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Section Synopsis
NEWS & NOTES
Dr. V. Raghavan’s centenary flagged off in New Delhi
-TAPATI CHOWDHURIE
On 23rd April, a warm function to launch the centenary celebrations of the renowned scholar
Dr. V. Raghavan was organised by the Dr. V. Raghavan Centre for Performing Arts, Chennai, coordinated by
Nandini Ramani, daughter of the late scholar. It was presided over by Dr. Ram Niwas Mirdha, Chairman, Sangeet
Natak Akademi, who released two publications of Dr. Raghavan. The first copies of the Collected Writings on Indian
Music, Vol. 1 and Prayers, Praises and Psalms (a compilation of representative selections from the epics, purana-s,
kavya-s, nataka-s and stotra-s) were received by renowned dance exponent Sonal Mansingh.
Nandini welcomed the audience which included Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Jayant Kastuar - Secretary, SNA, Prof. V. Kutumba
Sastry - Vice Chancellor, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, and many renowned dancers, critics, scholars and officials. She
highlighted the important activities of the Raghavan Centre and expressed her gratitude to Sangeet Natak Akademi for
supporting the publication on Indian music.
Sonal Mansingh recalled her long association with Dr. Raghavan and praised the work of the Centre. She complimented
Nandini for upholding the Balasaraswati tradition. Dr. Ram Niwas Mirdha admired Dr. Raghavan's scholarly works and
his in-depth analysis of the various aspects of music in the book released.
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Remembering Kelubabu
- ILEANA CITARISTI
It was a very different experience for all of us who performed on the evening of 7th April at the Utkal Sangeet
Mahavidyalaya on the occasion of the fourth death anniversary of our guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Six senior dancers
came together, perhaps after a gap of about twenty years — from the time Guruji conducted his intensive workshops
in the early eighties, to perform items which belong to the history of Odissi dance, very rarely seen nowadays.
The homage was organised by Art Vision, Bhubaneswar.
After the projection of a film on Guruji's life, shot in 2002 by Mira Nair, Meera Das performed the first item
Pada bande gana natha, a mangalacharan composed by Kelubabu in 1955 as a prelude to the dance drama Sakhi gopal
presented at the Industrial Trade Fair in Delhi. Meera Das belongs to the first batch of students of the Odissi
Research Centre, where Guruji taught since its inception in 1985.
Dance teacher Mukti Lata Pal, who belonged to the first batch of the Odissi Research Centre, performed a classic
pallavi in raga Saveri. This pallavi was composed in 1967 at the home of Kumkum Das in Cuttack, where Kelucharan,
Bhubaneswar Mishra and the singer Rakhal Mohanty, used to gather for days together and work out the details and
nuances of the compositions in perfect unison of mind and inspiration.
Kelubabu provided the rhythmic structure, Bhubaneswar Mishra the melodious tune woven around the 'tari jam' phrase
and Rakhal Mohanty the vocal support.
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Propagating classical music in Dakshina Kannada
-ISHWARAYYA
The Dr. Mani Krishnaswamy Academy, Mangalore, founded three years ago, has been doing commendable
work in propagating classical music in and around Dakshina Kannada (D.K.) district by organising concerts, workshops,
competitions, seminars and interactive sessions with students. P. Nityananda Rao, a committed music lover at the helm
of the affairs, is ever ready with innovative ideas to bring more people into the fold of classical music.
On 10th May, in association with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mangalore, the academy conducted a music competition for
emerging vocalists (below 20 years) of D.K. and adjoining districts at the Bhavan's auditorium. Thirty six youngsters,
the girls outnumbering the boys as usual, took part in the competition. Eight budding musicians, who waded through
the preliminary round to reach the finals, put up a brilliant performance both in kriti rendition and manodharama
segments. The three toppers received a cash award of 5000, 3000, and 2000 rupees respectively.
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A spectrum of seven dances
-VIDYADHAR RAO
Mahagami, the dance gurukul in Aurangabad, organised Nritya Saptak — a two-day dance festival
on 25th and 26th April as part of World Dance Day celebrations. The festival was one of its kind in the heritage
city as solos in seven classical dances were showcased on the same platform. Nritya Saptak is the brainchild of
Mahagami Director Parwati Dutta who is also an exponent of Kathak and Odissi. The festival was a rare treat for
the audience and was a unique way to educate the public and spread the message of preservation of India's
dance heritage.
Promising dancers and established dance guru-s were invited to present each dance style. The festival commenced
with a Koochipoodi recital by Prateeksha Kashi from Bangalore, who is a disciple of her mother Vyjayanti Kashi.
Lyrical gestures, internalised abhinaya and command of laya, were the salient features of Parwati Dutta's Odissi
performance. Mohini Attam and Manipuri caught the interest and curiosity of Aurangabad rasika-s. Although Mahagami
has presented these two dance forms in recent years, this time the audience could view them in perspective with
other dance forms. Megha Ahire, a talented disciple of Kanak Rele did justice to the fluid movement vocabulary
of Mohini Attam. Manipuri by Karuna Devi and Kanan Devi explored different facets within the dance tradition.
Pung Cholom was greatly appreciated by the audience.
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CHENNAI SPEAK
Midsummer Dreaming
- N.VAIDYANATHAN
A haze of heat hangs over the city. It is that season of dread, the month of agni-nakshatra.
Even that refuge of an evening, the Hamsadhwani open-air theatre, is not immune as the sea-breeze hangs back
leaving a humid stillness in the air. But the goddess of music stays to give aid and comfort. Maharajapuram
Ramachandran may wish he were "singin' in the rain". He soldiers on, nevertheless, to deliver a proper memorial
day concert.
A mature vidwan. How about the mature young? At Naada Inbam, you can hear a flock of wannabe vidwans sing. You
may close your eyes and listen — or not as you please — to K.P. Nandini. Open them a fraction as she sings
Inta saukhyamanine. Hear her follow up with Kambhoji (Kaana kann kodi). Then amble home dreaming of boyhood
excitement at Brahmotsava time, of Kapali as The Great Showman.
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COVER
STORY
Striking new notes
-V. RAMNARAYAN
Fusion in music involving Indian classical together with other forms, mainly from the West, has been a controversial subject
in the music community over the years. Traditionalists may not appreciate or approve these collaborative efforts by musicians
from different cultures inspired by the high quality of the music adhering to idioms other than their own, while young
listeners embrace such experiments more readily, as we have seen in recent years at The Hindu Friday Review November Fest.
To many of them, it is their first step towards appreciation of our classical and semi-classical music, even if they were
first drawn to fusion by the presence of their favourite pop, rock or jazz idols. It is not known how many of them go beyond
the first step to become true rasika-s of classical music.
Similar experiments in dance have probably faced less criticism for a variety of reasons. One possible explanation could be that
many of these collaborations have been among diverse but Indian forms with many similarities, that too by outstanding artists
of obviously comparable merit. International encounters between leading artists are also sometimes of acceptable quality.
Dancers Alarmel Valli and Madhavi Mudgal have combined effectively, while Anita Ratnam has extended her collaborative work
beyond Indian borders. Collaborative works by Astad Deboo, Aditi Mangaldas, Geeta Chandran, Prakriti and Bharat Sharma,
Chitra Sundaram, Lata Pada, Shobana Jeyasingh, and Jayachandran, to name a few, are well known.
We learn that in music, the earliest fusion efforts began in the US, where jazz and rock and even classical music combined to
capture the imagination of serious listeners in search of novel experiences. We also know that the late Robert E. Brown, who
came to Chennai more than four decades ago to learn mridanga, established the ethnomusicology programme at Wesleyan University,
Connecticut, U.S.A. He called what was taught there world music, the first time the description was used. Shakti and the
Mahavishnu orchestra were successful fusion endeavours involving top musicians from the Carnatic and Hindustani
tradition — L. Shankar, L. Subramaniam, T.H. Vinayakram, Zakir Hussain and so on. In later years, Hariharan and Shankar
Mahadevan have been in the forefront of collaborative efforts with Western musicians too. Chitraveena Ravikiran has been
involved in his own brand of experimentation with his Melharmony. T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Kadri Gopalnath, and U. Shrinivas are
among our leading musicians to take part in experimental music.
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The origin and history of fusion
- M. LALITHA & M. NANDINI
'Fusion' is the synthesis of two or more genres of music, though it popularly refers to a combination of jazz and rock.
A musical genre by itself, fusion started first with the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly funk, rock,
rhythm and blues. Initially jazz musicians mixed the forms and techniques of jazz with the rhythmic structure from
African-American popular music and blues, along with the electric instruments used in rock. Rock and roll is itself
a fusion of blues, country music and gospel. Fusion started in the late 1960s with the works of Miles Davis and Tony
William's Lifetime.
Over the years, fusion music has come to mean a concoction of other musical styles with jazz — blues, rock, Indian,
folk, Eastern, funk, African, hip-hop, Cuban, avant-garde, Latin–American, Celtic, Middle Eastern, classical or any
other styles of music. Often fusion borrows from more than one of the previously mentioned styles.
When different musical idioms are combined in fusion, each style should lose its earlier character and gain a new
identity. Fusion is not a mixture of different world music traditions but a nice blending of the different music
styles, thus evolving into a new form.
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MAIN FEATURE
Purnima Sen
Feminine face of Agra vocalism
-DEEPAK S. RAJA
Purnima Sen (born: 1937) is amongst the very few ladies to have made a mark as exponents of the Agra gharana. She
holds a first degree in Anthropology from Hunter College, New York, occupies the top grade rating as a performer
on All India Radio, enjoys a respected presence on the concert platform, has released four CDs, and divides her
time between music, and caring for a family of successful legal and business professionals.
In early youth, Purnima studied Western classical violin in New York, and left her teachers lamenting by deciding to
return to India to pursue Hindustani music. By Indian standards, her grooming started late. She made up for it,
however, by acquiring some of the best available guru-s from the Agra and Atrauli lineages, and pursuing her passion
with tenacity. During this tutelage spanning almost three decades, she absorbed every facet of Agra vocalism,
internalised the principles of music-making enshrined in it, and adapted it to her own voice and disposition.
The triumph of pedigree
(Purnima Sen spoke to the author in January 2003)
"My father, Prof. Dwarka Nath Ghosh, was an economist, and headed the Economics faculty at the Baroda University from
1939 to 1944. That was towards the end of Faiyyaz Khan's life. During that period, he heard the great ustad on several
occasions, and no wonder, developed a love for the Agra style. From my childhood, I was very keen on learning music,
and my parents were most encouraging. But, when I was very young, my family moved to New York. During our stay abroad,
my father made it a point — whenever we came to India — to send me to a music teacher to learn music. When I graduated
from Hunter College, New York, I had scholarships to study further. Instead, I decided to return to India with my parents
and study music. That was 1957, and I was 19 then.
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OBITUARY
TRIBUTES
Natyacharya Subbaraya Pillai
Born on 7th December, 1914 to Sengammal and Chockalingam Pillai, Subbaraya Pillai, like his father, was extensively
trained by Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai. After early training at Pandanallur, he assisted his father at
Kalakshetra and later at the Indian Institute of Fine Arts, Egmore. Through his long career spanning several decades
he trained many students — Alarmel Valli, Meenakshi Chitharanjan, Anurupa among others.
Honoured with the Kalaimamani by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, the central Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award (1979), the Sangeeta Kala Acharya award by the Music Academy, Chennai (1995), Natyarangam's veteran guru award
and the Natya Kalanidhi award by ABHAI (Association of Bharatanatyam Artists of India) (2006), Subbaraya Pillai took
his art to several countries around the world. One of the most uncompromising natyacharya-s of Pandanallur, he
passed away in Chennai on the 12th of May 2008.
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Not for an age, but for all time
- ALARMEL VALLI
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." — Einstein
The last time I saw my guru, Pandanainallur Subbaraya Pillai, was when I visited him some six months ago. I remember
the deep affection and the touching warmth of his welcome. His daughter-in-law mentioned that he had been so excited
about seeing me, he had waited up without even taking his afternoon nap. I cannot recall exactly what we spoke about
that day, but I remember, as with so many other conversations over the years, as master's hearing deteriorated,
performing my usual elaborate pantomime to make myself understood and master's gentle,ironic amusement at my
antics — and his "Valli, dance aadade! Puriyidu, nalla puriyidu!"
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REAR WINDOW
The Dancing Body in Space
-MALAVIKA SARUKKAI
"In 'traditional' cultures like India, where context sensitivity rules and binds, the dream is to be free of
context. So rasa in aesthetics, moksha in the 'aims of life', sannyasa in the life-stages, sphota in semantics,
and bhakti in religion define themselves against a background of inexorable contextuality…. In the realm of
feeling, bhava-s are private, contingent, context aroused sentiments, vibhava-s are determinant causes,
anubhava-s the consequent expression. But rasa is generalised, it is an essence…. In each of these the pattern
is the same; a necessary sequence in time with strict rules of phase and context ends in a free state." A.K. Ramanujan.
The dancer, as artist, creates a world of envisionment. Space is energised. Rhythms pulsate and expressions imprint on it.
The charged space around the artist is dynamised as if set in motion. Energy moves in and out of the body. The
dancer's being is aflame….
I see my dance as art experience, not performance. In the process of intense
imagining and recreating, certain transformative 'moments' occur or, rather, happen. This is where your entire
being is filled by a sense of alignment and a heightened sensitivity. The sap of consciousness seems to pervade
the body's membrane giving it a translucence — giving the body a feeling of luminosity as if lit from within.
It is in moments such as these that you transcend the ordinary and everyday. For the viewer too, art experience
leaves an afterglow long after the concert is over.
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Musicscapes In Japan
- SADHANA RAO
An aged musician who had probably seen eight decades of Japanese winters and summers stood at the kerbstone of the pedestrian
promenade leading to the famous Akasuka temple in Tokyo. His wrinkled sinewy fingers were holding a shakuhachi — a bamboo flute.
The wind instrument was an import from China into Japan in the 6th century. A sect of wandering monks called the "komuso" monks
played it as they walked and wandered through the woods. Gradually, an aura of respect got attached to it and the shakuhachi
came to be considered a tool of enlightenment. An impromptu audience gathered around the artist with the flute (he seemed to
have repute and his spot on the street seemed a popular one).
Street music has a way of revealing the picture of a country's music culture uncensored and untouched by photoshop. The musician
was rendering an "ode to harvest". The notes were imaginatively arranged, so as to allow the expression of sudden exultant
soundbursts followed by an interval. The silence in the interval only enhanced the vitality of the music. Very soon in the
performance the artist occupied that privileged spot… another stratosphere to which the music elevates.
Free of ostentatious embellishments, the lilting flow of melody appeared ever so natural. Even though the persona of the man
showed age, the strength in his nimble fingers, and the command he had of his breath were awe inspiring. It was indeed a richly
textured aural experience where the artist and his craft became a single metaphor.
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Five stages of performance
- LALITA RAMAKRISHNA
The various stages of bhakti (as given in the Narada Bhakti Sootra), can serve as a module for performance in concerts.
The five stages of a relationship are santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. These are graded and there is increase
of knowledge and closeness with each successive stage.
The devotee or student starts with santa which means a calm focusing of one's energy. This is the beginning, the ground that
is vital for any relationship, any learning and performance.
The next stage is sakhya, the approach of a friend. During this stage the bhakta does not fear the
lord but is at ease and on equal terms with him (like Arjuna and Krishna).
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READERS RECALL
A Vijay Siva special- SUJATHA VIJAYARAGHAVAN
Rarely does one experience the spiritualism of Carnatic music during a concert. At its best it hardly soars above the
planes of entertainment and artistic excellence. Vijay Siva singing for the inauguration of 'Sri Parvati', a cultural
centre in Chennai, a couple of years ago carried his listeners in an hour-long journey into the heartland of the
spiritual realm of Carnatic music.
As buses roared down the busy Eldams Road, an oasis of peace and quietude was created at the renovated ancestral home
of Lakshmi Venkataraman, the art and music critic. The first floor has been converted into an art gallery and the
ground floor is earmarked as space for meetings and the performing arts.
The artist who sang on the occasion was himself one who would not yield to pressures to give up the tradition handed
down to him from his masters. With a rich and varied repertoire Vijay Siva was able to mix the old and the new, the
heard and the unheard in his concert fare. It was Carnatic music at its classical best. Everything from concert
planning to the flawless execution of details was just perfect. And all done so effortlessly.
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BOOKSHELF
A RASIKA'S JOURNEY THROUGH HINDUSTANI MUSIC. By Rajeev Nair. [Indialog Publications, New Delhi. Pp.403. Rs.350.]
- ANNAM
This is a passionate connoisseur's expression of his enjoyment and understanding of Hindustani music. He not only shares
his experiences with the 'zeal of a convert', but also provides a fairly comprehensive insight into the historical
evolution and stages of transformation of the form, from the dhrupad. All the important aspects relating to the system
have been covered. There is considerable information about the varied influences at different periods, the vocal and
instrumental streams, the prime movers, the major players, the gharana distinctions, the technical nuances, the
contemporary scene and the like. Though the writer does go overboard at places in attributing many exclusive
merits, the account serves as a valuable reference. Of course, the system has already been well served by the
writings of musicologists like Mohan Nadkarni, Ashok Ranade, and Susheela Mishra.
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RAJAH SERFOJI-II — with a short history of Tanjavur Mahrattas. By Prince Tulajendra
Raja P. Bhosale (late). [Secretary, Marathi Abhyas Parishad, Sardar Mahal Palace, Tanjavur 613 009. 1999. Pp. 177, Rs. 65.]
- V.A.K. RANGA RAO
The amount of information this slim volume presents, documenting the sources for almost every fact presented, is enormous.
From the 16th to the 20th centuries, this dynasty blood-tied to the internationally famous historical personage, Chhatrapati
Shivaji, has had a hand in shaping the cultural ethos of Tanjavur area in particular, the whole of South India in general apart
from enlivening Telugu literature, a language from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
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YOUR VOICE - ITS HISTORY, USE AND TRAINING IN INDIAN MUSIC. By Dr. T.V. Gopalakrishnan.
[Vision Musica, Chennai. 2007. Pp. 182. Rs. 395.]
- S.A.K. DURGA
The singer uses the voice, a physical organ, as an instrument of music. A high quality of voice is necessary for every singer to
produce good music. Our ancients believed that a singer should be born with a good voice. The voice is trained to produce the
particular style of music — Western, Hindustani or Carnatic music. The methods of training the voice vary with the system of music.
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