They are not mere footnotes — the diaries of great personalities are often a part of history. Such an example may be found in the diaries kept by the late violin maestro Lalgudi G. Jayaraman diligently since 1949. Not only do they offer valuable insights into the world Carnatic music with descriptions of interactions between great musicians and concerts by acclaimed performers, but his own evolution as one of India’s legendary violinists.
The late musician’s family is planning to create an archive of his writings and recordings. “We can allow rasikas to listen to his music and read his writings on the occasion of his birthday,” said Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan, his son.
The diaries, now yellow and brittle with age, record his evocative impressions of several musicians note from an earlier era, including Salem Desikan and Chellam Iyengar, Thanjavur Lakshminarayana Bhagavathar, Umayalpuram Kalyanaramaiyer and M.A. Kalyanakrisha Bhagavathar, who were active in the mid-1900s.
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Lalgudi Jayaraman’s meeting with Yehudi Menuhin, one of 20th century’s most celebrated violinists, at the latter’s London home in 1965, is captivating. “He expected us to come with instruments, but we did not. Then he gave his Italian instrument and asked me to play some ragas. I played the Sankarabharanam, Hemavathy, Karaharapriya, Keeravani and Mohanam. Then he asked for a ‘sad’ raga. I played Mukhari and Suba Pantuvarali,” Jayaraman writes in his diary, which also contains details of his visit to London to participate in the Edinburgh Music Festival.
Then, “I requested him to play. He played. It was marvellous. His practice was superb. He has mastered the instrument,” he notes in a tribute to the great Menuhin.
Lalgudi Jayaraman made this memorable trip along with vocalist K.V. Narayanasamy, and mridangist Palghat Mani Iyer and his son Rajamani. When Menuhin introduced Jayaraman and others to the audience at the Royal Festival Hall, he said, “Dear friend, will you play the sad raga of your music you had played last night for me?”
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Perfectionist in all things
The master violinist habitually recorded details of every one of his concert performances. Even in 1942, when he was only 12, he kept a small book to note the particulars of all the concerts he attended, including a full-bench performance by renowned vocalist G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB), accompanied by Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai on the violin, Palghat Mani Iyer on the mridhangam and Palani Subramania Pillai on the kanjira, at the Nootrukal Mandapam in Tiruchi.
Over his career as a professional violinist, Jayaraman assumes the role of a critic and reviews his own performances with refreshing honesty. His first review of a concert, in which he accompanied GNB on February 10, 1949, he writes: “When the main artist sings, I must accompany him without any gap. Dump the ego and play humbly.”
Of another concert, he bluntly criticises his playing for lacking in imagination: “I had copied others. I should give up this bad mentality.”
On the other hand, his description of the room allotted to him in London could be out of a novel. “You have the felling of grated coconuts (thengai poo),” he says of the fabric of a white towel.
The perfectionist in Lalgudi Jayaraman, who cared as much for aesthetics in life and in his music, come liltingly alive in his writings in Tamil and English.