Kalpitham and Kalpana in our music.

Musique4ever · Post by **Musique4ever** » 18 Jun 2008, 18:13

Here's an article I wrote for the Journal of the Department of Music, Kerala University.

KALPITHAM AND KALPANA IN OUR MUSIC.
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Music in general can be divided into two categories. Set pieces and improvised music. Much of the great music in the world comprises of notes set by the composers themselves where the performers act merely as mouthpieces for their ideas. This is true in forms of music as diverse as Western Classical music, Indian Film Music and even Tango from Argentina. Individual artists have the freedom to improvise in forms of music such as Jazz and Indian Classical Music. In Indian Classical Music, South Indian Classical Music.....in it's ideal form....is a happy amalgam between set compositions and improvisation......or Kalpitha Sangitham and Kalpana Sangitham.

We have a treasure trove of great compositions by great masters such as Purandara Dasa, Annamacharya, Thyagaraja, Dikshithar, Shyama Shasthri, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and others handed down from generation to generation by practitioners of the art. And we have the freedom to bring in our own individual creativity in virtually every area of our music. It wouldn't be surprising if one were to come to the conclusion, after exploring various kinds of music from all over the world, that South Indian Classical Music is one of the most sophisticated and ideal forms of music in existence anywhere in the world.

Yet, in the present world scenario, our music can hardly be said to be making waves.......at least the kind of waves it surely is Capable of making. The major responsibility for this goes to musicians themselves. Things could improve drastically if more people had a better idea about Kalpitha Sangitham and Kalpana. of the most Classic forms of Kalpitha Sangitham is the Varnam.
Though Varnams are taught as basic lessons, many Varnams in fact are much more complex and difficult than Keerthanams in the same Raagam. A good Varnam gives us a compact and clear picture of the Raagam in which it is composed. Adiappa Iyer's Bhairavi Varnam, Viriboni may give us a better picture of Bhairavi than many or most of the other compositions in this Raagam with the exception perhaps of Shyama Shasthri's Swarajathi "Amba Kaamakshi."

It lies with the practitioners of music as well as the teachers to make their listeners as well as their students Aware that each phrase of these compositions touch the very Nerve of the Raagam......and will help them in getting a complete picture of the Raagam if they absorb these compositions consciously and with awareness. If a student of music is made to sing entire Varnams in Akaaram it will help them greatly for future Raaga Alapanas. A good Varnam can act as a reference point to see whether such and such a phrase can occur in such and such a Raagam at all. The same applies to many other set pieces too, especially Thyagaraja krithis. It is generally accepted that the Swaroopams.....or the Pictures....of the Raagams as we know them now have been given largely by Shri Thyagaraja. One could.....and should....make the most of the knowledge......musical, literary and spiritual, that the Great Vaggeyakaras have left us.

This becomes possible only if one takes the trouble if not to learn an entire language (Which would be ideal), at least to learn the word by word meanings of the songs one sings. Many of the great compositions are either in Telugu or in Sanskrit. This is because in Telugu, every single word ends with a vowel and thus lends itself gracefully to being sung. For example even a proper noun like Raaman.....or Ram in Hindi....would become Raamuni in Telugu. (And Raamudu, Raamulu and other vowel ending variants in other situations.) And one can sustain Ramuneeeeeee much more musically than Raamannnnnnn as you can see.

At present, less than 5 % of Classical musicians and less than 3 % of music teachers seem to have any idea about the meanings of the words they sing.....and teach. The listeners listen and the students learn......passively and mindlessly. And this strikes death blows to the art at it's very root itself. For one can't feel anything at all if one doesn't have any idea about what one is singing about. Though this is such an Obvious fact, people seem to be happily ignoring this and allowing themselves to sink into greater and greater depths of ignorance. Our music loses much of it's glory when stripped of 1) Bhakthi (Devotion) and 2) Manodharmam (Creativity).
And one can feel Bhakthi only if one knows what one is singing about.
Apart from a basic grasp of the language itself, one needs to have some knowledge of the Puraanaas too. If one doesn't know the story of Gajendra Moksha when Lord Vishnu saved the life of King Indradyumna who, under the effect of a curse, was transformed into an elephant and was being pulled into a river by a crocodile, the description of Lord Vishnu in a song as "One who saved the elephant" may make no sense at all. The same goes with the description of Lord Krishna as "Giridhara".......or as "One who is adorned with a mountain" unless one knows the story of how He lifted Mount Govardhana with a single finger to protect his village from the wrath of Lord Indra who had unleashed a thunderstorm on them....And so on and so forth.

To take a look at Kalpana, the officially recognized areas where one is allowed to improvise are

1) Raaga Aalaapana

2) Thaanam

3) Pallavi

4) Neraval

5) Manodharma Swarams and

6) Viruththams or Shlokams.

Improvisation cannot be "Taught". It must happen naturally and in due course when a student of music reaches a certain level of competence and involvement with the art, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. the teacher can do is to show the way and point the student in the right direction...... ideally speaking that is. For a student to be able to sing Kalyani for instance, he or she must LISTEN.......to hundreds and hundreds of hours of Kalyani sung and played by various musicians ......and learn dozens of standard compositions in the Raagam till Kalyani literally starts to pour out of the student. And the ideal teacher would help the student give a disciplined structure to his or her creativity.

What happens these days is that many teachers who themselves may not be able to sing Manodharmam in any form, give Set patterns of Swarams, Neraval and Raaga Aalapanas to students whose sole desire would be either to win prizes at some competition or to get a degree + job + Phd in music. And Manodharmam goes out of the picture completely. To reach anywhere at all in music, one has to surrender to the art completely and keep one's life aside for the art. I once read a quote by Tennis Legend Martina Navratilova who said "I am not just Involved with tennis. I am Committed to it. When we make ham and eggs, the chicken is involved......but the pig is Committed." Because of which while dozens and dozens of bright young stars appear in the field of tennis......and fade away into oblivion within the matter of a few years and half a dozen titles......the Lady Herself marches on from strength to strength at he age of nearly 50.
One can only pray that at least a few fortunate souls will realize before it is too late, that our music, stripped of it's Bhakthi and Manodharmam, and reduced to mere dry grammar, Lakshanas and numbers, is worth very little indeed. In his composition "Sathyavandarigidu Kaalavalla" our Sangitha Pithamaha Shri Purandara Dasa said, nearly five hundred years ago "These are not the best of times for honest people. These are good times for Dushtas or wicked people. Those whom we help will turn around and hit us back" and so on.
This gives one hope, knowing that there was really no Glorious past as such and that there was good as well as evil always. And it is manifested in different ways during each epoque. By the same token I am sure there must be enlightened souls among us at present, when things look bleak, who will do their bit to try and restore our Glorious music to the place and form it deserves. As with everything else in life, only time will tell.

Rama Varma
November 2005.

Ramnath Iyer · Post by **Ramnath Iyer** » 19 Jun 2008, 05:15

Varmaji,
beautifully written and very inspiring. Often simple truths are simply forgotten.
Please do share more of your contributions - in music as well as in writings.

regards
Ramnath

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Jun 2008, 11:25

For a student to be able to sing Kalyani for instance, he or she must LISTEN.......to hundreds and hundreds of hours of Kalyani sung and played by various musicians ......and learn dozens of standard compositions in the Raagam

So many ragas... so many songs...

I think I'll always be amazed at the demands, mental, emotional; physical and creative, that learning this music to any standard, let alone that of a top performer, puts on a person. I'll always wonder, "How do they do that?"

Member_First · Post by **Member_First** » 19 Jun 2008, 12:25

Just the way, MMGowlai is practised, Melakartha ragas like (MEcha)kalyANi are to be practised from SaraLi to dhAtu varisais.

With one each of gItam, varNam and 8/10 kritis in kalyANi with correct practice methods, plus hearing kalyANi rAg sung by various artists will fetch good knowledge about that rAg. Before start of the kritis in kalyANi itself, the Guru may teach various swara usages in kalpitha way and generate 'kalpanA power' from the students. More the kalpanA by the students, growth starts and there is real 'kalyAn' for the students.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 19 Jun 2008, 12:56

How does teaching technique differ between CM and HM? Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from our northern colleagues?

knandago2001 · Post by **knandago2001** » 19 Jun 2008, 18:00

ragam-talam: what i would love to imbibe from HM is learning how to physically increase the â€œdum saa(n)sâ€

wordpecker007 · Post by **wordpecker007** » 19 Jun 2008, 22:12

dear friends,

I hope practitioners of music, both musicians and teachers of music, read this indepth piece. It explains so many points that have mystified me, and I am sure there are many others in the same category. For instance, why is that so many musicians blithely ignore lyrics and mangle beyond recognition the poetic lyrics composed by the great vageyakaras? One of the many reasons why film music has so many takers is that most listeners are able to understand the songs and that makes the experience evocative. Yes, there is music that strikes a chord, even with the listener being completely in the dark about the lyrics or its meanings. But if the composer of a piece had created lyrics that enhance the feel of a song, should not the singer do justice to it by rendering it correctly and pronouncing the lyrics properly?
Moreover, unless the singer understands the meaning of the lyrics, how can he/she sing the piece as the composer may have meant it to be sung. So, you have musicians who turn a serene, devout piece into a fast number and aggressively sing it to play to the gallery. When, oh when will singers understand that each composition in CM is a happy marriage of poetry and music. Of lovely verses set to music.
Thank you Varmaji for such an informative article that throws light on many aspects of music. It also indicates what could done to make CM more accessible to lovers of music. If only more musicians would take the trouble to explain the essence of a composition and its meaning, how much more evocative would the experience be to the listeners. Instead of making CM an exclusive and insular musical journey, more music lovers would have travelled on the musical path if more musicians had taken the trouble like Varmaji to explain and reach out to the listeners too.

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 19 Jun 2008, 23:46

Well said, wordpecker.

I think this article makes a number of important points- at the risk of sounding repetitive let me state some of them and why I agree-

1. South Indian Classical Music is a beautifully balanced amalgam between fixed composition and manodharmam- the best of both worlds, really. Not even Hindustani music can boast of such a happy marriage of the two.

2. But the world is yet to acknowledge how great it is
- Obviously anyone-whoâ€™s-anyone in Carnatic music is doing the â€œtour of the statesâ€

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 20 Jun 2008, 01:05

sunaada wrote:2. We need to ask ourselves what we should/shouldnâ€™t be doing to share our divine secret with the world.

3. Musicians and teachers have been greatly ignoring the importance of understanding the meaning of the sahithyam and context in which the composer meant it. I think this is THE greatest loss to Carnatic music.

From (2) and (3) above, it seems the way forward to propogate carnatic music is..

to render kritis in English

Wonder what vgv would say!!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 20 Jun 2008, 01:35

Being culturally conscious, those who are living abroad has an inherent yearning to learn the meaning of carnatic songs of any Indian language, but in our own country meaning means nothing so long they can sing with raaga. I wonder how many of the carnatic musicians in India understand the meanings word by word of all carnatic songs they sing; their livelihood earning depends on how many songs they sing and how well. Let us have a lively discussion.

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 20 Jun 2008, 02:29

sureshvv,

Most people don't understand what Fairuz , Pavoratti or Callas are/were singing...but they can still connect with the essence of the song because each of those artistes know or knew what they are/were singing about and that shows.

A simple explanation giving a gist of the meaning and emotion conveyed would make a world of difference, in my opinion.

In the western system, they use a programme- but this won't work for us since the musician's decision to sing a particular composition is spontaneous (which is wonderful, I think)

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 20 Jun 2008, 02:35

To be honest, I don't think it would help Carnatic music on the world stage at all if the songs were rendered in English.

It might be a nice occasional experiment. Even more useful to the non-familiar would be to take an English composition, something so well-known that the entire audience can be relied upon to know it, and render it entirely in carnatic form.

That would be a great learning excercise for those of us who already have interest, at least.

But sahithyam seems to be an oft (and usually lively, yes!) discussion. I'd really like to see The Team take up the matters related to improvisation in this topic.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Jun 2008, 04:55

Nick,
Tempting morsels for a composer here. Yes, it really helps when vocalists pay attention to sAhityam. If the rasikAs do that too, it's even better! When it comes to reality, we have to settle for less. Not all vocalists know all the languages. An opera singer may not know italian or german. Yet, he would have read the translation, got the emotions and the sense of drama in an opera. The audience too has the advantage of seeing every line translated and run above the curtain for them to see.
In CM, it is not easy. The impromptu nature of the concert makes it impossible even though technology isn't a problem.
The century old lessons of great gurus are still valuable today, though: know the meaning of the song. Sing clearly. Sing with bhAvam..When vocalists do all this, their performances are better, they know which are the apt lines or words for neraval and svarams. As rAga bhAvam helps, the impact of words help them too. Many a good composition which may contain key words filled with nuances won't go unnoticed!
If the vocalists do their homework, rasikAs can cooperate too, by paying some attention to the words as they do to rAgam, svarams, tALam and their technicalities. Our hearing pleasure increases. We could extend our interest by trying to get the meaning of songs in those languages we do not know. After all, there are books and translations available on the net. The Lyrics Team here has been saying it over and over again with zeal and are willing to help.
As for translating CM songs into english--I don't think it will work. We indulged in a bit of fun here by sharing tamizh film songs translated into pidgin english ( used to be a childhood pastime). As children, we did it to CM songs too. While it was fun, I am afraid they sounded frivolous...

Musique4ever · Post by **Musique4ever** » 20 Jun 2008, 05:56

Thank you very much for your comments. I was once having a discussion with one of the most brilliant Carnatic musicians around who gives more than 15 concerts every month who criticized a certain Annamacharya composition tuned by Balamurali Sir saying that it was "Too light." (The song in question was "Ekkadi Maanusha Janmam" in Revagupthi by the way.) I said that the only legacy we have from people like Annamacharya (Unlike from say, Shyama Shasthri) is the treasure trove of his Lyrics. And what better job could a present day musician do than to tune it in a way as to highlight the meaning of the lyrics ? The musician in question responded "Thyagaraja has expressed great thoughts in His lyrics too, but he did it using heavy Ragas like Shankarabharanam, Thodi and so on. So one does not necessarily have to use lighter ragas to highlight the poetry." I replied "Fair enough. Could you please give me an example of the kind of weighty, yet rich in meaning Thyagaraja krithi you mentioned ?" And this musician says "Endukupedala." (Which is actually Enduku Peddalavale
Budhdhi Iyyavu) I agreed completely and asked "How many times would you have sung this on stage yourself ?" And the musician replied "At least 250 times for sure !" And I quietly inquired "Could you please tell me what it means, since you yourself mentioned this Specifically as an example of a Thyagaraja krithi that was rich in meaning ?"
That was when.....as they say...."All hell broke loose" since the said musician sadly didn't have the FAINTEST clue what it meant. I ventured "If not the word by word meaning, then perhaps the general idea ?" No chance there either. And the musician went on and on raving and ranting about the importance of Raga, of Thaala, of Sangathis, of good oral hygiene, about getting one's car checked up every month, of ending the war in Iraq.....you get the idea....but not a word about Sahithya. Finally when the storm had abated somewhat I asked "Since you make a living with music
and since you sing these songs again and again, wouldn't your Own enjoyment of these increase a thousandfold if you were to know the meaning of the words you were singing ?" But it was a hopeless cause. More than one musician I know who is successful, brilliant, articulate, educated and so on, seems to have taken some Vow when it comes to Sahithyam....that they simply will NOT
bother to take the effort to learn the meanings.
And we will continue to hear lines like Ajnaanamosaga raadaa, Vaathaapi Ganapathim Bhajeham Vaaranaa, Endaroma and so on for a long long time to come, from the looks
of it. And the fusion guys.....*Sigh*.....I don't even want to go there now :-/

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 20 Jun 2008, 07:25

Well, the sahithya debate will go on for as long musicians and rasikas are around, i.e infinity!

I must belong to the minority of rasikas who don't care much for the sahithya - for me music is everything.

Given a choice between correct sahithya minus rest of the musical elements versus top-class music but incorrect sahithya, I would choose the latter any day. If I wanted to listen to the correct sahithya I can always go to a poetry reading.

I believe there was a lively discussion here on this topic a while back.

Btw, Rama, your point about Telugu can apply to Kannada also. How come Kannada doesn't get the prominence it deserves then? To me the fact that the earlier heavy-weight vaggeyakaras like Tyagaraja and Syama Sastry composed in their native language Telugu, has more to do with why Telugu has become the lingua franca of CM. If their native language had been Kannada (or even Malayalam or Tulu) then we may have come up with an argument for why those languages are best suited to CM. This is termed reverse engineering.

wordpecker007 · Post by **wordpecker007** » 20 Jun 2008, 13:40

Well, to continue with why lyrics are important, a small digression. Would Lennon's 'IMagine' be the same without the words. What about flyod's 'Wish you were here' and so on and so forth...
CM is a happy melange of lyrcis and music. Why not celebrate this by paying some attention to the beauty of the lyrics. Not a tall task for our musicians. Just a question of attitude.

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 20 Jun 2008, 13:47

ragam-talam,

you belong to the MAJORITY of rasikas and musicians, sadly for the rest of us.

you say "Given a choice between correct sahithya minus rest of the musical elements versus top-class music but incorrect sahithya, I would choose the latter any day. If I wanted to listen to the correct sahithya I can always go to a poetry reading."

Carnatic music has compositions which are definitely meant to be sung correctly and with emotion. If one has no interest in singing or listening to sahithyam- they should just sing ragam, tanam and swaram and call that a new form of music.

Its like saying, I don't care about talam as long as shruthi is right. The elements of raga bhavam and sahithyam are simultaneously interwoven into our music. There's no separating one from the other. The music is meant to accentuate the words and the words breathe life into the music.

Please don't treat this as a personal take on your opinion. If you are open to suggestion- try picking five of your favourite compositions- learn the word by word meaning and listen to MDR-type renditions of them where the singer actually knew the meaning as well. Im pretty sure you will find a whole new dimension of enjoyment and will fall in love with carnatic music all over again!

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 20 Jun 2008, 13:55

wordpecker says:
"Why not celebrate this by paying some attention to the beauty of the lyrics. Not a tall task for our musicians. Just a question of attitude."

Absolutely! In fact, I wonder how people can memorize all the lyrics without having a clue as to what it means.

And as Arasi so rightly pointed out, all the resources are so easily available in this forum and elsewhere.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 20 Jun 2008, 19:09

Endaroma --- is that one of those new coffee-shop chains?

As a person who neither speaks any Indian language, nor is very religious, I would say that the music is all for me too. Or, if not all, then most, at least.

And yet, maybe that is not true, but my language disability prevents me from researching whether or not I prefer artists who know the meanings, or, at least, pronounce the words correctly.

It is also true, that, in an English song, even sometimes a cheap pop one, I can derive great pleasure from the scan of the lyric, and a skilful fit to the melody.

In general, though, for a performer, I'm surprised, and even shocked, by what is said about such ignorance. In great western classical music, artists work, study and strugle to understand and express the composer's meaning, even in music that is purely instrumental.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 20 Jun 2008, 19:13

Just learning the lyrics by the existing musicians is a partial answer. Moreover how many rasikas know the meaning of the songs? I believe they enjoy the ragam and how the lyrics are pronounced to match the smooth flow of ragam; so the musician should describe the song and meaning at the beginning of rendition just like harikatha! The entire process should start at the root. In India we have three or four teachers every block whose livelihood is teaching music either vocal or instrumental. We also have universities in India who grant BA or MA in music. I wonder whether those Universities and teachers really possess the lyrics and meaning to pass on to the students. The entire system wlll need an overhaul.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 20 Jun 2008, 19:51

Just listen to DKJ singing 'Mahadeva siva shambho' (Revati). He tends to sing it as 'Magadeva'. I for one don't find it such a big deal. But I'm sure a sahithya-obsessed person would it find it distracting, thus missing the beautiful music of DKJ.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 20 Jun 2008, 20:16

Raman,
Yes. We have discussed the importance of the role of music colleges in training their students (who later spread their knowledge to THEIR students) in insisting on bringing to focus the importance of understanding the lines they learn to sing. Are languages taught as minor subjects? True, one cannot learn from basic language courses to fully understand lyrics of yore. Yet, think of the way one gets the intonation and pronunciation of words when they can familiarize themselves with the languages!
Musicians spend time learning krutis. Some extra time to know the meaning and the mood of the song would result in finer singing.
As someone rightly pointed out--film songs are rendered where the words can be clearly heard and that is why many who like music gravitate towards them! It is not only the other 'difficult to approach' qualities which intimidates them in approaching CM.
From what we can gather from interviews, Sowmya seems to be doing what a teacher should, by asking her students to pay attention to lyrics. She sets an example too by her doing the same. There could be others too.

ragam-talam,
Slurring here and there, once or twice in a concert, can be excused when the singing is superior and surges with bhAvam. MMI is a prime example of that. This happens when the bhAvam of the music gets the upper hand, though the ideal is that they go hand in hand--music and the words...

Musique4ever · Post by **Musique4ever** » 20 Jun 2008, 20:41

Sunaada and Wordpecker, if you happen to be in Madras or Trivandrum, I would be delighted to meet
you across a delectably loaded dining table somewhere and have good food and conversation

(My treat) I myself am a Huge big admirer of Madurai Mani Iyer, in whose music, Sahithyam played a minimal role. But then he was Madurai Mani Iyer, which the rest of us poor mortals are not. And every sound he made sounded sweet......at least to my ears. I am not a great one for debates and I simply
express my views and wait to see if there are any kindred spirits around, that's all. And Sunaada's and Wordpecker's words are music to my ears.....so to speak

Thank you and have a nice debate.

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 20 Jun 2008, 20:51

ragam-talam,

Why this unwarranted compromise between music and sahithyam?

Personally, I would rather listen to a bad quality recording of MDR's concerts than a fantastic quality recording of somebody else...but what I would enjoy best would be a good quality recording of MDR.

So why not demand for the best of both from today's musicians who have access to all these resources?

And a badly pronounced song will not distract me on the enjoying the raga bhavam. But yes, I will always know there is scope for something much better.

Listening to MDR's MahaaaaaGanapatim, for instance, puts me touch with the vastness and enormity of divinity- a feeling I can hardly express in words. I don't think he has compromised any other musical elements to place emphasis on sahithyam.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 20 Jun 2008, 22:43

sunaada,

you could use the edit button for corrections instead of a fresh post.

sunaada · Post by **sunaada** » 20 Jun 2008, 23:10

Thanks cienu for letting me know.

And a big thank you to Prince Varmaji for the invitation! It would be my pleasure to meet you, sir!

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 21 Jun 2008, 04:32

Hmm, so the prince hasn't included me in his dinner invite...wonder why, is it something that I said??

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 21 Jun 2008, 04:38

sevikku uNavillAda pOdu, siridu
vayitrukkum IyappaDum

uNavukku sUdillaada pOdu, siridu
sarchaikkum iDam tharappaDum

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 Jun 2008, 04:59

Ah, the kuyil pATTu!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 21 Jun 2008, 05:08

There are many such instances like 'endaroma'.
Geethaarthamu in Suruti- when people tend to end as 'geethaarthamu sang'-because musically it seems to end there.
Kantajoodu(chhodu?)-alannadu soumitripaadaseva- while singing the swaram, there is a tendency to end as 'alanaadu sou'-insteaad of 'soumitri'.
Gajavadana-Sririanjani-
If one is not careful there is the chance of singing 'pangaja charaNa' instead of 'pankaja charanA'

Some observations.

shanks · Post by **shanks** » 21 Jun 2008, 18:47

Another humorous interpretation of 'endaro mahanubhavulu'

Tyagaraja goes to a watch a play and is looking where he could be seated and the usher asks him the question

enda row mahanubhavulu

enda (tamil) - which
row (english)
mahanubhavulu (telugu)

not too different from the way these words are sung by good percentage of singers

samarasa · Post by **samarasa** » 22 Jun 2008, 17:30

In the case of,
mokshamu galadA bhuvilo jeevanmukthulugAni vAralaku,

it is common practice to stop at 'jeevan'....

ofcourse, in the case of endaro mahanubhavulu there are numerous such instances especially when people sing:

..vindamuna joochi brahma!

Do check out prince rama varma's version on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLXiNj94rx8

samarasa · Post by **samarasa** » 22 Jun 2008, 17:39

he sings:

hrudayaaravindamuna joochi
brahmananda....

girish_a · Post by **girish_a** » 22 Jun 2008, 19:12

It is inexcusable for any musician not to possess a copy of "The Spiritual Heritage of Thyagaraja". It is much more inexcusable if they do possess it but do not refer to it. I regard this book as necessary to a Carnatic musician as a stethoscope is to a doctor!

But then again, the publishers have chosen Devanagari to print the lyrics of the songs (probably with good reason), which may make it less handy for those that can't read Devanagari. However, the meanings of all the songs are in English, which most musicians can read and understand.

But a lack of knowledge of Devanagari should be easily overcome by having a knowledgable friend or relative transcribe it for you in your native language.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 23 Jun 2008, 06:20

With regard to MDR's renditions, his rendition of Mokshamu Galada would be a great example. One of the things that has made me addicted or rather obsessed with MDR's music is his krithi rendition. I feel that he sings most songs as the composer intended them to be sung. After listening to him a lot, I now cannot listen to poor krithi rendition except MMI's music. MMI is in his own league when it comes to music. I have had a lot of out-of-the-world experiences at different times just listening to his 12-minute rendition of Koluvai where he belts out swaras as if that was the most natural thing to do. I've had such experiences with MDR's 1 hour rendition of Nannu Palimpa, where, unusually, he has sung swaras for more than 15 minutes but the part where he just sings the arohana and avarohana stands out.