They staged music

Charudutt Aphale and Gauri Patil cast a spell on the audience with their mesmerising rendition of Marathi Natyasangeet

Marathi Natya Sangeet, the essence of the Marathi musical theatre is a ‘genre of many genres’: rooted deeply in Hindustani classical music, it draws from many other forms such as the Yakshagana, ghazal, qawwali, thumri, bhajan, laavni, tamaasha and a variety of folk musical traditions to create an amorphous form that requires scholastic dedication to master but appeals to popular sensibilities. Known to have been developed in the late 19th C. in the border region of the now Karnataka and Maharashtra states, its beginning and evolution during the colonial and post-colonial periods, attainment of cult-like status and eventual relegation to the attic of the high arts patronized by connoisseurs. Speaking on these lines, kirtankar Charudutt Aphale, weaved a tapestry of history rich in anecdotes and nostalgia.

Manipal University’s Dr. TMA Pai Chair for Indian Literature in association with Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy had organized a lecture demonstration on the Marathi Natya Sangeet by Charudatta Aphale and Gauri Patil last week.

The renowned performers educated the audience of the cultural and historical aspects of the music through a lively and light-hearted discourse and held it spellbound with their singing during the two-and-a-half hour programme.

Aphale Buwa who comes from a lineage of

kirtankaars, embodies the hybridity of this musical tradition. He has trained in the various forms of classical music under Govindswami Aphale, Pt. Sharad Gokhale, Pt. Vijay Bakshi and several others. Gouri Patil is a trained classical vocalist, theatre artist, lyricist and a playback singer. They were accompanied with remarkable felicity and understanding by Ashwin Walwalkar on the harmonium and Jagdish Kurtukoti on the tabla. Both Ashwin and Jagdish trained by masters, displayed extraordinary proficiency in accompanying these artistes.

Explaining further, Aphale said that the reason for Natya Sangeet to borrow from so many genres is simply because the songs have to match the thematic requirements of the musical play; moulding the styles to fit the context of each situation.

The duo began the performance with the

naandi song of the Kirloskar company,

Panchatunda Nararundamaaladhar – a song that while worshipping the

Vighneshwar pays tribute to Kalidasa, the creator of the play Shakuntala. This was followed by Patil’s solo performance of

He Surano Chandra Vha from Yayati, in the raag Charukeshi. After the initial devotional song, this highly emotional composition sung by the character of Sharmishta illustrated the scope of the Natya Sangeet in terms of styles and contexts. Some of the other renditions were

Surat Piya Ki Chinu Bisurayi from the play Katyar Kaljaat Ghusali in raag Ragamalika; the beautiful love song

Chandrika Hi Zanu from Manapman in raag Durga; the

abhanga

Patit To Pavana from Kanhopatra in raag Yaman.

The songs are bandishes – skeletal frameworks that denote the raag, taal and the basic tune as a point of reference for each artist to take off from, explore and enrich with their own styles and idiosyncrasies – similar to the Khayal tradition.

And every artist who essays the role is known to render them extemporaneously uniquely. Aphale Buwa demonstrated the song’s malleability by recreating the styles of three stalwarts – Dinanath Mangeshkar, Ram Buwa Marathe, and Bal Gandharwa – through their signature taan , alaap and cadence.

The Sangeet Natak which was originally based on Puranic themes and drew from the Sankrit drama, gradually evolved to include historical plays and more modern contexts that were inspired by western theatre and even films. Since performances were rare affairs, efforts were made to extract maximum fulfillment from each – hence plays were written with plots about music and characters as musicians so the songs would flow seamlessly. For instance, Khatiyar Kaljaat Ghusali. Also, Pygmalion, was adapted into a Marathi musical whose plot revolved around training a rustic folk singer in the delicacy of classical music. Aphale Buwa and Patil demonstrated her evolution from a boorish singer into a veritable nightingale through one song pantomiming their roles as student and teacher.

Towards the end, he mesmerized the audience by the seemingly effortless rendition of a technically difficult song: Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki’s composition that flows through many rhythm cycles and ragas. Shedding light on the tradition of singing the raag Bhairavi at the end of every concert (since concerts/plays were originally all night long and ended only at the break of dawn, the last song was usually in the mellowest of morning ragas, Bhairavi – a habit that assumed a ceremonial nature), they ended the programme with a beautiful abhanga to Vitthal.

Bangalore’s audience, owing to its geographical location, is largely known to appreciate Carnatic music. However, a hall full of such people sitting unflinchingly through the hours of Natya Sangeet, nodding to the beat, breaking into appreciative smiles at tricky taans , and wiping away spontaneous tears breathed new life into the often used but little understood statement: music knows no boundaries.