Musicians-When they speak

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 06:31

Occasionally when musicians speak ,in the midst or end of the concerts,it is a moment which attracts a lot of attention.Drowsy members of the audience sit up with a jerk, people poring over newspapers and magazines take a welcome break to see what is happening around and those who are leaving the concert hall slow down with hesitation.
The mood created can vary from the humorous to the sublime.

Here are two starters

Somu starting of with a lecture on Abheri
http://rapidshare.de/files/2578699/somu ... s.MP3.html

and Emani Sankar Sastry dwells on the Veena and its techniques

http://rapidshare.de/files/2579167/eman ... s.MP3.html

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Jun 2005, 07:58

Thanks coolkarni

This is just marvellous! Enjoyable and educational! It is not speaking about music, but music talking; both Somu and Emani, our gems of yester years. What an exalted humour! What a depth of understanding of universal music, but with a CM perspective! Please give us more. Also will appreciate if you can provide us some choice Lec Dems.

Thanks again!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 10:31

i have just obtained permission (from the trs student who gave me the tapes) to upload TRS's 3 hour lecture on demystifying Pallavi singing.
i have given sample excerpts at the start and middle, to help get a feel.
there are a few controversial areas , but i will not edit them.
In the hope that we will not take up them for a major discussion-mostly Hindusthani bashing ..
http://rapidshare.de/files/2580945/TRS- ... i.mp3.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/2581197/TRS- ... d.mp3.html

I will also put up a series of AIR's(bangalore) broadcasts on Jayachamarajendra Wodeyars compositions by RK srikantan-MS sheela ,S shankar and others.

I am in the process of getting OK to upload Pinakapanis 15 hour lecture/personal interview on various aspects of CM

Will also upload RK Srikantans Lec dem on reethigowla
i had acquired it from the bangalore based archive ANANYA , during a period when I transferred my full stock of music to them -in their initial days.
I hope there are no copyright issues involved.If there are any , I will be glad to withdraw these tracks.at any rate I will put it up towards the end of this exercise , giving time for anyone to complain.

These apart, there a couple of lectures of Musri and MDR which makes up my quota.

http://rapidshare.de/files/2581051/RK_S ... e.mp3.html

However if you wish to include TS Balakrishna Sastrigal in this section, I can upload with a totally free conscience.I was once caught red handed while recording his Tyagaraja charitram on the sly at Venus colony alwarpet.Hearing the commotion, TSB stopped the harikatha and peered into the darkness asking Ennaada Sattham .
On being told of my highly criminal act , he stooped further to have a good look at me.( i was already wondering which was the nearest Police station around , the number of steel rods in the door that would be my counting companion ...) and then burst aloud !
"why he is the only guy around with some hair on his head and that too black!!!.Why you must be Just 25 !! Welcome ! come nearer to a speaker and have your fill.You are my little hope that these great treasures will surivive to see the light of another day !
at the end of that days perforamance as i was making my way through the narrow gate, a thin voice called me aside.it said
" I am Mani, secretary here(not sure of the name now ,though).Here are the remaining tapes of the performances till date.I will give you 24 hours to record them and return , since I have to ship them to bombay."
Dumbstruck as i was with TSb's rendering of Kaddanuvariki, I simply had no clue to the generosity of everyone around

So I can upload these as well .Years later i presented these to TSB's nephew himself.

mravi · Post by **mravi** » 24 Jun 2005, 11:12

Coolkarni,

Thanks for Somu & Emani's lec-dem. Can you upload the full version of TRS demo - will be educative. If the size is too big you can probably split / zip - not sure if this will work.Yes definitely anything of TRB is welcome.

Regards,
ravi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 11:22

Yes definitely anything of TRB is welcome

i was about to ask TRS or TSB ??
but since i just recd my first concert of TR Balu( first disciple of GNB) I will let that stay !

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 11:24

If the size is too big you can probably split

will split into 30 minute sections.

kulkarni

mravi · Post by **mravi** » 24 Jun 2005, 11:37

Oops... my mistake. It was TSB - his Thyagaraja lec dems are supposed to be wonderful.

Also TRS is welcome- He is the master on Lec dems.

ravi

meena · Post by **meena** » 24 Jun 2005, 11:55

kulkarniji

>>These apart, there a couple of lectures of Musri and MDR which makes up my quota.

WOW please do u/l these in full.
thanku

Pl make a note:
U have 2 die hard fans of sree mdr on this board

thanku

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 14:21

can we have a list of

die hard

subjects.

i know of
1.mohana--- cml
2.mdr --- two unknown
3.ragamalika-rajeev
4.rtp-parvathi
5.....?????

i can organise myself better

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Jun 2005, 19:02

coolkarni
It will be a great service to have mrry balakrishna sastrigal talks. Let us open a separate section called harikatha and have them uploaded. Also it is necessary that they are not from the commercial cassetes on Thyagaraja Ramayanam that are being sold so that we can be on the clear.

In your search it will be wonderful if it is possible to get any recording of HMB singing or harikatha (it must be very rare indeed!). Will TNS permit any of his latest forays in the area uploaded?

By sharing the lec-dems you are opening a whole new world of CM appreciation!

Can we have the complete Somu?

THANK YOU!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 24 Jun 2005, 21:07

tyagaraja ramayanam- no i will not be putting up the commercial tapes.

tns-- i havedoubts if he will permit..

complete somu.. no problems from my side.raju(the original owner ) would only be too glad..
(just working out ... 9 gb divided by 30 mb (my daily quota) wonder how many days it works out to.

mravi · Post by **mravi** » 25 Jun 2005, 11:03

I do have an mp3 of Harikatha on HMB by TNS. Not sure though if I can share it here. I have not sought his permission to share / even informed him or the person from whom I got the mp3. I will try and upload bhajanai by Udayaloor Kalyanaraman and MDR lec dem in the next week.

kaapi · Post by **kaapi** » 25 Jun 2005, 12:40

Among the Harikatha exponents of yesteryears two other exponents who could sing well were Sri Tiruvaiyaru Annaswami Bhagawathar and Sri V.S.Venkatraman Rao. It may be possible to obtain recordings of their discourses which are non commercial.

pathanjali · Post by **pathanjali** » 26 Jun 2005, 00:24

coolkarni,
Thx very much for sharing with us Emani's lec-dem. As a Mysorean myself, I was very proud to hear the great Vainika giving rich compliments to rasikas of Mysore state!
Every year in Mysore, a music festival used to be organized after vinAyaka chaturthi. Emani used to give a concert every year during this time. He used to bring along with him MSG, for violin support. A concert of this unusual combination of veena and violin used to be a feast for the rasikas. Do you have any Emani/MSG concerts?
regards,

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 26 Jun 2005, 00:48

Actually I was bowled over by the fantastic "come september" tune. Never realized ViNa could be so versatile! (well of course it is the fingers behind that counts

)

coolkarni
Could you tell us what year it was presented?

pathanjali · Post by **pathanjali** » 26 Jun 2005, 02:45

... and the vedic hymn! It is divine. Vedic chanting and the Veena are made for each other, as Emani says. May be in Vedic times,the singers of these hymns used to have Veena for support,just as vocalists today have the violin?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 26 Jun 2005, 02:56

cml
year of the lec dem- no idea
pathanjali
emani-msg-- yes you can expect a couple of concerts.
one of them has a mind boggling list of kritis
have look at it.
fortunately it is very beautifuly recorded ( it must be difficult to get a balance between the strong vibrant notes of the veena and the soft, honeyed strokes of msg-my dad used to wonder if MSG and TNK kept their bows soaked in honey overnight before the concerts !! )
i have one duet with lalgudi also which will make up the full stock.
Emani-MSG-Sivraman

1.Viriboni-Bhairavi
2.Vathapi-Hamsadhwani
3.Merusamana-Mayamalavagowla
4.Orajoobaju-Kannadagowla
5.Gnanamosagarada-PoorviKalyani
6.Raghuvamshasudha-Kadanakuthoohala
7.Brocheva-Kamas
8.Sudhamyee-Amrithavarshini
9.Kharaharapriya RTP
10.Surdas Bhajan
11.Jagadodharana-Kapi
12.Mangalam

pathanjali · Post by **pathanjali** » 26 Jun 2005, 14:48

coolkarni,
Emani-MSG-Sivraman concert you have mentioned - is this available on the x-drive or somewhere?

regards,

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 26 Jun 2005, 14:53

may not be there on the x drive.
will put it up here at the earliest

pathanjali · Post by **pathanjali** » 26 Jun 2005, 15:00

coolkarni,
Thx a lot!
Right now I am listening to Somu's lec-dem on Abheri. Each rAgam in the rAga mAlika is a gem!
regards,

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Jun 2005, 08:04

HERE IS AN INTERESTING OPENING TALK by TRS in one of his Tamil Isai concerts.
http://rapidshare.de/files/2560123/TRS- ... i.mp3.html

Wonder if someone can trigger a discuission on the whole development of this subject, the issues involved,and the various opinions in a thread from start to finish.It would be very interesting for a Non Tamilian like me to understand this subject, especially in the context of what TRS has to say here.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 28 Jun 2005, 12:59

somu dwells on abheri yet again.
this time with a take on a hindi film song Beena Madhur Madhur(a song from Aganthuk ,though I am not so sure of the name- My father used to describe the scene so beautifully for me.The stranger(read hero) who requests for a nights stay due to a broken down car -The landlord who agrees -after dinner he asks his daughter (read heroine)for a song-and not knowing what to sing, she beseeches her veena to talk-all on a moonlit balcony) -that must have been a great scene !!!

some one please correct me if i am wrong in a few places with names or details.I never saw the movie myself.By the time i started watching movies, cars with the lead pair would break down only in a forest , that too in a thunderstorm...
I have given the Hindi song also here.
Download-Link: http://rapidshare.de/files/2624894/somu ... n.mp3.html
Download-Link: http://rapidshare.de/files/2625105/06-B ... r.mp3.html

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 28 Jun 2005, 21:00

coolkarni

The immortal song 'Beena Madhura' was sung by a budding Lata for the movie Ram Rajya (1946?) which a sakhi sings to Sita before she was sent to the forest. The song you posted is exactly the same except that it was not sung by Lata. The song at that time took the music world by storm and I can never forget it. Ram Rajya (shObhana samarath) is a great movie classic which no movie buff should ever miss.

mravi · Post by **mravi** » 07 Jul 2005, 18:36

The TRS lec dem on demystifying pallavi is very good and thanks to Coolkarni for the same.

What he mentions is in a way correct. RTP is used nowadays as a weapon and more so the pallavi with all complex talas. . Probably many younger musicians today (no controversies intended) show off their pallavi skills in unusual and complex talas reflecting their command on this aspect . However when it comes to rendition of krithis the treatment of sahitya leaves much to be desired. Again most of these artists do anumoolam and pratimoolam in the pallavi and also triakalam but neraval is rare. The rendition of Pallavi seems more mechanical. How many senior rasikas in this forum can remember the yesteryear maestros singing pallavi in complex talas concert after concert ?Lec dems like these help one understand the finer aspects of CM.

There are 3 ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¢??4 lec dems in rasikapriya . I am not able to download / even play due to the bandwidth limitations of that site. If someone has downloaded those can we have it shared here ? Look to be great going by the titles.

Also Coolkarni, can I place a request for the Musiri lec dem , rest of Pinakapani, SKÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¢??s lec dem on melakarta ? And yes definitely we will have discussions !

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Jul 2005, 20:12

Download-Link: http://rapidshare.de/files/2625105/06-B ... r.mp3.html

This was a lovely song:
This is what I think: I am sure that a similar song in 'bImplAs' (a rose by any other name, huh?) was pictured in the tamizh rAma rAjyam that goes: vInaiyin inimayE tharum', or the later 'kandhan karuNai puriyum'...
So, to my untutored ears, like sindhuBairavi, bImplAs/ABErI sounds like another rAgam that sounds very similar in it's usage in CM and HM.
Comments?
Ravi Shankar

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 07 Jul 2005, 20:18

a 90 minute lec dem on koteeswara iyer has gone up on X Drive.
i am not sure where and when it was recorded , but like the TRS lec dem on Pallavi , it is a scintillating one.No words to describe it.
A great master.
a great subject.

i have to give due credit to a disciple of DKP and a performing artist (ms.bhavadhaarini) for feeding me with these valuable tapes.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 Jul 2005, 22:52

thanks shankar
The Tamil rama rajyam was a dubbing and I dont know who sang it! Kandan karNai puriyum is a very famous rendition of MMI.

davalangi · Post by **davalangi** » 09 Jul 2005, 01:00

Here is a link to the xdrive folder "SSP-Ragas" - a lecdem by Prof.SRJ at The Music Academy (Jan' 2005) on 'Ragas Exclusive to Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini'. SRJ covers the following ragas in the lecdem (detailed technical discussion of the raga lakshanas followed by an illustrative krithi) :

1) rAgacUdAmani
2) udayaravicandrika
3) mArgadeSi
4) dEvaranji
5) navaratnavilAsam
6) amritavarshini (the krithi is in a separate file)
7) sAlanganAttai
8) kalAvati

When you click on the link below, you should see a folder named 'SSP-Ragas'.

http://plus.xdrive.com/u/171331465/8501 ... 0rIzcqI8cV

Please post here if there should be any difficulty accessing the folder.

davalangi · Post by **davalangi** » 10 Jul 2005, 00:38

A snippet from SRJ's lecdem on "Role of Gamakas" (suraTi rAga lakShaNa).....

http://rapidshare.de/files/2927823/surati.mp3.html

davalangi · Post by **davalangi** » 11 Jul 2005, 18:30

This lecdem by Prof.SRJ, given at the University of Michigan in 1998 has been uploaded in its entirety at www.rasikapriya.net.
SRJ talks in detail about the place of gamakas (dasa vida gamakas) in muktAnga kampita rAgAs, ardha kampita rAgAs and kampa vihIna rAgAs. Thr rAgAs he deals with are: Bhairavi, Sankarabaranam, surati, begada, Darbar/Nayaki, Todi, Hamsadhwani, Hindolam, Kuntalavarali, Suposhini, Pasupathipriya. SRJ also demonstrates the following vivAdi rAgAs - Saalagam, Davalambari and Kaikavasi.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 11 Jul 2005, 23:55

Thanks davalangi

This is a veritable mine of information that has to be digested slowly and absorbed or as we say in the vedic parlance, shravNaM, mananaM and nididhyaasaM.

I look forward to an active discussion of this topic of Gamakas, if necessary under a separate topic head. This is a topic of paramount importance in CM and is unique in contrast with HM. So we might re-enter the twilight zone and would require coolkarni's indulgence to tap into HM materials

davalangi · Post by **davalangi** » 12 Jul 2005, 02:01

Apologies for leaving this information out of my previous post....the lecdem accompanists are Jayashankar Balan (violin) and Vinod Seetharaman (mridangam).

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Jul 2005, 10:29

MDR speaks for a couple on minutes .. http://rapidshare.de/files/3118521/Mdr_ ... u.mp3.html

sathsangeethapriyan · Post by **sathsangeethapriyan** » 01 Apr 2007, 02:15

In the recent days, some musicians make it a point to communicate with a comment or authoritative speech in the middle of the concert (almost every) more to establish their seniority or the supposedly superiority. Some mridangam vidwans are very regular in this aspect and try to give a feel that the entire audience are their fans and look forward to thier guidence and opinions. This is apart from the constant communication with the mic man and their front guests! Most of them are overdose and at times disgustingly mean too.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 02 Jun 2007, 10:34

An interview of TNR with -Malaikkotai Panjami -14.1.1951
I request someone to give a Translated(to English) version
here for the benefit of those who may not follow Tamizh.
(followed by reactions from various experts here)

A fine interview with very interesting insights on the Concept of Bani.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/h9813c
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ov939h
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jjx8nf
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7709ok

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 02 Jun 2007, 22:44

Coolji,
I know its not right on my part to ask you this, but I somehow missed out on the TRS Lec dem...can you u/l it again please? (for the sake of many like me who joined the forum late).
May your service to cm continue for long!
-bhaktha

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 03 Jun 2007, 05:09

It will be a pleasure.Will wait for a day though, to see if thanjavur will come up with the links first.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Jun 2007, 10:23

Cool,
The interviews in those days were very different!

What is carnAtaka bANI? What is the definition of it?--the interviewer asks.
TNR: This is perhaps a question without an answer. There is no reference to bANI in any of the old works of music. The rasikAs are the reason for introducing the idea of it. If they like a particular musician, they call it so and so's bANi.
We call music divine. So, it has neither beginning nor end. I would call apaswaram and alayam (his word) dur dEvatAs (demons) of music.
The state (or manner) of music is dependent on the times, place and the mind set of rasikAs.
I have played those long concerts too. More than an hour of a rAgam, Chowka kAla pallavi and so on. There are two kinds of rasikAs. Those who know lakshaNa sangItham and others, lakshya sangItham. The first kind, while they are great rasikAs, they are also fault finders! The other kind, I would illustrate with a story. Tiruchi malaik kOTTai kumbhAbhishEkam--madurai ponnusAmy piLLai plays an AlAPanA in nATTak kurinji. A maNDai viLAkku (one of the men who carries the gas light in the procession on his head--maNDai=head; viLakku=lantern)says: AhA! What a nATTak kurinji! The vidwan is thrilled. A lakshya rasikA there! A performer should please both kinds. LayA is a bit different. You appreciate it more if you know the intricacies of it.

KAvEri riverside, ThanjavUr area is fertile ground for CM. The Trinity, thanjAvUr quartet, GKB, hundreds of temples, patrons like SarabOji, and princedoms and nobility that abounded here and all over the south. A few hundred rasikAs came to concerts of patronage. But in open spaces and temples, thousands came.

CM is tolerant and open minded. Like the proverbial annam (hamsA bird), we took the best from all other genres of music. In harikathAs, we sing abhangs, took music from the west (he refers to MD), jAvaLis were included in a concert...

My gurus: I learnt vocal music first. My gurus were vInai danammAl and thirukkODik kAval krishnaiyyar. Listen to danammAl's thOdi and kApi! (obviously, that part has been edited out of this tape). And thirukkODik kAval's sahAnA and bEgaDA. Saraba SAstry's bhairavi...

It is only in Chowka kAlam singing that you assess the merit and gnAnam of a singer. When I learnt bEgaDA varNam from my guru, he rapped me on the nose with his bow because I sang the nI flatly. When I sang it right, he said, 'Don't you see? Every swara is alive (has jIvan)!'
I would not miss a single performance of S.G. Kittappa (of musical drama fame--KB SundarAmbAL's husband) when he came to town. Govindasamy pillai would come along too.
Interviewer: Drama music for the two of you?
TNR: Of course! We considered Kittappa great because there were no apaswarams in his singing. We even stole good piDis from him!

Vocal music is superior to an instrument because the human voice has life. My instrument is fashioned out of wood which has no life of its own. I have to give life to it by playing it. They say when I play my nAgaswaram, it sounds like a human voice. That is a compliment...

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 03 Jun 2007, 13:52

arasi
Thank You !! Thank You !!
The Picture is so perfect now.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 05 Jun 2007, 09:06

Coolji,
Just a reminder about the TRS lecdem. Please u/l it at your convenience. Thanks.
-bhaktha

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 05 Jun 2007, 12:47

http://www.sendspace.com/file/dab3zs

http://www.sendspace.com/file/k980zy

bhaktha ..here it is.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 06 Jun 2007, 22:01

Thanks a million.
-bhaktha

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 23 Jun 2007, 19:01

http://www.sendspace.com/file/gvxi1p

a sweet and short interview with Nikhil Bannerji..

and a brilliant Lathangi for about 7 minutes.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6js61q

kedaram · Post by **kedaram** » 26 Jun 2007, 06:27

WOW thank you for that interview Coolji. His voice is just like his music.

Calm, soothing and melodious - yet able to convey the inner feelings of the rag with a single sangathi in the alap. What a genius. But like our dear MDR he left us too young and with too few recordings... sigh...

For a student like me who has never met or seen many of these artists live, these rare gems are the only opportunity to get an insight into the minds of these masters who in all honesty are closer to me than many of my classmates whom I see every day (I dont understand why that is either. but that is the way life is I guess)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 Jun 2007, 07:34

Because your way of life is music-oriented, I suppose--which is great!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Jun 2007, 06:20

http://www.sendspace.com/file/jaboqc

another Interview.This time with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
Absolute ripper.
Demonstrates how the ragas may have evolved from popular folk melodies.
I repeat.An amazing interview.

meena · Post by **meena** » 27 Jun 2007, 08:52

bahut bahut shukriya ji !

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 Jun 2007, 09:15

Wonder if Ravi had dropped in for the weekend !!

Head bent , Pointed palm touching my forehead in waves, I accept the Thanks , Lucknowi Style.

meena · Post by **meena** » 27 Jun 2007, 09:27

hee hee

THANKS for the lessons GURUji shankar.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Jun 2007, 20:19

Kji,
I echo Meena's comments (I could not have said it better!

)..
Good Job Meena!