Humphrey Trevelyan on Goethe : It seems that two qualities are necessary if a great artist is to remain creative to the end of a long life : he must on the one hand retain an abnormally keen awareness of life , must never grow complacent , ,never be content with life ,must always demand the impossible and when he cannot have it ,must despair.
The burden of mystery must be with him, day and night. He must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent , this disequilibrium , this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.
Many lesser poets have it only in their youth : some of the greatest lose it in middle life .
Wordsworth lost the courage to despair and with it , his poetic power.But more often the dynamic tensions are so powerful that they destroy the man before he reaches the end.
Mali ... Will there be another like him ??
Last edited by coolkarni on 28 Aug 2008, 20:29, edited 1 time in total.
Dear K,
I feel it is highly unlikely that there will be another like Mali because in my opinion the times have changed. For example in Physics, the days of C.V.Raman & Homi Bhabha are mostly ancient history. The emphasis on Research & fundamental understanding leave a lot to be desired tho' "Knowledge" & "Talent" may be numerically better....So is the literary & poetic approach you project so succintly. Another rarity at this time!! vkv
Last edited by cacm on 29 Aug 2008, 23:00, edited 1 time in total.
I remember earlier we had discussed about Flute playing techniques of Jean Pierre Rampal... I found this on the internet... Just wanted to share this with everyone... Just Amazing..the control that man has..
Dear Sri.Thanjavooran,
I would like to correspond with you one on one on this subject. My email is: vkv43034@yahoo.com; If you let me know yours we can correspond as this forum restricts longer exchanges. VKV
The first link seems to dwell on Mali's last interview (supposedly)...... and the second link talks about his other passions narrated by his disciple Sundaram.......
enjoy...............................
Anaconda, always for Flute Mali..............................
A friend gifted me a 'beyond all words' recording of mali with Chembai on violin and Maharajpura Vishwanath Iyer on Mridanga. I must say that in my decade of listening to classical music, i havent heard anything as magnificent. I will post if somebody can confirm that its not a commercial recording.
matterwaves wrote:A friend gifted me a 'beyond all words' recording of mali with Chembai on violin and Maharajpura Vishwanath Iyer on Mridanga. I must say that in my decade of listening to classical music, i havent heard anything as magnificent. I will post if somebody can confirm that its not a commercial recording.
"Of finding that perfect balance with one’s art. An instinctive understanding where you know at that point in time, you have been at your best. Thereafter what does it matter how the world perceives you or your art? " - Excellant Quote by the interviewer.... Thanks for the link - Anaconda..!
matterwaves wrote:A friend gifted me a 'beyond all words' recording of mali with Chembai on violin and Maharajpura Vishwanath Iyer on Mridanga. I must say that in my decade of listening to classical music, i havent heard anything as magnificent. I will post if somebody can confirm that its not a commercial recording.
This concert took place at Thyagaraja vidwat samajam , Mylapore in early sixties. Definitely will be a treat to listners. Please make efforts to upload.
Here it goes...i have three more files to upload for the entire concert. Shankarabharana is incomplete.. sorry for the rasabhanga http://www.sendspace.com/file/cg0lqi
Please welcome to a Mali concert in "Parvathi" March 14, 1964 along with Madurai D. Krishna Iyengar-V. Sethuramiah-M.S. Seshappa (Kanjira), Rajanna (Ghatam). After a brilliant rendering for about two hours progressing towards greater heights, he got into a hot argument with T. Chowdiah which culminated in the snatching of the violin from Chowdiah's famous disciple V.Sethuramiah's hand...at this point the concert had to be abandoned. http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/
I've listened to both bits multiple times trying to pay attention to the accompanying artists. I've never heard Chembai play the violin or MVI play the mridangam; never even knew that they could! While the violin is pretty subdued, MVI seems to have done an excellent job keeping up with Mali's kannakus and general esoteric meanderings.
I've listened to many of Mali's concerts; this has to rank has one of his most consistently brilliant ones... almost seems like he has risen to a new high considering the caliber of the stalwarts sharing the stage with him.
How many more clips are there? Please upload them all at once... right away... the anticipation is killing me! I crave instant gratification!
matterwaves, thanks a ton for uploading this. This is just plain sublime! The way it is constantly interspersed with free talk of admiration and besh beshs by MVI and CVB makes this all the more interesting! Even though Chembai's violin could have been a bit louder, the tonal purity of the violin matches Mali's mood on that day. MVI's playing would put some of today's Mrudanga vidwans to shame. IMHO, truly this would find a place in the lists of one of the greatest live music recordings in the history of Indian music! Lucky were the ones who attended this concert live!
matterwaves wrote:Here it goes...i have three more files to upload for the entire concert. Shankarabharana is incomplete.. sorry for the rasabhanga
Thanks for the uploads.
One comment: right at the start of S'bharanam, there's a Yadukulakambodhi phrase that Mali begins with. Did anyone else notice that?
matterwaves,
Bless you! I read about this very rare concert in a Tamil magazine at the Delhi Tamil Sangham library more than 30 years ago. Many years later, I happened to see a photograph of the concert in the Shruti magazine - it can also be seen at this website on another thread. I never thought I would ever get to hear this 'out of the world' concert during my lifetime. The ghatam vidwan is Vilvamangalam Vilvadri Iyer. The concert, if I recall the story correctly, was arranged impromptu when the vidwans had gathered at the Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidwat Samajam in Mylapore for some other function. I do not know who was the rasika who took the trouble to record the concert, we all have to be grateful to him.
matterofwaves, one cannot thank you enough. the beautiful thing in this concert is how chembai and MVI enjoy mali's genious.....such generosity, and lofty encouragement....true rasikas indeed!
rkiran wrote:I've never heard Chembai play the violin or MVI play the mridangam; never even knew that they could! While the violin is pretty subdued, MVI seems to have done an excellent job keeping up with Mali's kannakus and general esoteric meanderings.
Sri CVB's ability to play the violin is not that much of a secret - he once accompanied Smt. MSS IIRC...It is possible that Cienu may be in a position to explain more. MVI is certainly a revelation!
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I have heard this concert recording (tape version) a while back. The photo also came in Sruti magazine of Mali - CVB and MVI and Vilvadhri Iyer. It is a superb concert by Mali of course.
The quality of mridangam is superb.
With due respects to MVI, a great vocalist no dobut, I am not sure if he was a mridangist of such calibre and such quality accompaniment for Mali.
I have heard Neyveli Santhanagopalan and Vijya Siva accompany some musicians on mridangam briefly.
I had found the photograph of this concert sometime back and ever since I was curious about this concert. Glad that I got to finally hear it, the chemistry between the artists is fabulous (MVI's accompaniment in particular stands out).
Here's the photograph that some people were mentioning (to enhance your listening pleasure and to encourage matterwaves to post the remaining parts )
Apologies for for making you folks wait. I was running a horrible connection. better late than never, esp in this case !
The whole of this recording is about the brilliance of mali, exuberance of his youth. The other recordings i have heard of him seem to be of his later years..they are more poignant and introspective.
The Kapi RTP in this recording somehow isn't the same class as shankarabharana/bilahari or mukhari. May be a slight dip in form!
grapelli, Thanks very much for the picture - yes, it does make the listening experience better!
matterofwaves, Haven't yet listened to the last two parts. Will do so today. Nevertheless, thanks again for sharing this truly one-of-a-kind treasure with all of us.
grappelli wrote:I had found the photograph of this concert sometime back and ever since I was curious about this concert. Glad that I got to finally hear it, the chemistry between the artists is fabulous (MVI's accompaniment in particular stands out).
Here's the photograph that some people were mentioning (to enhance your listening pleasure and to encourage matterwaves to post the remaining parts )
...
It is intriguing (to me) that Chembai is holding the violin in his hand rather than resting it on his foot. This could have been just a momentary pose for the photograph but I have not known any other CM violinist (with the exception of the LS brothers) to hold the violin thus while playing. Have there been other CM violinists that also did this?
I had listened to the verbal encouragements on the audio but now I see Mali looks really young in this picture. He must have been some ferocious talent (even more than the level of stupendous playing already on display) for the three "jambhavans" on stage to agree to play for a stripling and then with such enthusiasm and obvious pleasure.
Also goes to show that the CM world was not all hierarchy and orthodoxy, even though sometimes it may look that way.
Thanks, both for the audio uploads and this pictures. Tremendously inspiring.
On top of your observations on Violin and Mridangam, let me throw in an observation about the flute itself. I felt that the sruthi was around 6.5 and we can see that in the picture. The flute looks to be relatively small which is a characteristic of a high pitched flute. Anything smaller, it will be a Piccolo.
I just cannot stop listening to the Shankarabharanam kalpana swaras in part 2. Mali has managed to add a whole new dimension to "kalpana" in kalpanaswaras. What a performance! Wow!
Matterwaves, can't thank you enough for sharing this concert.
chetants wrote:MVI's playing would put some of today's Mrudanga vidwans to shame.
It's hard to take one's ears of Mali, and, obviously, the recordist has concentrated upon him too --- but there were moments when I found my self listening to mridangam finger work so fast and smooth that it rivalled the continuity of the flute. And this was not chapu, with its sustained nadam to fill the gaps, but meetu, succesive nam strokes played like a drum roll.
I've just finished my third listening to this concert --- and I am feeling almaost like I've been listening to a new kind of music!
>I am feeling almaost like I've been listening to a new kind of music!
Nick, I get the same feeling too. Mali's music always had that vibe and in this case it is an order of magnitude more so. Deep, unbridled enthusiasm and creativity along with some musical mirth.
The Mali-CVB-MVI concert is noteworthy for one more reason. It is perhaps the earliest concert recording of Sri Mali currently available. In style it is reminiscent of Mali’s initial playing phase of the 1940s and 50s that marked him as a prodigy - brilliant manodharma, super fast brigas and sancharas, continuity in play and a phenomenal display of technical wizardry over the instrument. I am strongly reminded of his 78 RPM discs of those days - Evarani (Nadachintamani) and Ninuvina (Navarasakannada).
It is in stark contrast to his style in later years of which there are more than a dozen live concert recordings available both in the Web domain and commercially. His later style was marked by slow and sedate playing of ragas often lingering on a single note for several seconds and punctuated by long pauses filled in only by the drone of the tambura. The playing of krithis were often in chowka kalam compared to the brisk tempo of his earlier renderings. Some ragas disappeared from his playing list in later years. I have heard elders speak glowingly of his Thodi and Kharaharapriya alapana and his playing of the Thyagaraja krithi "Kaddanu Variki"
As I don't actually listen to very much music at home, and don't do much downloading, I have no idea what prompted me to download this --- but I'm so glad I did.
Most of the links in this thread have expired, but I found one alapana (was it Mohara?) posted by Coolkarni, that was also a great delight. Perhaps more of the later style as described by ravimandalam?
My wife recently impulse-bought a CD, called, simply "Flute". She would not have recognised the artist's name. It made interesting listening, and when I looked at the cover, I said, "Oh! This is Flute Mali! He was so famous, but I don't know his music at all...". And here I am...
Interesting tidbits on Mali in this article: Flute Mali - A trail-blazer by T.M. Sivaraman
"Mali never had formal training in music. His mother taught him the rudiments of Carnatic music."
"Though not formally educated, he was brilliant in English. He could talk authoritatively on any subject in addition to music."
"Another little known fact about Mali was that he was a great carrom player and frequently used to play carrom at our home."
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