Five songs for the week — 3
TN Rajarathnam Pillai, Alathur Brothers, Vijay Siva, Vignesh Ishwar, TM Krishna (featuring Bharatanatyam by Suhasini Koulagi)
One: TN Rajarathnam Pillai — Ragam and Pallavi (Raga Bhairavi with ragamalika swaras)
Nadaswaram vidwan TN Rajarathnam Pillai is one of those legendary figures of Carnatic music. Rock star status. The man became synonymous with three things — the nadaswaram instrument, the raga Thodi, and almost unbelievably, creative genius itself. He redefined expectations of all three. Arguably, given the centrality of raga-based creative expression (manodharma) in Carnatic music, he was the greatest Carnatic musician of the 20th century. Somehow, to my befuddled disappointment, I never found it in me to appreciate his music. I have tried many times, but never really got into it. Let alone a whole concert, I could not even point to a single piece of his that I truly liked.
All that changed for me when I chanced upon this stunning LP recording from 1938. Only thirteen minutes long, he plays an alapana in the raga Bhairavi, a pallavi, and a brief passage of swaras, in Bhairavi, Attana and Bhoopalam. [The description of the piece mentions the raga Neelambari, but I could not detect it]. When listening to the alapana, I got a sense of what it was that people were on about. It is total abandon and total control at the same time. The notes are like a yoyo at the end of a string - swerving, sliding, screeching to a halt, turning on a dime. On the one hand it is Carnatic Bhairavi through and through. On the other, and not to sound too hyperbolic, I got the sense that I was listening to music that had truly transcended genre and form, or a new avante garde form of music. It did not matter. It was, simply, a privilege.
Two: Alathur Brothers— Dachulovalena (Raga Thodi, Thyagaraja)
Listening to DK Pattammal’s rendition of Dachukovalena was a milestone in my listening journey, as it was the first time I truly enjoyed the raga Thodi. I’ve had two immersive listening experiences recently, and one of them is this rendition of Dachukovalena by the Alathur Brothers, in particular the alapana. While immersive, it was not necessarily calming or peaceful. There was a restless tension, a sense of relentless onward movement to somewhere slightly uncomfortable. There is also an extensive neraval at the line ‘Soumitri Thyagarajuni’. The accompanying artistes are also excellent. Funnily, at certain parts of the alapana, I got the impression that the singer or TN Krishnan on the violin were about to break into a folksy Kavadi Chindu or drop all gamakas and go into Sindhu Bhairavi (the Hindustani raga Bhairavi) and that it would not have been out of place. I can’t explain it.
Three: Vijay Siva — Sarojadala Netri (Raga Shankarabharanam, Shyama Sastri)
Vijay Siva is one of my all time favourite Carnatic musicians. Unfortunately, his concerts are very difficult to find online as he was one of the first Carnatic musicians to think about copyright and control over the dissemination of his own music. A new concert emerges maybe once or twice a year. I was delighted to find this concert from December 2022, with the theme ‘Madurai’. Sarojadala Netri from this concert was my second immersive listening experience in the past few weeks. All the accompanying artistes are excellent in this concert, and a special shout out to his disciple Sanjay Swaminathan who takes over the Shankarabharanam alapana in the higher octave with continuity and aplomb.
In my conversation with Keshav Desiraju about his biography of MS Subbulakshmi, I asked him how she ‘got away’ with repetition — of ragas and playlists and even the so called ‘improvised’ elements of carnatic music like alapana. He pointed to the sheer polish and perfection of delivery — so even if not new, audiences do not mind, and relish each well worn piece of music that she delivers. Vijay Siva is of course the torchbearer of the DK Pattammal / DK Jayaraman brand of music. But in the sheer polish and consistency of delivery, he is the closest that anyone has got to MS Subbulakshmi.
Four: Vignesh Ishwar — Aduvum Solluval (Raga Saurashtra, Subbarama Iyer)
Having found the Vijay Siva concert on the Ragamalika TV Youtube page, I lingered a bit to see what else they had. I found this thematic concert by Vignesh Ishwar on music originally composed for dance. He seems to have taken his cues from from an album of the same theme — ‘Adbhutha’ — by his guru TM Krishna. [One of my favourite commercial releases of TM Krishna.] So much so that many of the pieces in that album featured in Vignesh Ishwar’s concert. One such is the padam Aduvum Solluval.
I love this piece for its simple but layered premise. A nayaki has lost the favour of Muruga to a usurper. Our protagonist is trying to be graceful in defeat, but is finding it very hard. The opening line translates to ‘she will say this and that (about me), but who’s to blame her (the victor, implying our protagonist may have done the same in her shoes)? The bitterness seeps through every line listing her competitor’s new found luck — from having to borrow clothes and jewels from our protagonist to now having beautiful silks, a bed and a house (should she have withheld the favours, did she contribute to her own downfall?). From being alone and the odd one out to being the one with a coterie. There is all sorts of emotion mixed in — jealousy, wistfulness for the past when she was the nayaki in favour, the attempted graciousness, but also perhaps hope that fickle fortunes may change again. I can imagine how it provides fertile ground to a Bharatnatyam dancer. The slightly whiny Saurashtra is perfectly suited to the sore-loser-trying-to-be-gracious sentiment.
Five: TM Krishna with Bharatanatyam by Suhasini Koulagi — Poromboke Paadal (Ragamalika, Lyrics by Kaber Vasuki, music by RK Shriramkumar)
The visuals of the raging rivers in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and those of the Yamuna breaking its banks in Delhi brought my favourite stanza of the seminal Poromboke Paadal readily to mind:
Rivers did not flow through your cities. It was the cities that grew around the rivers.
The song has been niftily choreographed and performed by Bharatnatyam dancer Suhasini Koulagi. The stunning visuals drive the message home.
