T. K. Govinda Rao - 1982

[Rsachi]

Thanks to AIR 100.1 FM and their collection of tapes and CDs, I heard a quaint old quivering male voice singing a number of songs, with minimum frills and sweet utterances. The accompaniment was also subdued. Thanks to Shazam, this is the record I discovered:
http://www.saavn.com/p/album/carnatic/V ... TC2ecJfdAA_



After a Birana Brova in Kalyani which was rendered like an old film classical music scene, bhogindra sayeenam and tiruvadi charanam were rendered again with a calmness borne of a straight simple frill-less voice. The light numbers like Ram ratan, baro Krishnayya and the ayyappa song sounded good and "semi-classical".

I had heard TKG. looong ago and forgotten his voice and style. Certainly very different from the frenetic style of others in that era

Is it true that TKG tuned Baro Krishnayya!? !?

[rajeshnat]

Rsachi
I have never seen TKG in that 60 + age without a beard . He looks more like a IFS-IPS officer who has just been appointed as a governor of some NE state.I have not heard the link you put , particularly I am interested to hear Madurai T srinivasan who has performed for illayaraja movies and albums like how to name it . I have not heard him play to any classical CM concert - may be that way it is a double treasure.

[Rsachi]

Madurai Srinivasan used to play for Vyjayantimala with Madurai Krishnan. There is a fine CD.
He also played in Mirudanga Chakravarthi movie opp. Sivaraman.

[CRama]

There is a you tube clip of a very young TNS singing in Tiruvayyar( Ithink Siva siva ena- not sure) where NSG accompanies on the Tambura and Madurai T Srinivasan is on the Mridangam.

[Sundara Rajan]

Listening to his rendition of Thiruvadi saraNam in kAmbOdhi in this recording very much reminds me of his guru Musiri Subrahmanya Iyer, whose rendition I have heard long ago. Even TKG's voice resembles somewhat his guru's voice in this recording !
He pronounces the word saraNam correctly as ஸரணம் instead of சரணம் as many others do !

[Rsachi]

Don't know Tamil. Kindly clarify : is it not charanam meaning feet... or is it sharanam meaning surrender or succour?
This is one of the classics in Kambhoji.

[pattamaa]

such a gem... thanks a lot for sharing... is there any way to download ?

[Sundara Rajan]

You guessed it correctly.Thava CharaNam sarNam prapthyE means I take refuge (saraNam ) at your feet (CharaNam ); CharaNAravindam= lotus feet.
Many use CharaNam for both the words !

[Rsachi]

So.. un tiruvaDi caraNam naMbi vandEn... Is this correct please?

[pattamaa]

tiruvaDI and charaNam are synopnymous... it should be tiruvadi sharaNam.....

thanks for the enlightenment Sundara Rajan...

[rshankar]

Sachi, the problem is with the tamizh script that doesn't allow for SaraNam (refuge) to be distinguished from caraNam (feet). To add to it, in tamizh, the word can also be pronounced as saraNam. Now, in sanskRt, saraNa doesn't mean refuge, SaraNa does. So, go figure!

[shankar vaidyanathan]

In this specific instance, perhaps the easy way to remember Saranam is as in "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa."

Madurai Srinivasan (Cheena Kutty) was well known for Tamil Film Music percussion arrangements spanning many decades. His best in class work other than playing opposite to UKS in Mridanga Chakravarthi can be heard in "Aayiram Thamarai Mottukkale" (Alaigal Oyvadhillai) starting percussion, "Paattum Naane" (Thiruvilaiyadal), and, "Marainthirundhu Paarkkum" (Thillana Mohanambal.) He was well known for his instant music notation mastery while the music directors were composing. He also developed a unique style of playing Mridangam for film music.

[vasanthakokilam]

Tamil Script and even more so the English Script are lossy in transcribing the sounds of other languages especially that of Sanskrit. Not that there is nothing wrong with the scripts, they are what they are. We are trying to explain the Sanskrit subtleties as written in Tamil using English. Good luck in getting that right

[Sundara Rajan]

My comment originally was/is not about how to transliterate Samskrit words in Tamil or English correctly. I was expressing my regret about some Carnatic vocalists not pronouncing words of compositions correctly ,without understanding subtle differences.

[vasanthakokilam]

Sundara Rajan, btw, I was not specifically refering to what you wrote. That is a perfectly valid issue you raise. When Ravi wrote about 'saraNa' vs 'SaraNa', I found it amusing at our difficulty/plight in all this trying to use two lossy scripts. As Ravi says even those who think they are saying it correctly because they do not say it as Charanam may not be saying it correctly.