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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Sruti – Music Forum Lec-Dem Mela 2014 Part I
Gayathri Sundaresan
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| © S. Janaki |
The theme this year was Sambho Mahadeva, and the sessions threw light, through Carnatic, Hindustani, and Devotional music, Natyam/Classical dance and Theatre, the pervading aspect of Siva in all these forms.
A verse from tevaram Thodudaiya seviyan rendered beautifully as invocation, by three ‘differently abled’ students of music trained by Carnatic vocalist, guru and medical practitioner Dr. S Sunder of Music Forum was a perfect start to what turned out to be a very enlightening series of lectures.
Dr Sunder welcomed the gathering and briefly listed the activities of the Forum. He spoke of the forum's association with other institutions to organise events, conduct workshops and record for posterity the knowledge of luminaries in the field. The unstinting support of patrons like R. Thyagarajan, Chairman of the Shriram Group, who was the chief guest for the day, helped sustain the activities and momentum of the Forum, he said.
The Chief Guest in his speech commended the dedicated efforts of Dr. Sunder and his team, especially the participation of his students JB Keerthana and JB Sruthi Sagar belonging to the next generation. He posed a question: Do lecdems play a useful role or is listening to concerts enough for a person to appreciate music? He said his understanding and appreciation of Western classical music were enhanced considerably by a course he attended, which made him believe that such lecdems would go a long way in promoting and deconstructing the art to lay persons. He praised Dr. Sundar’s contribution both to his profession as a doctor and to his service to the arts with the same level of commitment.
The Chief Guest in his speech commended the dedicated efforts of Dr. Sunder and his team, especially the participation of his students JB Keerthana and JB Sruthi Sagar belonging to the next generation. He posed a question: Do lecdems play a useful role or is listening to concerts enough for a person to appreciate music? He said his understanding and appreciation of Western classical music were enhanced considerably by a course he attended, which made him believe that such lecdems would go a long way in promoting and deconstructing the art to lay persons. He praised Dr. Sundar’s contribution both to his profession as a doctor and to his service to the arts with the same level of commitment.
Sruti Editor-in-Chief V Ramnarayan introduced the artist for the first session, Dhrupad exponent Uday Bhawalkar and his accompanist on the pakhawaj, Pratap Awad. Bhawalkar demonstrated Siva Aradhana in Dhrupad. In a way, his concert of the previous evening in memory of Dr. N. Pattabhiraman, Founder-Editor of Sruti, was a precursor to this lec dem. He had presented Raag Shankara and Raag Chandrakauns at the concert. Perfect technique, voice control, and total immersion in his music made the concert truly memorable. The alapana segment included the jhala – somewhat similar to the Carnatic tanam, with underlying rhythm. Pratap Awad provided excellent pakhawaj accompaniment. To a first time Dhrupad listener, the novel soundscape sans harmonium/sarangi accompaniment was a refreshing experience.
Uday Bhawalkar started off the lec-dem by saying that he liked to refer to ‘Hindustani’ music as ‘Uttar Bharatiya Sangeet’ since Carnatic music also belonged to Hindustan. The music that he has learnt and practises, he said, is based on bhakti and gyan.
He said Siva was his ishta devata. Even more than in temples, he felt one with his God just singing with his tanpura sruti. He could visualize Siva as a fakir, with matted locks, roaming freely in the Himalayas. Siva is considered to be the beginning, middle and end – creator, sustainer and destroyer. Every moment in Dhrupad is the same, he said, creating, working on it, then ending it, only to start anew. Like Siva, the great Yogi, there has to be a meditative quality, deep thought, peace and oneness of mind in music. Siva is a dancer – there is dance, rhythm in music.
Siva is free of the ashta paasa – ghrina, lajja, bhaya, sankha, jugupsa, kulam, jaatim and sheelam . So also when a person (Jeeva) is liberated from these faults, he becomes Sadasiva. Sadhana (practise, effort) and Siva are anant (endless).
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| © S. Janaki |
Uday Bhawalkar demonstrated Siva stuti in Raag Bhairav and Raag Bhatiyar, both morning ragas. He concluded with the Siva Panchakshara stotram of Adi Sankara that he had set to tune in Raag Sivaranjani.
To a question about using the voice during the question-answer session that followed, Bhawalkar replied that each singer had his own voice range, and that it could be increased by some exercises. He said that the sound should predominantly emanate from the base, some sounds from the chest; certain sounds like ma and ni came from the sinus area of nose and forehead.
He also said that he does not teach ‘voice production’ to his students, but allows them to sing with their naturally endowed voice. He certainly would not want them to just imitate him, but go beyond that, and become greater musicians than him!
He also said that he does not teach ‘voice production’ to his students, but allows them to sing with their naturally endowed voice. He certainly would not want them to just imitate him, but go beyond that, and become greater musicians than him!
Another question posed was that the singer had sung the ati-mandara sthayi on both days, but did not traverse higher than the tara madhyama; was it the singer’s choice to limit himself to this range, or wasthe Dhrupad style itself based more on the middle and lower levels? Bhawalkar replied that it was only the scope of the individual singer’s voice that prescribed the range he chose to sing; a singer could develop a wider range by certain exercises. He could sing higher octaves in falsetto, but that would not be open throated singing.
What followed was a surprise jackpot for the audience. Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam who had come to present the next session on Siva as Nritta Moorti was so moved by Bhawalkar’s rendition of the Siva Panchakshara Stotram, that she willingly offered to do abhinaya if he would sing it again! So, there was Bhawalkar taking off on Raag Sivaranjani once again, as Padma Subrahmanyam took the pose of meditative Siva. The ten minute impromptu jugalbandi that followed was sheer bliss as the two maestros created a canvas of sound and movement!
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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NKC Awards
By BuzyBee
The Natya Kala Mani Award was conferred on veteran natya exponents and teachers C.K..Balagopalan and Kalamandalam Kshemavathi, on 26 December 2014 at the inaugural function of the 34th Natya Kala Conference organised by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai. Veteran make-up artist Sethumadhavan was also honoured on the occasion. Natyacharya V.P. Dhananjayan inaugurated the conference and felicitated the awardees. In his inaugural speech he exhorted the dance fraternity to uphold tradition and use appropriate nomenclature and terms to describe specific facets of Indian art forms. Swapnasundari, famous exponent of Kuchipudi and Vilasini Natyam is the convenor of the week-long Natya Kala Conference focussing on the theme "Knowing Again". Y. Prabhu, Gen. Secretary, and R. Venkateswaran of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha were part of the inaugural function.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Shanmukhananda honours Sanjay
By Jyothi Mohan
6 December 2014 marked another important milestone in the career of acclaimed musician, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, when the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha conferred upon him the National Eminence Award. He is the youngest musician to receive this award. The award was handed over to him by the Governor of Maharashtra C. Vidyasagar Rao at an elaborate ceremony which included temple honours and felicitations from sister sabhas of Mumbai. The Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Shiromani awards were also given away the same evening to Ghatam vidwan Karthick, violinist V. Sanjeev and Hindustani vocalist Samrat Pandit. Incidentally, Sanjay Subrahmanyan was a recipient of the Sangeetha Shiromani award in 2002.
To provide a national framework for honouring veterans in the field of the performing arts, as well as emerging stars, the Sri Shanmukhananda National Eminence Award was set up in 2002, the Golden Jubilee year of the sabha. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1, 00,000, a citation, a lamp, a trophy and a shawl. Legends so far honoured with this award include Semmanagudi Srinivasa Iyer,Bhimsen Joshi, Vempati Chinna Satyam, Hariprasad Chaurasiya, Shivkumar Sharma, Padma Subrahmaniam, Girija Devi, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, R. K. Srikantan, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, Vyjayantimala Bali, Birju Maharaj, M. Balamuralikrishna and Pandit Jasraj.
The Sangeetha Shiromani Award is conferred upon emerging artistes and carries a cash prize of Rs. 25,000, a trophy, a citation and a shawl. So far, 43 promising artistes have received this award.
The award function was followed by a memorable concert by Sanjay Subrahmanyan.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Hamsadhwani honours Sruti
By Samudri
Sruti was honoured with the R Ramachandran Excellence Award by Hamsadhwani, Chennai, on 1 January 2015, as part of the silver jubilee of the sabha, and Ramachandran's birth anniversary. V Ramnarayan, editor-in-chief received the award. The award was given away by Mr N Vittal, former Central Vigilance Commissioner, and Mr Mohan Parasaran, former Solicitor General presided over the occasion. Mr R Sundar, who welcomed the gathering, Sri RS Mani and Sri Gopalan, represented Hamsadhwani on the stage.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Sruti – Karnatic Music Forum Lec-Dem Mela 2014 Part 2
Padma Subrahmanyam in her element
By Gayathri Sundaresan
By Gayathri Sundaresan
Padma emphasized that the subject, Siva, was capable of unifying the entire Indian sub-continent into one cultural entity. Hindu gods are worshipped both with form and as formless. A devotee starts off worshipping his god with form, and then graduates into understanding his formless attributes. The Chidambaram temple is a classic example representing both these, the latter being known as the Chidambara rahasyam.
Dance was recognised even in the Vedic period. We see ‘dawn’ being personified as the lady Ushas unveiling herself, an aesthetic way of seeing divinity in nature.
The two dominant deities Siva and Vishnu are called Sabhapati and Ranganatha – the former the Lord of the Auditorium and the latter, the Lord of the Stage.
Siva as the dancer Nataraja is the most widely known icon, the Nritta Moorti. He can be seen as the Anugraha Moorti, Samhara Moorti, Dakshinamoorti and more. In each image, the element of dance can be seen. Even in the stillness of being Dakshinamoorti, seated under the tree, imparting knowledge in silence, holding the Chinmudra, the frozen posture conveys immense meaning symbolically through abhinaya.
Bharata Muni in his Natya Sastra talks of Jambu Dweepa which includes all of Eurasia. Siva as Nritta Moorti can be seen in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, albeit with regional variations. While Rajaraja Chola embarked on building the Tanjavur Brihadeeswara temple and the 108 karana panels, the Kashmiri scholar Abhinava Gupta wrote on the subject, showing the pan Indian nature of the subject.
Dr. Padma is well known for her work on interpreting and codifying the 108 karanas. There are several karanas for Siva’s tandava and Parvati’s lasya at the Tanjavur Brihadeeswara and Kumbhakonam Sarangapani temples. Sapta and Nava Tandava sculptures are seen in all major Siva temples.
As a sample, Bhujanga trasita karana was demonstrated by Mahati Kannan. Dr. Padma explained that here the foot was lifted as if to avoid stepping on a serpent. A historic interpretation could be the victory of Saivism over the Naga cult where serpents were worshipped. It could also mean the evolution of a devotee’s spiritual understanding from gross to subtle levels.
The Natya Sastra and Shilpa Sastra use the word hasta for hand gestures. In today’s parlance, the word mudra is used for the same. The word mudra actually means a seal, and also signature. Hasta is used for communication; mudra is a symbol. In a Mayavaram Siva temple, the Advaita Dakshinamoorti’s chinmudra is turned inward, depicting the inward journey.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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VEENA SESHANNA MEMORIAL AWARD
The Veena Seshanna Memorial Award 2014 was presented to Kadri Gopalanath (C-saxophone) and the Swara Murthy V. N. Rao Memorial Award to veteran Carnatic musician and teacher P.S. Narayanaswamy, on 15 November 2014, by the Swara Murthy V. N. Rao Memorial Trust, in Bangalore. Each award comprises a bust of Veena Seshanna and a purse of Rs. 50,000.
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Visakha Music Academy Awards - 2014
Visakha Music Academy, Visakhapatnam conferred the title Sangeeta Kala Saagara on senior Carnatic vocalist O.S. Thiagarajan.during it's 45th annual festival held recently in Visakhapatnam.. A number of awards were also presented to musicians and dancers -- The Dwaram Venkata Swamy Naidu Award to Gurivilli Appanna & Durga Rao; M.S. Subbulakshmi Award to Vishnubhatla Sisters Saraswathi & Krishnaveni; Nedunuri Krishnamurthy Award to Trichur Brothers; and Saraswathi Memorial Award to A.B. Bala Kondala Rao.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Paintings of Musicians at Tiruvaiyaru
'Aanmalayam' -- an exhibition featuring musicians painted by artist Balaji has been curated near the Tyagaraja samadhi in Tiruvaiyaru to coincide with the Tyagaraja aradhana celebrations. Dr. Rama Kausalya, well known scholar, musician and arts administrator, inaugurated the exhibition on 6 January. Paintings of U. Shrinivas, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Bombay Jayashri are part of the exhibits on show till 10 January -- the Pushya Bahula Panchami day.
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