M.S. Subbulakshmi

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

VKV: In one of the posts( i think the topic was YOU!!) I had suggested since both of us will be in Chenai during the season in December we could have a get together with some of the forumites who may be living in Chennai or visiting Chennai.
What do you think and what do forumites think?

feedback please.
Ramesh(M.K.Ramasubramanian).

[cacm]

GOOD IDEA if there is enough interest. Past experience has been after lot of expressions of interest no one shows up. RecEnt experience was in Cleveland so if some one arranges I am willing to show up....I plan to meet cienu of this forum who has said he would write me email soon. I was going to suggest you shd also be there becaise different areas can be covered by us. VKV

[s_hari]

Thanks for that srinicasrgvn, very good read!

Are many people here facebook users. I was wondering what the story is with the GNB fan page, it has letters from MSS written to GNB. Are these real or fakes?

Requesting you to not to bring up this topic here. She is a god like figure for many people.

Srinivas - Nice to read about Gayathri's writeup. It touched my heart.

Cienu - We could plan a visit of Kalki garden. I could be in chennai during Dec 19/20 or christmas week.

-hari

[Aishu]

Dear Friends,

Here is a link of a concert that I did in Mumbai. See how radiant MS amma looks on the picture. Hope you all enjoy the ragam. I felt like she was giving me her complete blessings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U8lXgSUr28

Thanks

Dear Aishu,
Let me request you to post your u tube video link-Ananda bhairavi Alapana- under VIDWANS& VIDUSHIS SUB-SECTION UNDER M.S.S. because the discussions appear to happen there! Of course your alapana is superb & I want to write my reactions in some detail there. VKV

VKV mama,

Per your request, I have provided the link for my you tube video. I never had the opportunity to meet the legend MS amma, but would love to hear the stories from you. Please enjoy my attempt at Ananda Bhairavi ragam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U8lXgSUr28

[Rasika911]

Thanks for that srinicasrgvn, very good read!

Are many people here facebook users. I was wondering what the story is with the GNB fan page, it has letters from MSS written to GNB. Are these real or fakes?

Requesting you to not to bring up this topic here. She is a god like figure for many people.



-hari

She is for me too but if that fan page is spam then it should be reported.

[baboosh]

Thanks for that srinicasrgvn, very good read!

Are many people here facebook users. I was wondering what the story is with the GNB fan page, it has letters from MSS written to GNB. Are these real or fakes?

Requesting you to not to bring up this topic here. She is a god like figure for many people.



-hari

She is for me too but if that fan page is spam then it should be reported.

Let us just not bother whether it was true or not.Even she had her right to love anybody.After she was also entitled to her feelings.What is wrong in it?

[cmlover]

This is the last post on that subject. Discussion or probing of that issue is likely to offend the fine sentiments of many of our membership. We are only interested in CM and its appeal and not on any fact-finding missions at this Forum.

Any further posts on the subject will be censored. Thanks for your cooperation!

[cmlover]

VKV

Your points on Aishu are well-taken. I had similar feeliings listening to her as she interpreted AB in the classic fashion with melodious strokes. She has the natural fluidity of LGJ and the innoovativeness of TNK. Since she is very young she will go a long way in the coming years and may the Lord's blessings be on her along with us elders!

[srinivasrgvn]

-

[appu]

In analysing why this is so I am forced to the conclusion that apart from imagination & other abilities the TOTAL adherence to Swarasthana Suddham & Sruti Suddham is the main reason.

VKV,

I had an opportunity to listen to Aishu live about a month ago. You are correct about her Sruti suddham. Her ability to defy gravity and hold the bow parallel to the bridge is just beautiful.

[balusatya]

whose composition is that Ekadantham upasmaye Begada sung by her.

[Lakshman]

It is by H.Yoganarasimham.

[cacm]

In analysing why this is so I am forced to the conclusion that apart from imagination & other abilities the TOTAL adherence to Swarasthana Suddham & Sruti Suddham is the main reason.

VKV,
I had an opportunity to listen to Aishu live about a month ago. You are correct about her Sruti suddham. Her ability to defy gravity and hold the bow parallel to the bridge is just beautiful.

Dear Sri. Appu,
Tho' we briefly met in Cleveland I missed talking in some detail with you; If you come to Chennai for the season or to Cleveland in spring may be we can have LONGER SESSION........Any ways I am seizing on your observations on AISHU'S Sruti Suddham aspects to continue my post no. 306.
There have been many comments on why Westerners as well as North Indians do not warm up to Carnatic music as we all naturally expect. I have been trying to get music connected persons here(North America) to get as excited as I am. I continue to present lec-dem + discussion panels to university classes, music students etc still.I take the point of view is every one i meet is smarter than me. So herewith my conclusions- I am writing these partly beacuse Aishu had requested I share my experiences withh M.S.S.-
1) There are certain things very fundamental to what has been defined as MUSIC: Sruti & Swarasthana Suddham, Sarva laghu Suddham; If these are not present PROPERLY for persons who do not know the language( I bet 80 percent at least of listeners even in India fall into this category) but knowledgeable in music fundamentals will find it hard to appreciate.
2) As our reaction combines the above+poetry of the composition, Exposure over long time period,plus many other factors we cannot expect others to experience the same thing; Of course there are exceptions like Bob Brown & Higgins Bhagavathar. In interacting & observing the one& only THE GREAT Ravi Shankar I learnt how he adjusted his music to make it understandable to every one. Even tho' south indians may think carnatic music is "superior" North Indian Classical MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD I find easily like North Indian over SOUTH INDIAN. WHY? I contend it is because of theSruti Suddham. Even the immortal G.N.B. fell at the feet of Bade Gulam Ali Khan- tho' the great USTAD had done a similar thing to GNB-; Ravi shankar in composing his concerto for Sitar struggled but came up with an opening entry to Sitar the first few bars of which SUMMARIZED at least 3000 years of human existance on the Indian continent. Similarly Puccini apparently used to go in his carriage every day for years just to hear the water rustle over the soft rocks in a river. Debussy's La m,er ideally capteures the ocean in a specific impreesionistic moment of time. THE PONT IS THERE IS SOMETHING UNIQUE& SPECIAL IN EVERY SYSTEM..
I have asked both MMI & M.S.S. how they reached this perfection. As this section is on M.S.S. I will talk about her.She told me that when she was young she practised with 4 thamburas identically tuned. In her mid eighties I attended my last concert of this immortal genius at Nanganallur while there was HEAVY rain; NO ONE left & we were all totally drenched.It was heaven on earth literally. Subsequently I asked her how she managed to be PERFECT under such difficult circumsatances she said its simple: She has been doing "Ahara Sadagam" from childhood to today for 4-6 hours.........VKV

[bilahari]

VKV sir, thanks for that post. Incidentally, what did MMI say about how he managed to maintain perfect shruti alignment?

[cacm]

Dear Bilahari,
I will write it here tho' there is a MMI section because of the continuity of the subject matter.
Of course for starters he learnt under another GIANT Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar- who produced a G.N.B. & MMI like T.S. who managed to bring out the genius in C.R., KALKI, & M.S.S TO EVERY ONE-. H.M.B. for starters had two thamburas- Raman & Lakshmanan - as is widely known.
When HE PRACTISED AS WELL AS TAUGHT(acc to DrSAK DURGA learnt for at least 15 years from him & who explained this in last year's MMI Remembeance Day function) he insisted on going line by line first with swarams with the positions of EACH swarams BEING IN the PERFECT LOCATION frequency wise & then only go on to the words of the compositions of course along with the Talam. This was in addition to the basic "sa" position. As a result he could just listen to Muruga bhoopathy's mridangam & continue the concert when the Thambura acted up in a Shanmugananda concert. The extent& length of practice over the years- like Chowdiah, Jimmy Connors or Ivan Lendl- according to him makes it integral with his voice whenever he sings.
Also after I listened to AISHU I asked her whether she was one of the 4-5 in a million who discerned ABSOLUTE PITCH. She said no but she had perfect relative pitch. In our music relative pitch is crucial as "C" does not have to be 256 cycles(hertz) but can be chosen by each individual. Thats ok in our music but the relative ratios have to be exact between swarams...Thats what M.S.S & M.M.I. HAD TO PERFECTION. I was not educated enough to discuss Absolute Pitch with either M.S.S. OR M.M.I. I hope I have addressed your question properly. VKV

[cmlover]

VKV
Are you aware of any device that assists in the develpment of Absolute or Relative Pitch. The latter of course is developed by instrumentalist over the years of long practice. Not sure about the former.
Did MS have Absolute Pitch?

[cacm]

For a physicist its very easy to rig up a device-Basically its a frequency sensing contraption that can be hooked to a CRT so you can physically see whats going on. I have built & used a device like this. It can also be used to find the relative pitches at the same time. I do not know if such devices are commercially available. I can tell you that persons of the calibre of LGJ can instantly tell not just if things are on but how much off the pitch is. I found out when I recorded a concert of his & played it back to him! In the same fshion PMI was able to tell aspects of Thalam to the level of the instrumentation-the one I had rigged up was good for a milli second- which is why I had made the statement that PMI'S playing is probably accurate enough for an atomic clock. There were some comments from persons like Uday Shankarbasically saying Come ON etc....
Reg MSS HAVING ABSOLUTE PITCH unfortunately when I was in India I had not pursued the subject as I was ignorant; Only the aspect of the TOTAL merging of voice or instrument with Thambura I had studied in an unscientific way. I found MSS & MMI to be the two who were able to acheive this in a PERFECT fashion. After I came to USA & shifting to western classical music out of necessity- due to lack of carnatic music! I did study absolute pitch thru' instrumentation as I do not have absolute pitch determination thru' my ears- but by then I could get only recordings which were not accurate enough for the p[urpose.
So I cannot make any statement about MSS & ABSOLUTE PITCH. Our music does not demand it as far as I am concerned. VKV

[cacm]

Dear MODERATORS: I am issuing this appeal to ALL of the moderators- in an unscientific fashion I am guessing Rajeshnat,cmlover, vasanthakokilam at lest one of them might be moderators: At least I am hoping so!- to please get in touch with M.K.Ramasubramanian aka Ramesh son of T.S.Mahadevan at mkram38@gmail.com & tell him how to get back to writing his valuable experiences& thoughts in Rasikas.org as he has forgotten both his user name& ID in a computer crash.......VKV

[cmlover]

He can register anew. No problem with that!
Do convey that info to him yourself...

[cacm]

PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE: HE HAS ONLY ONE EMAIL ADDRESS. He does not appear to be comfy with computers. He claims the "nandi" objects! VKV

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks VKV. We will take care of it.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Forumites: Have resumed the MS/TS saga in the M.S.Amma's Birthday thread. Thanks for the help in helping me get back on track!!

[musicfan_4201]

M.S. - Some Musical Reminiscences

By P.P.Kanthan.*



When I was a young boy of five, I heard my mother tell a visitor during a music-related discussion, that as a vocalist, ‘Chuppu’ was supreme and unmatchable. Again and again at home our little "Philips"

[arasi]

musicfan_4201,
A touching homage by P. P. Kanthan. The more we read personal accounts by folks around the world about MSS, the more there is for us to be in awe of this extraordinary woman whose life blood was music. What's more, her music blended with her love and respect for fellow human beings. It was this rare combination in her personality that took her to those almost celestial heights.

[cacm]

YES! I have found it easier to deal with greats like MS.,MMI, GNB, PMI,PALANI,KVN etc because they are able to deal at various levels starting with BASEMENT LEVEL like me. Actually MDR himself a giant talking about Tiger or MMI discussing ANYONE ELSE made me realise these are persons whose ability to function at VARIOUS LEVELS was indeed amazing.......Actually I have been privy to events in which M.S. spent more time with my brother's son- a paraphlegic- than REALLY BIG SHOTS who were around. Similarly MMI who took a Thambura to my sister in law at my request to Bombay spent an hour asking her to sing & helping her& praising her etc tho' he had a concert that evening. I was a demonstrator in Presidency College at that time & my salary was 85 Rs.!......In my view I have seen sages & Karma Yogis right in front of my eyes with artists of the Golden era of Carnatic music LIKE M.S &. & MMI.....VKV

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Forumites: Check out the MS Amma birthday thread for my two latest postings on MS/TS.One instance of Mami's genuine concern for fellow humanbeings.

Late Sixties,we had a concert in Chembur.I was in Bombay living in Chembur while my parents were stil living in Matunga. For the concert I had driven Mami's accompaniments to the concert from Sion where they were staying with Mama's loyal assistant in Bombay-Kannan.Kannan drove MamiMama,Radha to the concert. The concert was held in a Pandal(specially erected for the concert). Mami had just started her concert when there was a shortcircuit in one of the tube lights attached to one of the wooden poles and as the Pandal was cloth-covered it suddenly caught fire and there was a commotion naturally. Before the organisers could figure out what was happening,our concern was for mami and the artistes-I had parked my car on the grounds behind the shamiana. We literally rushed Mami to my car and whisked her away. Mami's concern was for the Janangal(people) who had thronged the pandal-Ayo evalavu asai oda pattu ketka vandirukka--Ippidi asambavitamai nadanduthe(for the people who have come to the concert eagerly,why did this unfortunate incident happen?).
Thank God it was a small fire that was put out and the concert resumed with delay--needless to say Mami sang her heart out!!

Point: Despite the most adverse situation she was in--- her thoughts were first for the Janangal--this was " no put on" or fake sympathy!! There was not a mean bone in that Great Lady's body!!200 years from now given the star-crazed media world(only likely to get more crazy in the decades to come!!)people reading accounts of Mami and Mama would refuse to believe that there could have lived such paragons of compassion and sensitivity !!

[cacm]

Very similar to Einstein's remarks about Gandhi: Generations hence people will scarcely believe such a person walked on Earth like us....VKV

[cpblog]

Welcoming you all to a posting of 'Two letters from T.Sadasivam and a grand concert by MS Subbulakshmi 1967' at http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/. We apologize for any audio noise and tape truncations that may show up at certain places in the recording.

[cienu]

Great memories cpblog Thank you for sharing .

[vmr]

Hi Friends,

How do I open/down load the above concert. There seems to be no link for that.

Thanks

VMR

[cpblog]

Hi Friends,

How do I open/down load the above concert. There seems to be no link for that.

Thanks

VMR

Dear Rasikas,

We made the following appeal in a different forum and we appeal the same to you.

It is our privilege to participate in this particular community of groups and to realize (following the several beautiful discussions) of the stature of the participants in this group; all keen lovers of the Carnatic music heritage, some serving as analysts, some as musicologists, some as performing singers and some who may also be family members of the Vidwans and Vidushis themselves.

When we started the blog http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/ our intent was somewhat like what the trustees of a 'Graceland' (the late Elvis Presley's home) or the trustees of 'Never Never land' (late Michael Jackson's estate) might have had in mind i.e. to present the importance of 'roots' and that of an environment in the nurturing and serving of the 'sphota' of music. We wanted to be able to present "Parvathi" in a similar manner as we were made to realize of what a very unique house it was in the heritage of India in terms of its patronage to the "Vaggyekaras", "Vidwans" and "Vidushis" of Carnatic music (considering the piecing of many comments of eminent personalities like Balmurli Krishna (very recently in Bangalore), Chowdiah, Bidaram Krishnappa, Doreswamy Iyengar, RK Narayan, Vasudevachar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachan, Semmangudi, Chembai, and the comments of India's leading citizens ). We wanted to present a narration of those memorable times as a "thornam" to the very unique concerts that took place in that house (remember our story starts somewhere around 1939 and down to modern times which closes in roughly on seven decades of some hundreds of memorable events to think about).

We wanted to do this as a homage, as a respect to the memory of the late K.Puttu Rao and his two sons, who struggled against many odds in preserving Carnatic traditions and in creating a memorial in Bengaluru, which today stands as a mark of pride for India in its world history as the only memorial to an artist of the stringed instrument. We also wanted to be able to do this very quietly, in an act of love, and in not wanting to be involved in any conflicting terms with anyone.

While we understand individual liberties and we understand "public domains" and we are also aware by way of our professions, of how even Sony (the giant music corporation) is struggling to enforce copyright protection for its artists, we definitely want to stay away from wanting to know any of these things and do our own bit silently. We do not want to be involved in having to explain to anybody in the aftermath of somebody downloading something, why it was done and what we have to do to minimise the infringement of someone's sense of propriety.

So our humble appeal is "please enjoy the prasadam in the house itself". Come, visit the blog at your convenience, read and and enjoy the music there. There is no need to find out in which cook's house ( server) the utensils are being kept. Of course one may not get the gratfication of an instant download to a CD and maybe listening to it in the car; but we think that this small sacrifice is well worth it.

Even if you are blessed with innovativeness and do find the download link, kindly do not broadcast it in writing.

As the great soul, Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi, while pointing to the heart illustrates "the Lord rests there in all of us!"

With our best wishes and please welcome to http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/ whenever you can.

Members of the CPBlog team

[cpblog]

Great memories cpblog Thank you for sharing .

Dear Cienu: Thank you kindly, and all of us in our team are very well aware of your immense contributions to this forum. Best regards,....

[vasanthakokilam]

cpblog: Great concert. Thanks for making this concert available. It is more interesting if rasikas do not read the song list first, thus retaining the anticipation aspect of listening to a live concert. There is a certain dynamism and power exhibited in this concert. MS's voice range is in full flow with lower sthayi traversals in Bhairavi and reaching quite high in Shankarabharanam, all with great degree of sowkyam.

VMR, there is a player widget that should show up below the song list. Click on the play button to listen.

[cpblog]

cpblog: Great concert. Thanks for making this concert available. It is more interesting if rasikas do not read the song list first, thus retaining the anticipation aspect of listening to a live concert. There is a certain dynamism and power exhibited in this concert. MS's voice range is in full flow with lower sthayi traversals in Bhairavi and reaching quite high in Shankarabharanam, all with great degree of sowkyam.

VMR, there is a player widget that should show up below the song list. Click on the play button to listen.

VK: An excellent insight into "retaining the anticipation aspect of listening to a live concert". It is the way any divine music or any sacred act should be done; to transform ourselves while being in the "Vishwa" state to that of the state of "Shushupti" (as the Mandukya illustrates). Thank you again, and we will consider this together in our team.

[shaks]

Welcoming you all to a posting of 'Two letters from T.Sadasivam and a grand concert by MS Subbulakshmi 1967' at http://chowdaiahandparvati.blogspot.com/. We apologize for any audio noise and tape truncations that may show up at certain places in the recording.

Hello cpblog.
Thanks a tonne for sharing that concert in particular

[shaks]

@ all, Namaskarams !

Will post a review on amma's concert soon . There is quite alot to write about the Shanmukhapriya neraval & swaram or the Arabhi which were stuppendous ! Very rarely amma gives such a treat to the audience with a flash of swarakalpana in ragas like Khamas , Bhushavali, Varamu etc.

Although Shankarabharanam, Saroja Dala Netri in particular (with phrases in higher Ga or Pa) was "created" to be a stamp of MS amma. There were only very few occasions where she did not sound to be very deliberate. Of course shareeram is not the same everyday. Yet amma managed to give the same effect in Shankarabharanam each & every time she reached the finale either in the ragam or swarams.

[Aditto]

Hello,

I would like to listen to a madhyamavathi RTP of MS or an elaborate rendition of Palinchu Kamakshi or Vinyakuni with alapana, neraval and swarakalpana. Does any body have these songs? If yes can they be shared without any problems? (songs being uploaded and then deleted immediately because of some copyright issues)

Regards,
Aditya

[cienu]

Palinchu Kamakshi is available as a commercial recording. It is available in the same CD in which the famous Viriboni has been sung.

[thenpaanan]

@ all, Namaskarams !

Although Shankarabharanam, Saroja Dala Netri in particular (with phrases in higher Ga or Pa) was "created" to be a stamp of MS amma. There were only very few occasions where she did not sound to be very deliberate. Of course shareeram is not the same everyday. Yet amma managed to give the same effect in Shankarabharanam each & every time she reached the finale either in the ragam or swarams.

Quite. Though one could say that MSS's volume went up ever so slightly when she was in the upper registers, I agree with you that she was much better at it than others. Some others who had/have that capability were MMI (all the time), KVN (especially when he was young) and MDR (most of the time). BMK of course has a marvelously constant voice but he seems sometimes to deliberately sound different in tara sthayi by modulating or vowel shaping. Among the women, Bombay Jayashree seems to manage very well.

Keeping the voice in uniform quality from madhya sthayi through tara sthayi is a quality not generally found in CM vocalists, even though many of the popular kritis tend to stay high. (It is not a quality I have managed to achieve either in my own personal practice, so I am very curious.) Would people like to suggest names of other vocalists who they think have managed to "conquer" the tara sthayi by singing with the same richness across the octave?

-Then Paanan

[arvindt]

Would people like to suggest names of other vocalists who they think have managed to "conquer" the tara sthayi by singing with the same richness across the octave?

Ariyakudi (but his technique was different, he apparently believed in lots of richness at the base and razor sharpness at the tara stayi Pa), RK Srikantan Sir. I don't know if same volume throughout always gives the best effect -- I personally love Ariyakudi Iyengarval's way of rendering, the voice sounds sharper and even slightly strained in the higher octaves but he sings sangatis very sparingly and judiciously there to create a dazzling effect. If you've listened to his Kanada alapana before Sukhi Evaro, you'll know what I mean .

[thenpaanan]

Would people like to suggest names of other vocalists who they think have managed to "conquer" the tara sthayi by singing with the same richness across the octave?

Ariyakudi (but his technique was different, he apparently believed in lots of richness at the base and razor sharpness at the tara stayi Pa), RK Srikantan Sir. I don't know if same volume throughout always gives the best effect -- I personally love Ariyakudi Iyengarval's way of rendering, the voice sounds sharper and even slightly strained in the higher octaves but he sings sangatis very sparingly and judiciously there to create a dazzling effect. If you've listened to his Kanada alapana before Sukhi Evaro, you'll know what I mean .

Agreed. Volume does not have to stay constant but it should not sound like the singer is shouting (e.g. sometimes TVS sounds that way). What needs to stay constant is the overall richness of the voice. Most CM singers' voices become strained or weak or curiously flat, as if the overtones have been taken away. In ARI's case I think he was a very self-aware and intelligent singer who used his voice well within its limitations. His singing stayed mostly in the madhya sthayi with occasional forays into tara sthayi (KVN diverged from him in this regard, perhaps simply because he could). Perhaps there is a lesson in here for us -- we force our voices to go beyond our limits because we are trying to imitate someone else and ARI was not.

A positive example to parallel MSS singing sarojadalanetri is KVN singing "pakkala nilabadi" especially the neraval at "manasoona talachi maimarachi yunnaaraa" which hovers at the upper ri. An extraordinary coming together of voice, melody, and lyrics!

A very interesting case is Voleti. Even though his voice soared effortlessly, he still sounded strained sometimes in the upper register!

-Then Paanan

[shaks]

Would people like to suggest names of other vocalists who they think have managed to "conquer" the tara sthayi by singing with the same richness across the octave?

Ariyakudi (but his technique was different, he apparently believed in lots of richness at the base and razor sharpness at the tara stayi Pa), RK Srikantan Sir. I don't know if same volume throughout always gives the best effect -- I personally love Ariyakudi Iyengarval's way of rendering, the voice sounds sharper and even slightly strained in the higher octaves but he sings sangatis very sparingly and judiciously there to create a dazzling effect. If you've listened to his Kanada alapana before Sukhi Evaro, you'll know what I mean .

Agreed. Volume does not have to stay constant but it should not sound like the singer is shouting (e.g. sometimes TVS sounds that way). What needs to stay constant is the overall richness of the voice. Most CM singers' voices become strained or weak or curiously flat, as if the overtones have been taken away. In ARI's case I think he was a very self-aware and intelligent singer who used his voice well within its limitations. His singing stayed mostly in the madhya sthayi with occasional forays into tara sthayi (KVN diverged from him in this regard, perhaps simply because he could). Perhaps there is a lesson in here for us -- we force our voices to go beyond our limits because we are trying to imitate someone else and ARI was not.

A positive example to parallel MSS singing sarojadalanetri is KVN singing "pakkala nilabadi" especially the neraval at "manasoona talachi maimarachi yunnaaraa" which hovers at the upper ri. An extraordinary coming together of voice, melody, and lyrics!

A very interesting case is Voleti. Even though his voice soared effortlessly, he still sounded strained sometimes in the upper register!

-Then Paanan[/quote]

My two cents on the discussion.

MS amma had her vocal bests in the 40's. Where she could produce flawless brigas in the upper register which could produce goose-pimples. We do not have any lice recordings from that period. Yet till today, i don't see anybody on earth handle ragas in d upper octave like her ! May it be Shankarabharanam or Thodi. She is truly ORIGINAL !!!

[thenpaanan]

My two cents on the discussion.

MS amma had her vocal bests in the 40's. Where she could produce flawless brigas in the upper register which could produce goose-pimples. We do not have any lice recordings from that period. Yet till today, i don't see anybody on earth handle ragas in d upper octave like her ! May it be Shankarabharanam or Thodi. She is truly ORIGINAL !!!

Based on the recordings of the movie Meera I would agree with you that MSS was at her vocal best then. Unfortunately it seems to me, she changed her vocal technique and started singing in a more "conventional" way in her CM concerts. If you compare the songs from Meera with any concert recording of MS there is a distinct change in voice quality almost as if she eschewed her original technique that I personally love for a more "jaw-oriented" (poor description, but I cannot find a better adjective) singing technique that is almost ubiquitous in CM. If I am mistaken, please point to a concert where this is not true. Of course it could be a figment of my imagination or some might argue that CM "requires" a different voice from films (what MSS herself thought about the voice part, I have no idea, but I have read that she was advised not to sing padams).

Whatever the case may be, it is not a debatable point that MSS was unique. But it does hint at the limitation of vocal technical ideas in CM.

-Then Paanan

[arasi]

Thenpaanan,
The 'conventional' aspect of it, has it got something to do with SSI coming into the picture?

[thenpaanan]

Thenpaanan,
The 'conventional' aspect of it, has it got something to do with SSI coming into the picture?

Unless someone has interacted with MSS about this aspect, if and why MSS would choose to change her style would have to remain idle speculation. Sometimes the simple explanation is the right one -- I suspect MSS got her magical voice by sheer ability honed by natural instinct (i.e. without being told how to sing) and that instinct and practice was spoiled when she was "prepped" for the CM concert stage by others.

Whatever it is, it would be instructive for us to study MSS's magical voice in Meera and try to infer how she might have done what she did (rather than just say she was "gifted" and proceed to ignore her craft). To be practical, let us focus on a single aspect of MSS singing in Meera, namely, her voicing of vowels. WM voice theory says that when singing vowels one has to "clear" any obstructions (throat, lips, tongue) and use the singing apparatus (voice box, oral cavity, nasal cavity) as a single vibrating column for best effect (resonance, volume).

I have not heard any CM concert singer do this (except MDR at the madhya sa) , perhaps because the resulting sound (the sound that one hears in Gregorian chants, for example) is not considered "appropriate" for CM (though why this is so is beyond my understanding). The one exception was MSS in Meera.

Every once in a while you get a glimpse of what is possible, voice-wise, when some student from Wesleyan sings in their celebrated navarAtri festival. Similarly it is possible that out of the blue one hears such a thing from a CM performer, even if for a brief while. I would dearly love to be pointed to such occurrences.

-Then Paanan

[thanjavooran]

To my pleasant surprise I saw MSS amma's statue in the main junction at Tirupathi. As scripts were in Telugu I could not understand the inscriptions. Can any body give further details ?

Thanjavooran 11 06 2010

[cienu]

The bronze statue at Poornakumbhan circle, on the foothills of Tirupati, was unveiled by the late CM of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy on 28th May 2006.
Please find below a picture taken on Dec 11th 2009 (on her 5th death anniversary.) Her Great Grand Children Aishwarya and Saundarya are beside her.

[rshankar]

Cienu - how lovely!

[thanjavooran]

Shri Cienu,
Thanx a lot. Excellent. Great grand kids Aishwarya and Soundarya are blessed.
Thanjavooran 11 06 2010

[ksl]

I am not sure if i should post this here as this is not music related, but this is the first natya rendition of M.S.S's widely cherished suprabhatam i have seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecul2JqufAA