Remembering MSG

 I was taken by my uncle (husband of my mother’s younger sister) to meet Parur Sundaram Iyer about whom and his two sons M. S. Anantharaman and M. S. Gopalakrishnan, I had already heard a lot. In fact, I had attended a few concerts in which MSG was featured as the violin accompanist.

 I paid respects to Sundaram Iyer and we indulged in some small talk. At some stage, he said that contrary to general perception, there was no basic difference between Carnatic and Hindustani music systems. Both had the same basic notes: sa, ri, ga, ma pa, dha, ni. The difference, such as it was, lay in the manner of treatment of these notes and the importance given to lyrics in the Carnatic system and the overwhelming importance given to melody and less importance to words in the Hindustani system; there was a lot more of gamakas in the former.

I also learnt that the Parur residence, a non-descript, two-storied house in Appar Swami Koil Street in Mylapore, had been hallowed by a succession of musicians of both systems. It had reverberated to the tunes of Ravi Shankar and to snippets by leading Hindustani vocalists. It had also hosted Yehudi Menuhin.

Iyer and MSG had accompanied the redoubtable Omkarnath Thakur and D.V.Paluskar. It is said that when Omkarnath visited Chennai for a concert, he was asked who he would prefer to accompany him on strings. He responded, “When my son, Gopalakrishnan, is here, there is no need to look further.”

MSG and his brother were put through a punishing schedule of lessons and practice, practice and yet more practice. That accounted for the tonal purity and impeccable fingering techniques of the brothers. In fact, this style of playing is popularly known as the Parur bani.

I have been a very keen fan of MSG since his and my  younger days. The first time I heard him play was in Tiruvanantapuram in 1945 or thereabouts. He was the violin accompanist to yesteryear titan, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.

Chembai elaborated a raga for some time. It was the turn of MSG to do so on the violin. Remember he was only 15 or so and was perhaps hesitant or looking for a green signal from Chembai who said into the mike for the audience to hear: “vasi, vasi. ennai kekkava ivaal ellam vantirukka? unnai kekka thaan” (“Do you think these people have come to listen to me? They have come to listen to you!”) Look at the strongly encouraging words of the great man! His heart was as large as his undoubtedly large corps.

Chembai, more than any other musician of his times, was responsible for encouraging and pushing up many promising youngsters.

Thereafter, I do not think I have missed any concert of MSG as soloist or accompanist in the places where I was posted.

In Delhi, my wife and I had hosted MSG for about five days. He had concerts on all these days. He stayed with us but his presence was hardly felt. He did not make any demands on us, quite unlike many others.

Before he left, I requested him to play tanam in ghana ragapanchakam. He agreed. He also played Brindaavana Sarangaand Revati. I had recorded the event. Alas, now the cassette player is dead as the dodo and I am unable to play his music any longer.

 As far as I could gather, MSG was not one to run after or fawn over sabhasecretaries, as many in the music world do, to have ‘chances’. He took concerts as they came his way. He was also one among the very few violinists in his times to accompany women singers; many would not. From reports, I gather that he had accompanied MSS and K. B. Sundarambal. I have attended a few MLV concerts where he was the accompanist. And they were marked by a kind of friendly rivalry that brought out the best in both. But all this ended after a while for reasons I could not fathom.

MSG was not given to being interviewed. In a rare interview, he was asked a question that should not have been asked: how did the play of the then top violinists – the violin trio - compare? His answer was as truthful as it was diplomatic. He said that T.N.Krishnan’s violin concerts were replete with soukhyam, and Lalgudi was the undoubted master of layam. As for his own style, he said he was trying to carry forward the ‘Parur bani’, so assiduously inculcated in him by his father.

MSG had provided violin accompaniment to all leading stalwarts of the Carnatic music world. In my view, KV Narayanaswamy, Voleti Venkateswaralu, S. Ramanathan and Balamuralikrishna and MSG performed, complementing each other so well as though they were made for each other.

I would like to briefly touch upon a few memorable concerts wherein MSG excelled himself. One was a solo recital in AIR. His swaraprastaram for Nalinakanthi (Manavyalakim) still remains etched in my memory though the concert was in 1966. In it you could discern-apart from violin sounds- the sounds of sitar, shehanai and the flute. If I remember right, the previous day, he had accompanied the incomparable flautist, Mali. Two pieces stood out: one was in Kalyani, the other in Kapi. The noted connoisseur, ‘Aeolus”, wrote in Shankar’s Weekly that it was hard to say who was leading whom in the concert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7lKOttZR7g

The other concert was in Chowdiah Hall, Bangalore. Emani Sankara Sastry, a titan of a vainika on the veena and MSG on the violin. The concert was truly a memorable one but I would note two pieces that stood apart: simply out of this world. One was a kriti in Khamasand the other was Naadaloludai in Kalyanavasantam.  The second was verily a friendly clash of two titans. It was a veritable deep dive by both into melody and rhythm. And rise to ecstatic heights.

MSG was equally adept in playing Hindustani music. He learnt the ropes from Krishnanand, a veteran teacher settled in Madras. I had on my tapes a piece by MSG playing a Fritz Kreisler composition. Alas, there is no way of listening to the tape now.

Before I close this piece, I would like to narrate an incident that shows the man. Narmada, MSG’s daughter and disciple was playing solo violin in Sastri Hall, Mylapore. It was one of her early concerts as a soloist. After some time, MSG came to the hall and the secretary rushed to greet him and ask him to take a front seat. MSG politely declined and a little later, left.

I think the explanation for this rather peculiar behaviour was that it was occasioned by MSG’s natural anxiety how Narmada was faring. More importantly, he not want to stay on which would have put pressure, and cramped her flow.

MSG passed away on 3 January, 2013, leaving behind a void that is hard to fill.  The New Indian Express reported the event thus: ‘The Bow Has Fallen Silent’.

G. Sankaran

(The author was the former President ,Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, and a Carnatic music rasika)