The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rare insights into Dikshitar compositions

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Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
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Rare insights into Dikshitar compositions

Staff Reporter

— Photo: R.SHIVAJI RAO

Musician, composer and music educator Kanniks Kannikeswaran (left), greets the director of the British Council for south India Chris Gibson at a function in Chennai on Wednesday. President of the Association of British Scholars P.M. Beliappa is in the picture.

CHENNAI: The audience at the British Council was treated to rare insights into legendary music composer Muthuswami Dikshitar’s compositions based on western tunes. It was a presentation titled ‘Colonial Interlude’ by musician, composer and music educator Kanniks Kannikeswaran.

Organised by the Association of British Scholars here on Wednesday, the multimedia presentation looked into interesting aspects of the socio-political landscape at Dikshitar’s time that led to the inclusion of this genre in his magnificent repertoire of over 400 compositions.

Mr. Kannikeswaran said that Dikshitar spent some time in Manali and had the chance to frequent Fort St. George, where he heard western folk tunes played by the East India Company band. He possibly picked up several of the tunes there and later penned Sanskrit lyrics to those tunes, he said.

As many as 39 compositions of Dikshitar, one of the trinity of Carnatic music, could be grouped as ‘nottusvara sahityas.’ “They are neither completely Indian not completely western. It is an interesting marriage of ideas,” Mr. Kannikeswaran said.

Giving the example of the composition ‘Shakthi sahita ganapatim,’ he said it was based on a French folk tune. Similarly, his composition ‘Dasarathe...’ was based on a planxty, while ‘Kamalaasana vandita...’ was drawn from a country dance tune referred to as the Gallopede.

The richness and diversity in their lyrical content, the simple and accessible content and the composer’s unabashed liberal outlook made these compositions very special. “Children find them very easy to learn,” he said.

Director of the British Council for south India, Chris Gibson, commended Mr. Kannikeswaran, an IIT-Madras alumnus, for balancing his academics and music. “I hope that he continues using music to promote harmony and inter-cultural dialogue,” he said.

Managing Director of The Hindu and president of The Music Academy N. Murali described this genre as the “T-20” of music. While Test cricket or classical music would always stay, this genre was also special, for it was not a fusion but a blend that retained distinct elements of both cultures. He commended Mr. Kannikeswaran for taking up research into such a fascinating area.

President of the Association of British Scholars and former bureaucrat P.M. Beliappa said the association was very happy to present the event.

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