Vasudev May 20, 2018 ·
https://medium.com/@vishnuvasudev_63314 ... 470e29bcf5
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(some excerpts)
"The standard practice in listing a Carnatic music composition is to provide the name of the song, the raga, the tala, and the composer. For instance, Vathapi Ganapathim, in Hamsadhwani raga, Adi tala, composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. So far so good. But often, two questions arise.
First, did the “composer” create both the lyrics and the melody of the composition?
Second, if he did both, is this particular rendering in the raga in which he composed it?
If the answer to either question is “no”, who did in fact tune this song? Should he or she not be acknowledged in some way?
My short answer is “absolutely”.
The vageyakkara triumvirate

These questions do not arise when we consider the “big 3” 18th-19th century composers of Carnatic music — Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri. Their disciples have documented and notated their music, and we know that what is being rendered of their compositions today is more or less as they composed them. Some relatively minor variations of phrases (musically and lyrically) may have crept in over time in a process of Chinese whispers, and the natural artistic process, but the basics of raga, tala, lyrics, structure and progression are as they were intended. This is not always the case of other vageyakkaras (a term akin to ‘composer’, used for someone who both writes lyrics and sets them to music).
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When tunes are created (Poetry set to music)
Let’s start with what is certain. There are several compositions for which we definitely know that the lyricist and the tune-smith were not the same. We know this because the poet / lyricist lived in times or milieus out of Carnatic music range. For example, many of the 12th century poet Jayadeva’s ashtapadis from his Geeta Govinda have been set to music by various later day carnatic musicians and composers. Often, the same verse may have been tuned differently by different people, but one or the other catches on and becomes “standard”. Nonetheless, the identity of the tune-smith remains largely anonymous.
Listen, for instance to Sancharadadhara / Raase Harimiha, a frequently rendered ashtapadi. The “standard” (or most commonly rendered) version is the one popularized by M.L. Vasanthakumari. It has been tuned in a ragamalika of four ragas — Mohanam, Gavati, Yamunakalyani and Sindhubhairavi. It was only a few months ago that I discovered quite by accident that this “standard” version was in fact set to music by Seetharama Sarma, who passed away recently. Seetharama Sarma was a vocalist, composer and nattuvanar and a guru across multiple disciplines — Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam and nattuvangam. On an online forum, I have seen this tune being mis-attributed to TM Thyagarajan......
If you are a long-time follower of Carnatic music, you may know the identity the tune-smith for the “standard” versions of a few of these compositions. For instance, that Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar set the Thiruppavai to Carnatic music, that Calcutta K.S. Krishnamurthy set many verses of the Thiruppugazh to music (even if you do not know which ones exactly), or that R. Vaidhyanathan set Meera’s Hari Tum Haro to music for MS Subbulakshmi. You can also be sure that if the piece is being rendered by a prolific composer like M. Balamuralikrishna, then he is singing his own version. But by and large, for most poetry set to Carnatic music, we do not know who is responsible for these beautiful tunes.....

Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri were not the earliest vageyakkaras (‘composers’ who have written both the lyrics and melody)in Carnatic music. There were several in the preceding centuries, including Annamacharya (15th Century), Bhadrachala Ramadas (17th Century), Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiyer (18th Century), Muthu Thandavar (16th Century) and host of Kannada dasas — bhakti saints typically from the 16th and 17th centuries (Vyasaraya, Kanakadasa, among others). This is only a partial list...........There is a set of compositions however, that simply should not exist.
This, unfortunately, includes the composition that I extolled in my previous post — Vazhi Maraittirikkudu in the raga Natakurinji. The original tune of the song by composer Gopalakrishna Bharati was in the raga Desiya Todi. That version is not lost - it is well known, well documented and still sung. No other version ought to be known. As beautiful as the Natakurinji version is, it is difficult to fathom the thought process behind it. Even if it was conceived as a private creative exercise, why was it allowed to be rendered on public platforms, and to be passed off as Gopalakrishna Bharati’s original composition. This is pure vandalism........

[RSR]

My response to the above thought-provoking essay
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Wonderful. Thank you. 'bajagovindham ,by Smt.MS is said to have been tuned by S.V.Venkataraman ( I do not like that tune )(perhaps Kadayanalloor venkataraman?).
Subramanya Barathy was essentially a poet and not a composer. He might have thought of the suitable ragams in his mind but that does not make him a tunesmith. I do not know who set the music for D.K.PattammaL (early 78 rpm records) lovely renditions of Barathy songs like thondru nikazhnthathu , enthaiyum thaayum, thaayin maNikkodi , parukkulle nalla naadu ,chinnachiru kiLiye(ragamalika). Very likely that she herself set the tunes and sang them. or recording studio artistes might have helped. (unlikely) .
Consider another Barathy song 'nenjukku neethiyum' in Sindhu bairavi sung by Smt.MS. There is absolutely no reason to rule out that she set the song to tune herself.
Other Barathy songs in AVM films like 'theeraadha viLaiyaattu pillai ,'vetri ettu dhikkum etta', 'aaduvome paaduvome' are known to have been tuned by Sri.Sudharsanam, attached to AVM productions as also 'baaratha samuthaayam vaazhkave' by DKP. I would add that the orchestration is just brilliant and it was because of that Barathy songs are remembered. One other gem is N.C.Vasanthakokilam's ' piLLaip piraayatthile' 
(sites.google.com/site/ncvasanthakokilam) (sites.google.com/site/dkpattammalfilmsongs)
 Coming to Purandharadasa, what you say is true to a certain extent. but he belonged to Haridasa tradition and I myself have experienced in my boyhood the thrill of bajans of Pandaripuram yatra groups. The oral tradition is more powerful than what is 'notated'. It is then very likely that some atleast of Purandaradasa sahithyams are sung in ragams he and his group of sishyas actually sang in the ragams except for the incongruity of Hamsadhvani as pointed out by you.
As for even Annamacharya kritis, the same criteria apply. Telugu families have been singing some of these kritis for centuries without knowing much about the lyricist in the ragams handed over from generation to generation. So, all the tunes cannot be later day additions.
 As for the Tamil Moovar kritis, there is no definite evidence to show that they were tunesmiths though they might have been good poets. Arunachala kavi;s ramatakam was set to tune by two traditional classical musicians. The credit for the music should go to them. Later, Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iengar re-retuned some of the songs. and these tunes have come to stay and been sung by DKP, MS and N.C.Vasanthakokilam.(Ean paLLi kondeerayya)
 Similarly, Suddhananda Barathy was essentially a poet. and it is quite probable that Smt.N.C.Vasanthakokilam herself set them to glorious tunes and rendered them and made them popular. 
 All said, the points mentioned by you have been troubling my mind for long and I found exact echo in my mind. Thank you.

[cienu]

My response to the above thought-provoking essay
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Wonderful. Thank you. 'bajagovindham ,by Smt.MS is said to have been tuned by S.V.Venkataraman ( I do not like that tune )(perhaps Kadayanalloor venkataraman?).


in Sindhu bairavi sung by Smt.MS. There is absolutely no reason to rule out that she set the song to tune herself.

Just wanted to clarify on a few points Sri RSR.

1. Bhaja Govindam was tuned by Semmangudi Sri R Srinivasa Iyer.

2. My Grandmother Smt MSS has never tuned any composition.

3. 'Nenjukku Neethi" was tuned by Sri SV Venkataraman

[Sachi_R]

Indeed! Sri. SSI turns out to be a great tunesmith. Someone should be kind enough to list all the songs tuned by him.
Bhavayami and Bhaja govindam alone place him on a high pedestal for me. And so many Swathi Thirunal and Sadashiva Brahmendra song tunes are attributed to him. But a full list?

Cienu and others, kindly oblige!

[RSR]

@cienu
Dear Sir, Thank you very much for the clarification.
I am of the opinion that all the tamil songs by Smt MS from 1942 to 1950, ( Kalki songs) were tuned by S.V.Venkataraman. and also of Baarthy's ,especially, 'mannum imayamalai engal malaiye; in Chenchurutti. The reverse side of that plate had 'oLi padaittha kaNNinaay vaa' . The ragams chosen were favorite ragams of Smt.MS right from her very early years. as you know. S.V.Venkataraman seems to have had an instinctive understanding of Smt.MS's preferred ragams and composed accordingly.
The songs 'maalaip pozhuthinile ( 1942), Kalki's songs on Barathy ( thavamum palith thathamma, deivath thamizh Nattinile' , Barathy's ' chenthamiz Nadenum pothinile', ''yaamarintha mozhikalLile', Kalki on Gandhiji 'itthanai NaaL aanapinnum', 'maaNilatyhai vaazhavaikka', ( luckily all these tamil classics have recently been donated by saregama to youtube and are in public domain). all have studio orchestration and so clearly distinguishable.
Dr.Pasupathy ( @Pasupathy of Toronto has written a nice blog on S.V.Venkataraman, and 'mannum imayamalai 'very much relevant to the topic under discussion. (http://s-pasupathy.blogspot.com/)

[RSR]

@SrinathK
This is 'over-kill'. Serves no purpose., unless examples are given for each category, explicitly, (at the risk of another' infamous phd thesis') After all, 'copper plate' discoveries are not new. The fact is if a keertan or kriti is in harmonious tune and sung well, it stays and gains ground. ' Most authentic ' kritis, with maximum compliance with tradition, will not catch on, unless it is sung by an exceptional vocalist. Ultimately, it appears that lyrical excellence, the tune, orchestration if any , theme and above ALL else , the vocalist rendering it, matter most. The link cited at op is objecting only to changing the tune of a well-known and existing composition. I would certainly feel sad if some ' MD kritis' sung by Smt.DKP and Smt.MS are rejected , just because they were not 'really' created by MD. Do we like a song because we know that it is authentic creation of MD? No. Should we really know the composer, meaning of lyrics, ragam, authenticity etc to appreciate a good song? An emphatic NO.

[RasikasModerator2]

@RSR , keeping in mind the requirements of this thread and as requested, we have split the threads into 2 and request members to keep the topics separate.

In the meantime, please continue to use this thread for its original purpose. It may also be put to good use in finding out a list of tunesmiths as suggested. In the past I think we had a thread or two to discuss this, but IIRC they did not go very far.

[sharmila r udupa]

Could anyone help me with word to word meaning of " Raase Harimiha."

[Lakshman]

Sharmila: You will get a better response if you post your request in this thread.

https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=11