Swarakshara

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 28 Mar 2007, 20:13

Swarakshara, i.e. combining sahitya aksharas with swaras, adds so much enjoyment to a rendition. Artistes such as TRS are past-masters at this.

I would be interested in hearing from members on great kriti lyrics where there is great scope for swarakshara. An example that comes to mind is Tyagaraja's 'sAmaja vara gamana' (Hindolam).

If there are sample audio clips that would be a big plus.

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 28 Mar 2007, 20:36

The two examples that come to my mind immediately are "lavvArika pADucunnAripuDu" in "mElukO" as taught by TRS mama, in which "...vArika pA..." is sung as S R G P, and the anupallavi of dIkShitar's "abhayAmbA jagadambA rakShatu": "ibhavadana SRI guruguha janani ISa mAyUranAtha ranjani" which employs every possible svarAkSharam...

Ashwin

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 28 Mar 2007, 21:55

Ashwin, Do you have the audio for the abhayamba kRti ? If so, please share with us.

BMK employs swarakShara in many of his compositions (couple examples that come to mind quickly are vErevaru gAna rasikE in hindOLa, sadA tavapAda in shaNmukhapriya, umAsutam namAmi in sarvaSri etc ; Of course, we all know about mA mAnini in tODi, which is completely swarAkshara).

I see BMK uses swarAksharas even in other kritis wherever there is scope (for eg: shObhillu saptaswara), which may not even be there in the composer's mind (because you don't here them in all pATHAntaras).

-Ramakriya

sridevi · Post by **sridevi** » 28 Mar 2007, 22:10

MDR in the bhaavayami krithi , uses the swaraksharam very beautifully in the stanza
" pathagavara jaTAyunutham" for pathaga ( P D G) and it is mesmerising.

Sridevi

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Mar 2007, 22:15

Then, there is DRS' swarAkSara varNam....in kalyANI on dEvI mInAkSI....

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 29 Mar 2007, 00:15

Can somone post the lyrics of the DRS swarAkshara varnam please...

sridevi · Post by **sridevi** » 29 Mar 2007, 00:24

swarAkShara varNa
rAga- kalyANi; AditALa
Composition of Dr.shrikaanth K.Murthy
Composed Early 2005
P , D , | P ; , | ; D ,- | P , D , | M ; , | R , G ,- | M , G , | ; D , ||
P , S* , | N ; , | ; D , | ; ; | N , D ,- | P ; , | D , P , | M ; , ||P||
P , D , | D ; , | S* , N , | D ; ,- | N , D , | N ;- S* | R* ; , | G* , R* , ||
S* , D ,- | S* , D , | N ,- M , | D , G , | M , N ,- | R ; , | G ; D | P M G , ||AP||
SrI----kAnta--nu---te
ciTTeswara
M ; M | ; G D | P ; P | D , N R* | N ; N | ; S* , | N G* R* N | D , P D ||
N ; N | D , N S* | D ; P | S* , D M | N ; N | G M G M | N ; S* | R* S* D P ||
ettugaDe pallavi
N ; N | ; D , | P , D , | , P D , | P ; , | ; P S* | R* S* D , | , S* D , ||
ettugaDe swaras
N ; , | ; P , | ; ; | D , S , | M ; , | G , M , | D ; P | D M N , ||1||
N , N N | D N P D | M , M M | G G M D | N , N R* | S* D N S* | N , M D | M N S* D ||2||
M M D M | D M D M | N P P D | D S* N P | M G N G | M G M D | M N G* R* ||3||
N ; , | ; P D | P , D P | D P , D | N ; , | ; P D | M M R D | P D , M ||
M , N P | R G M , | D , M M | N , D P | M , N N | M , D D | P D P N | P S* P R* ||4||
sAhitya (to aid accurate pronunciation)
padapAda padamArigam agAdha
pasanIdAnida pAdapamA ||P||
pada dAsaniddAnida nI sarIgari |
sada sadani madagamani SrIkAntanute ||AP||
mA mAgada pApadA niri nI nIsannigarinidApada |
nI nidhAnisadA pasAdamanI nigamagamanI sarisadapa ||
nInIda pada padapa pasarisadA sadA ||
nI pAdasamAgamadA padamanI ||1||
ninnini dani padamamma magagamadanI nirisadanisanI madamanisada ||2||
mamada madama damanipa padada sanipa maganigamagamadhamanigaridadanisa ||3||
nIpada pAdapada pAdanI padamamaridapa dhAma |
mAniparigamA dhAmamanIdapa mAnini mAdada pada pani pasa pari ||4||

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 29 Mar 2007, 00:30

arent there some svarAkshara varNams/padams in the Pradarshini.

Another example of TRS' mastery of svarAksharams.

The once, i had an opportunity to meet him at his house, he was teaching this shanmukhapriyA piece to some student of his. He suddenly started singing svarams at the line, 'sOdanalaku nEnu pAtramA?' and his poruttams like nI sOdanalaku, pa ri sOdanalaku, nI pa ri sOdanalaku, were all flowing. Needless to say, I was very inspired.

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 29 Mar 2007, 02:05

Another example from TRS Mama became known to me through his disciple Nisha Rajagopal, who in 1991 at the Pittsburgh temple sang a song in hamsadhvani rAgam with pallavi sAhitya (corrections welcome, Im recalling this from memory) "nigamavEda vEdyam bhajEham nirupama karuNA nityam nirantaram nirvighnaram" with svarAkSharam almost every where (e.g., it starts with the notes NG,PR,,,S,,SNPR,,,,,). But I was most impressed by her kalpanasvarAs: mindboggling constructions like NRGNR PNRPN GP nigama, and GR,PG,NP,RN,GN,RP, nigama...mindboggling not so much for their complexity as for their aesthetic quality...

I will try to find a good recording of abhayAmba - I think SRJ mama sang it in Cleveland recently...

Ashwin

ravi2006 · Post by **ravi2006** » 29 Mar 2007, 03:41

Ramaswami Dikshitar composed a swarakshara varnam in todi.
Lyricscan be found at http://carnatica.net/lyrics/erd2.pdf

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 29 Mar 2007, 03:59

Ashwin - look forward to the abhayamba recording.

Sridevi/others - do you have a recording of DRS's kalyani varnam?

Many thanks.

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 29 Mar 2007, 06:04

Here's a clip of the anupallavi of abhayAmbA from SRJ Mama's 2006 Cleveland concert. I think the entire concert is still available on sangeethamshare.org.

http://individual.utoronto.ca/iyer/SRJ_Abhayamba.mp3

Ashwin

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 29 Mar 2007, 12:37

There is an interesting example of a "reverse swarakshara" in Dinamani Vamsa - "Dina" actually corresponds to N2 D2! TRS in his lec dem at IFA advised against taking up this line for Swaras (e.g RGMPD-Dina...) but I think the effect is actually quite a stunning one

Anusha · Post by **Anusha** » 29 Mar 2007, 13:48

Swaraksharas are very enjoyable indeed! Though I'm not good at identifying swarams, here are a few that I can think of. GNB's kriti sadApAlaya (S D,P) in mohanam, Swati Tirunal's sArasAksha(S,RS,S)paripAlaya in pantuvarali.

Anusha · Post by **Anusha** » 29 Mar 2007, 14:48

mAru(M,R)balka in shriranjani, could be added. nee bhajana gAna in nAyaki nicely brings out the N, in the beginning, similarly G in gAnamUrthE.
sorry for moving slightly away from the main topic!

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 29 Mar 2007, 16:26

Dear brother-member, vijay, To my knowledge there are only two kinds of Svaraksharas, 1.Shuddha-svarakshara like PDM in ShreeramaPAADAMAA in Amritavaahini-raga of Thyagaraja and 2. Soochita-svarakshara like DRS in DURUSUga in Saveri-raga of Shyama Shastry and I have never heard of â€˜reverse Svaraksharaâ€™ as you wrote in your post. Is this another kind of it? Would you please clarify? amsharma.

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 29 Mar 2007, 17:52

Im not sure if "reverse svarAkShara" can be considered a type of svarAkShara, but as Vijay says, it does have a stunning effect...Shri K. Ramaraj has composed a kriti in gambhIravANi, "ambAsuta gaNapatE"; he has suggested that the caraNam, "bhAvastita SRI pASaNkuSha dhara" be sung first with "P,S" for "pASa..." and then with S,P the second time around, for a very nice effect.

Ashwin

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 29 Mar 2007, 18:44

Akella ji, the terminology is my own and I am not even sure if it apt....but I hope the point is clear from the example. I am not aware of any other except for the one Ashwin has now pointed out...

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 29 Mar 2007, 19:32

Sharmaji,
Could you elaborate more on these two types of swaraaksharas?

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 29 Mar 2007, 21:28

jayaram wrote:Sridevi/others - do you have a recording of DRS's kalyani varnam?

Many thanks.

http://www.badongo.com/file/2605949

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 29 Mar 2007, 21:46

Dear brother-member, sbala, Shuddha and Soochita-svaraksharas are main kinds. Two more kinds are also furnished by Pro.P.Sambamoorthy but they are also combinations of the above two kinds. They are, Shuddha-soochita-svarakshara and Mishra-svaraksharas. Please refer South Indian Music Vol.III of Prof. P. Sambamoorthy from p.155 to p.165 for the full details of all these varieties. amsharma.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 30 Mar 2007, 15:18

http://www.malabarian.com/mdr.html
MDR's teaching style:
"But if this seemed difficult, his entertaining way of teaching ensured that the student had plenty of tricks to remember the lesson by. Sometimes he would sing the musical phrases in such a way as to give them a meaning in Tamil. 'Ni dha pa ma' became 'nee thappammaa' ('You are wrong my dear'), and 'ga ma, ga pa, ga ni' with an innocuous nasal prefix (unga amma, unga appa, unga anni) turned out to be a list of relatives."

Swarakshara of a different kind...

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 30 Mar 2007, 16:13

Dear brother-member, jayaram, Very nice illustration of Svarakshara. Thank you. amsharma.

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 30 Mar 2007, 21:34

Ashwin wrote:Here's a clip of the anupallavi of abhayAmbA from SRJ Mama's 2006 Cleveland concert. I think the entire concert is still available on sangeethamshare.org.

http://individual.utoronto.ca/iyer/SRJ_Abhayamba.mp3

Ashwin

Thanks Ashwin - That was a wonderful illustration

-Ramakriya

kalgada78 · Post by **kalgada78** » 30 Mar 2007, 22:44

Ashwin wrote:Here's a clip of the anupallavi of abhayAmbA from SRJ Mama's 2006 Cleveland concert. I think the entire concert is still available on sangeethamshare.org.

http://individual.utoronto.ca/iyer/SRJ_Abhayamba.mp3

Ashwin

ahaa ahaahaa...ohoho...what a Kalyani!!..in SRJ mama's voice,it simply glitters like a diamond.

Thanks much for sharing.

Sarma.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 31 Mar 2007, 05:48

Ashwin, thanks for the SRJ clip, and the pointer to sangeethamshare.
I agree, SRJ is fine form. Btw, are you the one providing him vocal support in the Cleveland kutcheri (which has a lec-dem feel to it)?

swethana41 · Post by **swethana41** » 31 Mar 2007, 07:04

There is another contemporary composer, Mr.K.Ramaraj, whose compositions abound in swaraksharas and he has been acclaimed by none other than the great TRS Maama himself, as the master of SWARAAKSHARAS.rEF.ROYAL CARPET COMPOSERS -kARNATIK.COM.
SWETHANA

swethana41 · Post by **swethana41** » 31 Mar 2007, 07:09

hI jAIRAM,mR.srj mAAMA too has appreciated the deft handling of Swaraaksharas by Mr.ramaraj
Swethana

swethana41 · Post by **swethana41** » 31 Mar 2007, 07:23

Hi Jairam sir, Please listen to the renderings of K.Ramaraj, who has profusely used Swaraksharas in his compositions.Ref"Royal carpet composers-Karnatik.com.Incidentally
swethana41.

gunashalini · Post by **gunashalini** » 31 Mar 2007, 16:34

Hi swethana
Swaraksharaas add not only color to the saahityam but the beauty of melody gets enriched if properly blended and entwined .I have heard TRSgiving exclusive Lec-dems on many an occasion.He has
also, time and again been mentioning about the prowess of Mr.K.Ramaraj, a living composer, whose kritis abound in this particular segment .I had the rara opportunity to hear Mr.Ramaraj's renditions by self and by Mr.TRS on several concert platforms.Karnatik.com has posted many of his creations on their website.
Ardent rasikas would do well to visit the site and enjoy the serene music
gunashalini

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 31 Mar 2007, 20:01

Hi every one, I AM REALLY very happy that That the subject swarakshara has caught the attention of the discerning rasikas.As a composer myself, i would very much like to be in touch and deal with it as extensively as possible.
Swaraakshra has a special and unenviable eplace in constructing a saahityam.I would, from my next post, try to highlight some of my kritis wherein i have profusely enriched the beauties of both the saahityam and melody imbibed thereto.Prof.TRS , and Prof.SRJ have all paid rich encomiums

Ramaraj

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 01 Apr 2007, 04:53

Shri Ramaraj - I look forward to your insights into this topic very much. Many thanks.

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 01 Apr 2007, 09:47

Mr.Jayaram u are welcome.Ashwin, has rightly brought to light the inherent beauty of my composition Ambha suta ganapatey in the raaga GhambhiravaNi in
which the swarakshara aspect was craftily dealt.another line i.e. the anupallavi line Lambhodara shree lakshmikaraa....(ri..used as nyaasa swaram)gives en emotive feeling .Pangeyruha (Pasa ni panipamagama) since this kriti is on Lord ganesha It would be quite appropriate to start with Thanks a lot
Ramaraj
Ramaraj

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 01 Apr 2007, 10:08

Just for a fun !!! There was one popular version of a phrase dealing with swarakshara"GA RI SAA DA ME PO DU MAAin the raaga saaveri (meaning would a side dish with rice suffice ?This was rediculed by a vidvan of yester years in a lec-dem .The point is to stress the musical value of Saahityams which obviously aims at portraying a message that would ultimately enhance the quality of music appreciation
R amaraj

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 01 Apr 2007, 11:06

jayaram wrote:Ashwin, thanks for the SRJ clip, and the pointer to sangeethamshare.
I agree, SRJ is fine form. Btw, are you the one providing him vocal support in the Cleveland kutcheri (which has a lec-dem feel to it)?

Jayaram Sir, yes myself and my brother Rohin and providing vocal support (it was a lec-dem comparing the handling of ragas of the same name by dIkShitar and by tyAgarAjA). One of my favourite parts of that lec-dem is where Mama describes the "pre-rAgA version of vEgavAhini" before singing callaganAtO and then vINA pustaka dhAriNIm...my first thought was, how much would one have to have studied/read/analyzed to have that information ready at the fingertips?

Also, it is very nice to see Ramaraj Uncle himself on this forum, and Im sure we can all benefit a lot from his knowledge!!

Ashwin

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 01 Apr 2007, 18:06

Ashwin - I went back and listened to the concert again. You're right, SRJ-sir's depth of knowledge is simply amazing! I feel musicians like him and TRS are special to us rasikas because they share their knowledge with us so willingly. The passion they show in helping to raise our musical awareness and understanding is so creditable.

Swethana and Gunashalini - where can we listen to renderings of Shri Ramaraj's kritis? Are they available online somewhere? Thank you.

Ramaraj-sir, which Saveri kriti did that swarakshara sahitya appear in?

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 01 Apr 2007, 20:11

Jairamsir,My renderings and also the rendering of my compositions byWSmt.Rajee gopalakrishnan, rajkumar Bharati s.M.vilasini are available on line at website Karnatik.com-Link royal carpet composers
Swarakshara sahitya (saveri) does not appear in any kriti.In a lecture Dem.by Mr.Kannan Iyengar This was demonstrated as to why such phrases should be avoided while attaching musical crdence to saahityam.Ramaraj

rasaali · Post by **rasaali** » 04 Apr 2007, 09:15

vageyakara wrote:Just for a fun !!! There was one popular version of a phrase dealing with swarakshara"GA RI SAA DA ME PO DU MAAin the raaga saaveri (meaning would a side dish with rice suffice ?This was rediculed by a vidvan of yester years in a lec-dem .The point is to stress the musical value of Saahityams which obviously aims at portraying a message that would ultimately enhance the quality of music appreciation
R amaraj

Dear Sri Ramaraj,

It's great to have you on the forum and look forward to your posts on one of my favorite topics.

Continuing with the fun, the above phrase reminds me of the song "Enna Samayalo.." from the movie Unnal Mudiyum Thambi.

For better or for worse, I do happen to think that song is a good example of swaraksharam and it is done very aesthetically in the film's setting. I find it a great vehicle to explain the aesthetic beauty swarakshara to the uninitiated. I also find it a useful example to explain how to find raga names hidden in the lyrics of Dikshitar compositions.

I have known Sri TRS since my childhood and had the privilege of introducing this song to him. He was appreciative or at least indulgent towards the nuances. Food and Swaraksharas are after all two favorite topics of his

Would love to hear your opinion on this.

For those who have not heard this Ilayaraaja composition, here is a link.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/t ... name.5549/

Rasaali

PS: A posting on my favorite swaraksharas in serious compositions is saved for later.

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 04 Apr 2007, 10:39

Hello! Brothers & sisters of the forum, Please name the composition in which maximum Svaraksharas are incorporated and how many are they. amsharma.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 04 Apr 2007, 10:47

I remember a tODi varNam sung in one of Smt. Vedavalli's lec-dems where the entire varNam sAhitya was in swarAkshara...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 Apr 2007, 10:57

DRS's kalyani swarakshara varnam 'padapAda pada' comes to mind..

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 05 Apr 2007, 02:28

Dear brother-members, Vasanthakokilam & prashant, I have later modified my post. Please go through it again and reply. amsharma.

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 05 Apr 2007, 15:07

Hi Rasali,
I fully accept the view , that film songs ,too having contributed intheir own way to makea dent on classic music, have not lagged behind.There are thousands of songs which are still capable of attracting the attention of even younger generation.
The point I want to stress is to strike a rationale while giving credence their asthetic values. Whether a "KA RI SA DA MA' or Enna samayala can be acommodated in the concert formats ,is a mute question !!!!!
Ramaraj

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Apr 2007, 15:48

Akella gAru: Now your question has become tricky. I must admit I have no idea...

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 05 Apr 2007, 17:07

Dear brother-member, prashant, Please try to find out. There is nothing wrong in trying for. amsharma.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 05 Apr 2007, 18:35

akella gAru,
I have heard somewhere that Dr Balamuralikrishna has composed one in the rAgam tOdi which has lot of swaraAkshara. Cant recollect that .

Regarding the count of swaraAkshara, I am expecting a TAlaprasthAra googly from you where the anwer is actually infinity .

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 05 Apr 2007, 21:48

Ashwin,
SRJ mama's Abhayamba... aaha. unbelievable stuff! trust SRJ mama to extract the best phrases out of kalyani for us... "no chaff" as he would say!! Can you please give the link for the entire track?

on that note, it seems to me that MD's conception of kalyani is totally different from Tyagaraja's, perhaps the result of his travel to North India... Kamalambam bhajare, Bhajare re citta and Abhayamba have a meditative feel which is missing from Ammaravamma or Vasudevayani or even Enduku nee manasu (which is perhaps one of Tyagaraja's best in Kalyani)...

ofcourse, there is the other problem of mediocre renditions... in the hands of SRJ mama, Vasudevayani would definitely get better treatment!!

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 05 Apr 2007, 23:05

rajeshnat wrote:akella gAru,
I have heard somewhere that Dr Balamuralikrishna has composed one in the rAgam tOdi which has lot of swaraAkshara. Cant recollect that .

Rajeshnat,

Look at this page in canatica, which gives sAhitya of the swarAkshara compositions in tODi by Ramaswami dIkshita and Balamuralikrishna.

http://carnatica.net/special/raganubhava-todi-ppn.htm

-Ramakriya

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 05 Apr 2007, 23:07

venkatpv wrote:Kamalambam bhajare, Bhajare re citta and Abhayamba have a meditative feel which is missing from Ammaravamma or Vasudevayani or even Enduku nee manasu (which is perhaps one of Tyagaraja's best in Kalyani)...

Are any audio tracks of enduku nI manasu in kalyANi available ? I have never heard this kriti

-Ramakriya

meena · Post by **meena** » 05 Apr 2007, 23:28

Ashwin,
SRJ mama's Abhayamba... aaha. unbelievable stuff! trust SRJ mama to extract the best phrases out of kalyani for us... "no chaff" as he would say!! Can you please give the link for the entire track?

venkat
the 2006 cleveland conc is u/l on sangeethapriya and check ur email.