‘Mozart of Indian Music’ - Chitravina N Ravikiran

[SridharxRamaswamy]

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/ ... 963f4.html

[Nick H]

Chitravina N. Ravikiran, who is known as the “Mozart of Indian Music.”

Who knew?

I never heard the attribution. I'm not hot on the history of Western Classical music, so I might well be wrong in suggesting that Mozart was really unique, being brilliant from early childhood, being a composer without compare, and having incredible skills such as being able to remember, in detail, music that he heard performed. That, I learnt recently, means that he could not only recall the melodies, but could reproduce the parts of each instrument. Apparently, on being introduced to another composer, he said, "Oh yes! I heard your piece six months ago," sat down at the piano, and played it.

Even though I really don't know much more about Mozart, I always feel it a bit unfair that his name is grabbed and applied to any child who can trot out a pop song. It devalues it.

This time, I feel entirely different. Ravikiran is one of the great, serious musicians, perhaps of our age, not just of carnatic music. Remembering the words of one of my teachers: "there is no such thing as miracles, there are only things that we do not understand," I always hesitate to use the word, and I shrink from the "usual" explanations of early brilliance... But to be an accomplished musician almost from the womb? Yes, it is some kind of miracle. To mentally and emotionally survive being a child star is another, and to emerge from it utterly committed to serious music, as a humble and hard-working musician is yet another.

He doesn't need such accolades; he doesn't need to be measured by other geniuses of history, but anyway... hats off to "Mozart" Ravikiran!

[Rsachi]

Is there a way to access and listen to Ravikiran's Carnatic compositions?

[arasi]

Nick,
So well put. The word prodigy is bandied about so much. Bright, gifted children are given the label ever so easily these days. We admire and adore our children who are gifted (even otherwise), but are they all prodigies?.
Genius and prodigy are words which need to be used sparingly.

With Ravikiran, one need not hesitate at all. Prodigy he truly was, and what's more, a serious musician who doesn't stop searching and reaching new heights by sheer dedication to his art and by working on it always. He's a true example of what a prodigy really is like--a child whose gifts were further nurtured by a dedicated father, himself a musician. And Ravikiran has been living with his music as only a few gifted ones do, for nearly half a century!

His reaching out to children is one of his many praiseworthy efforts.

Rsachi,
He sometimes plays, and sings along a bit when he plays one of his compositions. Shashikiran, Ganesh and Kiranavali sing/play them in their concerts. At Cleveland (haven't heard the recording of Carnatica Bros yet from the festival), Kiranavali did sing one--a tillanA which was aired).
I do not know if a book of his compositions exist.

[mahavishnu]

NIck, very well written.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Nick/Arasi: Well put!! Ravi Kiran does not need any boost from such comparisons. On his own merits he deserves to be in the pantheon of Music Innovators. The NAMO initiative is great example of how he is exposing Western Children to our Music without devaluing it--ofcourse there will always be naysayers who might pooh-pooh the initiative. I know of and can think of several so-called "child-prodigies" who burnt out after a meteoric rise. Ravi Kiran is an exception--Despite being written about in the media as a genius and prodigy right from his childhood and despite having to bear the burden of a great lineage ,he has not only set for himself higher goals and is achieving them as well. During the MA morning sessions,no matter what the topic is I have seen him give a concise summary of what the talk was about but also steer the discussions(as an observer) in a constructive manner.
In my opinion if anybody deserves greater recognition for their contributions to Music as a performer,as an innovator and somebody who genuinely advances the state of the art and captures the listener's imagination that would be RAVI KIRAN.

I would be in the forefront for the campaign for the SK (Sangeetha Kalanidhi) award for RK. His relatively young age ought not to be a deterrent!!!

[uday_shankar]

Chitravina Ravikiran is truly a musician of awe-inspiring dimensions.

I am an unsentimental (albeit warm, I'd like to think!) person but I truly believe that Ravikiran is one person who can be called God's gift to music.

The sheer breadth and depth of his accomplishments, the things he's thought through and the things he has imparted makes him quite unique in Carnatic history.

Some musicians are specaists in say.... a wide repertoire, others in laya, others in shruti, others in padams and javalis, others in pallavis, others in neraval, others in swarams, ohters in raga alapana, others in musicology, others in composition, others in aesthetics, others in dance dramas, others in discovery and unearthing of new composers and compotisions, others in preparing accomplished disciples, etc etc...

Ravikiran can be called a specialist (often the #1 specialist) in each and every one of these departments and a lot more ! This is totally unprecedented in Carnatic history and a lot of it not yet well known in public. For examples, I believe Ravikiran's compositions, especially the Tillanas need a lot of publicity. His tillanas tease some thrilling rhythmic patterns out of a jati in a simple tala cycle like Mishra Chappu and can trip you up if you're not alert. I've coined a term to describe Ravikiran Tillanas - "thrillana" ! A truly thrilling experience.

What even more astonishing about Ravikiran is the way he has matured into a sane, personable, balanced adult genius from being child prodigy - possibly one of the most difficult of transitions and one that very few have managed well in history, in any field. I think the reason for this is Ravikiran's unwavering faith(in God, gurus and destiny) coupled with an innate objectivity (so rare in artistic people). As an engineer, I find it very easy to interact with him .

[uday_shankar]

And then again I forgot to mention Ravikiran's collaborative efforts with Hindustani, Brazilian, Symphonic and a host of other genres...And then there's the totally unique concept of melharmony invented by Ravikiran...the idea of harmonizing within the melodic structure of a rAga.

I think perhaps Ravikiran's accomplishment are too vast to comprehend in one frame...

[Nick H]

What even more astonishing about Ravikiran is the way he has matured into a sane, personable, balanced adult genius from being child prodigy - possibly one of the most difficult of transitions and one that very few have managed well in history, in any field.

I barely know him, and I know his father even less, but, more as a hunch than as a blind guess, I suspect that his father may have had a lot to do with this difficult transition? Might his father have been more concerned with music than with egos? That is my suspicion.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Udhay: Nice write-up--Can we start a "First-Ballot-Hall-of -Famer(like in baseball) campaign as "First Ballot Sangeetha Kalanidhi" for Ravi Kiran?

[uday_shankar]

I suspect that his father may have had a lot to do with this difficult transition? Might his father have been more concerned with music than with egos? That is my suspicion.

Absolutely true Nick...

Ravikiran, from all my interactions with him, has always maintained that "the real genius of the family" is his father and guru - Shri Chitravina Narasimhan - who "prepared" the 2 year old prodigy (if such a thing is possible!) and then threw the gates open for literally anyone to test him in public. The illustrious list of "examiners" included (among dozens others, I'm just pulling a random list from memory) Pt Ravishankar, MS, Semmangudi, Mali, Palghat Mani Iyer, Ramnad Krishnan, Lalgudi, TNK. Even more unimaginable is the "syllabus" for the oral "examination" of the 2 year old, one that would do a graduate student or doctoral candidate in Carnatic music proud:

* 325 ragas
* 175 talas
* composers
* yatis
* jatis
* kalams
* melas
* janyas
* etc
* etc

Sounds crazily implausible even after knowing about it for decades !

While many written accounts of "Ravikiran the child prodigy" exist in the archives of the Hindu and other papers/magazines, with the poor and careless attention paid to audio archiving back in 1969, only a small audio clip seems to have been salvaged apart from grainy photographs. And no video .

The audio clip has been posted in youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4562RZiC4k

Chitravina Narasimhan did not stop at exposing the prodigy to the music world and the public...he kept up a steady stream of learning (without "frying" the youngster's brain!) and by the age of 5, when Ravikiran began giving vocal concerts, he had a repertoire of 400-500 compositions including all great Carnatic composers/forms - kritis, Padams, pancharatnas, Navagrahams, Shyama Shastri's swarajatis, more than 50 varnams, RTPs, complex laya exercises (like singing Ata tala varnams in Pancha Jati in Khanda Eka tala) etc.

Again sounds crazily implausibe after knowing about it for a long time !

Ravikiran tells me that his passion for music is literally like a 24x7 non-stop TV channel inside his head ever since he can remember...and it is this that made his father's "experiments" fun filled for him.

So, as Nick implies, all this groundedness in lasting musical values, rather than the publicity and adulation, probably made the transition from child prodigy easier for Ravikiran.

[uday_shankar]

One other detail that might explain the "cool" personality of Ravikiran is his scrupulously Saatvik diet and clean habits...the only indulgence I know of is the Starbucks frappucino...

[sramaswamy]

Lest we not forget the other Kirans in the family who too have made their own mark. Here is a beautiful article that never fails to inspires me by Kiranavali

The Prodigy Maker

[Nick H]

Thank you for that link, sramaswamy. I know very little of the family story, and it was illuminating.