Compact and comprehensive

TILL RECENTLY before the emergence of the dot com and CD era - literature on Sri Thyagaraja was scattered and a vidyarti, a researcher or a music lover had to search many sources to get required information on the several aspects of the music of the Bard of Tiruvaiyaru. Now, many creative composer technologists have addressed themselves to provide all the relevant information in a single compact disc. The latest one is ``Saint Thyagaraja - a multimedia presentation'' - a product of three devotees of Sri Thyagaraja namely Mr. B.R.C. Iyengar, Mr. T. N. Rajan and Mr. L. J. Jaravu, which scans the life and works of Sri Thyagaraja from different angles.

The audio clips carry 108 kritis well-illustrated with drawings by S. Rajani with special commentary on the uniqueness of the musical and lyrical content of the songs.

To help viewers get the real message of the sahityas, meanings are given in English and the texts in four languages - Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit and English to cater to rasika, researchers, musicians and musicologists all over India and abroad.

One special aspect focuses on the tendency of the performers to split the words wrongly and the CD presents the correct way to render them - for instance in the Pantuvarali song, ``Appa Rama Bhakti'' in the anupallavi the words ``Kanti reppavalanu'' are separated while singing and the CD says that the correct way is to render them as one word. Similar mistakes are corrected in the case of other kritis too.

The data base provides for search on different parameters - themes of songs, deities on which Sri Thyagaraja has composed kritis, the number of melakarta ragas used, their janyas and the talas. The songs have been sung by reputed and young musicians without any accompaniment to highlight the grandeur of the sahityas. Instrumental music on the violin, veena and flute also finds a place.

If one seeks the pleasures of hearing just the songs alone, it can be had in continuous play mode. Specifically commissioned articles by well-known critics, and an animated slide show of the noteworthy episodes in the saint's life and a brief life history cover the several stages of the development of Sri Thyagaraja's genius.

The pose of the CD product in presenting it in a modern technological format seems to be to bring the Tiruvaiyaru environment of Sri Thyagaraja's days to our drawing rooms at the touch of the keys.

It is often said that change is inevitable in fine arts which is palpably noticeable in Carnatic music. The shift in values in performances and the singing style of many youngsters are unmistakable. While hearing today's concerts, the mind goes probing whether the popularity of artistes has been translated into revealing the lofty grandeur of Carnatic music. When glamorous music is idolised musicians get enslaved to superficialities. Contrived tenderness of vocal modulation is often mistaken for artistic finesse. So much so, in recent times Carnatic music culture has thrown up new models of perception.

In the concert of Unni Krishnan for Nadopasana, aesthetic appeal in musical expression moved along attractive lines with the accent placed on studied felicitous tonal tints. This technique percolated through the alapanas of Bahudari and Saveri which helped Unni Krishnan impart instant handsomeness to the raga pictures.

Elasticity of sancharas was sought to give an impression of sumptuousness. He reeled off meandering sancharas in Saveri in great profusion where a few would have sufficed to nail the beauty of the raga. To ears that have saved the memory of GNB interpretation of the song, ``Karikalabamu'', Unni Krishnan's presentation was in the light classical mould. The other songs he rendered were ``Varaalandu Kommani'' (Gurjari), ``Evarani'' (Devamrita Varshani) ``Sadaananda Thaandavam'' (Bahudari).

Vittal Ramamurthy's violin accompaniment was sober in content, methodical in execution and confined to salient moorchanas of Bahudari and Saveri. K. V. Prasad (mridangam) let himself go to garnish with extra vigour and percussive eloquence the vocalist's robust approach.

Sudha Raghunathan's concert for Narada Gana Sabha contained familiar songs and ragas sung in jolly good shape marked by calculatively demonstrative artistry. An astute artiste that she is, she laced her performance with the impressiveness of stylised accentuation while negotiating the brigu-laden sancharas in the raga alapanas of Shanmukhapriya and Madhyamavati. The most powerful qualification in her effort was her earnestness of tutelage helping her present some compelling musical statements to claim the top rank. The pattern of development of the ragas was well laid-out, where the sukham aspect of music was not so much in evidence as the thrilling contents. In the Madhyamavati elaboration the tumbling swift passages were well-pampered. The ensemble - Shanmukhapriya raga song ``Parvati-nayakane-Saranam'', neraval swarams - was perfumed with tonal fragrance. The two Tyagaraja kirtanas - ``Sitamma Maayamma'' (Vasanta) and ``Naadupai-balikeru-narulu'' (Madhyamavati) were presented to bring out their beauteous forms.

The violin accompaniment by Dorai Swaminathan was short in range but fairly satisfying in effect. He saw to it that sheer exuberance did not carry him off his feet, but to follow the pathways of the vocalist's thinking. The mridangam support by Yogaraj was high-flown with excessive overpowering beats. But he compensated this by the brevity of the tani avartanam with the morsing player Raman.

SVK

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