Kavacham in choral format

The world premiere is scheduled for September 20.

September 03, 2015 04:09 pm | Updated March 28, 2016 03:10 pm IST

Composer Ganesh B. Kumar

Composer Ganesh B. Kumar

The concept of prayer in the form of a Kavacham is an old one, especially in South India. The best known is perhaps the Kandar Shashti Kavacham, made popular by the recordings of the Soolamangalam Sisters. Adi Sankara in his Subrahmanya Bhujangam follows more or less the same format. Arriving in India in the early 1700s, the German priest Bartholomew Ziegenbalg listed the common prayers of the Hindus in the Tarangampadi area and one among these is Siva Kavacham.

All these prayers follow a similar structure – they entreat a deity to protect the worshipper and in this they name every part of the human body, the various times of the day and night, the illnesses that are likely to strike and the various creatures that may attack.

Shanmukha Kavacham is yet another creation in this genre. Comprising thirty verses, it was created by Pamban Swamigal, a mystic, in 1891. The saint had a significant following during his tenure on earth, with disciples such as the writer, thinker, publisher and labour leader Tiru. Vi. Kalyanasundaranar. According to legend, the seer had predicted that the Shanmukha Kavacham would become known worldwide a hundred years after its creation.

As if on cue, the work came to the attention of Ganesh Kumar, a talented music composer of Chennai. A Licentiate in Music from the Trinity College, London, he has in-depth knowledge in the classical and contemporary forms. From his studio in Mambalam, Ganesh has created music scores for Hollywood and Indian films. His work in the classical arena has been recognised across the world.

Shanmukha Kavacham has been an obsession for Ganesh, who somehow saw the work fitting into a western classical choral format. Chances are that nothing would have come of it, had he not, along with his friend and music buff Anand Madhavan, decided to see if there was any interest worldwide in taking it up and performing it. They put up the information on the internet and a short while later, began receiving expressions of interest from Nicol Matt, one of Germany’s young music conductors who enjoys an international reputation. The Chamber Choir of Europe, a group based in Germany, was brought in to provide the chorus. This is a choir of recent origin, but has managed to build a formidable repertoire, having recorded all the choral works of the big names such as Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Bach, among others.

Any choral effort needs soloists. The soprano for the Kavacham is Anne Reich from Germany. It needed another international angle to get the solo tenor. Malcolm Cooper from the U.S. happened to see the write-up and was interested in taking it up.

So, Pamban Swamigal’s Shanmukha Kavacham has now become an Indo-German-American collaboration, being rendered in a western classical choral format. It holds the distinction of being the first choral effort in any Indian language.

Getting a set of choral musicians of foreign origin to master Tamil is a tall task. The enthusiasm has, however, ensured that all efforts are on.

Malcolm Cooper was in India in July to learn the nuances of pronunciation and diction, these being imparted to him by V. Muthukumaraguruswamy, whose grandfather was taught the Shanmukha Kavacham directly by Pamban Swamigal.

In addition to this, Ganesh travelled to Germany to meet up with Nicol and the choir to ensure they learn the significance of the work.

The budget for the entire exercise has proven to be a formidable obstacle.

The initial estimate of Rs 2.5 crores has been steadily whittled down to around Rs 75 lakhs to one crore thanks to the generosity of Nicol Matt and the choir, who, between them, have waived all rehearsal costs. That still leaves a considerable gap in the funding. Given that it is due to the internet that an international ensemble has come together to record the Kavacham, Ganesh has opted to go the same route and crowd-source the funding.

The website: www.choralmantra.org has all details and those interested can make their contribution as per the instructions given in it.

As of now, with hopes of funding being in place, the world premiere of the Kavacham is scheduled for September 20 at Wiesbaden, Frankfurt. Post this, with the necessary resources, performances are being planned in India and other countries as well.

Last month, I was privileged to sit through a sneak preview of the Kavacham in its choral form at Ganesh’s studio. Even with just a recording of the tenor and with Ganesh and Anand standing in as a two-man chorus, it was powerful. The full choral impact is sure to be stupendous. May Shanmukha make it happen.

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