The media, social and otherwise, was abuzz last week about how Ilayaraja has served a legal notice on SP Balasubrahmanyam for singing his compositions without permission, while on a foreign tour. The implication is, of course, that the singer has gained monetarily from the songs, while the composer feels he ought to have a share too. SPB has neatly sidestepped the issue by saying his ongoing tour will continue, without any song composed by Ilayaraja.
That brought to mind an identical episode featuring Papanasam Sivan and Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
Simultaneous start
They were both born in the same year – 1890. Their careers had an almost simultaneous start, with Ariyakkudi’s being more clearly dated to 1913. Of course, Sivan sadly lost his voice early and was destined to shine as a composer of classical music for the concert platform and also cinema, while Ramanuja Iyengar ruled over the Carnatic music world as a top-ranking performer for around 54 years — a remarkably long reign by any standard.
Iyengar’s meteoric rise began with the success of his gramophone records, almost all of them under the Odeon label. The short time duration (3 ½ mins) of the plates were to, in fact, shape his concert format as well — many songs, with brief alapanas and time-bound delineation of swaras. Among the many discs that Ramanuja Iyengar released was a two-part rendition of Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kartikeya Gaangeya’ in Todi (serial no A109). The success of this release prompted Sivan to serve a legal notice on Iyengar, accusing him of copyright violation and asking for compensation.
The latter, probably rightly surmising that some mischievous Mylapore lawyer had egged Sivan to do this, tackled it exactly as SPB has done. He simply stopped singing Papanasam Sivan songs thereafter, and what’s more, switched to Koteeswara Iyer’s ‘Kali Teera Vandarul’ in Todi when people asked him to perform that raga. It is a fact that among the handful of live concert recordings of Ariyakkudi that survive in the public domain, almost none feature a song of Papanasam Sivan.
The standoff between the two continued right through the bitter Tamil Isai controversy when almost every other musician sang Sivan’s compositions. It is interesting that the composer did not think of repeating his legal threat to anyone else. Perhaps he had come to realise the futility of such a move. Besides there was also the perception that Sivan had hugely benefited from the tunes of Tyagaraja, at least during his early days as a composer. Some of his songs such as ‘Karunai Seivaai’ (Hamsadhwani) comprise Tamil lyrics for Tyagaraja’s music (in this case the song ‘Raghunaayaka’). In fact Sivan’s first cinema song, ‘Nal Vinai Taarum’ for Sita Kalyanam was identical in tune to ‘Amma Raavamma!’
Papanasam Sivan
It was Sivan who extended the olive branch. That was in December 1954 when Ariyakkudi and the Tamil Isai Sangam ended their quarrel, the latter agreeing to the former’s condition that he would sing under their auspices only if allowed to include a Telugu varnam and one Tyagaraja kriti in his bill of fare. On coming to know that Ariyakkudi would sing for the TIS, Sivan made a request through mutual friend and music connoisseur N.R. Bhuvarahan that ‘Kartikeya Gaangeya’ be included in the song list. Ariyakkudi agreed provided Sivan withdrew his legal notice. The latter consented immediately.
On coming to know that Papanasam Sivan would be attending Ariyakkudi’s concert that evening at the Sangam, Raja Sir M.A. Muthiah Chettiar arranged for a car to take the composer to and from the Sabha. The concert was a grand success, with ‘Kartikeya Gaangeya’ being the main piece. Thus ended Sivan’s sole attempt at establishing his copyright.
It was said that if only a fraction was paid to him each time a song of his was performed he would have become a millionaire. But Sivan felt it was all a divine gift and he was gratified that someone or the other was singing some song of his at almost any given point of time.
Interestingly, both Sivan and Ariyakkudi were neighbours in the second half of their lives, the former living in Srinivasa Iyer Street, Mandaveli and the latter in Devanathan Street in the same area. And in the N.R. Bhuvarahan collection gifted to The Music Academy are two pen and ink caricatures that he commissioned of Ariyakkudi and Sivan. Done by H.V. Ram Gopal, whose murals grace Parliament House, these have been autographed by the two musicians. Each time I see them I think of how they fell out and later came together, over a song.
Ariyakkudi’s rendition of ‘Kali Teera Vandarul’ is no longer available on YouTube. A record label has claimed copyright violation. Can you beat that for irony?
The author is passionate about Chennai history and Carnatic music and has several books to his credit.
