From a devoted rasika
As I try to process the passing of T.V. Sankaranarayanan (TVS), memories of a musician who has provided me with so much joy and shaped my own music, are flooding me. As a boy and teenager who trudged countless buses and trains in Bombay and Madras travelling to his concerts, I was simply in awe of his music. During a particular period when I practically chased him all over the city, I remember his trademark smile at seeing me in the front row at the Music Academy mini auditorium as if to say, "Didn't I see you yesterday? And the day before? And before that?" As a shy teenager, I never could pluck up the courage to ask a legendary figure like him to teach me, and in retrospect, I regret it because I have no doubt that a man of his generosity would have said, "Of course, come over tomorrow".
During his early career, he was unjustly branded as a partial clone of his illustrious uncle, the legendary Madurai Mani Iyer (MMI) – an argument I continue to passionately refute. TVS was a unique and trailblazing musician in so many ways; just a few of my observations on analysing his music over several decades.
Sruti-suddham: This went way beyond mere superficial adherence to sruti. TVS's alignment during even the most complicated phrasing was superlative – a deep, elusive, and spiritual connection with the tambura; probably MDR, MSS and MMI among a select group had this gift. There was a good reason why the entire crowd at a packed auditorium would audibly gasp when TVS hit that karvai at the antara gandhara!
Handling "scalar" ragas: My coined word for this is "vectorisation"– the ability to infuse ostensibly scale-based ragas with life. TVS' detailed handling of ragas like Vijayanagari, Andolika, Ravichandrika, was sublime and always left the listener with the impression that these ragas were rich with possibilities.
Clarity of aesthetics: This is harder to pinpoint, but the closest I can come to explaining this aspect of TVS' music is by example. Listening to TVS' Kapi alapana, for example, the student gets a crystal-clear picture of TVS's conception of where the raga resides and, more importantly, where it does not. His musical conviction was unmistakable in the way he explored certain branches of the Kapi tree but wasted no time in other areas.
Handling of Hindustani ragas and Hindustani phrasing: TVS' sketches of Bagesri, Dwijavanti and other Hindustani ragas both, within the ragamalika section of his ragam-tanam-pallavis, and in individual raga singing was nothing short of genius. He captured the essence of the Hindustani phrase but interpreted it in a uniquely Carnatic flavour.
Kalpanaswarams: Like Diego Maradona's ‘the hand of god’, TVS' (and MMI's) kalpanaswarams had the touch of god in them. After endless cassette rewinds in a futile attempt to reproduce a fraction of his fluency, I settled down to simply being swept away by his genius. To pick just one example seems almost pointless, but to illustrate the point -- aspiring musicians should listen to his kalpanaswarams in Saranga (say, Enta bhagyamu), to find infinite trajectories, alternately land on the Ri in the top and lower octave. It looks simple when TVS did it but outrageously difficult without sacrificing aesthetics!
Deceptive alapanas: Even his trademark shorter ragam-tanam-pallavis in Soorya, Ragesri are rich in detail, and they only look simple because his execution and construction were so perfect. I tried to analyse his approach even in an eight-minutes alapana in two rounds, but it loses absolutely nothing in terms of completeness or aesthetics. His detailed alapanas in both gamaka-rich ragas like Todi and Kalyani and scale-oriented ragas like Hamsanandi were filled with rich imagination and deep musical intelligence.
Repertoire: TVS expanded much beyond Madurai Mani Iyer's already large database to include modern compositions and smaller pieces of various genres. Although he has sung ragas like Saveri and Mukhari, he seemed to share his uncle's preference for more upbeat ragas (without Ri-one, for example).
Personally, I owe TVS a huge debt in terms of what I have learned about so many ragas and the aesthetics of Carnatic music. For all my decades engaging with Carnatic music, I cannot remember going too many weeks without listening to a TVS concert recording. So for me, his music has the "comfort food – tayir saatham" factor.
# In a morning concert at Sastri Hall, TVS sang an expansive Dwijavanti in a very relaxed mood, and there were probably less than 20 people in the audience. After lingering at the concert hall for 15 minutes or so I left and happened to stumble right into TVS exiting a neighbourhood restaurant! On recognising a familiar face, he broke into that priceless grin. I told him his concert was amazing, to which TVS responded: “I thought I would sing a morning raga. Hope the Dwijavanti was okay?” I was astonished that a legend like him would ask for the opinion of a young know-nothing like me! It illustrates his humility and openness.
# Around the mid-1980s, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, T.N. Seshagopalan, and T.V. Ramachandran (the three Ts) were among the masters of the era. Many of us music students and rasikas rated one or another higher for personal reasons in the many inevitable and spirited backroom discussions. After one Music Academy concert, I saw these three maestros standing together in discussion and laughing at some joke. For me, it put all this petty one-upmanship in perspective when the musicians themselves so obviously held each other in high esteem. I have also seen TVS attend and appreciate many concerts by young musicians; his open-heartedness should inspire and be worthy of emulation.
# Finally, on a sad note. We had arranged a TVS concert in my city (Nashville) as part of his 2019 tour. Before this concert, my wife and I travelled to Boston to attend the LearnQuest festival, where TVS performed. We met him after the concert, and I got his blessings after telling him I have been a bhakta of his music for many decades! I told him we were looking forward to hosting him at our house in Nashville during the following week. He was extremely happy, but Fate ordained otherwise. He was taken ill just after that Boston concert and had to return to India. Later, I was taken aback to get a message via the concert organiser that TVS wanted to return to the US to present concerts at the venues where they got cancelled. Hats off to him – for an artist of his stature to feel responsible to complete his prior concert commitments though it was a health issue beyond his control! This time Covid intervened, and the return tour never materialised. I will forever regret that I was unable to meet one of my idols again.
I was again saddened by our loss when I got to know about his passing away. Fortunately for rasikas, since TVS belonged mostly to the post-recording era, he leaves behind a rich treasure trove of music. TVS, like Madurai Mani Iyer, will always live in the hearts of devoted listeners like me all over the world. May the swaras roll in heaven!
RAM KAUSHIK